text:
Angels of Mons

The Angels of Mons is one of many stories of the reputed appearance of a variety of supernatural entities which protected the British Army from defeat by the invading forces of the German Empire at the beginning of World War I during the Battle of Mons in Belgium on 23 August 1914.

History
On 22–23 August 1914, the first major engagement of the British Expeditionary Force in the First World War occurred at the Battle of Mons. Advancing German forces were thrown back by heavily outnumbered British troops, who suffered heavy casualties and, being outflanked, were forced into rapid retreat the next day. The retreat and the battle were rapidly perceived by the British public as being a key moment in the war.

Arthur Machen and the phantom bowmen
On 29 September 1914, the Welsh author Arthur Machen published a short story entitled "The Bowmen" in The Evening News, inspired by accounts that he had read of the fighting at Mons and an idea he had had soon after the battle. Machen, who had already written some factual articles on the conflict for the paper, set his story at the time of the retreat from the Battle of Mons in August 1914. The story described phantom bowmen from the Battle of Agincourt summoned by a soldier calling on St. George, destroying a German host. Machen's story was not, however, labelled as fiction, and the same edition of The Evening News ran a story by a different author under the heading "Our Short Story". Machen's story was written from a first-hand perspective and was a kind of false document, a technique Machen knew well. The unintended result was that Machen had a number of requests to provide evidence for his sources for the story soon after its publication, from readers who thought it was true, to which he responded that it was completely imaginary, as he had no desire to create a hoax.

A month or two later Machen received requests from the editors of parish magazines to reprint the story, which were granted. In the introduction to The Bowmen and Other Legends of the War (1915) Machen relates that an unnamed priest, the editor of one of these magazines, subsequently wrote to him asking if he would allow the story to be reprinted in pamphlet form, and if he would write a short preface giving sources for the story. Machen replied that they were welcome to reprint but he could not give any sources for the story since he had none. The priest replied that Machen must be mistaken, that the "facts" of the story must be true, and that Machen had just elaborated on a true account. As Machen later said: "It seemed that my light fiction had been accepted by the congregation of this particular church as the solidest of facts; and it was then that it began to dawn on me that if I had failed in the art of letters, I had succeeded, unwittingly, in the art of deceit. This happened, I should think, some time in April, and the snowball of rumour that was then set rolling has been rolling ever since, growing bigger and bigger, till it is now swollen to a monstrous size."

- Arthur Machen

Around that time variations of the story began to appear, told as authentic histories, including an account that told how the corpses of German soldiers had been found on the battlefield with arrow wounds.

In "The Bowmen" Machen's soldier saw "a long line of shapes, with a shining about them." A Mr. A. P. Sinnett, writing in The Occult Review, stated that "those who could see said they saw 'a row of shining beings' between the two armies." This led Machen to suggest that the bowmen of his story had become the Angels of Mons. This last point was challenged by Harold Begbie in his book: On the Side of the Angels: A Reply to Arthur Machen, London 1915.

Phyllis Campbell's 1915 memoir Back to the Front: Experiences of a Nurse includes tales of soldiers' visions of Joan of Arc and the archangel Michael which were told to her while serving as a nurse on the front in France. The construction of the book has led some literary scholars to describe it as a "parallel work" to Machen's "The Bowmen".

Angels
On 24 April 1915, an account was published in the British Spiritualist magazine telling of visions of a supernatural force that miraculously intervened to help the British at the decisive moment of the battle. This was rapidly followed by a flurry of similar accounts and the spread of wild rumours. Descriptions of this force varied from it being medieval longbow archers alongside St. George, to a strange luminous cloud, though eventually the dominant version came to be angelic warriors. Similar tales of such battlefield visions occurred in medieval and ancient warfare. Atrocity reports like the Rape of Belgium and that of the Crucified Soldier paved the way for a belief that the Christian God would intervene directly against such an evil enemy. However, there are strong similarities between many of these accounts of visions and Machen's story published six months earlier.

In May 1915 a full-blown controversy was erupting, with the angels being used as proof of the action of divine providence on the side of the Allies in sermons across Britain, and then spreading into newspaper reports published widely across the world. Machen, bemused by all this, attempted to end the rumours by republishing the story in August in book form, with a long preface stating the rumours were false and originated in his story. It became a best-seller, and resulted in a vast series of other publications claiming to provide evidence of the Angels' existence. Machen tried to set the record straight, but any attempt to lessen the impact of such an inspiring story was seen as bordering on treason by some. These new publications included popular songs and artists' renderings of the angels. There were more reports of angels and apparitions from the front including Joan of Arc.

