Scottish Church College

The Scottish Church College, which is located at 1 & 3 Urquhart Square, Calcutta 700006 is the oldest continuing Missionary administered liberal arts and sciences academy in India. It is affiliated with the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (for the Scottish Church Collegiate School), the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education, and the University of Calcutta for the awarding of baccalaureate, post baccalaureate and undergraduate degrees.

It is well-known for its beautiful campus, renowned faculty, baroque architecture, and robust intellectual milieu. Its students and faculty, past and present, call themselves "Caledonians" in the name of the college festival, "Caledonia". The collegial motto is "Nec Tamen Consumebatur"[1][2], which means "Burning, but yet not consumed".

Founder

The inception of what is now known as the Scottish Church College is intertwined with the life of Dr. Alexander Duff, D. D. LLD. (1806-1878), the first overseas missionary of the Church of Scotland, to India. Initially known as the General Assembly's Institution, it was founded on the 13th of July 1830.

Alexander Duff was born in Moulin, Perthshire, the very heart of Scotland, on 15th April 1806. From the country school, he passed on to the University of St Andrews, where, after getting his degree, he ended a brilliant career. Subsequently, he undertook his evangelical mission to India. After an adventurous voyage during which he was twice shipwrecked, he arrived in Calcutta on 27th May 1830.

Rev. Alexander Duff opened his institution in Feringhi Kamal Bose's house, upper Chitpur Road, Jorasanko. In 1836 the institution was moved to Gorachad Basak's house in Garanhata. Mr. Macfarlon, the Chief-Magistrate of Calcutta, laid the foundation stone on 23rd February 1837. Mr. John Gray, elected by Messrs. Burn & Co. and superintented by Capt. John Thomson of the Hon. East India Company's Institution, designed the building. The construction of the building was completed in 1839.

Historical Significance

In the early 1800s, the General Assembly of Scotland sent Reverend Alexander Duff, a young and dedicated missionary, to Kolkata to set up an English-medium institution. Though Bengalis had shown some interest in the spread of Western education from the beginning of the 19th century, both the local church and government officers were sceptical about the high-caste Bengali's response to the idea of an English-medium institution. Raja Ram Mohan Roy helped by organising the venue and bringing in the first batch of students. He also assured the guardians that reading the Bible did not necessarily imply religious conversion. Although his ultimate aim was the spread of English education, Duff was aware that without a good command on one's native language, it was well nigh impossible to master a foreign tongue. Hence in his General Assembly's Institution, as also in his Free Church Institution, the teaching and learning of the Bengali language and literature was high priority. Duff was keen on sports and had accumulated different kinds of sports-related equipment in his institution. When he introduced political economy as a subject in the curricula, the Church strongly criticised him. These two institutions were later united under the name Scottish Churches College.

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Ram Mohan Roy Bahadur, who supported Rev. Duff in spreading English education in India

Along with Raja Ram Mohan Roy, the father of modern India, Dr. Duff played a significant role in supporting Lord Macaulay in drafting his famous Minute for the introduction of English education in India. Successive eminent missionary scholars from Scotland, viz. Dr. Ogilvie, Dr. Hastie[3], Dr. Macdonald, Dr. Stephen, Dr. Watt, Dr. Urquhart and others contributed to the spread of the liberal Western education. Along with other educational institutions like Serampore College, Hindu College, (now known as Presidency College, Kolkata) the Scottish Churches College (after the re-unification of the churches of Scotland in 1929, it became known as Scottish Church College) played a pivotal role in ushering the spirit of intellectual enquiry and a general acceptance of the ideals of the European Enlightenment, among Bengalis, in what came to be regarded as the Young Bengal Movement and the Bengal Renaissance [4].

