Presidency College, Chennai

Presidency College is an arts, commerce and science college in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. Established as the Madras Preparatory School on 16 October 1840 and later, upgraded to a high school and then, graduate college, the Presidency College is one of the oldest government arts colleges in India. It is one of the two Presidency colleges established by the British in India, the other being the Presidency College, Kolkata.

Presidency College
Former name
Madras Preparatory School, Madras High School
TypeGovernment College
Established1840 (1840)
Students3894
Undergraduates3105
Postgraduates789
Location
Wallajah Road, Chepauk, Chennai, India
CampusUrban
NicknamePresidencians
AffiliationsUniversity of Madras
Websitepresidencycollegechennai.ac.in
The main buildings of the Presidency College, Chennai

History
Historical photograph of the college (from the Illustrated London News, 1870)

At the behest of Sir Thomas Munro, a Committee of Public Instruction was formed in 1826. In 1836, the duties of the committee were taken over by a "Committee of Native Education". The plans drawn up by the committee did not commend themselves to the Governor of Madras, Lord Elphinstone, who in turn proposed nineteen resolutions, which were passed unanimously.[1]

As first principal, the choice of Elphinstone fell on E. B. Powell, a University of Cambridge Wrangler in mathematics, who accepted the post. Powell reached Mumbai (Bombay) on 20 September 1840 but did not arrive at Chennai (Madras) until 24 November, the journey from Bombay to Madras taking some four weeks. In the meantime, the committee had invited a Mr Cooper, from the Hoogly College, Kolkata (Calcutta), to carry out the duties of principal temporarily, at a salary of Rs. 400 a month. Cooper accepted the invitation and came to Chennai (Madras). He and his staff opened Presidency School, a preparatory school, in a rented building in Egmore known as Edinburgh Home on 16 October 1840. Cooper remained in the preparatory school for only a few months. Soon after Eyre Burton Powell's arrival and before the opening of the high school department on 12 April 1841, he returned to Kolkata (Calcutta). The preparatory school was shifted to Popham's Broadway in 1841.[1]

The schools grew into Presidency College. When the University of Madras was founded in 1857, Presidency College was affiliated to it.[1]

In 1870, the college moved to its present location in Kamaraj Salai, opposite Marina Beach.[2]

Courses
Close up view of the main entrance to the Presidency College

Arts
  • Tamil Literature [Tamil]
  • History [English and Tamil]
  • Political Science [English and Tamil]
  • Economics [English and Tamil]
  • Economics [English and Tamil] (with vocational subject)
  • English Literature [English]
  • Telugu Literature [Telugu]
  • Hindi Literature [Hindi]
  • Malayalam Literature [Malayalam]
  • Urdu Literature [Urdu]

Sciences
  • Mathematics [English and Tamil]

Commerce
  • Corporate Secretaryship [English]

Arts and social science
  • History
  • Political Science
  • Public Administration
  • Economics
  • Tamil
  • Telugu
  • English
  • Sanskrit
  • Social work (MSW)

Sciences
The clock tower atop the building
  • Computer Science (MCA),
  • Mathematics
  • Statistics
  • Physics
  • Chemistry
  • Botany
  • Zoology
  • Geology
  • Geography
  • Applied Microbiology
  • Psychology

M.Phil. courses
  • English
  • History
  • Political Science
  • Public Administration
  • Economics
  • Tamil
  • Telugu
  • Sanskrit
  • Mathematics
  • Chemistry
  • Botany
  • Zoology
  • Computer Science
  • Geography
  • Commerce

Doctorate courses

Facilities for research leading to the Ph.D. degree are available in the

  • Mathematics,
  • Computer Science,
  • Statistics,
  • Physics,
  • Chemistry,
  • Botany,
  • Zoology,
  • Geology,
  • Geography,
  • History,
  • Political Science,
  • Public Administration,
  • Economics,
  • Commerce,
  • English,
  • Tamil,
  • Sanskrit and
  • Telugu

departments.

Senior Mathematics Intermediate Group, Break-up social, 3 March 1941

Rankings
College rankings
General – India
NIRF (Colleges) (2020)[3]5

Presidency College, Chennai is ranked fifth among colleges in India by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) in 2020.

Notable alumni

Notable faculty

References
  1. "The History of Presidency College". archives.chennaionline.com. Archived from the original on 13 November 2009. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
  2. http://www.hindu.com/2007/03/05/stories/2007030515050200.htm
  3. "National Institutional Ranking Framework 2020 (Colleges)". National Institutional Ranking Framework. Ministry of Education. 11 June 2020.
  4. "Alagappa Alagappan, 88, Dies; Founded Hindu Temples Across U.S." Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  5. "Setting an old record straight". The Hindu. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  6. Thadathil, George (2002). "The Making of a Tradition: The Vision of Nataraja Guru" (PDF). Divyadaan. 13 (2): 159–190. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 March 2014.
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