Доклады Международного конгресса ИИСАА. Т. 1

Доклады Международного конгресса по источниковедению и историографии стран Азии и Африки. Т. 1. 2020 475 Ekaterina V. Smirnova (FAAS, SPbU, St Petersburg, Russia) Development of girls’ education in the Bombay Presidency under the East India Company Summary : The first girls’ schools in Bombay Presidency were opened mainly by the missionary societies of the United Kingdom and the United States. From their reports it is possible to trace the funding, the ethinc composition of the schools, teach- ing methods, as well as the response of traditional Indian society to the innovations. In the early 19th century in Bombay there were many children with European roots. The majority of the children lived in poverty and could not get an education. In order to reduce social tensions, it was decided to establish boarding schools for such children. In the Bombay presidency the first institution that accepted girls was the Bombay Educational Society. It was founded in 1815 by Archdeacon Barnes, the first Archdeacon of Bombay. Originally, the goal of this institution was teaching of European children (both boys and girls) in the principles of Christianity and imparting to them such knowledge and habits of social life as may render them useful members of the European community. Another notable attempt to promote the education of girls in Maharashtra was made by the Protestant missionaries. The missionaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, the Church Missionary Society of London and the Scottish Mission of Edinburgh started their activities in Maharashtra. TheAmerican Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions started its activities in Bombay in 1815. American missionaries promoted girls’ education in Bombay, Ahmednagar, Mahabaleshwar, Satara and Kolhapur. The number of female students of the schools reached several hundred. American missionaries, however, had to close a number of schools when the Board’s receipts greatly diminished as a result of the panic caused by the financial crisis in the USA. The ScottishMissionary Society of Edinburgh entered this field in 1823, startingwith the organization of schools for girls in Konkan. Later they extended their activities to the districts of Pune and Indapur.After the disruption of the Church of Scotland in 1847, many of the schools were taken over by the Mission of the Free Church of Scotland. All of these mission schools received financial support from government offi- cials and the common people of Great Britain and the United States. The Ladies’ Associations formed in various cities in America also supported these schools. The Scottish ladies formed “The Scottish Ladies’ Society for Female Education in India” in Edinburgh. The Church Missionary Society raised a special fund for the education