Bishop Cotton Boys' School is an all-boys school for boarders and day scholars in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, India, founded in the memory of Bishop George Edward Lynch Cotton, Bishop of Calcutta. The school has been described as "The Eton of the East". The school is bordered by Residency Road, St Mark's Road, Lavelle Road and Vittal Mallya Road, and is spread over of land in the heart of Bangalore. School heads in the early days included

George Uglow Pope George Uglow Pope (24 April 1820 – 11 February 1908), or G. U. Pope, was an Anglican Christian missionary and Tamil scholar who spent 40 years in Tamil Nadu and translated many Tamil texts into English. His popular translations included those ...

, Herbert Pakenham-Walsh, S. T. Pettigrew, William Elphick, Iowerth Lowell Thomas and A. T. Balraj. The Boarding has around 200 students from all over India and also International students from Thailand, Nepal etc. The sister school

Bishop Cotton Girls' School Bishop Cotton Girls' School, or BCGS, is a private all-girls' school for boarders and day scholars in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. The school offers academic scholarships, which aid students from lower income backgrounds to afford tuition and ...

is located on the opposite side of St. Mark's Road.

Origins

The school's past extends back to the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

and the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

with its beginnings in a house on High Grounds over which now stands the great ITC Windsor Hotel. It was started in 1865 by Rev. S T Pettigrew, the then

Chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

of St. Mark's Cathedral who had a vision of starting a school for the education of children of European and

Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people fall into two different groups: those with mixed Indian and British ancestry, and people of British descent born or residing in India. The latter sense is now mainly historical, but confusions can arise. The ''Oxford English ...

families. In his own words, he wanted to "establish a day and boarding School for the Children of

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

residents in the station and its vicinity." The school was named in honour of

George Cotton George Edward Lynch Cotton, Bishop of Calcutta (29 October 1813 – 6 October 1866) was an English educator and clergyman, known for his connections with British India and the public school system. Life in England He was born at Chester, a g ...

, Bishop of Calcutta, under whose stewardship a scheme of education was organized for the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

Churches in India. After India gained independence from the British in 1947, the school began to be, and is still governed by the Church of South India. In the first five years of the school it had three principals. It was only with the arrival of

, a distinguished

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

scholar (who translated the famed

Tirukkuṛaḷ The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' ( ta, திருக்குறள், lit=sacred verses), or shortly the ''Kural'' ( ta, குறள்), is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or kurals, of seven words each. The text ...

into English) that the present site was acquired For Rs 47,500. The boys' school and the girls' school functioned on the same

campus A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a college campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls, student centers or dining halls, and park-like se ...

but under different heads. Under the stewardship of Pope, the school grew from strength to strength. A collegiate section was started and the school obtained recognition from the

University of Madras The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigiou ...

. He gave the School its

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...

– 'Nec Dextrorsum Nec Sinistrorsum', meaning 'Neither to the right nor to the Left'. When Pope left India in 1892 to take up the post of

Reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, the standard of the school began to decline. By 1906, closure of the school was contemplated. Henry Whitehead, Bishop of Madras, the

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the Board of Governors, as a last resort, invited the members of the

Brotherhood Brotherhood or The Brotherhood may refer to: Family, relationships, and organizations * Fraternity (philosophy) or brotherhood, an ethical relationship between people, which is based on love and solidarity * Fraternity or brotherhood, a mal ...

Saint Peter Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...

to save the school from closure. Herbert Pakenham-Walsh, of the Brotherhood of St. Peter, later to become Bishop, revived the school. The school still celebrates St. Peter's day amongst other traditions such as

Guy Fawkes Guy Fawkes (; 13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606), also known as Guido Fawkes while fighting for the Spanish, was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics involved in the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He was born and educated ...

' bonfires. In 1911, the girls' school was moved across the road. William Elphick worked for a quarter of century for the growth of the school. The last living member of the Brotherhood of St Peter in India, Father David, died of old age. He lived and worked in the school as the school

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

General K.S. Thimayya Memorial Trust

The General K.S. Thimayya Memorial Trust pays tribute to the School, in memory of General K. S. Thimayya, Cottonian (1918 to 1922). The Trust organises the annual Thimayya Memorial Lecture, and awards the Thimayya Medal to Cottonians who have demonstrated exemplary public service. The Trust also operates a Benevolent Fund that supports former staff members of the School, monetarily.

Notable alumni

Science

* Nasir Ahmedr, invented the discrete cosine transform.

Military

* Lieutenant General A C Iyappa * Lieutenant General Jameel Mahmood * Major General Sultan Mahmood * Col. Lalit Rai, VrC * William Leefe Robinson, Victoria Cross awardee * Admiral Vijay Singh Shekhawat, former Chief of Naval Staff, Indian Navy * General Sir Frank Simpson, former Chief of Army Staff, Great Britain * General K. S. Thimayya, former Chief of Army Staff, Indian Army * Air Marshall Malcolm Wollen * Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan, VSM

Positions of responsibility

* Norman Majoribanks, former Governor of Madras *

Gopal Krishna Pillai Gopal Krishna Pillai or G. K. Pillai (born 30 Nov 1949) is an Indian Administrative Service (I.A.S) officer and the former Home Secretary in the Government of India. He studied at Bishop Cotton Boys' School, Bangalore and St. Joseph’s College, ...

