Pithapuram Raja's College, Kakinada

The Pithapuram Raja’s College at Kakinada was one of the oldest colleges in the Godavari country.¹² It began in 1852 as a town school, and took its name from its patron, the Raja of Pithapuram.¹² In 1939–40 it was a first-grade college of the Andhra University, owned by the Maharaja of Pithapuram.³⁴

A school for the town

According to the Godavari gazetteer of 1907, the school was founded in 1852 as an English and vernacular (local-language) school.¹ The Collector, Mr. Prendergast, and his sheristadar (head clerk), Tulasinga Chettiyar, set it up.¹ The Andhra University’s register says it was open to pupils of all sections of the people.⁴

The school lived on private gifts, and it slowly declined.¹ In 1862 it closed for a time.¹ Through the efforts of the Collector, Mr. Purvis, it reopened on 28 October 1863.¹ The government gave it Rs. 70 a month.¹ The Raja of Pithapuram, who had been one of its earliest pupils, gave a monthly sum as well.¹

The Raja’s gift

As more pupils came, the school needed a building of its own.¹ The Raja gave it Rs. 28,000, a large and valuable site, and Rs. 3,700 for a building and furniture.¹ With this and a government grant, the northern block was built.¹ Another student of the early years, Pydah Ramakrishnayya, paid half the cost of a two-storied building.² The Governor, Sir Mountstuart Grant Duff, opened it on 3 March 1883.²

The school taught only to the middle-school standard until 1866, when it began to teach up to the matriculation.² The register adds that it sent its first candidates to that examination in 1866, as the Hindu High School.⁴

Becoming a college

In January 1884 the school committee opened an F.A. class.² The school was affiliated to the Madras University and named the “Pithapur Raja’s College”, after its patron.² In 1892 the committee registered itself as a company, “The Pithapur Raja’s College, Limited”.² In 1903–04 it lived mainly on its fees, which came to nearly Rs. 15,000.²

From 3 August 1909 the college was handed to the Maharaja of Pithapuram as its trustee and manager.⁴ At the start of the year 1926–27 he became its sole owner and raised it to a first-grade college, teaching up to the B.A.⁴ By 1939 he had given it about Rs. 4,28,860 for equipment and yearly losses.⁴

The reformer Raghupati Venkataratnam Naidu was its principal from 1905 to 1919, according to P. Raghunadha Rao.⁵ In 1939–40 “Sir R. Venkata Ratnam Naidu” sat on the Maharaja’s advisory committee for the college.⁴

Girls and Dalit students

In 1939–40 the college had two hostels, one of them for girls.⁶ It also gave a yearly grant to the Rammohun Students’ Home, a hostel for Adi-Andhra (Dalit) boys, and supervised it.⁶ Its library had 11,166 books.⁶ Students could take Sanskrit, Telugu or Urdu as their second language.⁶

Where the sources disagree

The sources differ on two early dates:

The register says the school was given fresh life in 1862 by the Collector Purvis and his deputy, K. Jagannadham Pantulu.⁴
The Godavari gazetteer says it collapsed for a time in 1862 and reopened on 28 October 1863.¹

The register dates the Raja’s gift of Rs. 28,000 and the site to 1866.⁴ The gazetteer says the school stayed in a rented building until 1865, when the Raja gave the money and the site.¹

F. R. Hemingway, Madras District Gazetteers: Godavari, Vol. I (1907), p. 157 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴
Hemingway, Godavari (1907), p. 158 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹
Andhra University: The Annual Register 1939–40 (1939), p. 302, list of colleges (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩
Andhra University: The Annual Register 1939–40, p. 336 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹
P. Raghunadha Rao, Adhunika Andhrapradesh Charitra (Telugu version of History of Modern Andhra Pradesh, rev. ed. 1997), p. 348 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩
Andhra University: The Annual Register 1939–40, p. 339 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