Hindu School is a state government-administered school in Kolkata (Calcutta), India. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest modern educational institution in Asia (then known as ''Hindu College''). The institution played a key role during Bengal Renaissance period. It is located on

College Street College Street may refer to: *College Street (Kolkata) *College Street (Toronto) * College Street (Sydney) *College Street (York) College Green is an open space in the city centre of York, England. History The green lies within the historic pr ...

, in the vicinity of

Hare School Hare School is one of the oldest schools in Kolkata, India, teaching grades one to twelve under the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education and the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education. It is a state government-administered boys sc ...

, College Square, Presidency University, Sanskrit College, Calcutta Medical College and the University of Calcutta.

History

With the establishment of the Supreme Court of Calcutta in 1773 many Hindus of Bengal showed eagerness to learn the English language.

David Hare David Hare may refer to: *David Hare (philanthropist) (1775–1842), Scottish philanthropist *David Hare (artist) (1917–1992), American sculptor and photographer *David Hare (playwright) (born 1947), English playwright and theatre and film direc ...

, in collaboration with Raja Radhakanta Deb had already taken steps to introduce English education in Bengal. Babu Baidyanath Mukhopadhya advanced the introduction of English as a medium of instruction further by enlisting the support of Sir Edward Hyde East, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Fort William who called a meeting of 'European and Hindu Gentlemen' in his house in May 1816. The purpose of the meeting was to "discuss the proposal to establish an institution for giving a liberal education to the children of the members of the Hindu Community". The proposal was received with unanimous approbation and a donation of over Rs. 100, 000 was promised for the setting up of the new college. Raja Ram Mohan Roy showed full sympathy for the scheme but chose not to come out in support of the proposal publicly for fear of "alarming the prejudices of his orthodox countrymen and thus marring the whole idea". The college was formally opened on Monday, 20 January 1817 with 20 'scholars'. The foundation committee of the college, which oversaw its establishment, was headed by Raja Rammohan Roy. The control of the institution was vested in a body of two Governors and four Directors. The first Governors of the college were Maharaja Tejchandra Bahadur of Burdwan and Gopee Mohan Thakoor. The first Directors were

Gopi Mohun Deb Gopi Mohun Deb (1798-1847)A Biographical Sketch of David Hare - by Peary Chand Mitra, Gauranga Gopal Sengupta - 1979 Page 176 was one of scions the Shovabazar Raj family, a noted philanthropist educationist and foremost leader of Calcutta's Hind ...

of Sobhabazar, Joykissen Sinha, Radha Madhab Banerjee and Gunganarain Doss. Buddinath Mukherjee was appointed as the first Secretary of the college. The newly established college admitted Hindu students only from affluent and upper caste families. At first the classes were held in a house belonging to Gorachand Bysack of Garanhatta (later renamed 304, Chitpore Road), which was rented by the college. In January 1818 the college moved to 'Feringhi Kamal Bose's house' which was located nearby in Chitpore.This building is a historic one because Raja Ram Mohan Roy inaugurated his Brahma Sabha there and Alexander Duff of the Scottish Missionary Board started his educational establishment, the

General Assembly's Institution Scottish Church College is a college affiliated by Calcutta University, India. It offers selective co-educational undergraduate and postgraduate studies and is the oldest continuously running Christian liberal arts and sciences college in ...

there as well a few years later in 1830. From Chitpore, the college moved to

Bowbazar Bowbazar ( bn, বৌবাজার, also spelt ''Boubazar''; formerly known as Bahubazar) is a neighbourhood of Central Kolkata, in Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal. History On Lt. Col. Mark Wood's map of 1784, the portion o ...

and later to the building that now houses the Sanskrit College on

. In 1855 the 'Pathshala' part was renamed as Hindu School and the 'Mahapathshala' part became Presidency College, Kolkata.

Medium of education

Hindu School had been providing education primarily in Bengali medium until 2017, prior to its bi-centenary, when it has been decided to introduce English as the second medium of imparting education.

