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Abstract

It is widely acknowledged that the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic institution was an “entirely novel” enterprise in the province of Punjab since it was wholly managed and staffed by Indians. But the most novel and unique characteristic of the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic movement, as this PhD dissertation shows, was the manner in which it syncretised ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ education. In this dissertation, it is this synthesis of ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ features that I have analysed by critically examining various aspects of the D.A.V. movement such as the aims and ideals of its founders, the genesis and growth of its institutional network between 1880 and 1920, the heterogenous nature of its financial model and the nature of its curriculum. Because the D.A.V. movement was one of the most popular indigenous educational enterprises of colonial India, I have tabulated and described the vast network of D.A.V. schools and colleges that were spread across Northern India in the early twentieth century. But the primary focus of this dissertation is the question of novelty of the D.A.V. education model, as manifested in its unique combination of ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ features.