Elphinstone College

Elphinstone College
Established	1856
Type	public
Principal	Dr. Pratima Jadhav.
Location	Mumbai, India 18.9271°N 72.8312°E / 18.9271; 72.8312
Campus	urban
Nickname	Elphi
Affiliations	University of Mumbai
Website	www.elphinstonecollege.in

Elphinstone College is an institution of higher education affiliated to the University of Mumbai. Established in 1856, it is one of the oldest colleges of the University of Mumbai. It was exalted as a prestigious seat of learning during the British Raj and is generally observed for its vibrant alumni. It is reputed for producing several luminaries like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Pherozshah Mehta, and Jamshedji Tata. It is further observed for having played a key role in spread of Western education in the Bombay Presidency.

The year 2006 marked the Sesquicentennial celebrations of the college (1856–2006). At present it offers undergraduate level courses in the arts, sciences and commerce and is under the Governance of Maharashtra Government.

Locally, the college is famous for its 'Romanesque Transitional' style building that has been recently categorized as Grade I Heritage structure.

History

Mountstuart Elphinstone

A photograph of Elphinstone College taken before 1904

By 19th century Bombay was a prosperous centre for maritime trade and commerce. In 1824 an English school was set up by the Bombay Native Education Society for Indian students (while the opinion in Britain was against educating the 'natives').

In 1827 a resolution was passed that an institution for promotion of education should be established under Bombay Native Education Society and be designated as "Elphinstone College" (distinct from High School). This is after Hon. Mountstuart Elphinstone, the departing Governor of Bombay who was responsible for beginning higher education in the city. Rs.2,29,636.00 was collected by public subscription to fund teaching professorships in the English language and the Arts, Science and Literature of Europe. The professorships were in honour of Mountstaurt Elphinstone. The College was formally constituted in 1835. The classes commenced in 1836, at Town Hall, with the first two professors: Arthur Bedford Orlebar (Natural Philosophy) and John Harkness (General Literature).

In 1840, the professors' classes were amalgamated with the Society's High School to form the Elphinstone Native Education Institution. In 1945, the name was shortened to Elphinstone Institution.

Elphinstone College became a distinct institution, separated from the High School, on 1 April 1856. This year is officially considered to be the year of establishment of Elphinstone College.

The College was affiliated to University of Bombay in 1860.

Role in inception of Bombay University and other prominent colleges

• University of Bombay was established in the year 1857. Inception classes were held at Elphinstone college and was subsequently to moved to the present fort campus.

• To formalize legal education, a chair of Jurisprudence was set up, called Perry Professorship, at Elphinstone Institution in 1855. The same year, Dr. R. T. Reid (LL. B. Bar-at-Law) was appointed the first Perry professor of Jurisprudence and the Government Law School as it was then called. This is taken as the inception of the Government Law College Mumbai.

• It was suggested that premises Elphinstone College be used (during Morning Hours) for initial Classes of Jaihind College. The proposal was accepted and admission started for the Arts faculty in June 1948, with a formal inauguration in September 1948 at the Elphinstone College Library Hall.

• Sir J J School of Arts was founded in 1857 and was instituted to take up drawing classes. Initial classes were held at Elphinstone Institution.

Academics

Elphinstone College Mumbai

Elphinstone college, like many other colleges of Mumbai, constitutes two different academic entities: Senior and Junior colleges.

Senior college is affiliated to University of Mumbai and imparts education leading to Bachelor degrees while Junior college is monitored by HSC Board and provides higher secondary education.

Courses offered

Senior college

• B.Sc in Basic Sciences, Information Technology, Biotechnology
• B.A in Ancient Indian Culture, Economics, English, French, German, Geography, Hindi, History, Marathi, Mathematics, Statistics, Sociology
• B.Com
• B.B.A in Hotel and Tourism Management

Junior college

• HSC in Arts, Commerce and Science

Facilities

• Hostels: Government Colleges Hostel for boys; Telang Memorial Hostel and Savitridevi Phule Hostel for girls.
• Gymkhana
• Computing facilities
• Well-endowed Library (with more than 90,000 books)

Noteworthy features

Legacy

The legacy of the College as a center of excellence was unparalleled in western India. During British Raj it was most coveted among colleges, standing alongside Presidency Colleges of Calcutta and Madras. However, post independence its standards declined and more so in the recent times. This is generally attributed to government negligence and red tapism.

College building

The building of the College, with its gothic architecture, has been classified as a grade 1 heritage structure. It is one of the most identified buildings of South Mumbai as a symbol British Raj Heritage.

Festivals

TechTsar Logo

The I.T. Department of the College organizes the techfest known as TechTsar (King of Technology). The Motto of the Festival is "Merging Talent With Technology." It was started in 2009. The festival consists of many events such C and Java Debugging, LAN Gaming, Quiz, Debate, Photography, Logo Designing, Grand Prix, Treasure Hunt etc. Students from many colleges across Mumbai, Thane & Navi Mumbai participated in this Festival. The festival takes place in the final week of November. Currently in its second year it was even more successful than the previous year with a huge rise in the number of participants.