Duff's contemporaries included such luminaries as Reverend Mackay, Reverend Ewart and Reverend Thomas Smith. Till the early 20th century the norm was to bring teachers from Scotland (like Amy G. Stock, Kitty Scoular, Rev. Ian Fairweather [5] etc.) but eminent Indian scholars were also engaged as teachers by the college authorities. Scholars like Kalicharan Bandyopadhyay, Jnan Chandra Ghosh, Gouri Shankar Dey, Adhar Chandra Mukhopadhyay Sushil Chandra Dutta, Mohimohan Basu, Sudhir Kumar Dasgupta, Nirmal Chandra Bhattacharya and Bholanath Mukhopadhyay had all contributed hugely to enhance the academic standards of the college.

Dr. Duff played a leading part in founding the University of Calcutta in 1857, he was associated with the Agro-horticultural Society and the establishment of a medical college, the first in India. He also aimed at breaking down caste-barriers by founding several girls schools. The Scottish Church College played a pioneering role in women's education as well as co-education in the country. Female students comprise half the present roll strength of the College. With the added interest of the missionaries in educational work and social upliftment, the College stands as a monument to Indo-Scottish co-operation. The aims and principles of the College are essentially those of its founder namely, the formation of character through education based on Christian teaching.

Notable alumni

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Commemorative stamp on the Scottish Church College

Swami Vivekananda, Hindu saint, proponent of Advaita Vedanta school of religious philosophy in the West and founder of the Ramakrishna Mission Order
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, President of the Indian National Congress (1938-1939),co-founder of the Indian National Army and Head of State, Arzi Hukumate Azad Hind (1942-1945)
Brajendra Nath Seal, leading philosopher and thinker of the Brahmo Samaj, Vice Chancellor of Visva-Bharati University and later the University of Mysore [6]
Dhan Gopal Mukerji, socio-cultural critic and first successful Indian man of letters in the United States of America; winner of Newbery Medal (1928)
Rev. Lal Behari Dey, scholar, writer and theologian of the Free Church of Scotland
Sitanath Tattwabhushan, philosopher and theologian of Sadharan Brahmo Samaj [7]
Kshirode Prasad Vidyavinode, thespian
Manomohan Bose, nationalist poet, playwright and journalist [8]
Satyendra Nath Dutta, Bengali poet [9]
Satischandra Ray, Classical scholar and teacher [10]
Suniti Kumar Chattopadhyay, internationally renowned linguist [11]
Ajitkumar Chakravarty, scholar and teacher of literature, drama and music[12]
Sri A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Hindu mystic, Founder, International Society for Krishna Consciousness, and The World Relief Network [13]
Paramahansa Yogananda, Hindu mystic, Yogi and leading proponent of Kriya Yoga in the West [14]
Richard James Allen, Olympic Gold medallist in Field Hockey
Badal Sarkar, dramatist
Shishir Bhaduri, dramatist [15]
Hemchandra Raychaudhuri, historian [16]
Sudhindranath Dutta, author and poet [17][18]
Gourgopal Ghosh, football player for the Mohun Bagan Club and mathematician [19]
Jaladhar Sen, writer, journalist and traveller [20]
Nirad C. Chaudhuri, polymath , historian and encyclopedic commentator on culture, acclaimed Victorian scholar and honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire [21]
Benoy Chandra Sen, historian , researcher and Indologist [22]
Nirmal Kumar Bose, anthropologist, social scientist and freedom fighter [23]
Biraja Sankar Guha, anthropologist [24]
Mrinal Sen, internationally acclaimed art film director and cultural commentator [25][26]
Manna Dey, Bollywood film music exponent [27]
Suchitra Mitra, Rabindra Sangeet exponent [28]
Premendra Mitra, novelist
Subhas Mukhopadhyay, Bengali poet [29]
Swami Gambhirananda , president of the Ramakrishna Mission Order [30]
Gopinath Bordoloi, prominent freedom fighter, former Chief Minister, Assam [31]
Prafulla Chandra Sen, former Chief Minister of West Bengal
George Gilbert Swell, Member of Rajya Sabha, former challenger to the Office of the President of India in July, 1992 [32]
Syed Nurul Hasan, Former Governor, West Bengal
Banwari Lal Joshi, Lt. Governor of Delhi [33][34]
Ajit Kumar Panja, Former Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha and Ex-Minister of State for External Affairs[35]
Mithun Chakraborty, Bollywood action film hero [36][37][38]
Honourable Mr. Amal Kumar Sarkar, former Chief Justice of India [39]
Mr. Justice Amarendra Nath Sen, former Judge, of the Supreme Court of India [40]
Mr. Justice Ganendra Narayan Ray, former Judge, of the Supreme Court of India [41]
Honourable Mr. Anandamoy Bhattacharjee, former Chief Justice of Bombay High Court [42]
Honourable Mr. Justice Umesh Chandra Banerjee, Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, Member of the International Law Association, and Founder President of the Nalsar University of Law at Hyderabad [43]
Rudra Prasad Sengupta, famous theatre personality and cultural critic [44]
Parvati Prasad Baruva, noted Assamese litterateur [45]
Bani Basu, Bengali author, postcolonial and feminist scholar, cultural critic [46][47][48]
Manoj Mitra, dramatist[49][50]
Tanmoy Bose, internationally renowned tabla exponent [51]
Bivas Chaudhuri, artist of the abstract art form[52][53]
Jagmohan Dalmiya, ex-President of Board of Control for Cricket in India and former chairman of the International Cricket Council [54][55][56]
Derek O'Brien, nationally acclaimed quiz-master and author [57]
Madhav Sharma, Indian born comedian and actor based in the UK [58]
Dr. Mani Lal Bhaumik, Scientist turned Entrepreneur based in Beverly Hills, California; author and inventor of the excimer laser and currently President, Cosmogenics Inc. USA [59][60]
Lord Dharam Bir 'Bill' Lall of Woodsland, entrepreneur, self-help and motivational speaker and author based in the UK [61][62][63]
Dr. Mohammed Mohsin, Honorary Chairman of the Nepalese National Assembly,member, Rastriya Prajatantra Party of Nepal [64]
Bulbul Chowdhury, Bangladeshi performing artist, dancer and writer [65]
Ajmal Husain, Bangladeshi artist based in Paris [66]
Mustafa Monwar, Bangladeshi artist, media personality, critic and scholar [67]
R.K. Meghen, or Sana Yaima, chairman of United National Liberation Front, the oldest separatist insurgent group based in Manipur [68]

