[27] MEDICAL AND EDUCATIONAL MISSIONS OF THE CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES IN SOUTH-WEST BENGAL WITH REFERENCE TO MIDNAPORE, BANKURA AND MANBHUM DISTRICT

ARTICLE INFO: Date of Submission: April 07, 2026, Revised: Apr 16, 2026, Accepted: Apr 20, 2026, CrossRef d.o.i : https://doi.org/10.56815/ijmrr.v5i4.2026.327-340. How to Cite the Article: Shib Sankar Ghosh (2026). Medical and Educational Missions of The Christian Missionaries in South-West Bengal with Reference to Midnapore, Bankura and Manbhum District. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research & Reviews, 5(4), 327-340.

Abstract

The contribution of the Christian Missionaries in the field of educational and medical development in Bengal occupies a significant place in colonial social history. Prior to colonial intervention, healthcare in regions such as Midnapore, Bankura, Manbhum, Birbhum, Burdwan the south-western portion of Bengal largely depended on indigenous systems of medicine i.e., Ayurveda, Unani and folk remedies. From the late eighteenth century onwards, Christian Missionaries began to propagate evangelical work with humanitarian services, especially in the field of healthcare and education. The London Missionary Society, Church Missionary Society, Baptist Missionary Society, Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society, German Evangelical Lutheran Mission and United Free Church of Scotland Mission played pioneering roles in integrating medicine and education into missionary activity. Missionaries realised that educational and medical charity could be the easiest tools of contact with local communities, especially among the poor and the socially excluded who were largely neglected by the colonial government. This paper explores the impact of missionary medical and educational activities in South-Western tracts of Bengal establishing them within the broader colonial context and analysing the relationship between humanitarian service, social reform and religious motivation.