CMS College Kottayam

Two hundred years is but a tiny drop in the unceasing flow of cosmic time. On the human scale, however, it amounts to the life span of about ten generations. That is, if the first-ever graduates of the college sent their children to C.M.S College Kottayam, and each succeeding generation did the same, they would have their 10th generation progeny studying here at present. This is only one indication of the antiquity of C.M.S College Kottayam in the history of higher education not just in Kerala, but in India as a whole. Yes, C.M.S College, Kottayam – The College Cotym in its original orthographic avatar – was born 200 years ago, in 1817. The pre-natal history of The College, however, goes further back to the time when Colonel John Munroe assumed charge as the Dewan of Travancore. He was not just an administrator, but a visionary and social reformer. His zeal for social change is borne out by the pivotal role he played in the abolition of slavery in Travancore in 1813. The same zeal prompted Colonel Munroe to appoint a commission to inquire into the socio-economic conditions of Syrian Christians in the province. Soon after, he appealed to the British provincial capital in Madras to initiate the process for starting a college in Kottayam. He also wrote to Church Missionary Society, which had been established in 1799 with the avowed purpose of carrying out missionary and educational activities around the globe, requesting the society to depute highly qualified missionaries who would work as teachers in the college proposed to be set up in Kottayam. In the mean time, the British Parliament ratified a charter empowering East India Company to foray into missionary and educational work. In the same year, i.e., in 1813, Maharani Gouri Lakshmi Bai(1810-15) of the Travancore Royal family granted 16 acres of land, 500 rupees in cash, and timber from public forests for the construction of college buildings on the banks of the Meenachil River. The construction was also supported financially by the proceeds from a deposit made by Col. Colin Macaulay, the first Resident of Travancore, for the benefit of Syrian Christians in Travancore.