Kevin McClure's study describes two types of accounts circulating: some more clearly based on Machen, others with different details. In a time of intense media interest all these reports allegedly confirming sightings of supernatural activity were second-hand and some of them were hoaxes created by soldiers who were not even at Mons. A careful investigation by the Society for Psychical Research in 1915 said of the first-hand testimony, "We have received none at all, and of testimony at second-hand we have none that would justify us in assuming the occurrence of any supernormal phenomenon." The SPR went on to say the stories relating to battlefield "visions" which circulated during the spring and summer of 1915, "prove on investigation to be founded on mere rumour, and cannot be traced to any authoritative source". Given that the Society for Psychical Research believed in the existence of supernatural forces, the conclusions of this report are highly significant.

The sudden spread of the rumours in the spring of 1915, six months after the events and Machen's story was published, is also puzzling. The stories published then often attribute their sources to anonymous British officers. The latest and most detailed examination of the Mons story by David Clarke suggests these men may have been part of a covert attempt by military intelligence to spread morale-boosting propaganda and disinformation. As it was a time of Allied problems with the Lusitania sinking, Zeppelin attacks and failure to achieve a breakthrough on the Western Front, the timing would make military sense. Some of the stories conveniently claimed that sources could not be revealed for security reasons.

The only real evidence of visions from actual named serving soldiers provided during the debate stated that they saw visions of phantom cavalrymen, not angels or bowmen, and this occurred during the retreat rather than at the battle itself. Furthermore, these visions did not intervene to attack or deter German forces, a crucial element in Machen's story and in the later tales of angels. Since during the retreat many troops were exhausted and had not slept properly for days, such visions could be hallucinations.

According to the conclusion of the most detailed study of the event it seems that Machen's story provided the genesis for the vast majority of the tales. The stories themselves certainly boosted morale on the home front, as popular enthusiasm was dying down in 1915 and they demonstrate the usefulness of religion in wartime.

Post-war developments
After the war the story continued to be frequently repeated, but with little factual evidence to support it from eye-witnesses to the events at the Battle of Mons. The most substantial piece of corroboratory evidence that is known to exist comes from Brigadier-General John Charteris' memoir At G.H.Q. (published 1931), which implies that the story of an: "'Angel of the Lord, clad in white raiment bearing a flaming sword, appearing before the German forces at the Mons battle forbidding their advance'," was a popular rumour circulating in September 1914 among the troops of the British Army's II Corps who had fought in the battle. However, General Charteris was not serving with II Corps in 1914, and was commenting on it therefore from a second-hand perspective, and an examination of his original war correspondence and notes from which his book's text was drawn makes no contemporary mention of the story at that time. It would appear likely that he retrospectively added it into the book's narrative when writing it post-war, acknowledging in the book's preface that he had 'amplified' the original source material in parts in such a way to supplement the text.

One example of the proliferation of material, which was particularly notable within religious circles, is the production in 1915 of a 160-line poem entitled “The Angels of Mons”, by Dugald MacEchern. It is contained within his book The Sword of the North: Highland Memories of the Great War, published in 1923. MacEchern, who was the Minister of the Parish of Bower (Caithness) between 1908 and 1946, was The Bard to the Gaelic Society of Inverness. He was attached to the Seaforth Highlanders during the Great War. He had a very wide range of contacts, including David Lloyd George

He supplied no original information about the legend of the Angels of Mons, but embellished it considerably – emphasizing that the heavenly hosts were actively engaged in the battle (on the side of the British), as well as supplying some details about their appearance. A short section of the poem is copied below:

“Loose-flowing were their garments, Their hair was burning gold -

Oh, they were fairer than the sun So god-like was their mould!

''We gazed! Were these the shining shapes'' Of which the prophets tell?

We knew not: yet we felt we looked On Michael and Gabriel.

And the central shining seemed the Christ Whose wounds Heaven’s gates unbar,

And ‘neath his feet once pierced for us There burned one golden star;

And in their hands were shining brands That smote the tyrant’s pride!

Christ and his holy angels Were fighting on our side!”

