Question map
Wellesley established the Fort William College at Calcutta because
Explanation
The correct answer is Option 4.
Lord Wellesley established Fort William College in 1800 primarily to provide systematic training to young British "writer" (civilian) recruits of the East India Company. He believed that to govern India effectively, British administrators needed to be proficient in local Indian languages, customs, and laws. This formal institutional training was intended to replace the haphazard learning process that existed previously.
- Option 1 is incorrect: The Board of Directors actually disapproved of the college due to its high cost and eventually ordered its closure in 1802.
- Option 2 is incorrect: While the college did promote oriental studies, its primary objective was administrative efficiency, not a purely academic revival of learning.
- Option 3 is incorrect: Although scholars like William Carey taught there, the institution was not created as an employment scheme for missionaries.
Thus, Option 4 is the most accurate historical reason for its founding.
PROVENANCE & STUDY PATTERN
Full viewThis is a textbook 'Sitter' found directly in Spectrum (Chapters 26 & 30) and Old NCERT. It tests the fundamental administrative history of the British Raj. If you missed this, you are neglecting the 'Tables and Summaries' at the end of standard chapters.
This question can be broken into the following sub-statements. Tap a statement sentence to jump into its detailed analysis.
- Statement 1: Did Lord Wellesley establish Fort William College at Calcutta because he was asked to do so by the Board of Directors in London?
- Statement 2: Did Lord Wellesley establish Fort William College at Calcutta to revive interest in oriental learning in India?
- Statement 3: Did Lord Wellesley establish Fort William College at Calcutta to provide William Carey and his associates with employment?
- Statement 4: Did Lord Wellesley establish Fort William College at Calcutta to train British civilians (civil servants) for administrative purposes in India?
- Explicitly states Wellesley set up Fort William College in 1800 to train British civilians as administrators.
- Says such measures “owed their origin to individual enterprise”, implying local initiative rather than an order from the Court/Board of Directors.
- Directly attributes the founding of Fort William College to Wellesley (1801) and gives its purpose: training young British recruits to the civil service.
- Provides no indication that the College was established at the request of the Board of Directors in London.
- States the college was founded on 18 August 1800 by Lord Wellesley, naming him as founder.
- Attributes founding directly to Wellesley (Governor‑General), with no mention of a request from the Board of Directors.
Says Wellesley set up Fort William College in 1800 and that in 1806 the Court of Directors disapproved his college and instead set up the East India College at Haileybury.
A student could infer that the Board had authority to overrule or replace local initiatives and check whether Wellesley's action was initiated locally or ordered from London by checking timing and records of Board instructions.
Explains the Directors of the East India Company controlled Civil Service appointments and vigorously defended their privileges.
Use the Directors' known control over civil service matters to investigate whether they would have requested a training college in India or preferred training under their own oversight in England.
Notes Fort William College was set up by Wellesley in 1800 for training civil servants and that it closed (or was short-lived), implying it was a local initiative focused on immediate training needs.
Combine this with the fact that the Directors later established an English college to question whether the Indian college originated from Wellesley's local policy rather than a London directive.
Describes the college's purpose, staffing and the later establishment (in 1806) of the East India College in England, showing two different approaches to training recruits.
Compare the two approaches (local college vs Haileybury in England) and check whether the Board's preference for Haileybury indicates they did not originally request Fort William.
- Explicitly records the foundation of the College of Fort William at Calcutta in 1800.
- Notes the college was staffed by eighty Indian pundits and European professors, linking it to study of Indian/Oriental learning.
- Describes it becoming the Oriental School for Bengal civilians, directly tying the institution to oriental scholarship.
- Specifies Fort William College was set up in 1800 by Wellesley to train civil servants in Indian languages and customs.
- Emphasis on language and customs training aligns with promotion of oriental learning for administrative purposes.
- States Wellesley established the College for the education of young recruits to the Civil Service.
- Frames the college's purpose as practical training for officials, which supports an institutional motive to teach Indian languages/culture (a form of oriental learning) though administrative training is primary.
- Explicitly states Wellesley founded Fort William College to train young British recruits to the civil service in India.
- This indicates the college's primary purpose was administrative training, not to provide employment to Carey and his associates.
- Says Wellesley founded Fort William College for the instruction of imperial civil servants (shows founding purpose).
