Robert B. Wray cast a

movable type Movable type (US English; moveable type in British English) is the system and technology of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document (usually individual alphanumeric characters or punctuatio ...

font for printing

Bengali script Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

in 1778. It proved revolutionary for the British rule in India.

Warren Hastings Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first Governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first Governor-Genera ...

had taken over as the

Governor-General of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 1 ...

. By the Regulating Act of 1773, he had become the Governor-General over the empire that had been established by the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

in India. The officials of Hastings were motivated by the European

Classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aestheti ...

. They were of the firm view that the rule of Britain over India was transitory. Soon, the great Old Indian culture would revive itself and regain its lost glory. They spent their energy to learn the Indian languages, literature, religion and culture. It has been identified with the Orientialist group among the British officials. Soon, they realized that they had to run their rule by adopting the regional languages. There was a dire need of using Bengali as the language of the administration. It was made possible when Robert B. Wray cast the Bengali type in 1778. It started a new phase of interaction between the British Officials and Indian people. It resulted in creation of

Fort William College Fort William College (also known as the College of Fort William) was an academy of oriental studies and a centre of learning, founded on 18 August 1800 by Lord Wellesley, then Governor-General of British India, located within the Fort William co ...

under the Governor-General

Richard Wellesley Richard Wellesley may refer to: * Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley (1760–1842), Anglo-Irish politician and colonial administrator * Richard Wellesley (1787–1831), his son, Anglo-Irish Member of Parliament * Richard Wellesley, 6th Earl ...

. It was under the aegis of this college that most of the literary work of Orientalists had taken place. It was then that European books covering European philosophy and science, were translated into Bengali.

References

* Jones, Kenneth W. Jones, "Socio Religious Reform Movements in British India".

The New Cambridge History of India ''The New Cambridge History of India'' is a major multi-volume work of historical scholarship published by Cambridge University Press. It replaced ''The Cambridge History of India'' published between 1922 and 1937. The new history is being publis ...

. 1994. India. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wray, Robert B. English printers Year of birth missing Year of death missing