Evolution of Electrical Engineering in Colonial Calcutta: Bhadralok Articulations on Education and Industrialization Interface

In the early twentieth century Calcutta, the electrification of the city, its industrial application, and transportation narrative all stand out as the biggest engagement for the bureaucrats, engineers, nationalists, and ordinary Indians. The arrival of electricity necessitated the introduction of new institutional facilities. With the growth of the technological system, a supportive culture also grew—trained manpower to handle the machines, better educational facilities, new business culture, etc. The CESC, a London based power company, was instrumental in the generation and supply of electricity in Calcutta—both urban and industrial. From the beginning, they realized the need to create a pool of personnel (basically Indians) with elementary knowledge on electrical engineering. Thus, the Bengal Engineering College, Sibpur, started providing basic instruction on the subject. The erudite Indian elites identified, on several occasions, the imperfect training of Indian engineers, including electrical. A nationalist’s initiative, College of Engineering and Technology, Jadavpur, from its inception, used to provide advanced training in electrical engineering. Investments in education, especially techno-scientific, were now seen to be of great importance. The electrical power was to be the key to a modern industrial economy excited Bengali bhadralok. Based on the archival materials, college documents (annual reports, calendars, curriculums, etc), and vernacular sources, this paper is basically on the education of electrical engineers as it had evolved and developed in the late years of the Raj, and the interface it had with entrepreneurship and industry in a colonial metropolis—Calcutta.