Universities at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras
College Street, Calcutta
Three Acts of 1857 found examining universities at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras on the London plan, as Wood's Despatch of 1854 proposed.
Charles Wood's Education Despatch of 19 July 1854 proposed universities for the presidency towns. The Legislative Council passed Act II of 1857 for Calcutta on 24 January, Act XXII for Bombay on 18 July and Act XXVII for Madras in September. The first was law before Meerut, and the other two passed while the war was being fought.
The universities were built "on the general plan of the University of London" of that time, so they examined and gave degrees while teaching stayed in affiliated colleges. Their reach was therefore much larger than three cities. English-medium colleges across the presidencies prepared students for the same papers, and a single degree became the way into government service and the bar. The pin marks College Street, home of the University of Calcutta.
The graduates they produced staffed the Raj and also led the first political associations against it. That was not what the Council had in view in 1857.
- colonial
- political