Sanskrit College - Historical Timeline

Historical Timeline

• 1823: By a resolution adopted by the Governor General in Council on July 17, a General Committee of Public Instruction for the Bengal Presidency was created with members such as James Prinsep, Thomas Babington Macaulay and Horace Hayman Wilson which recommended Oriental Studies and a proposal was given for the establishment of Sanskrit College at Calcutta. This proposal encountered opposition from Raja Ram Mohan Roy on 11 December, who suggested that the Government should promote a more liberal system of education consisting of Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, Anatomy and other subjects of science by employing educated European teachers.

• 1824: Sanskrit College started functioning at a rented house in Bowbazar Street of Calcutta on January 1 despite the opposition from Raja Ram Mohan Roy. It was under the auspices of the then Governor-General of India William Pitt Amherst that John Paskal Larkins Esquire, a scholar of oracular knowledge laid the first foundation stone of the college.

• 1826: Students of both Sanskrit College and Hindu College were accommodated under one newly constructed building on May 1.

• 1827: The first English classes were introduced on May 1 as an optional subject.

• 1851: The post of Principal was made as the administrative heads of the College by the Council of Education. The college was opened to the Kayasthas in January, which previously admitted only the higher caste Hindus.

• 1854: The doors of Sanskrit College were made open to all Hindu students.