The Indian Institute in central Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 is located at the north end of Catte Street

Catte Street

Catte Street is a historic street in central Oxford, England.- Location :Catte Street runs north-south, continuing as Parks Road to the north...

 on the corner with Holywell Street

Holywell Street

Holywell Street is a street in central Oxford, England. It runs east-west with Broad Street to the west and Longwall Street to the east. About half way along, Mansfield Road adjoins to the north.New College dominates the south side of the street...

 and facing down Broad Street

Broad Street, Oxford

Broad Street is a wide street in central Oxford, England, located just north of the old city wall.The street is known for its bookshops, including the original Blackwell's bookshop at number 50, located here due to the University...

 from the east. Sir Monier Monier-Williams

Monier Monier-Williams

Sir Monier Monier-Williams, KCIE was the second Boden Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford University, England...

 started the Institute at Oxford in 1883 to provide training for the Indian Civil Services

Indian Civil Services

The Indian Civil Service , which after 1886 was officially called the Imperial Civil Service and was also known as the British India Civil Service, was the civil service of the Government of India in the period of the British Raj...

.

History

In June 1881, plans were submitted to the University of Oxford's Hebdomadal Council

Hebdomadal Council

The Hebdomadal Council was the chief executive body for the University of Oxford from its establishment in 1854 until its replacement, in the Michaelmas term of 2000, by the new University Council...

 to build an Indian Institute. The original site was occupied by four old buildings. The building was designed by Basil Champneys

Basil Champneys

Basil Champneys was an architect and author whose more notable buildings include Newnham College, Cambridge, Manchester's John Rylands Library, Mansfield College, Oxford and Oriel College, Oxford's Rhodes Building.- Life :...

. Originally there was a low shop to the south, but Hertford College has now encroached on the Institute with a much taller building.

Indian Institute Library

The Indian Institute Library

Indian Institute Library

The Indian Institute Library is a dependent library of the Bodleian and part of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Opened in 1886, the library specialises in the history and culture of South Asia, Tibet and the Himalayas...

 opened in 1886. It is a dependent library of the Bodleian Library

Bodleian Library

The Bodleian Library , the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library...

, the main library of the University. It specialises in the history and culture of South Asia

South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...

, especially the Himalayas

Himalayas

The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...

 and Tibet

Tibet

Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

. The library was formerly located in the Indian Institute building, but is now close by, on the top floor of the New Bodleian Library.
Along with the library

Library

In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...

, the institute contained lecture room

Lecture room

Lecture room may refer to:* classroom* Lecture Room, program of China Central Television...

s and a museum

Museum

A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...

. Some contents of the museum are now present in the Ashmolean.
The original Indian Institute building is now the History Faculty Library of the University of Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

, the History Faculty having moved to the Old Boys' School on George Street. The former offices now host the James Martin

James Martin (author)

James Martin is a British Information Technology consultant and author, who was nominated for a Pulitzer prize for his book, The Wired Society: A Challenge for Tomorrow .- Biography :...

 21st Century School.

The building

The Indian Institute was first designed by Basil Champneys

Basil Champneys

Basil Champneys was an architect and author whose more notable buildings include Newnham College, Cambridge, Manchester's John Rylands Library, Mansfield College, Oxford and Oriel College, Oxford's Rhodes Building.- Life :...

, sometime during 1885.The building was built of Milton stone in the style of the English Renaissance

English Renaissance

The English Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in England dating from the late 15th and early 16th centuries to the early 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that is usually regarded as beginning in Italy in the late 14th century; like most of northern...

, with different oriental details to the designs of Basil Champneys. In 1974, Nikolaus Pevsner

Nikolaus Pevsner

Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...

 indicated that the rounded corner cupola would make an excellent point de vue at the east end of Broad Street.

Accusations of racism

The building was financed entirely by private donors in India and Britain, for the sole purpose of constructing an edifice to house study for and on the Indian sub-continent. There was consequently great controversy in 1968, when the University's governing council evicted the Indian Institute from the premises without compensation, and then made a gift of the premises to the History Faculty, which specialises in European history to the exclusion of Indian history. The government of India filed a formal protest on behalf of the families of the original donors, who felt defrauded by the University's actions. The Oxford University Student Union

Oxford University Student Union

The Oxford University Student Union is the official students' union of the University of Oxford. It is better known in Oxford by its acronym, OUSU . It exists to represent Oxford University students in the University's decision-making, to act as the voice for students in the national higher...

 went further still, accusing the University administration of racism in the decision.

The Institute's aim

The aim of the Indian Institute was:

The work of fostering and facilitating Indian studies in the University; the work of making Englishmen, and even Indians themselves, appreciate better than they have done before the languages, literature and industries of India.

See also

• University of Oxford
  University of Oxford
  The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
  
  

Departments of the University of Oxford
Buildings and structures in Oxford

• Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies
  Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies
  The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, founded in 1997, is a Recognised Independent Centre of Oxford University. The Centre is engaged in developing academic programmes of education, research and publishing in the field of Hindu studies...
  
  
• Hertford College
• James Martin 21st Century School (currently housed in the old Indian Institute building)

External links

• Old Indian Institute, Broad Street, Oxford (including photographs)
• Indian Studies at Oxford from the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies
  Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies
  The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, founded in 1997, is a Recognised Independent Centre of Oxford University. The Centre is engaged in developing academic programmes of education, research and publishing in the field of Hindu studies...
  
  
• Indian Institute Library now in the Bodleian Library
  Bodleian Library
  The Bodleian Library , the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library...
  
  
• The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies