Rev John Youngson (2 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Good. 478 grams. The first two pages are missing.

FIRST EDITION. 8vo. (18.25 x 12.5 cm). pp.x+[i]+298. Publisher's original red cloth, spine lettered in gilt. 20 black & white illustrations including frontispiece and map of India. Spine faded and lightly rubbed at extremities, some light soiling to cloth, contents clean and unmarked, a very good copy overall. This volume chronicles the foundational first four decades of the Church of Scotland's missionary enterprise in the Punjab region of British India, including its structural growth, trials, and socio-religious impact of the mission. The narrative chronicles the dangerous beginnings of the mission, which officially launched in Sialkot in January 1857 under the leadership of its first missionary, Reverend Thomas Hunter. Youngson recounts the tragic turning point of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, during which Hunter, his wife, and their infant son were murdered, bringing a volatile halt to early operations and establishing a legacy of martyrdom that framed the mission's early identity. A primary focus of the text is the profound structural shift in the mission's demographic focus. Youngson documents the unexpected "Christian Mass Movement" that flourished starting in the 1870s and 1880s, primarily among the Dalit Chuhra caste (low-caste sanitation and menial labourers). The book describes how entire families and villages collectively converted to Protestant Christianity to escape systemic caste persecution and seek a path toward social upliftment. The book captures the highly competitive and friction-filled religious environment of late 19th-century Punjab. Youngson reflects on the intersection of British colonial administration and the simultaneous rise of powerful indigenous socio-religious reform movements which frequently clashed or engaged in public theological debates with Christian missionaries.…