Machen was associated with the story for the rest of his life and grew sick of the connection, as he regarded "The Bowmen" as a poor piece of work. He made little money from the story then or later.

The sudden revival of interest in appearances of angels from the 1980s onwards, especially in the United States, not only among Christians, but those interested in the New Age, has caused uncritical accounts of the story of the angels who saved the British Army to be regularly published in books and magazines. Similarly, the story is also often used by skeptics as a good example of how believers in the supernatural can become convinced of fantastic things by slender evidence. References to the story can be found in novels and films like FairyTale: A True Story set during World War I. The Friends of Arthur Machen frequently publish articles on developments in the case.

William Doidge hoax
In 2001, an article in The Sunday Times claimed that a diary, film and photographic evidence proving the existence of the Angels of Mons from a World War I soldier named William Doidge had been found. The article discussed an involved story in which Doidge was involved with an American GI and an angel seen years later in Woodchester Mansion. It was claimed Marlon Brando and Tony Kaye were going to spend £350,000 to buy the evidence to make a film. Other papers like Variety and the Los Angeles Times and television programmes soon followed up the story and a website connected to the mystery became very popular. The footage was supposedly found in a trunk in an antique shop by Danny Sullivan in Monmouth, close to Machen's birthplace of Caerleon. In 2002, in a BBC Radio documentary; The Making of an Urban Myth, Sullivan admitted the story was a hoax created to drum up interest in Woodchester Mansion, and the film footage and soldier were fictional.

title: Angels of Mons


text:
Presidency College, Chennai

Presidency College is an art, commerce, and science college in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. On 16 October 1840, this school was established as the Madras Preparatory School before being repurposed as a high school, and then a graduate college. The Presidency College is one of the oldest government arts colleges in India. It is one of two Presidency Colleges established by the British in India, the other being the Presidency College, Kolkata.

History
Sir Thomas Munro asked for a Committee of Public Instruction to form in 1826. In 1836, the committee's duties changed to the "Committee of Native Education". The plans drawn up by the committee did not commend themselves to the Governor of Madras, Lord Elphinstone, who proposed nineteen resolutions that passed unanimously.

Elphinstone chose E. B. Powell, a University of Cambridge Wrangler in mathematics, to be the first principal, and Powell accepted the post. He arrived in Mumbai (Bombay) on September 20, 1840, but did not reach Chennai (Madras) until 24 November. Meanwhile, the committee had invited Cooper from Hoogly College, Kolkata, to temporarily carry out the principal duties at a salary of Rs 400 per month. Cooper accepted the invitation and came to Chennai (Madras). He and his staff opened Presidency School, a preparatory school, in a rented building in Egmore known as Edinburgh Home, on 16 October 1840. Cooper remained in the primary school for only a few months. Soon after Powell's arrival, and before the high school department opened on 12 April 1841, he returned to Kolkata. The preparatory school shifted to Popham's Broadway in 1841.

The schools grew into Presidency College. When the University of Madras was founded in 1857, Presidency College became affiliated with it.

In 1870, the college moved to its present location in Kamaraj Salai, opposite Marina Beach.

Ranking
In the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) for the year 2023, Presidency College has been ranked 3rd again.

Presidency College is ranked third as per National Institutional Ranking Framework for colleges in the year 2022.

