Pachaiyappa's College is one of the oldest educational institutions in Chennai

Chennai

Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...

, in the South India

South India

South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...

n state of Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

. The college was established as Pachaiyappa's Central Institution at Popham's Broadway on January 1, 1842, from money given in Pachaiyappa Mudaliar

Pachaiyappa Mudaliar

Pachaiyappa Mudaliar was a Madras merchant, philanthropist and dubash of the 18th century.- Early life :Pachaiyappa Mudaliar was born in a poor family in Periyapalaiyam in Thiruvallur district...

's will. It was the first Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 educational institution in South India, which was not funded by the British

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

. It gained college status in 1889, and until 1947 only admitted Hindu students.

History

Thes college had its genesis in the will of Pachaiyappa Mudaliar. Pachaiyappa was born in 1754, of poor parents. He grew up in poverty and rose by his own force of character to be the most opulent man of his time but who bequeathed all his wealth for the service of humanity. It was at Kumbakonam on March 22, 1794, having a premonition of his premature demise, that he drew up his will “dedicating, with full knowledge and hearty resignation, all his wealth, in the absence of any male issue, to the sacred service of Siva and Vishnu and to certain charities at various temples and places of pilgrimage, to the erection of religious edifies, to bounties to the poor, to seminaries of Sanskrit learning and to other objects of general benevolence”.

Principals

• Prof.John Adam 1884-1894
• Prof.Eric Drew 1906-1912
• Prof.J.C.Rollo Eso 1912-1918
• Prof.C.L.Wren 1920-1921
• Prof.M.Ruthnaswamy (First Indian Principal) 1921-1927
• Prof.K.Chinnathambi Pillai 1927-1935
• Prof.P.N.Seenivasachari 1935 -1938
• Prof.D.S.Sharma 1938-1941
• Prof.V.Thiruvengadasamy 1941-1942
• Prof.B.V.Narayanasamy Naidu 1942-1947
• Prof.R.Krishnamurthy 1947-1961
• Prof.C.D.Rajeswaran 1961-1963

• Prof.T.S.Sankaranarayana Pillai 1963-1965
• Prof.Dr.Sp.Shanmuganathan 1966 -1982
• Prof.M.K.Dasarathan 1982-1984
• Prof.T.R.Ramachandran 1984-1985
• Prof.G.Nagalingam 1985-1986
• Prof.N.P.Kalyanam 1986-1987
• Prof.G.Nagalingam 1987-1989
• Dr.A.P.Kamalakara Rao 1989-1994
• Dr.R.S.Raghavan 1995-1999
• Dr.R.Balakrishnan 1999-2002
• Dr.P.R.Rangaswami 2002-2003
• Dr.T.V.Rajendiran 2005-2008

Academics

• Undergraduate courses:
  • B.A.
    Bachelor of Arts
    A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
    
     in History, Economics, Philosophy, Tamil, English.
  • B.Sc. in Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Microbiology, Zoology, Computer Science, Mathematics
  • B.Com. in Corporate Secretary
  • B.C.A.
• Postgraduate courses:
  • M.A.
    Master of Arts (postgraduate)
    A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
    
     in History, Economics, Philosophy, Tamil, English
  • M.Sc. in Applied Microbiology, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Zoology, Computer Science and Technology, Information Technology
  • M.Com
    Master of Commerce
    Master of Commerce is a postgraduate Masters Degree focusing on commerce-, management- and economics-related subjects. Like the undergraduate Bachelor of Commerce, the degree is offered in Commonwealth nations.-Structure:The Master of Commerce typically requires one year of full-time study...
    
    
  • M.C.S.
  • M.C.A.
• Research programs:
  • M.Phil. in History, Economics, Philosophy, Tamil, English, Mathematics, Chemistry, Botany, Zoology, Commerce
  • Ph.D.
    Ph.D.
    A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
    
     in History, Economics, Philosophy, Tamil, English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Zoology, Commerce

Endowments/scholarships

There are about 100 endowments, scholarships and medals established. Some are:

• Adhikesavalu Endowment
• Amirthammal Scholarship
• Anuambedu Palaniappa Mudaliar Endowment
• Anumula Munusamy Naidu Endowment
• Anumula Narayanasamy Naidu Endowment
• Appandai Mallinath Jain Scholarship
• B. Ramachandra Reddi Endowment
• C. Shanmuga Sundara Mudaliar Endowment
• Chellammal's Scholarship
• College Sanskrit Association Fund
• College Tamil Association Fund
• Dr. M. P. Sankara Subbu Pillai Endowment
• Dr. Rajah Sir Annamalai Chettiar Scholarship
• Dr. S. Chandrasekara Mudaliar Endowment
• Dr. Suba Shanmuganathan Endowment
• E. Duraisamy Mudaliar Endowment
• E. Shanmuga Mudaliar Endowment
• Gantasala Yasodhammal Scholarship
• G. D. Naidu's Endowment
• Honorable Diwan Bahadur K. Govindachari Endowment
• Janaki Ammal Endowment
• John Bruce Norton Scholarship
• Kanchipuram Ramanuja Mudaliar Endowment
• Karavadi Seenivasarao Endowment
• Kariyapatta Ramanujiah Scholarship
• M. Parthasarathy Mudaliar Endowment
• M. Rajarathna Mudaliar Endowment
• Madras Chamber of Commerce Scholarship
• Madras Cycle Importers' Association Scholarship

