ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 explores how the elite in late-nineteenth-century Gujarat acquired knowledge of English through colonial education. For the Indian elites, English became a tool for communication with the ruler and their counterparts in other regions, and thus a symbol of power and modernity. This chapter looks at debates among the elite in Gujarat on the medium of instruction and the studying of languages at different levels. It especially focuses on the ways in which different opinions were expressed by different sections of the elite. In the last part of the chapter, the author introduces the contemporary debates over Muslim and women's education, including those surrounding which languages should be taught to them at school.