and many others found throughout the globe. Apart from the above, the alumni of Scottish Church College also include famous scientists, academicians, philosophers, litterateurs, artists, administrators, jurists and bureaucrats. The achievements of the students of today carry on the legacy of the stalwarts of yesteryears.

Excerpt from the NAAC Report (see link below)

"The very impressive and a very long list of alumni of the college includes the names of Governors, Chief Ministers, Ministers, Vice-Chancellors of some eminent Universities of India, Jurists, Administrators, Ambassadors, Speakers, Educationists, Historians, Scholars, Doctors, Authors, Poets, Dramatists, Novelists, Political Leaders, Religious Leaders, Sports persons, Film personalities, Actors, Singers, Artists etc. etc. "

Trivia

Since 2001, this college has been a member of the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia and is a participant in that organization's Asian University Leadership Program[69][70]. This is expected to usher exchange programs with scholars and faculty members of participating educational institutions.

Recently, the college celebrated 175 years of existence [71].

In recognition of its robust academic milieu, it has been granted the National Assessment and Accreditation Council's "A" rating in 2004. [72]

Along with Wilson College, Mumbai, the Scottish Church College was the only other institution for higher education in early 19th century colonial India that was started by and initially affiliated to the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

The University Grants Commission (India) has accepted the recommendations of the University of Calcutta to regard the college as a centre of excellence. [73][74]

External links