SSC
The Universities of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras, the first modern universities in India, were established in:
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Answer: Option B — 1857
Detailed Solution
The Universities of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras, the first three modern universities in India, were established in 1857.
Background:
- Wood's Despatch (1854), sent by Sir Charles Wood, the President of the Board of Control, recommended the establishment of universities in the three Presidency towns.
- It is often called the "Magna Carta of English education in India".
The three universities:
- The University of Calcutta was established on 24 January 1857.
- The University of Bombay (now the University of Mumbai) was established on 18 July 1857.
- The University of Madras was established on 5 September 1857.
- They were modelled on the University of London.
Features:
- They were affiliating and examining bodies; teaching was done in the affiliated colleges.
- Each was headed by a Chancellor (the Governor-General or the Governor) and a Vice-Chancellor.
- They had a Senate and a Syndicate.
- The medium of instruction was English.
Early graduates:
The first graduates of the University of Calcutta (1858) included Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and Jadunath Bose.
Later universities:
- The University of the Punjab, Lahore, was established in 1882.
- The University of Allahabad was established in 1887.
Importance:
- The universities produced a new class of English-educated Indians, such as lawyers, teachers, doctors and journalists.
- Many of them became leaders of social reform and the national movement.
- They spread modern ideas of liberty, democracy and nationalism.
Wood's Despatch also recommended:
- A department of education in each province.
- Grants-in-aid to private schools.
- The training of teachers.
- Vernacular primary schools in villages, Anglo-vernacular high schools and affiliated colleges in district towns.
- Attention to the education of women.
Why not the other options?
- ✗1835 was the year of Macaulay's Minute and the English Education Act; 1854 was the year of Wood's Despatch; 1882 was the year the University of the Punjab was established.
Quick tip
Remember: Universities of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras = 1857 (on the recommendation of Wood's Despatch, 1854); modelled on the University of London.
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British Acts & Policies — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of British Acts & Policies, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the constitutional and administrative acts passed during British rule, from the Regulating Act of 1773 and Pitt's India Act of 1784 to the Charter Acts, the Indian Councils Acts, the Government of India Acts of 1919 and 1935, and the Indian Independence Act of 1947, along with British economic, land revenue and education policies. Exam questions usually ask what a particular act introduced: the Indian Councils Act 1909 introduced separate electorates for Muslims, the Government of India Act 1919 brought dyarchy to the provinces, and the 1935 Act provided for a federation and provincial autonomy. Land revenue systems (Permanent Settlement, Ryotwari and Mahalwari) and education milestones such as Wood's Despatch (1854) are also tested. Practise the British acts and policies questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.