Journal: Priscilla Papers
Volume: PP 37:4 (Autumn 2023)
Article: The Biblewomen Of South India: A Professional Pathway To Dignity And Empowerment
Author: Philip Malayil

PP 37:4 (Autumn 2023) p. 20

The Biblewomen Of South India: A Professional Pathway To Dignity And Empowerment

Philip Malayil

Philip Malayil, a journalist turned content marketer, is the South Asia coordinator for the online Dictionary of Christian Biography in Asia (https://dcbasia.org). He is enrolled in a bachelor’s programme in theological studies. He makes his home in Bangalore, India, with his wife, Mary, and two daughters, Zoe and Charissa.

Among the many motifs that decorate the tapestry of colonial India (1858–1947), the “Biblewomen” movement in Northern Circars1 was a direct outcome of the missionary influence in the sub-continent. The origins of the movement can be traced to the establishment of the London Missionary Society (LMS) in this region2 in 1822. The faith brought by British missionaries found favour among the natives, not because it was imposed on them, but because of the upward mobility it offered from an oppressive and rigid caste system. Dalits, or outcastes, are outliers beyond the lowest of the castes. They are considered untouchable and, therefore, disenfranchised from public spaces like schools and temples. Even their shadows were once considered capable of polluting. Dalits eagerly responded to the perceived egalitarianism that the missionaries offered, resulting in mass conversions in the year 1851.

Meanwhile in distant London, Ellen Ranyard set up the Bible and Domestic Female Mission (BDFM) to cater to the spiritual needs of women in the slums of urban England. Set up as a woman’s mission to women, the aim was to help women help themselves. In this ministry, in 1857, Ranyard initiated the idea of the Biblewoman, an epithet drawn from her identity as the female equivalent of Bible colporteurs or Biblemen popularized by the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS).3 A Biblewoman served as a missionary and social worker who belonged to the same social class as those whom she sought to reach. She was the “missing link” between the poorest families and their social superiors.4 In this context, Ranyard published Missing Link, a magazine which served to report on her outreach. It doubled as a community forum for her constituency and was a means to reinforce the gospel message.

Back in India, Edward and Martha Porter, a married couple, were appointed as missionaries in Cudappah in the year 1844. Martha Porter was a regular reader of the Missing Link, and from this resource she adapted Ranyard’s model of “Mother Meetings” into her local Indian context.5 Thes...