• Manjal Neerkayal Tmt. Ponnammal Thangiah Endowment
• Narayana Iyengar Scholarship
• Neelaganda Metha Scholarship
• Oletti Ranganayaki Ammal Scholarship
• P. Guruswami Mudaliar Scholarship
• P. Rama Iyengar Scholarship
• Pachaiyappa's Old student Association Endowment
• Pikapadi Oomapathi Pathar Endowment
• Principal Tmt. N. Shanmugasundaram Endowment
• Prof. P. R. S. Rajan Endowment
• Prof. T. Ramalingam Endowment
• Puratchithalaivi Manbumigu J. Jayalalitha Endowment
• Ragavendra Rao Endowment
• Raja Sir M. A. M. Ramasamy Chettiar Endowment
• Rao Bahadur V.Thiruvengadathan Chetty Endowment
• Seenivasa Pillai Scholarship
• Sir C.P.Ramasamy Iyer Endowment
• Sir Henry Stokes Scholarship
• Southern India Chamber of Commerce Scholarship
• Sri Godawar Sanskrit Scholarship
• Students Aid Fund
• T. B. Venkatachalam Pillai Scholarship
• Thennankudi Estate Endowment
• Thiru G. Balakrishnan & P. Kokilambal Endowment
• Thiru V. Kalyana Sundara Mudaliar Endowment
• Tmt.Sakunthalammal Janakiraman Endowment
• V. Rajarathnam Chetty Endowment

Notable alumni

The complete listing of the notable alumni is on the website of the college.. Some of the notable names are:

• Paravastu Chinnayya Soori
  Paravastu Chinnayya Soori
  Paravastu Chinnayasuri is a well-known Telugu writer. He was born in 1807 in Perambur of Chengalpattu district and died in 1861. Suri was the son of Venkata Rangayya a Vaishnavite Scholar. He worked as a Telugu teacher at Pachaiyappa's College in Madras. He also worked as a law scholar for the...
  
  : Telugu poet and Professor of Telugu Language.
• Srinivasa Ramanujan
  Srinivasa Ramanujan
  Srīnivāsa Aiyangār Rāmānujan FRS, better known as Srinivasa Iyengar Ramanujan was a Indian mathematician and autodidact who, with almost no formal training in pure mathematics, made extraordinary contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series and continued fractions...
  
  : mathematician
  Mathematician
  A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
  
  
• Pammal Sambandha Mudaliar
  Pammal Sambandha Mudaliar
  Pammal Vijayaranga Sambandha Mudaliar, popularly known as the father of modern Tamil theatre was a great playwight of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. He made enormous contributions to the Tamil drama.-Birth and education:...
  
  : Tamil playwright
• C. N. Annadurai
  C. N. Annadurai
  Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai , popularly called Anna , or Arignar Anna was a former Chief Minister of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu...
  
  : former Chief Minister
  Chief Minister
  A Chief Minister is the elected head of government of a sub-national state, provinces of Sri Lanka, Pakistan, notably a state of India, a territory of Australia or a British Overseas Territory that has attained self-government...
  
   of Tamil Nadu, 1967–69, Founder D.M.K
• Madabhushi Ananthasayanam Ayyangar
  Madabhushi Ananthasayanam Ayyangar
  Madabhushi Ananthasayanam Ayyangar was the first Deputy Speaker and then Speaker of Lok Sabha in the Indian Parliament. He was Governor of Bihar also....
  
  , Lok Sabha
  Lok Sabha
  The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
  
   Speaker.
• Navalar Nedunchezhiyan
  V. R. Nedunchezhiyan
  V.R. Nedunchezhiyan was a former finance minister of the state of Tamil Nadu, India. He was also the acting chief minister of Tamil Nadu in two tenures .He was born at Thirukkannapuram in a Hindu Mudaliar family...
  
  : politician
  Politician
  A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
  
  , Interim Chief minister, Minister for 25 years.
• Prof. K. Anbazhagan
  K. Anbazhagan
  Kalyanasundaram Anbazhagan is the former finance minister of Tamil Nadu. He was re-elected as the General Secretary of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam eighth time in a row. He has been elected to be a member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative assembly nine times...
  
  : politician
• E. V. K. Sampath
  E. V. K. Sampath
  Erode Venkatta Naicker Krishnasamy Sampath , usually referred to as E. V. K. Sampath was a prominent politician from Tamil Nadu, India. He was an advocate of Dravidian Movement of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy and was considered by some as his political heir. He later split from Periyar's Dravidar...
  