- Also reports that David Brown insisted William Carey become Professor of Bengali and Carey accepted the post and received a salary, showing Carey obtained employment at the college though not implying that was the reason for its foundation.
- States the college was set up to train British civilians as administrators, reinforcing the administrative/training purpose.
- Supports the conclusion that the institution's establishment was driven by administrative training needs rather than explicitly to employ Carey and his associates.
States Wellesley set up Fort William College in 1800 for training new recruits (i.e., an institutional purpose decided by Wellesley).
A student could note the college's official purpose (training recruits) and check whether Carey’s skills/role matched that institutional need and timing.
Describes the college as providing a three‑year course, staffed by European professors and eighty Indian pundits — showing it created teaching posts and appointments.
One could infer the college created potential employment for European scholars and compare that list of posts to known employment of Carey and his associates.
Specifies Fort William College was set up by Wellesley in 1800 to train civil servants in languages and customs (i.e., a need for language experts/teachers).
Since Carey was a missionary/linguist (external basic fact), a student might plausibly ask whether Carey’s linguistic work matched the college’s language-training roles and look for documentary links.
Says Wellesley established the College of Fort William at Calcutta for the education of young recruits to the Civil Service — reinforcing the college’s official training mission.
Use the repeated emphasis on training recruits to judge if appointing missionaries like Carey would fit official aims or be anomalous, prompting archival checks.
- Explicitly states Wellesley established the College of Fort William at Calcutta for the education of young recruits to the Civil Service.
- Directly links the college's foundation to training civil servants for administrative roles in India.
- Identifies the College of Fort William (founded 1800) as providing a three-year course for the Company's civil servants.
- Notes staffing by European professors and Indian pundits, indicating an institutional training program for administration.
- States Fort William College was set up by Wellesley in 1800 specifically for training Company civil servants in languages and customs of Indians.
- Specifies the college's curricular aim (languages and customs), which is directly relevant to administrative training.
- [THE VERDICT]: Sitter. Direct hit from Rajiv Ahir (Spectrum) and Bipin Chandra (Old NCERT).
- [THE CONCEPTUAL TRIGGER]: Evolution of Civil Services and Education Policy under the East India Company (1773–1857).
- [THE HORIZONTAL EXPANSION]: Memorize the 'Trinity of Early Colleges': 1) Calcutta Madrasah (1781, Warren Hastings, Islamic Law); 2) Sanskrit College, Benaras (1791, Jonathan Duncan, Hindu Law); 3) Fort William College (1800, Wellesley, Civil Service Training). Also, note the successor: East India College at Haileybury (1806).
- [THE STRATEGIC METACOGNITION]: When studying colonial institutions, always isolate the 'Primary Motive'. Was it religious (Missionaries), appeasement (Hastings/Duncan), or administrative efficiency (Wellesley)? The British rarely built institutions for 'reviving culture' (Option B) unless it served a governance purpose.
Fort William College was set up at Calcutta in 1800 by Lord Wellesley to train Company civil servants in Indian languages and customs.
High-yield for administrative history questions: it links a specific institutional founding to Wellesley's reform agenda and answers 'who founded what, when, and why' type questions. Useful for comparing metropolitan vs. local training initiatives and tracing evolution of civil service education.
- Rajiv Ahir. A Brief History of Modern India (2019 ed.). SPECTRUM. > Chapter 26: Constitutional, Administrative and Judicial Developments > Wellesley's Role > p. 514
- Rajiv Ahir. A Brief History of Modern India (2019 ed.). SPECTRUM. > Chapter 30: Development of Education > Under Company Rule > p. 563
The Court of Directors later disapproved Wellesley’s Fort William College and established the East India College at Haileybury in England (1806), showing metropolitan control over training policy.
Important for questions on institutional conflict and policy centralization: explains how London authorities could override local reforms, and helps answer prompts about centre–periphery tensions in Company governance.
- Rajiv Ahir. A Brief History of Modern India (2019 ed.). SPECTRUM. > Chapter 26: Constitutional, Administrative and Judicial Developments > Wellesley's Role > p. 514
Appointments to the Civil Service were made by the East India Company Directors, who retained nomination powers and influenced training and recruitment practices.