The Biotechnology Department of the college organizes the festival known as PRIMERS. It had started in 2009. The festival consists of various seminars by well known speakers and continued by various events in which the students of various colleges of Mumbai and Thanem participate. The name of various events are 1.Treasure Hunt 2.Quiz 3.Musical Chairs 4.Technical Paper Presentation ....and many more This year the Fest was scheduled on 2nd, 3rd and 4 December 2010. This year the students had also organized a Job Fair for All the college students with free entry and are concluding the event with a Fashion Show. The Grand Finale of the Fashion Show was scheduled on 4 December 2010.

The Students Of F.Y., S.Y., and T.Y. Biotechnology together work very hard for the success of this Grand Event

Location

The College has an enviable location, in Kala Ghoda area of South Mumbai. Several landmarks, Business Districts and waters of Arabian Sea are at close proximity.

The College is easily accessible both by train (from Churchgate and CST) and bus.

The well-known Jehangir Art Gallery is across the street as also entrance to the Museum.

Trivia

• Not all of College building belongs to the college! Around half the floor area is shared with Maharashtra Archives Department.

• The Building was originally meant for Government central press and was constructed by generous donation of Sir Cowasjee Jahengir. It cost the then princely sum of Rs 7,50,000/-

Notable alumni

Jamshetji Tata, an alumunus of Elphinstone College

• Dadabhai Naoroji - Intellectual, educator, cotton trader, and an early Indian political leader, being the first Asian to sit in the British House of Commons.
• Dr. B. R. Ambedkar - An Indian jurist, scholar, Bahujan political leader, a Buddhist revivalist, and the chief architect of the Indian Constitution.
• Iskander Mirza, last Governor-General of the Dominion of Pakistan and the first President of Pakistan
• Sonal Mansingh - Padma Vibhushan, Odissi dancer.
• Kishori Amonkar - Padma Vibhushan, Hindustani classical music performer.
• Ranjit Hoskote - noted poet, art critic, cultural theorist and curator.
• Madhav Apte - Cricketer
• Homi J. Bhabha - A nuclear physicist who had a major role in the development of the Indian atomic energy program.
• R.G.Bhandarkar - Scholar and social reformer.
• Bhulabhai Desai - An acclaimed lawyer involved in the Indian independence movement.
• C. D. Deshmukh - Economist and former Finance Minister of India
• P. L. Deshpande - Well-known Marathi author, playwright, performing artist, director and music director.
• M.V. Rajadhyaksha, noted Marathi writer and critic
• Sanjay Dutt - Filmfare winning Bollywood actor.
• Virachand Gandhi - Represented Jainism at the first ever World Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893.
• Sanjay Ghose - Rural management, community health, development media
• Anand Kurian, Writer, activist, marketing theorist
• Raghavan N. Iyer - Philosopher & academic.
• Gopal Krishna Gokhale - Founding member of the Indian independence movement, social reformer.
• Mukesh Khanna - Television actor.
• Pherozeshah Mehta - A political leader, activist, and leading lawyer, who was knighted by the British Government for his service to the law.
• Vijay Merchant - Cricketer
• Dattu Phadkar - Cricketer.
• Mahadev Govind Ranade - Judge, author, and social reformer.
• Swaroop Sampat - Former Miss India and Bollywood actress.
• Jamsedji Tata - Entrepreneur and industrialist, founder of the Tata group.
• Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata
• Kashinath Trimbak Telang - Judge and oriental scholar.
• Bal Gangadhar Tilak - Nationalist, social reformer and freedom fighter, who was the first popular leader of the Indian Independence Movement.
• Venkanna H. Naik was a Barrister from Lincoln's Inn and a graduate from Cambridge.
• Ajit Wadekar - International cricketer, later served as both captain and manager of the Indian cricket team.
• Arjun Appadurai - postcolonial scholar of global media and culture.
• Sujata Manohar, former Judge of the Supreme Court of India.
• Hormasji Maneckji Seervai, former Advocate General of Maharashtra.
• Rajkumar Pratap Aditya Singh Deo, Rajkumar of Saraikhela, Jharkhand.
• Rajkumar Debasish Singh Deo, Rajkumar of Saraikhela, Jharkhand.
• Homi K. Bhabha, Anne F. Rothenberg Professor of English and American Literature and Language and Director of the Humanities Center, Harvard University
• Manish Malhotra, Fashion Designer.
• Devdatta Dabholkar educationist, Gandhian and socialist.
• Mahesh Manjrekar - Actor, Director, Producer
• Shernaz Patel - theatre and film actor
• Kunal Ganjawala - Singer,
• Bharat Dabholkar
• Sayed Shifa - model, actor
• Harish Manwani, Chairman Unilever India.
• Suman S. Roy, Head - Business Development, HHM Events Pvt. Ltd.
• Shapurji Edalji - thought to be the first South Asian to become a Vicar in England

See also

• Government Colleges Hostel
• The Institute of Science, Mumbai-32
• sydenham college, Mumbai -20
• government Law college, mumbai 400020
• List of Mumbai Colleges
• University of Mumbai
• South Mumbai

External links

• Official website
• Early photograph, in the British Library collection, of Elphinstone College