Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, also referred to as Deccan College, is a post-graduate institute of
Archeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
,
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
and
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
&
Lexicography
Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries.
* Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries.
* Theoretica ...
in
Pune
Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
.
History
Early years (1821 to 1939)
Established on 6 October 1821 as Hindoo College, it is one of the oldest institutions of modern learning in India. It was started under
Mountstuart Elphinstone
Mountstuart Elphinstone (6 October 1779 – 20 November 1859) was a Scottish statesman and historian, associated with the government of British India. He later became the Governor of Bombay (now Mumbai) where he is credited with the open ...
(Lt. Governor of
Bombay Presidency
The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...
), with funds diverted from the erstwhile Peshwa's Dakshina Fund, later disbursed by Sardar Khanderao Dabhade after the Territories of the
Peshwa
The Peshwa (Pronunciation: e(ː)ʃʋaː was the appointed (later becoming hereditary) prime minister of the Maratha Empire of the Indian subcontinent. Originally, the Peshwas served as subordinates to the Chhatrapati (the Maratha king); later, ...
were annexed in 1818. It was also known as the Poona Sanskrit College. The first principal was Major
Thomas Candy
Thomas Candy (13 December 1804 - 26 February 1877) was an English educator with a lifelong association to India, who made lasting contributions to the lexicography, orthography, and stylistics of the Marathi language.
Article on 'कॅँडी, ...
.
In 1837, English and other modern subjects were added to the curriculum. An English school was added to the college in 1842; on 7 June 1851 the English school was merged with the Hindoo College to form
Poona College
The Poona College of Arts, Science and Commerce is a Muslim minority academic institution in Pune, Maharashtra, India. It was established in the year 1970 by the Anjuman Khairul Islam ( A.K.I) trust, Mumbai. It consists of a Junior College (11 ...
. In 1857, the principal was Sir
Edwin Arnold
Sir Edwin Arnold KCIE CSI (10 June 183224 March 1904) was an English poet and journalist, who is most known for his work ''The Light of Asia''.Vishrambaug Wada
Vishrambaag Wada ( mr, विश्रामबाग वाडा), a fine mansion situated at central Pune's Thorale Bajirao Road, was the luxurious residence of Peshwa Baji Rao II, the last Peshwa of Maratha confederacy, in early 19th century ...
and later in Wanwadi, the Poona College was shifted to its present large campus near Yerwada. The land was donated by the Bombay government. The foundation stone of the main building was laid on 15 October 1864. A Victorian neo-Gothic building was constructed by Sir
Henry Bartle Frere
Sir Henry Bartle Edward Frere, 1st Baronet, (29 March 1815 – 29 May 1884) was a Welsh British colonial administrator. He had a successful career in India, rising to become Governor of Bombay (1862–1867). However, as High Commissioner for ...
with a munificent 1,00,000 rupees from
Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, 2nd Baronet
The Jejeebhoy Baronetcy (sometimes spelled Jeejeebhoy), of Bombay, is a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created 6 August 1857 for Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, a prominent Parsee merchant and philanthropist who was the first Par ...
, between
Kirkee
Khadki is a cantonment in the city of Pune, India. It has now flourished as a quasi-metropolis & centered in the northern region of the city.
Description
Khadki could be considered an Indian Army base, along with an ordnance factory consisting ...
and
Yerwada
Yerawada is a neighbourhood of the city of Pune in the state of Maharashtra, India. Before that British Raj Yerawada was known as ''Yeraoda.'' Yerawada is one of the most densely populated areas in Pune. It is located at the beginning of Ahmedn ...
.
The college started functioning on the new campus on 23 March 1868. At this stage it was renamed as Deccan College in recognition of the enrollment of students from the entire
Deccan
The large Deccan Plateau in South India, southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bou ...
region. Until 1881, Deccan College was staffed by four professors, one acting as principal. Another of the four, the professor of Oriental languages, supervised five traditional Sanskrit
shastri
Shastri or Shastry is a Brahmin surname. The word ''shastri'' translates to 'scholar'. It is derived from Sanskrit and means one who is proficient in the Shastras (Ancient Indian Texts). Notable people with the surname include:
Shastri
* Anant ...
s and an expert in Zend
Pahlevi
Pahlavi is a particular, exclusively written form of various Middle Iranian languages. The essential characteristics of Pahlavi are:
*the use of a specific Aramaic-derived script;
*the incidence of Aramaic words used as heterograms (called '' ...
in an extensive program of research and text publication, in addition to his teaching duties. Student enrollment rose to a peak of 210 in 1885. William Wordsworth (grandson of the poet
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798).
Wordsworth's ' ...
) and E.A. Wodehouse (brother of
P.G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jee ...
) were principals of the college during 1862-74 and 1934-39 respectively.
Recent history (1939 till present)
Deccan College temporarily shut down its teaching activities in 1934 due to lack of funding. It was reopened by order of the
Bombay High Court
The High Court of Bombay is the high court of the states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily at Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), and is one of the ol ...
on 17 August 1939 as a post-graduate and research institute for promoting higher learning and research in
Indology
Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the History of India, history and Culture of India, cultures, Languages of South Asia, languages, and Indian literature, literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a ...
and
Social Sciences
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soci ...