Notable alumni

 * Alagappa Alagappan (1925–2014), Indian-born American founder of the Hindu Temple Society of North America
 * Alladi Ramakrishnan, Founder of Institute of Mathematical Sciences
 * Vallal Dr. RM. Alagappa Chettiar, (1909–1957), Industrialist and Philanthropist
 * E. S. Appasamy (1878–1963), educator, social worker in Chennai.
 * K. Seshadri Iyer - Dewan of Mysore
 * Diwan Bahadur Siram.Venkataramadas Nayudu, Diwan of Pudukkottai and Former Chief secretary and Magistrate of Madras Presidency.
 * T. R. A. Thumboo Chetty First Indian Chief Judge of the Chief Court of Mysore, Offg. Dewan of Mysore.
 * Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar - Nobel laureate in Physics
 * Bharat Ratna C. V. Raman, Nobel laureate in Physics
 * Bharat Ratna C. Rajagopalachari, the last Governor-General of India
 * Bharat Ratna C. Subramaniam - Minister, Finance Government of India
 * G. P. Pillai, freedom fighter, close aide to Gandhiji during South African Indian issue
 * Singaravelar,Veteran Communist leader
 * T. M. Nair, one of the founders of Justice Party
 * K. M. Cariappa, first Commander-in-Chief of Defence Forces of independent India
 * Benegal Rama Rau, Governor, Reserve Bank of India
 * S. Jagannathan, Governor, Reserve Bank of India
 * K. V. K. Sundaram, Chief Election Commissioner of India (1958–1967)
 * P. Chidambaram, Former Finance Minister of India
 * M. P. Periasamy Thooran
 * P Rajagopalachari, Dewan of Cochi state and Travancore
 * V Gopalsamy (Vaiko), Former MP, Founder of MDMK
 * N. Ram, managing director and Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu
 * G. N. Balasubramaniam, Carnatic vocalist
 * V. S. Chandralekha, politician and former IAS officer
 * Paravastu Chinnayya Soori, Telugu scholar
 * Sarvepalli Gopal, chairman, National Book Trust and historian
 * Nataraja Guru
 * C. P. Ramaswamy Iyer, Dewan of Travancore
 * P. S. Sivaswami Iyer, Law Member of the Viceroy's Executive Council
 * V. K. Krishna Menon (1896–1974), Defence Minister of India (1957–1962)
 * C. R. Pattabhiraman, Minister, Law and Company Affairs, GOI
 * Palani G. Periyasamy, businessman
 * Ganapathi Thanikaimoni, Palynologist, Fyson Prize recipient
 * Uma Sambanthan, social activist
 * K. K. Srinivasan, founder of a pre-school for hearing-impaired children
 * R. S. Subbalakshmi, educator and social reformer
 * P. Subbarayan, Chief Minister of Madras
 * K. Subrahmanyam, Secretary, Defence Production, Government of India
 * Srinivasa Varadhan, Abel Prize laureate in Mathematics
 * R. K. Krishna Kumar, Former director of Tata Sons and Padma Shri awardee
 * T. R. Seshadari, Chemist and Padma Bhushan award
 * O. V. Vijayan, author and cartoonist,
 * Toppur Seethapathy Sadasivan, Plant pathologist and Padma Bhushan awardee
 * C. V. Subramanian, Mycologist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize recipient
 * Pothan Joseph, Journalist
 * Janaki Ammal, Botanist and Padma Shri awardee
 * Thavamani Jegajothivel Pandian, Geneticist and Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize recipient
 * T. R. Govindachari, Natural product chemist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
 * K. S. Hegde, Supreme court Judge and Speaker of the Lok Sabha
 * M K Stalin, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
 * M M Ismail, Former chief justice madras high court
 * K R Ramanathan, physicist and meteorologist.
 * Vazhakkulangarayil Khalid, Justice of the Supreme Court of India
 * M.B Sreenivasan - Music director
 * Edatata Narayanan, journalist and freedom fighter
 * K.G Subramanyan, artist. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan
 * Psycho Muhammad, psychologist
 * Govindarajan Padmanaban, biochemist and biotechnologist
 * Kasu Brahmananda Reddy, Former Chief minister Andhra Pradesh
 * P. V. Rajamannar, Chief Justice Madras High Court
 * A. L. Abdul Majeed, Sri Lankan politician and Member of Parliament
 * Nilakanta Mahadeva Ayyar, member of the erstwhile Indian Civil Service
 * C. V. Runganada Sastri, interpreter, civil servant and polyglot
 * Sarah Chakko, first woman to be elected to the presidency of the World Council of Churches.
 * M. K. Chandrashekaran, zoologist, founder of Indian chronobiology
 * P. Coomaraswamy, member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon
 * V. L. Ethiraj, philanthropist
 * Salim Ghouse, actor
 * T. R. Govindachari, chemist
 * S. Srinivasa Iyengar, freedom-fighter
 * L. V. Ramaswami Iyer, Indian linguist
 * K. Rajah Iyer, Advocate-General of Madras Presidency
 * Sarukkai Jagannathan, tenth Governor of the Reserve Bank of India
 * Kadambur R. Janarthanan, Union minister of India
 * K. S. Venkataramani, lawyer and an acclaimed writer in English
 * V. Kanakasabhai, lawyer and historian
 * Sonti Kamesam, timber engineer and scientist
 * Kanmani, film director
 * Pattathuvila Karunakaran, film producer and short story writer
 * Gopalan Kasturi, Editor of The Hindu
 * M. O. P Iyengar, prominent Indian botanist and phycologist
 * Dr. V. Shanta, oncologist
 * Gana Bala, Playback Singer
 * Pushpavanam Kuppusamy, Folk Singer
 * Thol. Thirumavalavan, Indian politician
 * Moosa Raza
 * Dr. A. K. Viswanathan IPS
 * T. Ananda
 * P. S. Sivaswami Iyer, Vice chancellor Madras University
 * S. Subramania Iyer, Vice chancellor Madras University
 * Palapatti Sadaya Goundar Kailasam, Chief Justice of Madras High Court
 * B. Jagannadha Das, Judge of the Supreme Court of India
 * D. Ramanaidu, Dadasaheb Phalke award recipient and Former MP
 * Mithavaadi Krishnan, Social reformer
 * Moorkoth Ramunny, First Malayalee pilot in the Royal Indian Air Force
 * Kezhekapt Rukmini Menon, Second woman to be a career diplomat in India
 * O. V. Alagesan, Freedom fighter and Minister of States
 * K. Kunjunniraja, Writer and Scholar
 * Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit, Vice Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University
 * T. J. Gnanavel, Film Director

