Fort William College
Topic: Europeans in India and the Rise of Company Rule · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Fort William College was founded by Lord Wellesley in Calcutta in 1800. It trained young British civil servants of the Company in Indian languages, laws, customs and history before they began work. In doing so, it also helped Indian languages grow: scholars there wrote textbooks and simple prose in Bengali, Hindi and Urdu.
Example
John Gilchrist led the Hindustani teaching, and missionary William Carey taught Bengali and Sanskrit. Indian scholars such as Lallu Lal wrote prose works like Prem Sagar in Hindi for students. The Company directors in London disliked its cost and later set up their own college in England.
Don't confuse with
- Haileybury College (East India College): it was in England and trained future Company officials before they sailed to India. Fort William College was in Calcutta.
Related concepts
- Charles Metcalfe
- Warren Hastings
- Regulating Act 1773
- Supreme Court at Calcutta 1774
- Pitt's India Act 1784
- Impeachment of Warren Hastings
- Cornwallis Code 1793
- Charter Act 1793
- Covenanted civil service
- Haileybury College