Christian Missionaries and Development of Women’s Higher Education in the British Punjab

Abstract

Initiation of women’s higher education in the British Punjab is closely linked with the efforts of Christian missionary societies.  They were the pioneers in the field of female higher education in the province and they started their efforts to establish institutions to achieve their objectives. The `foundation of Kinnaird College was a landmark in their educational enterprise and it played an important role in fostering higher education for women in this region. Following the historical method, based on the analysis of different educational reports, Missionaries’ biographies and autobiographies, reports of missionary conferences and other primary and secondary sources, this paper examines the role of Christian missionaries in developing and promoting higher education amongst the female population of the Punjab. It discusses how different missionaries’ societies made Kinnaird College their Union institution and initiated their collective efforts to achieve their desired goals. The paper tries to explore the missionaries’ efforts to improve the quality of education at their institution. It also focusses to bring forth the socio-academic impact of this pioneer missionary college on the female population of the province of the Punjab.