Christian Missionary Activities in Eastern India: A Study of The Baptists in Orissa in The 19th Century

Abstract

The occupation of Orissa by the British in 1803 was followed by the coming of missionaries. With conversion of the people to Christianity as their motive, the General Baptist Missionary Society was established in 1822. Attempts to convert the people through preaching, tracts and education met with limited success because of various reasons like caste rigidity and extreme conservation of the people. Impact of the missionaries was rather felt from their activities like printing, translations and journalism which were not evangelical in character. Except among some tribals who converted to Christianity and changed their outlook, lasting contribution of the Baptist Missionaries towards social progress in Orissa came directly from their non-evangelical works and indirectly from their evangelical activities.