Notable alumni

Short notable alumni list *

Young Bengal The Young Bengal was a group of Bengali free thinkers emerging from Hindu College, Calcutta. They were also known as Derozians, after their firebrand teacher at Hindu College, Henry Louis Vivian Derozio. The Young Bengal Movement peripherally ...

s *

Satyendranath Tagore Satyendranath Tagore (1 June 1842 – 9 January 1923) was an Indian Bengali civil servant, poet, composer, writer, social reformer and linguist from Kolkata, West Bengal. He was the first Indian who became an Indian Civil Service officer in 1863 ...

. * Jyotirindranath Tagore.Sengupta, Subodh Chandra and Bose, Anjali (editors), 1976/1998, ''Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan'', pp. 184-185 * Taraknath Palit *

Bhaktivinoda Thakur Bhaktivinoda Thakur (, ) (2 September 1838 – 23 June 1914), born Kedarnath Datta (, ), was a Hindu philosopher, guru and spiritual reformer of Gaudiya Vaishnavism who effected its resurgence in India in late 19th and early 20th century and ...

Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee Womesh Chandra Bannerjee (or Umesh Chandra Banerjee by current English orthography of Bengali names; 29 December 1844 – 21 July 1906) was an Indian barrister. He was a co-founder and the first president of Indian National Congress. Born on 1 ...

* Satyendra Nath Bose *

Chhabi Biswas Chhabi Biswas (''Chabi Biśbās'') (13 July 1900 – 11 June 1962) was an Indian actor, primarily known for his performances in Tapan Sinha's '' Kabuliwala'' and Satyajit Ray's films '' Jalshaghar'' (''The Music Room'', 1958), '' Devi'' ( ...

Birendranath Sircar Birendranath Sircar (also Sarkar; 5 July 1901 – 28 November 1980) was an Indian film producer and the founder of New Theatres Calcutta. He made Bengali-language films that were noted for introducing many film directors who later became famo ...

Nitin Bose Nitin Bose (26 April 1897 – 14 April 1986) was an Indian film director, cinematographer and screenwriter of the nation's film industry. He was born in Calcutta and died in the same city. In the 1930s and early 1940s, he worked with New Theatre ...

* Meghnad Saha * Michael Modhusudan Dutt * Prasanna Kumar Tagore *

Rajendralal Mitra Raja Rajendralal Mitra (16 February 1822 – 26 July 1891) was among the first Indian cultural researchers and historians writing in English. A polymath and the first Indian president of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, he was a pioneering figur ...

Peary Chand Mitra Peary Chand Mitra (22 July 1814 – 23 November 1883) was an Indian writer, journalist, cultural activist and entrepreneur. His pseudonym was Tek Chand Thakur. He was a member of Henry Derozio's Young Bengal group, who played a leading role ...

* Dr. Pratap Chandra Chunder * Keshob Chandra Sen *

Nisith Ranjan Ray Nisith Ranjan Ray (born 1910–1994) was an Indian historian, social activist and the founder of the Society for Preservation, Calcutta, an organisation working for the preservation of the cultural heritage of Kolkata. Born in Mymensingh Distric ...

* Rishi Rajnarayan Bosu *

Anandamohan Bose Ananda Mohan Bose ( bn, আনন্দমোহন বসু) (23 September 1847 – 20 August 1906) was an Indian politician, academician, social reformer, and lawyer during the British Raj. He co-founded the Indian National Association, one ...

* Kaliprasanna Singha * Radharaman Mitra *

Kulada Charan Das Gupta Kulada Charan Das Gupta ( 3 January 1900 – 14 February 1987) was the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court and Judge of the Supreme Court of India. Early life Kulada Charan Das Gupta was born in a Bengali middle class family of Kalia village (pr ...

Sankar Das Banerji Sankar Das Banerji (January 1903 – 23 March 1994) was a Bengali Indian politician and barrister. He was the Speaker of West Bengal State Assembly and former Finance Minister of West Bengal. Banerji was a prominent criminal lawyer of his time in ...

* Santosh Kumar Mitra

References

External links

* {{coord, 22.575697, 88.363713, type:landmark, display=title Boys' schools in India Schools in Colonial India Presidency University, Kolkata High schools and secondary schools in Kolkata Educational institutions established in 1817 1817 establishments in British India Hinduism in Kolkata Hindu universities and colleges Hindu schools in India