From divine judgement to colonial courts: missionary ‘justice’ in British India, c. 1840–1914

‘Justice’ is a word scattered through missionary writings. Throughout the nineteenth century, missionaries connected themselves with like-minded communities of opinion with labels such as ‘friends of justice and humanity’, the protectors of ‘kindness and justice’, or ‘friends of justice, humanity and religion’. In their published writings, missionaries wrote of the ‘justice [and] beneficence’ of British rule in India and of missionary work as effecting the inculcation of ‘justice, mercy and charity’. As such, missionaries locked themselves in battle with numerous forces of real and perceived injustice in British India. They railed against the ‘injustice’ inflicted upon Hindu widows, child brides and would-be converts by ‘traditional’ indigenous practices. But they also wrote of ‘the imperfect administration of justice’ conducted by the colonial state. At the same time, missionaries interpreted the famines, floods, plagues and rebellions they encountered in India through a theological framework that also hinged on particular readings of justice, punishment and retribution. At a more mundane level, the everyday practice of missionary stations (including the arbitration of disputes between colleagues) also required a working understanding of what was ‘fair’. This article explores the ways in which missionaries used concepts of ‘justice’ to signify a social identity; a moral need; a legal ideal; a theological explanation; and an administrative tool.