The Batticotta Seminary was an educational institute founded by the

American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) was among the first American Christian missionary organizations. It was created in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College. In the 19th century it was the largest and most imp ...

(ABCFM)'s

American Ceylon Mission The American Ceylon Mission (ACM) to Jaffna, Sri Lanka started with the arrival in 1813 of missionaries sponsored by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). Although they had originally planned to work in Galle, the Briti ...

Vaddukodai Vaddukoddai (also spelt Vattukkottai, Vatukotai, Vattukotai) ( ta, வட்டுக்கோட்டை, si, වඩුකෝඩයි) is small but important town in the minority group, minority Sri Lankan Tamils, Sri Lankan Tamil dominated J ...

, in the Jaffna Peninsula north

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

in 1823. It was founded as part of the medical mission of John Scudder, Sr. and was subsequently led by

Nathan Ward Nathan Ward (born December 8, 1981) is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Career Ward's senior level career began with his move into the NCAA for Lake Superior State University (LSSU). Ward established himself quickly ...

. In 1846 the mission experienced a significant cholera outbreak.

Emerson Tennent Sir James Emerson Tennent, 1st Baronet, FRS (born James Emerson; 7 April 1804 – 6 March 1869) was a British politician and traveller born in Ireland. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on 5 June 1862. Life The third son of William ...

judged the Batticotta Seminary equal in rank with many European universities. The late

Sabapathy Kulendran ''Sabapathy'' is a 1941 Indian Tamil-language comedy film directed by A. V. Meiyappan and A. T. Krishnaswamy, and produced by Meiyappan. An adaptation of Pammal Sambandha Mudaliar's farce play of the same name, the film stars T. R. Ramachandr ...

, the first bishop of the

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most ...

Diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

of the

Church of South India The Church of South India (CSI) is a united Protestant Church in India. It is the result of union of a number of mainline Protestant denominations in South India after independence. The Church of South India is the successor of a number of Pr ...

(JDCSI) observed that the seminary brought about a tremendous upsurge the like of which has never been seen in the country before or after.

Closure

It was closed in 1855 under the leadership of E. P. Hastings. The reason for such a decision being that it was not successful in the mission of its founding namely, conversion of

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

Reopening

The seminary was reopened in 1871 by alumni as

Jaffna College __NOTOC__ Jaffna College is a private school in Vaddukoddai, Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1871 as a successor to the Batticotta Seminary which had been established by American missionaries. History In 1816 American missionaries founded the ...

with EP Hastings as the first principal.Jaffna College History

References

History of Jaffna District Evangelical seminaries and theological colleges 1823 establishments in Ceylon American Ceylon Mission 1820s establishments in Ceylon Religious organisations based in Sri Lanka {{seminary-stub