. The re-opened institute originally had four teaching and research departments: Archaeology, Linguistics, History, and Sociology-Anthropology.
A Transfer Deed was passed by the Hon’ble Bombay High Court on 16 August 1939 by which the court enjoined the state government to run the institute in perpetuity. As per the Transfer Deed the Deccan College Poona Trust came into existence in which were vested the properties including the land and buildings. In accordance with the provision in the Transfer Deed, the appointments of the Trustees today are made by the State Government.
It was incorporated by the Poona University (now
University of Pune
Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), formerly the University of Poona, is a collegiate public state university located in the city of Pune, India. It was established in 1949, and is spread over a campus in the neighbourhood of Ganeshk ...
) in 1948, becoming one of its recognized institutions.
The state government was entrusted with preparing the rules for the administration and management of the Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, which was to cater to studies in post-graduate and research in heritage-related subjects. Thus the Management Council came into existence. In the next half-century the institute, apart from giving instruction to postgraduate students and producing over 500 PhD dissertations, carried out outstanding research in Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, Linguistics, Medieval and Maratha History, Sociology-Anthropology and Sanskrit Studies.
In recognition of the excellence achieved by the institute in teaching and research, the H.R.D. Ministry, Government of India, awarded it the status of a Deemed University on 5 March 1990. It started functioning as Deemed University from 1 June 1994. Since then the institute has conducted its own courses for M.A. degree and P.G. diploma in Archaeology, M.A. degree in Linguistics, and M.A. degree in Sanskrit and Lexicography, and has enrolled a large number of students for the PhD degree in these disciplines.
Currently, Deccan College has three teaching and research departments: Archaeology, Linguistics and Sanskrit and Lexicography. On the premises are two museums: the Museum of Maratha History, and the Museum of Archaeology. As of 2016, it is currently involved in the ongoing multi-year excavation of the largest
Indus Valley civilization
The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form 2600 BCE to 1900&n ...
site of
Rakhigarhi
Rakhigarhi or Rakhi Garhi is a village and an archaeological site belonging to the Indus Valley civilisation in Hisar District of the northern Indian state of Haryana, situated about 150 km northwest of Delhi. It was part of the mature pha ...
in
Hisar district
Hisar district is one of the 22 districts of Haryana, India. Hisar city serves as the district headquarters. Hisar district has four sub-divisions that is, Hisar, Barwala, Hansi and Narnaud, each headed by an SDM. The district is also part of H ...
of
Haryana
Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...
.
Extra-academic
Deccan College had the oldest boat club in India, called the Poonah Boat Club. The site has since been discontinued and is completely overrun by the slums behind Shadal Baba Dargah.Illustration 'India: The Poonah Boat Club: Bringing Down the Boats' in ''The Graphic'' (6 October 1877), p. 332.
Notable professors
*
Edward Hamilton Aitken
Edward Hamilton Aitken (16 August 1851, in Satara, India – 11 April 1909, in Edinburgh) was a civil servant in India, better known for his humorist writings on natural history in India and as a founding member of the Bombay Natural History Soc ...
*
Edwin Arnold
Sir Edwin Arnold KCIE CSI (10 June 183224 March 1904) was an English poet and journalist, who is most known for his work ''The Light of Asia''.F.W. Bain
Francis William Bain (29 April 1863 – 24 February 1940) was a British writer of fantasy stories that he claimed were translated from Sanskrit.
Biography
He was born on 29 April 1863, the son of Joseph Bain. He was educated at Westminster S ...
* R.G. Bhandarkar (Acting Professor of Sanskrit, 1889–90, and Permanent Professor of Sanskrit, 1882-1893)
*
Madhukar Keshav Dhavalikar
Madhukar Keshav Dhavalikar (M. K. Dhavalikar; 16 May 1930 – 27 March 2018) was an Indian historian and archaeologist.
Life and career
Dhavalikar was born in 1930 at Patas, Bombay State (now Maharashtra). He received B.A. in Economics and Po ...
*
Shivram Dattatray Joshi
Shivram Dattatray Joshi (1926–2013) also known as S. D. Joshi, was an Indian Sanskrit scholar and grammarian based in Pune, Maharashtra.
Life
Personal life
Joshi was born in a family of Sanskrit scholars in Ratnagiri in Konkan, Maharashtra. ...
*
Narayan Govind Kalelkar
Narayan Govind Kalelkar (Devanagari: नारायण गोविंद कालेलकर) (December 11, 1909 - 1989) was a linguist from Maharashtra, India.
He was born in the village of Bambuli in Ratnagiri District. He received his ea ...
*
Irawati Karve
Irawati Karve (15 December 1905 – 11 August 1970) was a pioneering Indian sociologist, anthropologist, educationist and writer from Maharashtra, India. She was one of the students of G.S. Ghurye, founder of Indian Sociology & Sociol ...
