The Missionary and the Maharajas: Cecil Tyndale-Biscoe and the Making of Modern Kashmir

As a missionary in Kashmir, India, in the early 20th century, Cecil Tyndale-Biscoe polarised opinion through his unconventional educational methods and his attempt to change the social order of a society steeped in old traditions. He was a man of contradictions: a Christian and a boxer, a missionary who made very few converts, a staunch supporter of British imperialism and a friend of Kashmir’s political reformers. Aged 27 when he became the Principal of the Church Missionary Society’s school in Kashmir, his vision was of a school in action, vigorously involved in the affairs and problems of the city of Srinagar. He made many enemies in the Hindu establishment, but earned the respect of two successive Hindu Maharajas and the Muslim leader who replaced them.

Offering an insight into the history and religion of Kashmir, this book describes Tyndale-Biscoe’s unusual approach to education and explores the many challenges he had to overcome in his work as a missionary in the early 20th century.