Notable faculty

 * E. B. Powell
 * Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
 * John Mathai
 * Alfred Gibbs Mourne
 * Philip Furley Fyson
 * Mark Hunter (Civil Servant)
 * E. W. Middlemast
 * Gustav Solomon Oppert
 * Harold Papworth
 * Peter Percival
 * A. Chakravarthi
 * Paravastu Chinnayasuri
 * T. R. Govindachari
 * P. C. Kokila
 * T. P. Meenakshisundaram
 * Mu. Metha
 * Chirayinkeezhu Ramakrishnan Nair
 * M. Nannan
 * Samuel Satthianadhan
 * B. G. L. Swami
 * Atoor Ravi Varma
 * Perumal Murugan
 * M. O. P Iyengar
 * U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Tamil scholar

In popular culture
Presidency College (mainly its campus) was the place where many films were shot, including:

 * Mouna Ragam (1986)
 * Nayakan (1987), court scenes
 * Iyer the Great (1990)
 * Idhayam (1991)
 * Thiruda Thiruda (1993), government office scenes
 * Maanbumigu Manavan (1996)
 * Kadhal Desam (1996)
 * Sipayi (1996)
 * Aaytha Ezhuthu (2004)
 * Nanban (2012), hostel scenes
 * The Man Who Knew Infinity (2015)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Presidency College, Chennai


text:
Fell mountain railway system

The Fell system was the first third-rail system for railways that were too steep to be worked by adhesion on the two running rails alone. It used a raised centre rail between the two running rails to provide extra traction and braking, or braking alone. Trains were propelled by wheels horizontally applied and retracted by springs onto the centre rail, controlled from the cab, as well as by the normal running wheels. In practice, the running wheels could be allowed to run freely to reduce wear, but the centre brake shoes needed to be replaced frequently. For example: the locomotives' shoes were replaced after each journey on the Mont Cenis Pass Railway. Extra brake shoes were fitted to specially designed or adapted Fell locomotives and brake vans, and for traction the prototype locomotive had an auxiliary engine powering the horizontal wheels. The Fell system was developed in the 1860s and was soon superseded by various types of rack railway for new lines, but some Fell systems remained in use into the 1960s. The Snaefell Mountain Railway still uses the Fell system for (emergency) braking, but not for traction.

History
The Fell system was designed, developed and patented by British engineer John Barraclough Fell. The first test application was alongside the Cromford and High Peak Railway's cable-hauled incline at Whaley Bridge in Derbyshire, England, in 1863 and 1864. The prototype locomotive had separate boilers, regulators and cylinders for the horizontal and vertical drive wheels, but this arrangement was simplified in subsequent versions.

These tests attracted the attention of the French Government, which conducted its own tests on the slopes of Mont Cenis in 1865. As a result, the Mont Cenis Pass Railway was built by a British company as a temporary connection between France and Italy whilst the tunnel under the Alpine pass was being built; shortening the transit time for mail from Britain and France to Italy and beyond.

