When the British went on opening Sanskrit Colleges, Rammohun, in all-too-famous address of the December 11, 1823, pleaded for the instruction of European sciences. He penned:

... as the improvement of the native population is the object of the Government, it will consequently promote a more liberal and enlightened system of instruction, embracing mathematics, natural philosophy, chemistry and anatomy, with other useful sciences which may be accomplished with the sum proposed by employing a few gentlemen of talents and learning educated in Europe, and providing a college furnished with the necessary books, instruments and other apparatus.

And, in 1827, the Hindu College introduced into its curriculum mechanics, hydrostatics, optics, astronomy, mathematics, anatomy and medicine all in English. Then almost half of its 91 students opted to study these, though they were not compulsory subjects. In addition to this, on the whole, Hindu students trained in the traditional manner did not have any difficulty in responding to Western course work. And, indeed, the curriculum seems to correspond very closely to the Bhadralok ideal of education. It refers to a fusion of the traditional Sanskritic studies of rhetoric, sacred literature, law and grammar with those of Western literature and science. However, knowledge of Sanskrit was essential to their being.

The Northern Province: The Delhi College

In this section, I would like to look at the pioneering efforts made by the Delhi College in the early nineteenth century. Delhi College played a significant role in the dissemination of modern science. Delhi College, originally established as Madrassa-i-Ghaziuddin by Nawab Ghaziuddin Firoz Jung in 1772, was rechristened Delhi College in 1825. Delhi College was set up to translate scientific books into local languages, in general, and, Urdu, in particular.