The making of Cotton College and its centenary

GUWAHATI, March 18: "...It seemed that I had arrived at an abandoned corner of India. The humidity of the climate added to my depression, and the occupants of the dak bungalow were tea planters, who welcomed me with their proverbial kindness but were sceptical of my wisdom incoming to Gauhati and of any possible success in the venture, and assured me of the impossibility of securing any place of residence. ... "...and then to complete my discomfiture they took me to the rear of the dak bungalow and showed me a long range of mud huts declaring these to be the hostels of the College. ... "I had been very happy at Barielly College where I had been for four or five years and I seriously contemplated a return there. I knew or needed only a telegram and my impulse was to send it. ..." The above lines have been quoted from the message sent by Frederick William Sudmersen, the founder principal of Cotton College to The Golden Jubilee Volume of Cotton College (the College celebrated its golden jubilee in 1951-1952). But, soon the depression of F W Sudmersen was over and he settled at a small bungalow of the then Assam Bengal Railway within weeks of his coming to Guwahati (then Gauhati) and the dak bungalow, after many years, became his home and the Cotton College Principal's Bungalow. Late Manik Chandra Barooah, in a memorandum to the then Chief Commissioner of Assam Sir Henry John Stedman Cotton, in March 1899, made out a strong case for establishment of a college at Guwahati. In his memorandum, late Barooah said, "Assam is the only province which has not got a college. Indeed, it has not a high institution worth the name. A college at Gauhati with a European Principal will be better appreciated by the students than similar private institutions in Calcutta (now Kolkata) (owned by native gentlemen) to which they generally resort". On the point of location of the proposed college at Guwahati, late Barooah said, "Gauhati possesses some natural advantages which no other district in Assam has. The town is just on the river, there is no difficulty about the ghat etc. It is nearer to Bengal than any other station, and with the construction of the railway on the north bank it will be directly connected with Calcutta". Sir Henry Cotton in a speech delivered by him at Guwahati on November 3, 1899 said, "... and it became evident that the preponderance of educated opinion in Assam was in favour of a local college. When this fact was made clear, I had no hesitation what course to adopt. I resolved to be guided by public opinion, and I abandoned my own scheme and decided to establish a local college". And thus Cotton College was declared open on May 27, 1901. The people of Guwahati had named the college as Cotton College on April 20, 1901. Sweet, the then Chief Engineer of Assam, in consultation with Manik Chandra Barooah and Rai Bahadur Bhooban Ram Das, selected the present site of the college. In 1901, the college was located in the single structure room where the present Chemistry Department of the College is located. In 1907, the College obtained its IA affiliation from the Calcutta University, and then the I Sc and BA affiliation in 1909, B Sc affiliation in 1910, BA Honours affiliation in 1913, BSc Honours affiliation in 1914 along with Economics Pass and Honours and MA (English) affiliation. However, MA classes were discontinued in 1933 as an austerity measure. In 1917, the Calcutta University Commission visited the College and remarked, "with some development it will be ready for recognition as a University College or Potential University". In that period the university results of Intermediate and Graduate classes of the College were uniformly brilliant and that made the College one of the best colleges in India. The College admitted Sujata Roy, the daughter of P C Roy, as the first girl student in 1929. MA classes in Economics were also introduced in the College in 1947, but, with Gauhati University coming up in 1948, these classes were discontinued. By 1942, the College emerged as not only a major institution of higher education in the country but also as an institution which can provide leadership to the society. Since this 1942 Quit India movement till date, it never let down the expectations of the people on such matters. On every occasion of social activism, it has always been in the forefront. On October 17, 1992 it was declared a post-Graduate Institution by the state government. In his address, delivered in presence of the then President of Indian Late Shankar Dayal Sharma, the then Chief Minister of the State Late Hiteswar Saikia told a huge gathering at the College campus that the state government was planning to convert Cotton College to an 'educational institute with autonomous status' in due course of time. But, since that announcement, about nine years have passed by with no sign from the Governments' side to grant autonomy to this alma mater of almost all the worthy sons and daughters of NE region! Centenary programmes: Besides the centenary run and the inaugural function on May 27 next, the Centenary Celebration Committee of the College has also proposed, among others, a special day-long programme for the College alumni on May 28, a get-together of the past and present teachers and employees of the College on May 29, a three-day exhibition on the heritage of the College from May 29, in phase I Manik Chandra Barooah National Level debate in August and September, National/International Level Seminar, Inter-University TT/Badminton Competition in September-October (subject to the approval of All India University Sports Board) in phase II. There are also proposals to organise exhibition on science and technology, and inter-college sports and cultural/music competitions, among others, between January 29 and February 3, next year and union of the Cotton College family on May 25, next year, in phase IV as part of the year-long celebration of the College's glorious hundred years of existence. In between, introduction of new subjects and opening of new buildings will also be there. The venue of the inaugural ceremony will be the Judges' Field here. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, G White- grand daughter of Frederick William Sudmersen, the founder Principal of the College, and Sangeet Natak Akademi Chairman Bhupen Hazarika are expected to attend the inaugural function. Alumni Association: Meanwhile an Alumni Association of the College has also been formed with Anil Kumar Goswami, a former Principal of the College as the president and Mafuza Rahman as the general secretary. The Association has already formed its district units and several local units with a total 1059 members registered so far. The local chapters of the Association are also learnt to be expanding the base of the Association further with their own membership drives.