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@article{192646,
        author = {Biswajit Adhikary},
        title = {CULTIVATING MINDS UNDER EMPIRE: WESTERN EDUCATION AND THE RISE OF ASSAMESE INTELLECTUAL CONSCIOUSNESS},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {12},
        number = {9},
        pages = {1859-1863},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=192646},
        abstract = {This paper explores how Western education reshaped the intellectual fabric of nineteenth-century Assam under British rule. After the annexation of 1826, the region’s learning environment gradually shifted from indigenous religious institutions to state-regulated schools and colleges inspired by English models. Guided by colonial policy and missionary zeal, this system became both an instrument of imperial governance and a space for local awakening. Institutions such as the Guwahati Seminary (1835) and Cotton College (1901) reflected the colonial administration’s dual mission—to produce a class of loyal intermediaries and to expand the reach of modern knowledge. Yet, Assamese intellectuals such as Anandaram Dhekial Phukan and Gunabhiram Barua interpreted Western learning through vernacular lenses, transforming education into a means of self-assertion and cultural renewal. Drawing from theoretical perspectives offered by Gauri Viswanathan in Masks of Conquest and regional analyses by Jayeeta Sharma, Amalendu Guha, and Bandana Baruah, this study situates the evolution of Assam’s education within the wider project of colonial modernity. It argues that while British education in Assam was conceived as a tool of subordination, it ultimately generated a distinct intelligentsia whose consciousness transcended imperial intention and paved the way for Assam’s cultural and intellectual renaissance.},
        keywords = {Assam, Western Education, colonial, Intellectual History, Cultural transformation, Missionary, Assamese Identity.},
        month = {February},
        }