Delhi College

Confluence of Eastern and Western

Delhi, a city with rich history whose very origin from
Indraprastha is still questionable, which faced rise and fall of
some major regime, which faced upheaval in almost every
century, walked hand in hand with world in educating its natives.
Delhi College was an institution which was founded in early 19th
century, the time period in which the question ‘who’s our real
master?’ was a hot topic in Delhi. This college which was
somehow Anglo-Arabic college provided much needed higher-
level education in Delhi. This paper talks about how this college
was virtually divided into two hemisphere and how these two
successfully interacted with each other and educated people with
a mixture of both oriental and western education.

Delhi College was founded in the mid-1820s within the premises

of a pre-existing, declining Madrassah of Ghaziu-d-Din Khan at
Ajmeri Darwaza. This Madrassah was initially founded by Ghaziu-
d-Din Khan Firoz Jang, a nobleman who served the Mughal
Emperor Aurangzeb in Deccan and father of the first Nizam of
Hyderabad.  The Madrassah complex constituted of a mosque and
a two-storeyed arcade that contained rooms for teachers and
students and an enclosed courtyard, with a massive gateway. The
madrassah provided learning in ‘oriental’ studies. With the
revision of East India Charter of 1813, British government took
the responsibility of educating Indians elites. Search for places to
establish educational institute was thus started and in mid 1820s
Delhi Committee of public Instruction showed interest in Khan’s
Madrassah. In 1827, they were granted sum from general
education fund to support oriental leaning and to start English
classes and interestingly taught astronomy and mathematics on
so called European principles. Madrassah was no longer a
madrassah but ‘Delhi College’.

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With the birth of college, two sections of the college were formed-
Oriental and Western Section. In oriental section curriculum
included the study of the classical languages of India like Sanskrit,
Arabic and Persian, as well as the texts and branches associated
with their literature and religion. On the other hand, science,
grammar and composition in modern languages, reading in
history, philosophy, and sciences such as natural philosophy as
well as branches of mathematics and astronomy were taught in
Western Section of college. The College attempted to juxtapose
“oriental” and “western” learning and both were taught through
the medium of Urdu. 
Funding of college was also section wise oriented. Each donation
or patronage was specified for a particular section beforehand. In
1828, Navab I‘timadu ’d-Daula, a minister at the court of Awadh,
established a new vaqf in which he suggested that the part of a
collected income should go to the ‘oriental’ section of Delhi
College. Navab was therefore thanked for ‘munificent donation’ by
GCPI (It was a dedicated official agency formed to look into
education related matters). After getting funds from Navab’s vaqf,
the government funds were assigned to Anglo-vernacular or
western section of the college. Similarly, by mid 1830s officials of
GCPI in Calcutta shifted toward the Anglicists (western).
Delhi college was always associated with the word ‘Delhi
Renaissance’. teachers-students were responsible for the
intellectual flourishing of scientific and literary circles within the
city. Numerous graduates from Delhi College emerged as eminent
personalities in the fields of education, sciences, literature,
translations etc. Some of these include Maulvi Nazir Ahmed who
later became Deputy Collector in British Administration and
helped in the translation of Criminal Code in Urdu and authored
the Urdu novel, Miratu-l-Arus, Muhammad Husain Azad, the
originator of Urdu literary criticism and Maulvi Zakau I'Lah, an
educator who wrote mathematics books in addition to the history
of Victorian reign as "Victoria Nama". Apart from this, the
teachers at Delhi College had closely worked with Sir Syed Ahmed
Khan and the founders of Darul Uloom Deoband.

