Editing Sri Aurobindo (section)

=== Education in England (1879–1893) ===
[[File:Aurobindo.family.jpg|125px|thumb|upright|left|Aurobindo (seated centre next to his mother) and his family. In England, ca. 1879{{sfnp|Heehs|2008|p=10|ps=}}]]
Krishna Dhun Ghose wanted his sons to enter the [[Indian Civil Service (British India)|Indian Civil Service]] (ICS), an elite organisation comprising around 1000 people. To achieve this, they needed to study in England, and so it was there that the entire family moved in 1879.{{sfnp|Heehs|2008|pp=9–10|ps=}}{{efn|Krishna Dhun Ghose returned to India soon after, leaving his wife in the care of a physician in London. Barindra was born in England in January 1880.{{sfnp|Heehs|2008|p=10|ps=}}}} The three brothers were placed in the care of the Reverend W. H. Drewett in [[Manchester]].{{sfnp|Heehs|2008|pp=9–10|ps=}} Drewett was a minister of the [[Congregational church|Congregational Church]] whom Krishna Dhun Ghose knew through his British friends at Rangpur.{{sfnp|Heehs|2008|pp=10, 13|ps=}}{{efn|While in Manchester, the Ghose brothers lived first at 84 Shakespeare Street and then, by the time of the 1881 census, at 29 York Place, [[Chorlton-on-Medlock]]. Aurobindo was recorded in the census as Aravinda Ghose, as he was also by the University of Cambridge.{{sfnp|Heehs|2008|p=14|ps=}}{{sfn|1881 Census|ps=}}{{sfn|ACAD|GHS890AA}}}}

The boys were taught [[Latin (language)|Latin]] by Drewett and his wife. This was a prerequisite for admission to good English schools, and after two years, in 1881, the elder two siblings were enrolled at [[Manchester Grammar School]]. Aurobindo was considered too young for enrollment, and he continued his studies with the Drewetts, learning history, Latin, [[French language|French]], geography, and arithmetic. Although the Drewetts were told not to teach religion, the boys inevitably were exposed to Christian teachings and events, which generally bored Aurobindo and sometimes repulsed him. There was little contact with his father, who wrote only a few letters to his sons while they were in England, but what communication there was indicated that he was becoming less endeared to the British in India than he had been, on one occasion describing the British colonial government as "heartless".{{sfnp|Heehs|2008|p=14|ps=}}

[[File:Basement of 49 St Stephen's Avenue with Sri Aurobindo Blue Plaque.JPG|thumb|250px|upright| Basement of 49 St Stephen's Avenue, London W12 with Sri Aurobindo [[Blue Plaque]]]]
Drewett emigrated to Australia in 1884, causing the boys to be uprooted as they went to live with Drewett's mother in London. In September of that year, Aurobindo and Manmohan joined [[St Paul's School (London)|St Paul's School]] there.{{efn|Benoybhusan's education ended in Manchester.{{sfnp|Heehs|2008|p=19|ps=}}}} He learned Greek and spent the last three years reading literature and English poetry, while he also acquired some familiarity with the German and Italian languages; [[Peter Heehs]] summarised his [[polyglot|linguistic abilities]] by stating that at "the turn of the century he knew at least twelve languages: English, French, and Bengali to speak, read, and write; Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit to read and write; Gujarati, Marathi, and Hindi to speak and read; and Italian, German, and Spanish to read."<ref>Peter Heehs, ''The Lives of Sri Aurobindo'', Columbia University Press (2008), p. 43</ref> Being exposed to the evangelical strictures of Drewett's mother developed in him a distaste for religion, and he considered himself at one point to be an [[Atheism|atheist]] but later determined that he was [[Agnosticism|agnostic]].{{sfnp|Heehs|2008|pp=14–18|ps=}} A [[blue plaque]] unveiled in 2007 commemorates Aurobindo's residence at 49 St Stephen's Avenue in [[Shepherd's Bush]], London, from 1884 to 1887.{{sfn|English Heritage|ps=}} The three brothers began living in spartan circumstances at the Liberal Club in [[South Kensington]] during 1887, their father having experienced some financial difficulties. The club's secretary was James Cotton, brother of their father's friend in the Bengal ICS, [[Henry John Stedman Cotton]].{{sfnp|Heehs|2008|p=18|ps=}}

By 1889, Manmohan had determined to pursue a literary career, and Benoybhusan had proved himself unequal to the standards necessary for ICS entrance. This meant that only Aurobindo might fulfill his father's aspirations, but to do so when his father lacked money required that he study hard for a scholarship.{{sfnp|Heehs|2008|p=19|ps=}} To become an ICS official, students were required to pass the competitive examination and study at an English university for two years under probation. Aurobindo secured a scholarship at King's College, Cambridge, under the recommendation of [[Oscar Browning]].{{sfnp|Aurobindo|2006|pp=29–30|ps=}} He passed the written ICS examination after a few months and ranked 11th out of 250 competitors. He spent the next two years at King's College.{{sfn|ACAD|GHS890AA}} Aurobindo had no interest in the ICS and came to the horse-riding practical exam purposefully to disqualify him for the service.{{sfnp|Aurobindo|2006|p=31|ps=}}In 1891, Sri Aurobindo also felt that a period of great upheaval for his motherland was coming in which he was destined to play an important role. He began to learn Bengali and joined a secret society, romantically named 'Lotus and Dagger', where the members took an oath to work for India's freedom.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://aurosociety.org/society/index/1872-–-1893-Calcutta-to-England#:~:text=Sri%20Aurobindo%20also%20felt%20that,to%20work%20for%20India%27s%20freedom | title=Sri Aurobindo Society &#124; Calcutta to England }}</ref>

The Maharaja of Baroda, [[Sayajirao Gaekwad III]], was travelling in England. Cotton secured Aurobindo a place in Baroda State Service and arranged for him to meet the prince.{{sfnp|Thakur|2004|p=6|ps=}} He left England for India,{{sfnp|Thakur|2004|p=6|ps=}} arriving there in February 1893.{{sfnp|Aurobindo|2006|p=34|ps=}} In India, Krishna Dhun Ghose, who was waiting to receive his son, was misinformed by his agents from [[Bombay]] (now Mumbai) that the ship on which Aurobindo had been travelling had sunk off the coast of Portugal. His father died upon hearing this news.{{sfnp|Aurobindo|2006|p=36|ps=}}{{sfnp|Thakur|2004|p=7|ps=}}