Khalsa College, Amritsar

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Khalsa College, Amritsar

Motto	ਅਕਾਲ ਸਹਾਇ (Punjabi) Akal Sahai
Motto in English	With God's Grace
Established	1892
Type	College
Location	Amritsar, Punjab, India
Campus	Urban
Website	http://khalsacollegeamritsar.org

Khalsa College (Punjabi: ਖਾਲਸਾ ਕਾਲਜ khālasā kālaja) is a historic educational institution in the northern Indian city of Amritsar in the state of Punjab, India. Founded in 1892, the sprawling 300-acre (1.2 km²) campus is located about eight km outside of the city center on the Amritsar-Lahore highway (part of the Grand Trunk Road), adjoining Guru Nanak Dev University campus, to which Khalsa College is academically affiliated. Many people have a big misconception that Khalsa College was the Palace but the truth is that It was never a palace of any king or any kingdom. Khalsa College was actually built for education institute during the British ruling in India when Sikh scholars thought about providing higher education to Sikhs and Punjabis with in Punjab. Amritsar was chosen for its establishment and Singh Sabha Movement and Chief Khalsa Deewan approached the then Sikh Maharajas and Sikh people of Punjab to raise funds and donate land to build this unique institute. People of Amritsar, Lahore and other cities of Punjab including rich Sikh families and Maharajas donated land and raised funds to built Khalsa College Amritsar. Its architectural design was created by Bhai Ram Singh, a famous architect who also designed one of the Places in England. It's building was completed in 1911-12. It's architectural features are mix of British, Mughal and Sikh architect. Khalsa college's contribution towards the freedom history of India is significant as it has generated many famous freedom fighters, political leaders, armed forces generals, scientists, famous players-Olympians, actors, writers, journalists and scholars. More information about Khalsa college can be found in the book "History of Khalsa College Amritsar," written by Dr. Ganda Singh, formar head of the dept. of Sikh History, Khalsa College Amritsar. In modern times, the only research work on Khalsa college's history, "The Temple of Study-Khalsa College Amritsar," was performed by Jaspreet Singh Rajpoot, an alumni of Khalsa, in the year 2002 with the collaboration of Khalsa college governing council and Dr. Mohinder Singh Dhillon (the then Principal of KCA), reveals the facts of Khalsa college which are still unknown to most of the people around the world.

Khalsa College has following faculties:

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration
Faculty of Sciences
College of Agriculture
Institute of Computer Science

History

Maharaja Jagatjit Singh of Kapurthala, an early benefactor of Khalsa College, Amritsar

Khalsa College Establishment Committee was set up in 1890 with Colonel W. R. M. Holroyd, Director of Public Instruction, Punjab, as president, and W. Bell, Principal of Government College, Lahore, as secretary. Among the native constituents of this 121-member committee were Sir Attar Singh, Gurdial Singh Maan of Nabha, Diwan Gurmukh Singh of Patiala, Bhai Kahn Singh, Professor Gurmukh Singh and Sardar Jawahir Singh (1859–1910). Many princely states of British India and Sikh people of Punjab gave their financial help to the establishment of Khalsa College, including Maharaja Rajendra Singh of Patiala, Maharaja Hira Singh of Nabha, Maharaja Jagatjit Singh of Kapurthala and Sir Sunder Singh Majithia.

After a prolonged discussion about the site of Khalsa College, it was decided that one college would be established in Amritsar, followed by a second in Lahore. The 300-acre (1.2 km²) campus was sited just outside the village of Kot Sayyad Mehmood, which was later renamed Kot Khalsa.

To usher-in an era of Engineering and Technology, the Khalsa College Society in 2009, started the most sought-after Institution, Khalsa College of Engg. & Technology(KCET), to realize the educational requirements of the society / area and also to impart quality education (Affiliated to PTU)

The institutions under Khalsa College Governing Council:

Colleges-

Khalsa College, Amritsar-India (Estb.1892)
Khalsa College of Education, Amritsar (Estb.1954)
Khalsa College for Women, Amritsar (Estb.1968)
Khalsa College of Education, Ranjit Avenue, Amritsar (Estb.2006)
Khalsa College of Nursing, Amritsar (Estb.2006)
Khalsa College of Pharmacy, Amritsar (Estb.2009)
Khalsa College of Engineering & Tech., Ranjit Avenue, Amritsar (Estb.2009)
Khalsa College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Amritsar (Estb.2009)
Khalsa College of Management & Technology, Mohali (Estb.2009)
Khalsa College of Physical Education, VPO Heir, Distt. Amritsar (Estb.2009)
Khalsa College Chawinda Devi,Amritsar

Schools-

Khalsa College Sr. Sec. School (Boys), Amritsar (Estb. 1892)
Khalsa College Sr. Sec. School (Girls), Amritsar (Estb. 1942)
Khalsa College Public School, Amritsar Amritsar (Estb. 1984)
Khalsa College International Public School, Ranjit Avenue, Amritsar (Estb. 2001)
Khalsa College Public School, Raja Sansi, Amritsar (Estb. 2008)

The building

The main building is considered a gem of the Indo-Sarcenic style, which is strongly influenced by traditional Indian and Mughal schools of architecture. The foundation stone was laid on March 5, 1892, with the first classes starting in 1893.