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Undoubtedly, it is a fact that the Orientalist scholars, British
administrators, and local literati and notables were all part of
making Delhi College. Objective of the college was not only limited
to instruction, but also translation, publication, and
popularization. Vernacularizing, making more knowledge
available to more people.
Translation was one of the most attractive feature of college.
Texts were translated to Urdu from Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit
for oriental section and from English and other western language
for the western section.Also in early 1840s a Vernacular
Translation Society was started by Principal Boutros. This society
translated the textbooks in medicine, law, science, economics and
history from English to Urdu.
Teachers and students both participated in the work of
translation, creating their own textbooks in the
process.Publicaton of these translated book was initially financed
by local individuals but later college founded its own printing
press Matba-ul-Ulum. The government also agreed to finance the
translation of math and geometry texts in order to bring western
sciences to students in the oriental section. The Vernacular
Translation Society, therefore, made it possible for students of
Delhi College to participate in both “the revival and improvement
of literature” and “the promotion of the knowledge of the
sciences,” without any apparent conflict between the two goals.
The curriculum at the college shows that the distinction between
oriental and western learning, while maintained organizationally,
was less clear in practice. Indeed, Boutros hoped to make the
annual exams comparable in all subjects—except literature—for
the students of both sections of the college. The curriculum of the
English institution included many of the same subjects taught in
Oriental. The students learned English and Urdu grammar and
composition, and read literary selections.
In the generation between 1827 and 1857, hundreds of students,
Hindu, Muslim, and a few Christians, attended Delhi College. Many
also went on to become teachers at the college themselves.

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Eventually ,the college was then situated at Kashmiri Gate. On the
fateful day of May 11, 1857, the revolutionaries attacked the
college, science laboratory and library was burnt along with
innumerable, precious manuscripts that were reduced to ashes.
Only reason for the revolutionaries to be angered against the
college was because it provided western education. During the
attack, Principal Taylor was saved by his Muslim servant and
Maulvi Baqir actually gave shelter to Principal Taylor in his Imam
Bara but when this news went out, Maulvi Sahib got Mr. Taylor
him dressed in Hindustani attire and asked him to skip away but
he was recognized at Tiraha Bairam Khan and was mercilessly
killed . He was mourned by one and all.
Ultimately, Delhi college ceased to exist in 1857. The Building was
occupied by troops for many years afterward.
In 1864 after seven years, the institution once again started its
classes in Chandni Chowk with the name Delhi Institute . Only two
classes FA 1st & IInd year, affiliated with Calcutta University in
those days. Bachelors classes were started in 1867 while masters
in 1871 and the college went on till 1877. However, in April 1877
the imperial government decided to close down the institution,
transferring its staff and library to Lahore, despite loud protests
from the citizens of Delhi. At the Delhi Durbar in 1877, the
Lieutenant Governor announced that this college would be closed
down and its assets and classes would be amalgamated with
Government College of Lahore(Punjab). In 1872, the citizens
appealed to the Govt that since the medium of instruction had
changed to English, the proceeds of the Aitmatuddaulah trust
should not be used for the college. Accepting the demand, the govt
started a new Arabic Middle School in Chandni Mahal area of Old
Delhi with the proceeds of Aitmadudaulah trust. Now the Arabic
Middle School at Chandni Mahal which was started in 1872
became a High School in 1884 and shifted to Haveli Ikramullah
Khan in Sirki Walan and with the passage of time, space
constraints came up. The local Delhi elites had not abandoned
their hope of getting back the premises of Delhi College which had
been occupied by the military police since 1867. In 1893 or
1883,not clear till date, they succeeded and won back the

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Ghaziuddin Madrasa and then the Arabic Middle School shifted
back to the original building of Madrasa Ghazi-ud-din at Ajmeri
Gate. In 1926 it became Anglo Arabic Intermediate College and in
1927 it became a degree College and graduated to being called
“Anglo Arabic College”, This Anglo Arabic College came to an
abrupt end in the wake of bloody riots in 1947. But was
reorganized in 1948 on the initiative of Jawaharlal Nehru. It was
then a constituent college and the only college in Delhi teaching
Persian and Arabic in MA classes.

Delhi College hence remained a junction between two cultures.

Macaulay in his Minutes stated that Delhi College was for a class
of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in
opinions, in morals, and in intellect. Although these two sections
of the College remained discrete, the Orientalist-Anglicist
controversy seemed to be much less salient in the Mughal capital
city than it did in the chambers of government in Calcutta. There
is no hesitation is saying that “Delhi college was a successful
collaboration between two traditions – Oriental and Western”.