With the creation of the Supreme Court in Calcutta in 1774 many
Hindus of Bengal became eager to learn the English language. A
remarkable Scot watchmaker, in collaboration with Radhakanta Deb had
already taken some steps in that direction. Babu Buddinath Mukherjee
advanced it further by enlisting the support of Sir Edward Hyde
East, Chief Justice, Supreme Court who called a meeting of 'European
and Hindu Gentlemen' in his house in May, 1816. The purpose of the
meeting was to 'discuss the proposal to establish an institution for
giving a liberal education to the children of the members of the
Hindu Community'. The proposal was received with unanimous
approbation and donation over one hundred thousand rupees was
promised right there. Raja Ram Mohan Roy had full sympathy for the
scheme but chose not to come out in support of the proposal publicly
for fear of 'alarming the prejudices of his orthodox countrymen and
thus marring the whole idea'.
The College formally opened on Monday, January 20, 1817 with
twenty 'scholars'. The control of the institution was vested in a
body of two Governors and four Directors. The first Governors were
Maharaja Tejchandra Bahadur of Burdwan and Babu Gopee Mohan Thakoor.
The first Directors were Babu Gopeemohan Deb (father of Raja
Radhakanta Deb of Sobhabazar), Babu Joykissen Sinha (grandfather of
Kaliprasanna Sinha, the translator of Mahabharata into Bengali),
Babu Radha Madhab Banerjee and Babu Gunganarain Doss, Babu Buddinath
Mukherjee was the Secretary.
The classes were held at first in a rented house belonging to
Gorachand Bysack at Garanhatta (later numbered 304 Chitpore Road).
In January 1818 the Hindu College moved to 'Feringhi Kamal Bose's
house' located nearby. The building is a historic one because Raja
Ram Mohan Ray inaugurated his Brahma Sabha here and Duff started his
educational establishment later in 1834. From Chitpore, the Hindu
College eventually shifted to Bowbazar and later to a building that
now houses the Sanskrit College.
Increasing realization of the value of western education made the
Hindu College a coveted destination of scholars from all over India.
Pupils came from Patna, Assam, Vizagapatnam and by 1828 enrolment
rose to 400. The obvious question, which was raised, was whether it
would not be wiser for government to establish a new 'English
College' open to all classes and community and leave the Hindu
College to its fate. Incidentally, facing financial problems, the
Committee of Managers of the Hindu College had become dependant on
subsidy from the government which, as expected, began to play a
greater role in running the affairs of the College.
On October 21, 1853, His Lordship the Governor of Bengal
suggested that "a new general college should be established at
Calcutta by the government and designated 'The Presidency College'
.. the College should be open to all youths of every caste, class
or creed
.". On June 15, 1855 the Presidency College was formally
established. The 'scholars' of the College Department of the Hindu
College were transferred to the Presidency College and 101 new
admissions were made. Of this 101 pupils, two were 'Muhammadans',
the rest were Hindus.
The problem of space had been plaguing the College authorities
even after the expansion of the Sanskrit College building. The
process of the land acquisition for having its own campus started in
September 1865 and by 1870 the Principal of the Presidency College
was in a position to submit a plan for the erection of a building
for the College on the premises where it was located now. The new
edifice was opened on March 31, 1874 by the then Lieutenant
Governor Sir George Campbell in the presence of His Excellency of
the Viceroy of India. The finishing touch was given to the dignity
of the edifice by Babu Nuffer Chandra Pal Chaudhuri, who provided it
with a turret clock, at a cost of nearly Rs. 5000.00 soon after its
opening. Professor J. Sutcliffe was the Principal of the College
when the new building was opened.