The college was designed by Bhai Ram Singh, principal of the Mayo School of Arts, Lahore, with the help of engineer Dharam Singh Gharjakhia. Bhai Ram Singh was decorated for his services with the Member of the Victorian Order (MVO), the highest civilian award of British India. Khalsa college picture

Principals

Colonel W.R.M. Holroyd was the Founder-President of the Governing Council of the Khalsa College Amritsar, while Dr William H. Ratigan succeeded him.

Dr Johan Campbell Oman (1898 to 1899),
S. Kishen Singh Kapoor (1899–1900) First Sikh Principal
Mr. M.G.V. Cole (1900 to 1910),
Mr. Richard Cane Wright (1910 to 1915),
Mr. G.A.Wathen (1915 to 1924),
Rai Bahadur Manmohan (1924 to 1928),
Mr. Gopala Rao (Jan. 1928 to May 1928),
Sardar Bahadur Bishan Singh (1928–1936),
Sardar Bahadur Bhai Jodh Singh (1936–1952)

Other principals of Khalsa College Amritsar include:

S. Inder Singh (1952–1957)
Dr. Harbant Singh (1958–1961)
S. Balwant Singh Anand (1962–1963)
S. Bishan Singh Samundri (1964–1969)
S. Sham Singh Kapur (1970–1971)
S. Harbans Singh (1971–1975)
S. Gurbax Singh Shergill (1975–1989)
Dr. Harbhajan Singh Soch (1989–1995)
Dr. Mohinder Singh Dhillon (1996–2003)
Dr. Daljeet Singh (2003–Present)

Director Principal of Khalsa College of Engineering and Technology include:

Prof. (Dr.) R P S Suker-Chakia (2009–Present)

Famous visitors

Mahatma Gandhi (1920)
Edward, Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII (1921)

Famous alumni

Amitansh Gupta (2013) - World renowned musician and guitarist featured in Metallica's Album for the year'11-12[The Week-2003]
Gurdarshan Singh (1968-) Treasurer of Singh Sabha Gurdwara
Pratap Singh Kairon, former Chief Minister of Punjab
Darbara Singh, former Chief Minister of Punjab and national level leader of the Congress
Teja Singh Samundri (1882–1926), founder of SGPC - Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandhak Committee
Gen. Rajinder Singh "Sparrow" Shergill
Sohan Singh Josh (1898-1970?), Socialist Leader of Punjab
Niranjan Singh Talib (1901 - ), Gandhian Leader of Indian independence movement
Sardar Gurdial Singh Dhillon, former Speaker of the Indian Parliament ^[1]
Sardar Hukam Singh, former Speaker of the Indian Parliament ^[2]
Mulk Raj Anand, novelist
Kidar Sharma, film director and screenwriter
Bhisham Sahni, filmmaker and writer
Dr. Pathak, former director of PGI Chandigarh
Justice Hans Raj Khanna, former judge Supreme Court of India
Dr.Manohar Singh Gill, former Chief Election Commissioner of India
Hardeep Tauo Toganwalia, Captain of Canadian Kabaddi Team
Bishen Singh Bedi, former captain of the Indian cricket team
Colonel (Ret.) Arjinderpal Singh Sekhon, M.D.. First Sikh to become a Battalion Commander in the United States Army and to graduate from United States Army War College and the first amritdhari Sikh to win democratic party nomination for the United States Congress in 2006.^{[citation needed]}

Hockey players^[3]

Trivia

The outside court scenes featuring Shah Rukh Khan's character Veer in the film Veer-Zaara were filmed at the college. Being a favourite place of directors/producers, it has attracted many Punjabi as well as Hindi film-makers who have shot videos here. Dr. Arjinderpal Singh Sekhon the first Sikh become Colenel and battalion Commander in the United States Army and a graduate of United States Army war college attended Khalsa College School and college from 1953 to 1965.Another film known as "Rab ne bana di jodi" featuring Shahrukh khan and Anushka Sharma, was filmed at khalsa college.

External links

References

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