  : politician and one of the founders of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
  Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
  Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. It is a Dravidian party founded by C. N. Annadurai as a breakaway faction from the Dravidar Kazhagam headed by Periyar...
  
  
• C. Vijayaraghavachariar
  C. Vijayaraghavachariar
  Chakravarti Vijayaraghavachariar was an Indian politician. He rose to prominence following his appeal against the charges alleging him to have instigated a Hindu - Muslim riot in Salem...
  
  : Former President of the Indian National Congress
  Indian National Congress
  The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
  
  
• R. S. Manohar
  R. S. Manohar
  R. S. Manohar was a popular villain actor of yesteryears. He was born at Namakkal in 1925. He had acted over 200 films.-Biography:Ramasamy Subramania Manohar was born on 29 June 1925 at Namakkal as Lakshmi Narashiman to Subramania Iyer and Rajalakshmi Ammal. He got the name Manohar after playing...
  
  : drama and Tamil cinema actor
• A. M. Rajah
  A. M. Rajah
  Aemala Manmatharaju Rajah was a South Indian playback singer-music composer popular in the 1950s and the early 1960s in South India. He was popularly known as A. M. Rajah or Rajah. His songs were featured in numerous Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films in the 1950s, early 1960s and early...
  
  : yesteryears singer and Music Director
• Kasu Brahmananda Reddy
  Kasu Brahmananda Reddy
  Kasu Brahmananda Reddy at Hyderabad, was the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, India from 29 February 1964 to 30 September 1971. On 3 June 1977 he was elected president of the Indian National Congress.-Early life:...
  
  : Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, 1964–71
• K. C. Reddy
  K. C. Reddy
  K.C.Reddy or Kysamballi Chengalraya Reddy was the first Chief Minister of Karnataka in India. He belonged to Kysamballi village of Kolar district....
  
  : First Chief Minister of old state of Mysore
• Vairamuthu
  Vairamuthu
  Vairamuthu Ramaswamy Thevar is an award-winning Tamil poet and lyricist.Debuting in the film Nizhalgal with the lyrics for the song "Ponmalai Pozhudhu", he has now about 5800 songs to his credit as of January 2009. His partnership with the composers Ilaiyaraaja, and later A. R...
  
  : poet
  Poet
  A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
  
  
• C. R. Rangachari
  C. R. Rangachari
  Commandur Rajagopalachari Rangachari was a fast bowler who represented India in Test cricket....
  
  : former player, Indian cricket team
• Murasoli Maran
  Murasoli Maran
  Murasoli Maran was a prominent Tamil politician in India, and an important leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party which is headed by his maternal uncle and mentor, M. Karunanidhi. A Member of Parliament for 36 years, he was made a Union Minister in three separate central governments, in...
  
  : politician
• Robin Singh
  Robin Singh
  Robin Singh , full name Rabindra Ramanarayan Singh is a former all-rounder who played for India. He is currently the coach of Mumbai Indians...
  
  : former Indian cricketer
• Bharath Reddy
  Bharath Reddy
  Bharath Reddy is a former Indian cricketer.-Career:Reddy played in 4 Tests and 3 ODIs from 1978 to 1981. A wicket-keeper from Nalgonda, Reddy was not a regular player for India due to the presence of Syed Kirmani....
  
  : former Indian cricketer
• Mamidipudi Venkatarangayya
  Mamidipudi Venkatarangayya
  Mamidipudi Venkatarangayya M.A. was a multidisciplined person and financial and political scientist and historical writer of Andhra Pradesh, India. He was recipient of Padma Bhushan in 1968 by Indian Government....
  
  : history writer
• Dr.P.R.Rangaswami: historian and former Principal
• D. Imman: Music Director
• Tapi Dharma Rao
  Tapi Dharma Rao
  Thapi Dharma Rao Naidu B.A. was a Telugu writer, lyricist and social reformer. He wrote dialogues and lyrics for the films like Mala Pilla, Drohi, Thathaji, Bhishma, and Patni. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for Indian Literature...
  
  : Telugu journalist and Sahitya Akademi Award
  Sahitya Akademi Award
  Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honor in India which Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of outstanding works in one of the following twenty-four major Indian languagesAssamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri,...
  
   winner.
• K. D. Thirunavukkarasu
  K. D. Thirunavukkarasu
  K. D. Thirunavukkarasu is a Tamil scholar, writer, critic and translator from Tamil Nadu, India.-Biography:Thirunavukkarasu is an alumnus of Pachaiyappa's College, Chennai. He obtained a M.A, M. Litt and a PhD and worked as a professor at the International Institute of Tamil Studies in Chennai...
  
  : Tamil scholar and Sahitya Akademi Award winner
• Prof.Dr. Vittal: endocrinologist (B C Roy award winner)
• Boddepalli Rajagopala Rao
  Boddepalli Rajagopala Rao
  Boddepalli Rajagopala Rao was a veteran parliamentarian in India.-Political History:Boddepalli Rajagopala Rao represented Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh for six terms between 1952 to 1967 and 1971 to 1984...
  
  : Parliamentarian in India.