Muir Central College
Muir Central College in Allahabad in northern India was a college of higher education founded by William Muir in 1872. It had a separate existence to 1921, when as a result of the Allahabad University Act it was merged into Allahabad University. The buildings (1872–1886) were a design by the British architect William Emerson. Initially the college was affiliated with the University of Calcutta. According to historian Avril Powell, certain debates between Saiyid Ahmed Khan, the founder of Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College in Aligarh, and William Muir led to the founding of Muir Central College. Whereas the  universities at Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras (the first in India) had classes taught in English, "Muir College opened in 1872 with three departments of equal standing, teaching respectively through the vernaculars, the 'oriental' classics and English." There was Maulawi Zaka Allah, Professor of Vernacular Science and Literature, who taught Arabic, Persian, Urdu and mathematics. One of the students' favorites was Aditya Ram Bhattacharya, professor of Sanskrit. Arthur Hay Stewart was professor of law from 1883 to 1895, and Homersham Cox came to teach mathematics in 1891. "For its first 15 years the Muir College was able to prove itself a  valuable half-way house situated rather precariously between the near monopoly of English in Calcutta University and the uniqueness of the new Punjab University’s fully fledged Oriental Department." "By the late 1880s the Muir Central College examination results marked it as north India’s most academically successful college outside Calcutta. It would remain the nerve centre of Allahabad University until 1922, academically, socially, politically and on the games field, its 'Muir hostel', added in 1911, contributing to an "espirit de corps" that was to prove long-lasting." In 1922 Allahabad University merged with Muir Central College and English became  the standard medium. References. The Calcutta University Calendar, 1888,1889,1890 Atul Krishna Ghosh Medalist 1887 MA English Muir Central College, CU Atul Krishna Ghosh, Muir Alumni, Principal Maharajah Mohindra College Patiala 1888-1907