In 1913 Fell's son George Noble Fell published variations of his father's apparatus using either electric traction or "gaseous fuel". For electric traction the centre rail would also act as the current conductor rail; the horizontal drive wheels would adhere by magnetism, and the brakes would be applied by electromagnets. For the internal combustion version the horizontal guide wheels would be coated with carborundum for improved grip.

List of Fell railways
The following railways have used the Fell system. Of these, the only one still in operation is the electrified Snaefell Mountain Railway on the Isle of Man, which occasionally uses the centre rail for braking only; the cars are all now equipped with rheostatic braking, which meets all normal braking needs. The only surviving Fell locomotive, New Zealand Railways H 199, is preserved at the Fell Locomotive Museum, Featherston, New Zealand, near the site of the Rimutaka Incline.

France

 * The Mont Cenis Pass Railway on the border with Italy was 77 km long and ran from 1868 until superseded by a tunnel under the pass in 1871. Some characteristics of the Mont Cenis Pass Railway include:
 * gauge – the gauge in English speaking world is sometimes quoted as 3 ft $7 3/8$ in
 * Steepest gradient 1 in 12 (8.3%)
 * Gradient where Fell grip system was deemed to be needed 1 in 25 (4.0%)
 * Climb 3000 ft
 * Centre rail 8 in above running rails and about 14 in above sleeper.
 * Sharpest curve 130 ft
 * Since there were breaks-of-gauge at each end of the Fell railway, it is not known if ordinary standard gauge rolling stock were needed.
 * Length of line 48 mi.
 * Length of Fell section 9 mi

Brazil

 * The Estrada de Ferro Cantagalo (Cantagalo railway) from Niterói to Nova Friburgo opened in 1873. Brazil's first mountain railway, of gauge, re-used some of the equipment from the Mont Cenis Pass Railway, and continued in operation until the 1960s. The Fell centre rail was used only for braking after 1884.

Isle of Man

 * The Snaefell Mountain Railway opened in 1895. It uses electric railcars, with a Fell rail for braking.

Italy

 * See France: Mont Cenis Pass Railway.

New Zealand

 * The Rewanui Incline on the West Coast of the South Island used a Fell rail for braking from its opening in 1914 to 1966. It closed in 1985.
 * The Rimutaka Incline on the Wairarapa Line near Featherston in the North Island opened in 1878 and closed in 1955. It was replaced by the Rimutaka tunnel. Unlike the other lines noted, it used the Fell system for propulsion as well as braking throughout its active life. The Fell Engine Museum in Featherston houses the sole preserved Fell locomotive (NZR H class)..
 * The Roa Incline on the West Coast of the South Island used a Fell rail for braking from its opening in 1909. It closed in 1960.
 * The Kaikorai Cable Car which ran from Dunedin to the Kaikorai Valley used an off-centre Fell rail for braking.
 * Funicular railway
 * The Wellington Cable Car used a Fell rail for emergency braking from its opening in 1902 until 1978, when it was upgraded.
 * unknown gauges
 * Price's Bush Tramway near Akatarawa.
 * Charming Creek Tramway near Ngakawau.
 * Several bush tramways used Fell rails for braking.
 * Several bush tramways used Fell rails for braking.

Renewals

 * Ten kilometres of new Chinese manufactured Fell rail was expected to be delivered to the Snaefell Mountain Railway in December 2006 for track-laying between the 2006 and 2007 seasons (Railway Magazine, February 2007).

Note

 * (this book has sections on the Fell mountain railway system, Mont Cenis Pass Railway and Cantagallo Railway).

title: Fell mountain railway system


text:
Presidency University, Kolkata

Presidency University, Kolkata (formerly Presidency College, Kolkata) is a public state university located in College Street, Kolkata. It was among the best colleges in the country when the institute was affiliated to University of Calcutta. The institution was elevated to university status in 2010 after functioning as a constituent college of the University of Calcutta for about 193 years. Currently, it continues to rank among the top universities in India. The University boasts an illustrious list of extraordinary alumni over the last two centuries, including several pioneers of the Bengal Renaissance, leaders of the Indian Independence Movement, heads of state, noble laureates, Academy Award winner etc.

