Thomas Babington Macaulay – A Brief Biography

Thomas Babington Macaulay was born in the United Kingdom, in 1800. During the course of his life, he became a highly influential politician and historian. Macaulay was instrumental in introducing both the Western system of education in India and the Indian Penal Code. His numerous writings covering history and politics played a major role in making the East India Company discard its liberal approach toward India.

Macaulay- before he came to India
Macaulay first completed his schooling at a Hertfordshire- based private school and then went to Cambridge, to study at Trinity College. There, Macaulay excelled in poetry and obtained several prizes for these efforts. Macaulay also went on to study law. But, he chose not to take up the legal profession, as politics was the area in which he wanted to make a career.

The year 1827 saw the publication of an essay written by Macaulay where he voiced his views against slavery. In this essay, which became famous, he challenged the established views and perceptions on the subject of “abolition of slavery”.

Macaulay’s personal poverty motivated him to destroy India by dirty methods
These early writings against slavery are in strong contrast to his actual accomplishments in India, where TB Macaulay along with a few other intellectuals shifted the mindset of the East India Company to a colonial, racist and demeaning view of Indians. It was not uncommon in those times for British institutions to have boards proclaiming – ‘Dogs and Indians Not Allowed’.

At a certain age, Thomas Macaulay was in a extreme poverty and there was a task in India to consolidate the British rule and needed a brilliant intellectual who could set the framework in place. In this situation, TB Macaulay went on to destroy the fabric of Hindustan with his educational and Indian penal code framework for his personal gain and fame. He decisively changed the outlook of the British to become very mean to the Indian population. No wonder very soon the 1857 Revolt or the First War of Independence was fought by the Indians against the British rule.

Macaulay was also associated with the Board of Control for around one- and- half years. It was during this tenure that he gained full knowledge about the political and social conditions in India. He became aware of the Indian rulers who chose to be independent and the ones who preferred to function as subsidiaries of the British.

Macaulay in India
In the year 1833, Macaulay first came to India in the capacity of a member of the Supreme Council of India. He then meticulously studied prevalent circumstances in India. Not only was Thomas Macaulay deeply dismissive of Indian culture and civilization, treating it as very inferior. He was grossly surprised to see the meekness with which the majority of the rulers and landlords of India accepted the supremacy of the British empire. Macaulay didn’t fail to notice that the “Nawabs” and “Rajahs” just loved to consider themselves allies of the British empire.

It was this submissive mindset of the people of India that motivated Macaulay to keep on pursuing activities that destroyed the very fabric of Indian civilization. He stated that many things in the country have to be changed to conform to British interests. In this respect, he penned down many writings, too, and the most famous of those was the “Minute on Education. ” This written work which was extremely biased and had demeaning view of Indian civilization turned out to be extremely decisive in the introduction of the British educational system in India.

Owing to the immense clout that Macaulay wielded in elite British circles, the Government promptly adhered to his advice and changed the format of education. The Company abolished the then traditional education format of India having Sanskrit and Persian as its main languages. “English Education” was made the major educational system.

Even the Indian Civil Service, as we know it today, owes its origin to Thomas Macaulay. Modern-day bureaucrats are recruited into high positions only after they clear the Indian Civil Service exam, the basic pattern of which was developed by Macaulay.

Macaulay’s influence
Between 1835 and 1858, Macaulay was an important part of many committees and councils in India. All these committees and councils were driven by the primary objective of ensuring that the changes that have been initiated in the system don’t get reversed.

The most powerful of all these councils was “The Supreme Council of Bengal,” which enabled the East India Company to politically control its colonies in India. Macaulay played a key role in the advent of many laws, as well. He breathed his last in the year 1859.