Rajkumar College, Rajkot

The Rajkumar College (or RKC) in Rajkot is one of the oldest K-12 institutions in India. RKC has a 26-acre (105,000 m²) campus in the heart of Rajkot city.

History

K S Ranjitsinhji played for the English cricket team^[1]

The foundation stone of Rajkumar College was laid in 1868. The institution was designed by Colonel Keatinge and was formally opened by the Governor of Bombay, H. B. Sir Seymour Fitzgerald, in 1870. The college was founded for the education of the princely order by the princes and chiefs of Kathiawad for their sons and relations.

Round Square

In 1938, on the initiative of its founding members, the college became a public school (private school in American terms). The college is a founding member of the Indian Public Schools Conference and a member of the Round Square conference of schools, a worldwide association of more than 60 schools that allows students to travel between schools and tour the country or do community service.

In 2001 the college opened its doors to girls, in what has been a boys' bastion for over a century. The school has around 50 girls, with boarding facilities.

Another endeavor of the Rajkumar College Administration has been Priyalok Villas, a pre-school program for the kids; originally housed in a 1909 Hyde sanatorium but now housed in a different building. Whilst having its own domain, it has access to all the facilities of the Rajkumar College.

The school is expanding. The Rajkumar College for Girls, a secondary school was inaugurated on March 24, 2011; before this, the fully functional elementary co-ed school had flourished for a decade.

Inauguration of the Rajkumar College for Girls, Rajkot

The Rajkumar College for Girls was inaugurated on March 24, 2011, by Kamla Beniwal, governor of Gujarat. The principal, Mr. Thakkar, said that it was a special day for the Rajkumar family. Almost 140 years ago on 16 December 1870 the college was inaugurated by the governor of the Bombay Presidency, Sir Seymour Fitzgerald and another venture of the same college was being inaugurated by a governor, the first lady of Gujarat.

Student life

Sport teams from the college travel around the country to participate in inter public school competitions and district/state/national level events.

Co-curricular activities include public speaking/recitation/debates, bio-enrichment camps, and other cultural activities.

The college motto is Yasya Bhuddhi, Balam Tasya ("Power is where there is knowledge").

Notable alumni

• Lael Anson Best, graduated BS in 1975, chief of Thoracic Surgery at Rambam Medical Center, Israel
• Krishna Kumarasingh Bhavasingh, Maharaja of Bhavnagar State, the first governor of Madras state
• Raol Shri Dharmakumarsinhji, prince, ornithologist and environmentalist
• Madansinhji - Maharaja of Cutch
• Natwarsinhji Bhavsinhji of Porbandar, Maharaja of Porbandar
• K.S. Digvijaysinhji, Maharaja Jam Sahib of Nawanagar
• Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji, cricketer
• Bhagvatsingh of Gondal, Maharaja, physician and architect
• Kumar Indrajitsinhji, test cricketer
• Rajendrasinhji Jadeja, commander-in-chief of the Indian armed forces
• Kavi Kalapi, poet
• Ruswa Majhalumi, poet
• Manoharsinhji Pradyumansinhji, 15th Thakore Saheb of Rajkot, cricketer and politician
• Ashok Kamte, Mumbai Police, additional commissioner for the East Region, martyr of 26.11.2008 Mumbai attacks
• Ranjitsinhji, test cricketer and later Maharaja Jam Sahib of Nawanagar
• Takhtsinhji, Maharaja of Bhavnagar^[2]
• His Excellency Sujan R. Chinoy (Indian Foreign Service), diplomat and China expert; Ambassador of India to Japan (formerly Ambassador to Mexico & High Commissioner of India to Belize)
• Maharaja Bhavsinhji II of Bhavnagar State^[2]
• Himmatsinhji Vijayaraji, noted ornithologist and a prince of Cutch State
• Bhavsinhji Madhavsinhji, the Maharana of Porbandar.^[3]
• Amarsinhji Banesinhji, the Maharana Raj Sahib of Wankaner^[4]
• Thakor Saheb Chaitanyadev of Wadhwan - past President of the College Council
• Meghrajji III of Dhrangadhra-Halvad - past President of the College Council
• Lavkumar Khachar, ornithologist

Council presidents

• Darbar Saheb Shri Mahipal Vala of Jetpur
• Thakor Saheb Chaitanyadev of Wadhwan - past
• Meghrajji III of Dhrangadhra-Halvad - past

See also

• Rajkumar College, Raipur
• Daly College
• Mayo College
• Scindia School
• List of the oldest schools in the world
• History of the Indian cricket team

References

External links

• Founding member of the Indian Public School Conference
• Forty Years (1870-1910) of the Rajkumar College. Rajkot abridged from the papers of the late Chester Macnaghten first principal of the college and other sources. Compiled by Sir H.H. Bhavsinhji, Maharaja of Bhavnagar.
• RKC 1870-1910