| Summary/Abstract |
This article traces the historical trajectory of the work of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in orphanages in north and western India through two case studies of the important and well-documented CMS orphanages, the Secundra and Sharanpur Orphanages. In doing so, the article makes two historiographical contributions. Firstly, it brings to the forefront the significance of famine orphans and orphanages in the global evangelical Christian project. Secondly, contrary to the overwhelming focus on the sentimentalisation of childhood in historical literature, it asserts that along with factors that point towards such sentimentalisation, other aspects also contributed to the decline in popularity of orphanage work among CMS missionaries.
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