In its first cycle as a university, Presidency received A grade with a score of 3.04/4.00 by the NAAC. Presidency has been recognized as an "Institute of National Eminence" by the UGC. It appeared in the inaugural list of top 50 institutions of NIRF rankings in 2016. However, NIRF rankings in 2017 and 2018 excluded universities like Presidency University which taught only science and humanities but not engineering, commerce, agriculture etc.

History
With the creation of the Supreme Court of Calcutta in 1773 many Hindus of Bengal showed an eager interest in learning the English language. David Hare, in collaboration with Raja Radhakanta Deb had already taken steps to introduce English language education in Bengal. Babu Buddinath Mukherjee advanced the introduction of English as a medium of instruction further by enlisting the support of Sir Edward Hyde East, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Fort William, who called a meeting of 'European and Hindu Gentlemen' at his house in May 1816. The purpose of the meeting was to "discuss the proposal to establish an institution for giving a liberal education to the children of the members of the Hindu Community". The proposal was received with unanimous approbation and a donation of over Rs. 100, 000 was promised for setting up the new college. The 5 Babus who contributed the most in setting up the college with their donations were - Raja Gopi Mohun Deb of Shovabazar Raj, Maharaja Tej Chandra of Bardhaman Raj, Raja Gopi Mohan Tagore of Pathuriaghata, Babu Joy Krishna Singha of Jorasanko, and Babu Ganga Narayan Das. Raja Ram Mohan Roy showed full support for the scheme, but chose not to come out in support of the proposal publicly for fear of "alarming the prejudices of his orthodox countrymen and thus marring the whole idea".

At first, the classes were held in a house belonging to Gorachand Bysack of Garanhatta (later renamed 304, Chitpore Road), which was rented by the college. In January 1818 the college moved to 'Feringhi Kamal Bose's house' which was located nearby in Chitpore. From Chitpore, the college moved to Bowbazar and later to the building that now houses the Sanskrit College on College Street.

Transformation to university
On 19 March 2010, the West Bengal Government passed the Presidency University Bill, 2009 in the State Legislative Assembly. On 7 July 2010, the Governor of West Bengal, M K Narayanan gave his assent to the Presidency University Bill. On 23 July 2010, the Government of West Bengal published the gazette notification completing all the legal formalities for presidency to become a full university. Amiya Bagchi was given the responsibility of chairing a committee set up to select and appoint the first vice-chancellor of the university. Amita Chatterjee, a retired professor of philosophy at Jadavpur University, was appointed as the first Vice-Chancellor of Presidency University on 5 October 2010.

In 2011, Higher Education Minister Bratya Basu suggested that a mentor group, along the lines of the Nalanda mentor group, would be formed to oversee the work of the university. At the beginning of June 2011, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, announced that a committee would be formed with Amartya Sen as its chief mentor and Harvard-based Sugata Bose as its chairman to oversee the running of the college and perform the task of appointing all its officials and faculty members. The Presidency mentor group also includes as its members 2019 Economics Nobel Prize winner Abhijit Banerjee, Ashoke Sen, Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, Nayanjot Lahiri, Himadri Pakrashi, Rahul Mukerjee and Isher Judge Ahluwalia, Swapan Kumar Chakravorty. Sukanta Chaudhuri resigned from the committee in 2012.

The entrance of the campus is marked with a small guardhouse on the left. On the wall of the guard room is a plaque dedicated to durwan (guard) Ram Eqbal Singh, who died defending the institute from rioters. The university had its bicentenary celebrations in 2017.

Governance
Like every state university in West Bengal, Presidency University is headed by the chancellor. The Governor of West Bengal is the chancellor of every state university. The vice-chancellor is the academic and administrative head of the institution. The post of the vice-chancellor replaced that of the principal after Presidency College received university status. Professor Anuradha Lohia was the first permanent vice-chancellor of the institution. The current Registrar of the university is Dr. Debajyoti Konar.

The Controller of Examinations, the Chief Librarian, the Finance officer and the Dean of students, along with the Dean of Arts and the Dean of Sciences, are the other important office holders of the university. The university is guided by a mentor group. The Mentor Group is chaired by Sugata Bose, the Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs at Harvard University. Nobel Laureate and economist Amartya Sen serves as the Advisor to the chair.

