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APPENDIX 95
by Bsg India
a scout troop at the Theosophical High School and Mr. L.G de Silva formed another group at Rampur (C.P). During this period Pandit Shri Ram Bajpai started a troop under the name Bal Seva Dal at Shajhanpur (Uttar Pradesh). Thus in the history of Indian Scouting the names of Mr. Vilian Bose, Pandit, Shri Ram Bajpai, Dr. G.S. Arundale and Mr. L.G de Silva will go down as the pioneers of our Movement.
Mr. Vivan Bose Dr. G.S. Arundale Pandit Shri Ram Bajpai
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Pioneers of our movement
By the end of 1916, Scout troops sprang up sporadically in Assam, Baluchistan, Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, in the then Nizam’s Dominion, North West Frontier Province, Punjab, Bombay, Central Province, Madras, Mysore, Rajputana, Sind and U.P.
The relevant census figures showing the number of scouts in different years were as follows: 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 502 1154 2038 2277 2699
From 1916 onwards the “Imperial Headquarters” permitted Scout Troops with Indian boys to be registered in their office.
It has been already explained why the early history of Indian Scouting must necessarily consist of a bunch of short accounts about the movement in different provinces carried on under entirely local leadership. Very few documents are available on the basis of which a full history of the growth and development of the movement in its formative years could be compiled. In the following paragraphs I shall, however, make an attempt to give a bird’s eye view of the movement province-wise, supported by the few documents to which I could have access within the relatively short time at my disposal.
BENGAL
Bengal was one of the pioneering provinces of India which had accepted higher education through the medium of the English
