Cotton College, first institution in NE India founded by Sir. Henry Cotton - colonial India






Cotton College guwahati.com
Cotton College. Guwahati AssamInfo.Com

Soon after 1857, the British Government in India directly under the Crown began giving serious attention to higher education  to educate the Indians on western system so that they could be used for the government jobs at less salary than their British counter parts. This meant considerable savings for the government, besides they could  run the administration effectively.  Thus came up universities at Madras, Bombay, Calcutta and other places across India afte 1850s.  Unfortunately NE India, bordering with Burmah (Maynmar), was not having any educational facilities and it remained a neglected region.   Toward the end of 19th century it dawned on one British administrator to focus on this neglected region  and he used all the resources at his disposal  and founded  an educational institution here which was to later become one of the important centers of learning in the entire Northeast.

Thus Cotton College came into being in 1901 in Guwahati. The man who  was behind this institution was none other than  Sir Henry John Stedman Cotton, 
Assam province Chief Commissioner whose sweat and toil never went unnoticed.  On November 3, 1899 in Guwahati, he made the announcement to establish a college in Assam, the records state. on May 27, 1901, Sir Cotton said that it was affiliated to Calcutta university.  Prof. Fredrick William Sudmersen became the first principal of the college.  Well, it is to be noted, that numerous graduates from this college were benefited from the course that got them the opportunity to work in the British administration. In was in 1948,  Cotton College became part of the newly formed Guwahati University.

The year 2011 saw the declaration of the historic Act of the Government of Assam whereby This  institution was upgraded to Cotton College State University (CCSU) with Cotton College as its sole constituent college in 2011through an historic
Act of the Government of Assam. Further, this hollowed institution  was also declared as a Special Heritage College in 2015.
Covering an area of 33.474 acres in the prime area of the city of Guwahati, Cotton College  is  about 25 kilometres away from the Gopi Nath Bordoloi International Airport, Borjhar and is about 1 kilometer away from the Assam State Transport Corporation Office and Guwahati Railway station.


A pioneering institution, when it was started in 1901, it had  5 professors and 39 students but today  there are  244 teachers and 5000 students on its rolls. Rated as an A-grade College by the NAAC.  Cotton College, Guwahati has 21 undergraduate and 20 postgraduate departments in science, humanities and social science faculties. This educational institution with British legacy is catering to the educational needs of the NE region of India.
https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll/assams-cotton-college-becomes-cotton-university/1065651