Principals of Presidency College
• J. Kerr, 1842–1848

• David Lester Richardson, 1848–1849

• E. Lodge, 1849–1852

• J. Sutcliff, M.A., 1852–1856

• Leonidas Clint, 1856–1857

• E. Lodge, 1857–1858

• J. Sutcliffe, M.A., 1858–1863

• W. Grapel, 1863–1864

• J. Sutcliffe, M.A., 1864–1875

• H. Woodrow, 1875

• C. H. Tawney, 1875

• J. Sutcliffe, M.A., 1875

• Alfred Croft, 1876

• C. H. Tawney, 1876–1881

• G. Bellet, 1881–1882

• John Elliot, 1882–1883

• Alexander Pedler, 1883

• John Elliot, 1883

• G. Bellet, 1883

• John Elliot, 1884–1885

• C. H. Tawney, 1885

• W. Griffiths, 1885–1886

• C. H. Tawney, 1886–1887

• Alexander Pedler, 1887

• C. H. Tawney, 1887

• Alexander Pedler, 1887–1889

• C. H. Tawney, 1889

• Alexander Pedler, 1889

• Frederick James Rowe, 1889

• C. H. Tawney, 1889

• W. Griffiths, 1892–1896

• Alexander Pedler, 1896–1897

• J. H. Gilliland, 1897

• Frederick James Rowe, 1897–1898

• J. H. Gilliland, 1898

• Frederick James Rowe, 1898

• William Booth, 1898

• A. Clarke Edwards, 1899–1902

• Prasanna Kumar Roy, 1902

• A. Clarke Edwards, 1902–1903

• Prasanna Kumar Roy, 1903

• A. Clarke Edwards, 1903

• M. G. D. Prothero, 1904–1905

• Prasanna Kumar Roy, 1905–1906

• Alexander Macdonnell, 1906

• A. Clarke Edwards, 1906–1907

• Henry Rosher James, 1907–1909

• Hugh Melville Percival, 1909

• Henry Rosher James, 1909–1911

• C. W. Peake, 1911–1912

• Henry Rosher James, 1912–1916

• William Christopher Wordsworth, 1916–1917

• John Rothney Barrow, 1917–1924

• William Christopher Wordsworth, 1924

• H. E. Stapleton, 1924–1926

• T. S. Sterling, 1926–1927

• Professor Abdul Khalek M.A, 1927–1929

• John Rothney Barrow, 1929–1930

• Jahangir Cooverjee Coyajee, 1930–1931

• Bhupatimohan Sen, 1931–1934

• Bhupatimohan Sen, 1934–1936

• Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, 1936

• Bhupatimohan Sen, 1936–1942

• Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, 1942

• Bhupatimohan Sen, 1942–1943

• Apurbakumar Chanda, 1943

• Jyotirmoy Ghosh, 1943–1944

• Apurbakumar Chanda, 1944

• Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, 1945–1946

• Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, 1946–1947

• Muhammad Qudrat-i-Khuda, 1947

• Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, 1947

• Jogischandra Sinha, 1947

• Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, 1948

• Jyotirmoy Ghosh, 1948–1950

• Jyotishchandra Sengupta, 1950

• Jyotirmoy Ghosh, 1950–1951

• Jyotishchandra Sengupta, 1951–1956

• F. J. Friend-Pereira, 1956–1958

• Sanat Kumar Basu, 1958–1967

• Rajendralal Sengupta, 1967–1969

• Samerendranath Ghoshal, 1969–1970

• Sudhir Chandra Shome, 1970

• Pratul Chandra Mukherjee, 1970–1975

• Sudhir Chandra Shome, 1975–1976

• Pratul Chandra Mukherjee, 1976–1979

• Bijoy Shankar Basak, 1979–1982

• Achinta Kumar Mukherjee, 1982–1986

• Sunil Kumar Rai Chaudhuri, 1986–1991

• Amal Kumar Mukhopadhyay, 1991–1997

• Nitai Charan Mukherjee, 1997–2000

• Amitava Chatterjee, 2001–2005

• Mamata Ray, 2005–2008

• Sanjib Ghosh, 2008–2010

• Amitava Chatterjee, 2010

Departments
In academics, the university consists of two faculties – the Faculty of Natural and Mathematical Sciences and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Both Faculties are headed by deans. A total of 16 departments function under the university. They are: Bengali, English, Hindi, History, Performing Arts, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, Life Sciences, Chemistry, Economics, Geography, Geology, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics.

title: Presidency University, Kolkata