Lorenz Franz Kielhorn
Lorenz Franz Kielhorn (31 May 1840, Osnabrück - 19 March 1908, Göttingen) was a German Indologist.
He studied under Theodor Benfey at the University of Göttingen, where he became member of Burschenschaft Hannovera (fraternity), and under Ado ...
Syed Sulaiman Nadvi
Syed Sulaiman Nadvi (—; 22 November 1884 – 22 November 1953) was a Pakistani historian, writer and scholar of Islam. He co-authored ''Sirat-un-Nabi'' and wrote ''Khutbat-e-Madras''.K. Paddayya
*
Hasmukh Dhirajlal Sankalia
Hasmukh Dhirajlal Sankalia (10 December 1908 – 28 January 1989) was an Indian Sanskrit scholar and archaeologist specialising in proto- and ancient Indian history. He is considered to have pioneered archaeological excavation techniques in In ...
Madhukar Keshav Dhavalikar
Madhukar Keshav Dhavalikar (M. K. Dhavalikar; 16 May 1930 – 27 March 2018) was an Indian historian and archaeologist.
Life and career
Dhavalikar was born in 1930 at Patas, Bombay State (now Maharashtra). He received B.A. in Economics and Po ...
(Reader in Ancient Indian History Culture and Archaeology, 1967-1980, Professor, 1980-1990, Joint-Director, 1982–1985, Director, 1985–1990)
Notable alumni
*
Gopal Ganesh Agarkar
''Gopal Ganesh Agarkar'' (14 July 1856 – 17 June 1895) was an Indian social reformer, educationist, and thinker from Maharashtra, India.
At one time a close associate of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, he was co-founder of multiple educational in ...
*
Senapati Bapat
Pandurang Mahadev Bapat (12 November 1880 – 28 November 1967), popularly known as Senapati Bapat, was a figure in the Indian independence movement. He acquired the title of ''Senapati'', meaning ''commander'', as a consequence of his lea ...
*
Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande
Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande (10 August 1860 – 19 September 1936) was an Indian musicologist who wrote the first modern treatise on Hindustani classical music, an art which had been propagated for centuries mostly through oral traditions. ...
*
Vishnushastri Krushnashastri Chiplunkar
Vishnushastri Chiplunkar (20 May 1850 – 17 March 1882) ( Marathi : विष्णुशास्त्री कृष्णाशास्त्री चिपळूणकर) was a Marathi writer, whose writings have had a decisive influ ...
*
P. B. Gajendragadkar
Pralhad Balacharya Gajendragadkar (16 March 1901 – 12 June 1981) originally from Gajendra-Gad, a historic fort and town in southern India was the 7th Chief Justice of India, serving from February 1964 to March 1966.
Career
Prahlad Bal ...
Shripad Krushna Kolhatkar Shripad Krushna Kolhatkar ( mr, श्रीपाद कृष्ण कोल्हटकर) (1871-1934) was a Marathi writer from Maharashtra, India.
He was born on June 29, 1871 in Buldana. While in high school, he wrote a play named ''Sukha ...
*
Moropant Vishvanath Joshi
Sir Moropant Vishvanath Joshi (October 1861 – 1962) was a leading barrister, social reformer and politician from Amravati, Central Provinces and Berar.
Joshi was born in an eminent Chitpavan Brahmin family, the son of Vishvanath Raghunath Jo ...
*
Narasimha Chintaman Kelkar
Narasimha Chintaman Kelkar (N. C. Kelkar), popularly known as Sahityasamrat Tatyasaheb Kelkar (24 August 1872 – 14 October 1947), was a lawyer from Miraj as well as a dramatist, novelist, short story writer, poet, biographer, critic, historia ...
*
Dwarkanath Kotnis
Dwarakanath Shantaram Kotnis ( Marathi: द्वारकानाथ शांताराम कोटणीस ; 10 October 1910 in India – 9 December 1942 in China), also known by his Chinese name Ke Dihua (), was one of the five Indian p ...
*
Vishwanath Kashinath Rajwade
Vishwanath Kashinath Rajwade (12 July 1863 – 31 December 1926), popularly known as ''Itihasacharya'' Rajwade, was a historian, scholar, writer, commentator and orator from Maharashtra, India. He is considered to be the first in real sense to unde ...
*
Ramachandra Dattatrya Ranade
Ramchandra Dattatray Ranade (1886–1957) was an Indian scholar-philosopher-saint of Karnataka and Maharashtra.
Biography
He was born on 3 July 1886 in Jamakhandi, in Bagalkot District of Karnataka. After completing his schooling he studied ...
Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Bal Gangadhar Tilak (; born Keshav Gangadhar Tilak (pronunciation: eʃəʋ ɡəŋɡaːd̪ʱəɾ ʈiɭək; 23 July 1856 – 1 August 1920), endeared as Lokmanya (IAST: ''Lokmānya''), was an Indian nationalist, teacher, and an independence a ...