Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, the founder of Tata Group, spent nearly 15 years early in his career, in the 1860s, away from India to strengthen the family business. His visits to England, in connection with the cotton trade and the idea to set up cotton mills, led to a reality check about India: lack of industrialisation, and the complete absence of scientific and industrial research supported equally by governments and philanthropists.
Realising that India’s higher education had deficiencies, Tata decided to resolve it by establishing a centre for scientific research. In his convocation speech in 1889, Lord Reay, the Chancellor of University and Governor of Bombay, pleaded the need for a meaningful scheme for a ‘teaching university’ in India. His speech helped strengthen Tata’s resolve. This year, thanks to Tata, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru has turned 115 years old.
Jamsetji Tata’s letter to Swami Vivekananda.
As the first step, Tata annually funded select young Indian men to study and train in England. He regarded these Tata scholars as a good ‘investment’ for India. For, Tata believed that an advanced nation lifts up the best and the most gifted, and presses them into the greatest service of the country.
As a successful businessman with interests ranging from manufacturing cotton, building hotels, cargo shipping, etc., both in India and abroad, Tata acquired large parcels of land in the 1890s in Juhu, Malad and Bandra (Mumbai); and in the hill stations of Matheran, Panchgani and Ooty, where he built extravagant bungalows. Years later, the valuation of these properties formed the base for the endowment while he proposed IISc.
A bust of Jamsetji Tata holding a scale model of IISc is seen on campus. Office of Communications (OOC), IISc, Bangalore
In 1898, Tata offered to donate his landed properties, worth Rs 30 lakh then and yielding an annual income of Rs 1.25 lakh, for the proposed university on two conditions: a Trust should be created by legislation to hold more property in perpetuity and the administration be a five-member body (three nominated by the university and two by the Tata family).
B J Padshah, Tata’s close confidant, was entrusted with establishing the teaching university. Padshah toured scientific and medical research institutions in England, Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland, etc., between 1896-1898, during which he interacted with eminent academics. He recommended that the teaching university be modelled on the lines of US-based Johns Hopkins University, a postgraduate institution supported by endowment and set amidst a bustling industrial district.
The Department of General and Applied Chemistry at IISc in the 1920s. Office of Communications (OOC), IISc, Bangalore
Towards the end of 1898, Tata proposed a provincial committee. Justice E T Candy, Vice-Chancellor, Bombay University, was the chairman and Padshah the secretary, while Tata opted to be a mere member. The committee chose the university’s title as ‘The Imperial University of India’. It would have scientific and technical, medical, philosophical and educational departments, laboratories, museums and a library.
On a voyage from Japan and Chicago, Tata had a chance interaction with Swami Vivekananda, who was travelling to attend the Parliament of the World’s Religions. Their conversation included the need for growth of ascetic spirit in India.
The Department of Electrical Technology at IISc in the 1920s. Office of Communications (OOC), IISc, Bangalore
In his letter to Vivekananda in November 1898, Tata wrote, “It seems to me that no better use can be made of the ascetic spirit than the establishment of monasteries or residential halls for men dominated by this spirit, where they should live with ordinary decency, and devote their lives to the cultivation of sciences — natural and humanistic.”
In 1899, when Lord George Curzon assumed charge as the Viceroy of India, the university proposal was tabled before him. He expressed reservations, wondering whether the university would find enough students and be able to train them for employment. Another hurdle emerged when the Indian government disapproved of the condition of the “family settlement” from the endowment. Later, Tata, through the provincial committee, dissociated the same in the revised scheme submitted on September 23, 1899.
An aerial view of IISc and its neighbourhood. Office of Communications (OOC), IISc, Bangalore
With the scheme still stuck and Tata’s deep desire to obtain approval at the earliest, the provincial committee first invited Professor William Ramsay, a British chemist, and later Professor Orme Masson, Vice-Chancellor, University of Melbourne, and Colonel J Clibborn, Director, Engineering School, Roorkee, for their recommendations.
The Masson-Clibborn Report proposed the name ‘Indian Institute of Science’ and picked Roorkee as its location. The Ramsay Report picked Bangalore for its favourable climate, large mineral deposits in Mysore and hydroelectric power from Cauvery Falls.
The vesting order for IISc dated May 27, 1909. Office of Communications (OOC), IISc, Bangalore
However, it was the Mysore Royal family — Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar, the then minor Maharaja of Mysore, and his mother Maharani Kempa Sannidhana Vani Vilasa Sannidhana, the Queen Regent — and Dewan K Seshadri Iyer who played pivotal roles in bringing IISc to Bangalore. The royal family offered 371 acres and Rs 5 lakh towards the construction, besides an annual subsidy of Rs 50,000.
Several delays in approvals by the British Raj continued to mar the process of establishment of the university. Fresh trouble arrived in the form of a dispute between the Tatas and the Indian government over the valuation of the Bombay properties. G R Lowndes, legal member of the Viceroy’s Council, gave his valuations.
Meanwhile, Tata died in Germany following a brief illness in May 1904. His two sons, Ratanji and Dorabji Tata, got involved in fulfilling their father’s dream. Though delayed, Lowndes’ recommendations were finally accepted by the Indian government in February 1905. Since ideation, it took 13 years for the institute to reach fruition. The vesting order of the establishment of IISc was issued 115 years ago, on May 27, 1909. English chemist Morris Travers was appointed as IISc’s first director and initial years saw appointments of more British faculty. IISc began with two departments: General and Applied Chemistry, and Electrical Technology. The first batch of 24 students was admitted in 1912. Other early departments established included Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry.
Morris Travers, the first director of IISc. Office of Communications (OOC), IISc, Bangalore
In 1933, Nobel laureate Sir C V Raman took over as IISc’s first Indian director. He is credited with establishing its Physics department. Nuclear physicist Homi Bhabha conceived the idea of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research while working in this department at IISc. Physicist and astronomer Vikram Sarabhai, who established the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), worked under Raman in this department.
Research on local industrial problems involving sandalwood oil and lac were in focus in IISc’s nascent years. Bangalore’s water supply and sewage system was the outcome of research conducted by Prof Gilbert Flower of the Department of Biochemistry.
The main IISc building. Office of Communications (OOC), IISc, Bangalore
Origins of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), National Aerospace Laboratories, Central Power and Research Institute, Central Food and Technological Research Institute and Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited can be easily traced back to IISc.
Sharath Ahuja was the technical officer with the Archives and Publications Cell of IISc
(As told to Anjali Marar)
