CMS College Kottayam

The CMS College is one of the first Western-style college in India. CMS College Kottayam is also the first Western-style arts college in India. It was founded by the Church Missionary Society of England, in 1817 when no institution existed in what was then the princely state of Travancore to teach English. The first college in the princely state of Travancore, however, was Scott Christian College Nagercoil. Wikipedia says: The college has its origins in a village-church school founded in 1809 at Mylaudy by the Revd William Tobias Ringeltaube, the pioneering missionary of the London Missionary Society in South Travancore. This Central School or Seminary was shifted to Nagercoil in 1818 by the Revd Charles Mead. The Revd Dr James Duthie took charge of the Seminary in 1860, and played a vital role in raising it to a College. The College was patronised by the Resident Monroe. Apart from English, Greek and Latin were also taught. Scott Christian College produced some of the outstanding Dewans of Travancore. University College, Trivandrum had its first Principal from Scott Christian College. Wikipedia says in University College page: "The Maharaja had occasion to visit a school that was imparting instruction in English at Nagarcoil under the auspices of the London Missionary Society . He was impressed by the school and the quality of the education given there and was convinced that the new type of school held out great prospects for the people of the state. Shortly thereafter he invited Mr. Roberts who was in-charge of the school at Nagarcoil to come to Thiruvananthapuram and start a similar school there. The educationist, who was an Englishman, agreed and a new school was started in 1834." That school developed into the University College.The Rev. Benjamin Bailey was the first principal of the CMS College, as it was then known, and the government of India welcomed the college as "a place of general education hence any demands of the state for officers to fill all departments of public service would be met".