CMS College Kottayam is known for producing a wide range of alumni and is a landmark in the history of both Kottayam and Kerala. Founded by the
Church Missionary Society of England, in 1817 when no institution existed in what was then the
princely state of
Travancore to teach English. CMS College Kottayam was patronised by
Col. John Munro, the
East India Company Resident, and
Dewan of Travancore. The
Reverend Benjamin Bailey was the first principal. Apart from English, Greek and Latin were taught. The government of India welcomed the college as
"a place of general education hence any demands of the state for officers to fill all the departments of public service would be met". In the early years of the Old Seminary (
Orthodox Pazhaya Seminary), the curriculum included the study of
Latin,
Greek,
Hebrew,
Mathematics,
History, and
Geography besides English,
Malayalam,
Sanskrit, and
Syriac. In 1838, the college moved to a wooded hillock — the present site — commanding views of the distant Western
Ghats. One of the oldest buildings in the campus is Room 52, or the "
Grammar School", as it was originally called. A college magazine in
Malayalam was started in 1864 by Principal Richard Collins, after whom the college library is named. In 1857 the college was affiliated to
Madras University soon after its incorporation, and the college began to present students for the
Matriculation examination. It provided free education to all its students until 1855 when the fee of one Rupee per month per student was collected. The number of students in 1870 was 129. In 1880,
Visakham Thirunal,
Maharaja of Travancore, observed on a visit to the college:
"Long before the state undertook the humanizing task of educating the subjects, the Christian Missionaries had raised the beacon of knowledge in the land". In 1840, the number of students in the college was 220. In 1890, two-year classes were started, and the first batch of students, initially all men, was presented for the F.A. Examination in 1892. Female students were not admitted to the college until 1938. In 1950, Degree classes were started, and by 1960 the number of students in the college had risen to 1,250. Postgraduate classes were started in 1959. The college is now affiliated to
Mahatma Gandhi University,
Kottayam. In 1981, the
Synod of the
Church of South India transferred the management of the college to the C. S I. Madhya Kerala Diocese. The 2006 Malayalam film
Classmates was filmed here and was dedicated to the 1946-48 batch. == Managing Council ==