Who Established Fort William College and Why?
By BYJU'S Exam Prep
Updated on: November 9th, 2023
Lord Richard Wellesley established Fort William College to offer instruction in Indian vernacular languages to the civil and military authorities of the East India Company. Thousands of works in Arabic, Sanskrit, Persian, Hindi, Bengali, and Urdu have been translated into English by this institution. It was an institution of higher learning and a school for oriental studies housed within the Fort William complex in Calcutta.
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Establishment of Fort William College
On 10 July 1800, the then-Governor-General of British India, Lord Wellesley founded Fort William College in Calcutta in British India.
- Lord Wellesley, founded Fort William College (also called the College of Fort William) inside the Fort William complex to educate European administrators.
- In honor of the first anniversary of his victory over Tipu Sultan at Seringapatam, he retroactively set the establishment’s founding date to May 4, 1800.
- Fort William College’s efforts to train British officials in Indian languages encouraged the growth of Bengali and Urdu.
- The period is essential historically. Raja Ram Mohan Roy arrived in Calcutta in 1815.
- It is regarded by many historians as the beginning of the Bengal Renaissance.
- The establishment of The Calcutta Madrasa in 1781, The Asiatic Society in 1784, and the Fort William College in 1800 signaled Kolkata’s start as an intellectual hotspot.
Summary:
Who Established Fort William College and Why?
Fort William College was established by Lord Richard Wellesley to offer to teach the Indian vernacular to civil and military officers of the East India Company. The primary mission of this institution was to educate British officials in Indian languages to improve administration.
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