The illustrious history of academic excellence of Presidency College, Kolkata is intimately entwined with the intellectual history of Bengal and India. The foundation of the Hindoo College in 1817 has had far reaching effects on the social and cultural history of the country. The college was renamed as Presidency College and brought under the direct control of the Government in 1855. The college was founded with the expressed intention of providing modern education to the Indian students. Though originally meant for the
boys of the Hindu elite, the college was thrown open to all communities after 1855. The liberal, secular, scientific spirit that marked the advent of Indian modernity was born in this college. Indeed, the history of the college merges into the history of the Bengal, and by extension, the Indian Renaissance.