, former Union Home Secretary, Government of India * Dr. Raja Ramanna, Padma Vibhushan, scientist and former chairman, Atomic Energy Commission. *

Dinesh Gundu Rao Dinesh Gundu Rao (born 9 October 1969) is an Indian politician from INC who is the Incharge of All India Congress Committee of Goa, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. He was the President of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee. and the member of Karn ...

, former minister of state for food, civil supplies and consumer affairs in the government of Karnataka

Entrepreneurs

Nandan Nilekani Nandan Mohanrao Nilekani (born 2 June 1955) is an Indian entrepreneur. He co-founded Infosys and is the non-executive chairman of Infosys replacing R Seshasayee and Ravi Venkatesan, who were the co-chairs of the board, on 24 August 2017. After t ...

, Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) *

Philip Wollen Philip Wollen OAM (born 1950) is an Australian philanthropist, environmentalist and animal rights activist. He is a former Vice-President of Citibank and was also General Manager at Citicorp. Wollen is a vegan and funds projects that protect ch ...

, ex-Vice President of Citibank; philanthropist and social justice advocate *

Rohan Murty Rohan Narayana Murty is a junior fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows, founder of the Murty Classical Library of India and founder and chief technical officer of the digital transformation company Soroco, which specialises in automation u ...

, Indian technical officer, junior fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows, and the founder of the Murty Classical Library of India *

Bharat Goenka Bharat Goenka is an Indian businessman and the co-founder and managing director of Tally Solutions. In 2020, he received the Padma Shri from the Government of India for his contribution in the field of trade and industry. Life Goenka is the son ...

, Co-founder and managing director of Tally Solutions *

Varun Agarwal Varun Agarwal (born 6 December 1986) is an Indian entrepreneur, film maker and author. He has co-founded three companies and authored a national bestseller, '' How I Braved Anu Aunty and Co-Founded a Million Dollar Company''. Early life Brought ...

, founder of Alma Mater

Arts

* Lucky Ali, Bollywood singer * Biddu Appaiah *

Prabhu ''Prabhu'' means master or the Prince in Sanskrit and many of the Indian languages; it is a name sometimes applied to God. The term is also used by devotees of the Hindu God Lord Krishna/Vishnu as a title and form of address. It is also appended ...

Ricky Kej Ricky Kej (born 5 August 1981 - Dhaka, Bangladesh) is a multi- Grammy Award-winning Indian music composer and environmentalist. He has performed at venues in over 30 countries including at the United Nations headquarters in New York and Geneva ...

, composer, music producer * Feroz Khan, actor * Brodha V, Hip hop artist *

Ashvin Mathew Ashvin Matthew is an Indian film and stage actor, stand-up comedian and screenwriter. Personal life Matthew is a Malayali who grew up in Bangalore and is currently settled in Cyprus with his wife who is from the country. His father is a doctor ...

Sports

Brijesh Patel Brijesh Patel (born 24 November 1952) is the incumbent chairman of Indian Premier League and former cricketer who played for the Indian national cricket team as a right-handed batsman from 1974 until 1979. Biography Patel grew up in Ba ...

, Cricketer *

Colin Cowdrey Michael Colin Cowdrey, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge, (24 December 19324 December 2000) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Oxford University (1952–1954), Kent County Cricket Club (1950–1976) and England (1954–1975). Univers ...

, Cricketer *

Mayank Agarwal Mayank Anurag Agarwal (born 16 February 1991)
ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 2012-02-01. is an Indian in ...

, Cricketer *

Eugeneson Lyngdoh Eugeneson Lyngdoh (born 10 September 1986) is a member of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly representing the Mawphlang constituency. He is also a former Indian footballer who lastly played as a midfielder for Indian Super League side East Be ...

, Footballer * David Mathias, Cricketer * Amit Verma, Cricketer * Nihar Ameen, Swimmer

Other notable alumni

* Dr.

N. Ahmed Nasir Ahmed (born 1940 in Bangalore, India) is an Indian-American electrical engineer and computer scientist. He is Professor Emeritus of Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of New Mexico (UNM). He is best known for inventing the ...

, awarded the Pope Medal in 1954; Life FellowLife Fellow
/ref> of the

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...

for his "contributions to digital signal processing and education", 1985; best known for the development of the discrete cosine transform, a

data compression In information theory, data compression, source coding, or bit-rate reduction is the process of encoding information using fewer bits than the original representation. Any particular compression is either lossy or lossless. Lossless compression ...

transformation * Kenneth Anderson, writer * Makarand Paranjape * Dr. Ajit Varki * Prof.

B. Jayant Baliga Bantval Jayant Baliga (born in Chennai) is an Indian electrical engineer best known for his work in power semiconductor devices, and particularly the invention of the insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT). Dr. B. Jayant Baliga wrote: "Power ...

* Varghese Mathai, mathematician *

Mandyam Veerambudi Srinivasan Mandyam Veerambudi Srinivasan AM FRS, also known as "Srini", (born 1948) is an Australian bioengineer and neuroscientist who studies visual systems, particularly those of bees and birds. A faculty member at the University of Queensland, he i ...

References

External links

{{Authority control Church of South India schools Boys' schools in India * Bangalore Civil and Military Station Boarding schools in Karnataka Christian schools in Karnataka High schools and secondary schools in Karnataka Private schools in Bangalore Educational institutions established in 1865 1865 establishments in India