Crucial for understanding administrative structures under Company rule: connects recruitment, training, and exclusionary practices (e.g., limited Indian entry) and supports analysis of why training institutions mattered politically and administratively.
- Modern India ,Bipin Chandra, History class XII (NCERT 1982 ed.)[Old NCERT] > Chapter 6: Administrative Organisation and Social and Cultural Policy > Civil Service > p. 108
Fort William College was founded in 1800 to train Company civil servants and became an Oriental School staffed with Indian pundits, showing institutional promotion of Indian languages and learning.
High-yield for questions on colonial education policy and institutional history; links to topics on administrative reform and language instruction in British India. Mastering this helps answer why specific colleges were created and how they affected relations with Indian society.
- History , class XI (Tamilnadu state board 2024 ed.) > Chapter 17: Effects of British Rule > 17.5 Reforms in Civil and Judicial Administration > p. 269
- Rajiv Ahir. A Brief History of Modern India (2019 ed.). SPECTRUM. > Chapter 30: Development of Education > Under Company Rule > p. 563
- Rajiv Ahir. A Brief History of Modern India (2019 ed.). SPECTRUM. > Chapter 26: Constitutional, Administrative and Judicial Developments > Wellesley's Role > p. 514
The establishment of institutions teaching Indian languages and later shifts to English-medium policy capture the tension between promoting oriental learning and the later anglicist approach.
Key concept for questions comparing colonial education philosophies and policies (e.g., role of pundits vs Macaulay's minute). Understanding this debate aids synthesis-type answers on educational impact and long-term cultural consequences.
- Modern India ,Bipin Chandra, History class XII (NCERT 1982 ed.)[Old NCERT] > Chapter 6: Administrative Organisation and Social and Cultural Policy > Spread of Modern Education > p. 120
- History , class XI (Tamilnadu state board 2024 ed.) > Chapter 17: Effects of British Rule > 17.5 Reforms in Civil and Judicial Administration > p. 269
Many colonial colleges, including Fort William and Haileybury (East India College), were established primarily to train Company recruits for administrative duties.
Useful for linking administrative needs to the founding of educational institutions; helps answer 'why' questions about colonial policy choices and their institutional outcomes. Connects to broader topics on governance, recruitment, and social impact.
- Modern India ,Bipin Chandra, History class XII (NCERT 1982 ed.)[Old NCERT] > Chapter 6: Administrative Organisation and Social and Cultural Policy > Civil Service > p. 108
- Rajiv Ahir. A Brief History of Modern India (2019 ed.). SPECTRUM. > Chapter 26: Constitutional, Administrative and Judicial Developments > Wellesley's Role > p. 514
Fort William College was founded to train Company civil servants in Indian languages and customs.
High-yield for questions on colonial administrative policy and education; helps distinguish institutions created for administrative training from missionary or philanthropic initiatives. Connects to topics on British methods of governance and personnel training in India.
- Modern India ,Bipin Chandra, History class XII (NCERT 1982 ed.)[Old NCERT] > Chapter 6: Administrative Organisation and Social and Cultural Policy > Civil Service > p. 108
- History , class XI (Tamilnadu state board 2024 ed.) > Chapter 17: Effects of British Rule > 17.5 Reforms in Civil and Judicial Administration > p. 269
- Rajiv Ahir. A Brief History of Modern India (2019 ed.). SPECTRUM. > Chapter 30: Development of Education > Under Company Rule > p. 563
The 'Haileybury Connection': The Court of Directors in London disapproved of Fort William College because they feared recruits would become 'Indianised' in Calcutta. They forced its closure (for training purposes) and opened the East India College at Haileybury (1806) to keep training under their direct watch in England.
Use the 'Governor-General Personality' heuristic. Wellesley was an aggressive expansionist (Subsidiary Alliance) who often acted independently. Option A (asked by London) contradicts his autonomous nature. Option C (employment for one man) is too trivial for a State policy. Option B is a 'means', not an 'end'. Option D (Administrative purpose) is the only goal grand enough for an Empire-builder.
Mains GS-1 (Administrative Consolidation) & GS-4 (Ethics in Governance): This highlights the eternal debate in Civil Service training—should officers be trained in the 'field' (to learn local empathy/culture, as Wellesley wanted) or in the 'metropole' (to ensure loyalty and detachment, as the Directors wanted)?