Guide to the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Commission on Ecumenical Mission and Relations Secretaries' Files: India Mission

The beginnings of American Presbyterian mission work in India antedate the organization of the Board of Foreign Missions. In 1834, William Reed and J.C. Lowrie arrived in India under the auspices of the Western Foreign Missionary Society, the Board's predecessor, and established a station at Ludhiana. Two years later, stations were opened in Saharanpur, Sabathu and Allahabad. In 1840, the India Mission was subdivided into the Punjab Mission, which encompassed the original four stations, and the North India Mission, also known as the Farukhabad Mission.

The expansion of the North India Mission began and continued throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. Mainpuri was opened in 1843, followed by Fatehgarh in 1844, Jullundur in 1846 and Mussorie in 1847. Work at Dehra Dun and Fatehpur commenced in 1853, followed by Etawah a decade later. Hoshyarpur was occupied in 1867 and Etah in 1873, though the latter was not formally constituted as a station until 1900. Ferozepur was opened in 1882, followed by Cawnpore in 1901, Gwalior and Kasgani in 1911 and Shikohabad in 1924.

Work in the Punjab throughout the l9th century revolved around the stations at Ludhiana, Saharanpur, Sabathu and Allahabad. In 1908, Khanna was opened, followed by Rupar in 1910, Moga in 1911 and Kosur in 1913.

In 1870, the work of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in western India was transferred to the Board of Foreign Missions. Thereafter, that field was known as the West India Mission. In addition to the inherited station at Kolhapur, succeeding stations were opened at Ratnagiri in 1873, in Sangli in 1884, in Miraj in 1892, in Vengurla in 1900, in Kodoli in 1893, in Islampur in 1906 and in Nipani in 1910.

The work of the Presbyterian Church in India reflected the Church's concern for the educational, medical and spiritual needs of the Indian people. Coordination of the three missions' activities in these area was directed by the India Council after 1913, while considerable interdenominational cooperation existed as well. A variety of educational institutions which had developed in the l9th century continued to grow in the 20th. Some of these included the Christian Boy's Boarding School, later known as Ewing Christian High School, the Allahabad College and Agricultural Institute, Forman Christian College, the North India School of Medicine for Christian Women and the Isabella Thoburn College.

Medical work was carried out through a variety of hospitals, dispensaries, clinics, sanitariums and leper asylums. Institutions like the Wanless Chest Hospital in Miraj, the Philadelphia Hospital in Ambala and the Fatehgarh Memorial Hospital serve as monuments to the medical work done by the Presbyterian Church in India. Evangelism in India took the form primarily of village itineration where male and female missionaries ministered to the spiritual needs of the populace while simultaneously attending to their medical and educational needs.

In 1904, the Presbyterian Church in India was formed.

In 1924, the United Church of Northern India was organized from the union of the Presbyterian Church in India and the Congregational Church in West India. This church merged in 1970 with six other churches to become the Church of Northern India.