Bridges to learning: How Scots left a mark on Madras – Times of India

Chennai News

If any one group of Europeans could be credited with leaving a lasting impression on Madras, it has to be the Scots. From architects of railway bridges across the sea to sending Nungambakkam grown silk to George Washington and introducing a novel technique in education, the Scots played a major role in the development of Madras. By 1771 almost half of the East India Company’s writers were Scots.
The reason for the significant presence of Scots in India is an aborted desire for empire. The country picked the Gulf of Darien in Panama as the place from where a Scottish empire could be built. But the expeditions that sailed in 1698 and 1699 failed, which wiped out a large chunk of the country’s wealth, said novelist and historian Venkatesh Ramakrishnan at a function organised by the Scottish Country Dance Society in the city recently.
James Anderson (1738–1809) was a surgeon and horticulturist from Scotland who was appointed physiciangeneral of Madras. “As early as the 1770s, he had planted Mulberry trees in Pycroft’s Garden, and its surroundings on which flourished silkworms whose eggs had been imported from Bengal,” he said. Mulberry was later planted in the gardens of the Public Rooms (The Pantheon, now the Museum-Library campus) and several gardens in Vepery and Santhome. Later Anderson sent this silk as a gift to George Washington.
Another Scot, Lord Pentland, who served as the Governor of Madras from 1912 to 1919, became popular in India for the interest he showed in the indigenous tradition and culture. At the same time, he is also remembered for his crackdown on leaders of the Home Rule Movement. “It was during his rule that the railway bridge connecting Pamban Island with the mainland was constructed,” said Ramakrishnan.
Where would the Government Oriental Manuscripts Library be without its nucleus — the Colin Mackenzie collection? Arriving here to join the army in 1783, Mackenzie was to devote his life to collecting manuscripts. “When he died in 1821, his wife offered them to the government for ₹20,000 only. The Bengal government acquired the same and later it was divided between London and Madras. Much of it survives and is a boon to researchers today,” he said. Mackenzie was also the first surveyor general of the government of India and also responsible for mapping most of the country.
Andrew Bell was to make Madras a name to reckon with in the field of education. “One of his duties was to educate soldiers’ children. As there was a shortage of teachers, he used older students to instruct younger pupils. The pupils who assisted the teacher were called monitors. This method of education became widely used,” he said. Bell’s Madras System was so named because it originated at the Military Male Orphan Asylum in Egmore. In 1833, the Madras College, which took its name from the above style, was set up in St Andrews, Scotland, where it still functions,” said Ramakrishnan.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/bridges-to-learning-how-scots-left-a-mark-on-madras/articleshow/78181419.cms