Banaras Hindu University’s Cochin connections

When the prestigious Banaras Hindu University’s vice chancellor makes it to the news, there is often a mention of his official residence - the Cochin House. It’s not a coincidence that his home is named after the city now officially called Kochi.

The university, established in 1916, has had links with then Cochin since the time of Maharaja Rama Varma XVII, who was known for his interest in religion and spirituality. He became the ruler of Cochin in 1932 at the age of 71 and had a relatively short but meaningful reign of nine years.

There is very little information about the maharaja in the public domain, but the excellent Cochin Royal History website reproduced this writeup from ‘Who’s Who in Madras, 1934,’ published by Pearl Press Cochin:

“Always of a religious turn of mind, he is regular in his habits and simple in life. Moved by His Highness’s deep sense of religion no less by his earnest desire to get first-hand knowledge of men and manners and things, he has travelled all over India, visiting almost all the important places of religious and historical interest while in his own State, he has always been moving about periodically visiting every place of interest. He is a lover of books and a regular reader of newspapers. His main hobby is the collection of folk lore, legends, and ballad songs, and his library contains many a manuscript volume compiled by himself. The Indigenous theatre, with its numerous types of drama and dramatic dances, has always exercised its fascination over him, and he is probably the very best dramatic critic of the day.”

In 1939, when BHU was looking to expand its facilities and welcome students from different parts of British India and the princely states, scholar and freedom fighter Vellalore Annaswamy (VA) Sundaram sought an audience with the maharaja.

Sundaram, a fundraiser and university secretary, was well aware of the ruler’s personal interests. Like the maharajas of many of the wealthier kingdoms in the subcontinent, Rama Varma was happy to make an impactful contribution to the university.

In January 1939, Cochin Dewan RK Shanmukham Chetty, who would later become independent India’s first finance minister, gave Sundaram a letter on behalf of the maharaja and the Cochin Durbar which said the ruler would like to make an annual contribution of Rs 9,000 to the university for the establishment of the Rama Varma Chair of Politics.

The donation amount of Rs. 9000 in 1939 is equivalent in purchasing power to around Rs 6 lakhs in 2024.

“It was also stated as a suggestion by the Cochin Government that out of this annual contribution, a pay not exceeding Rs 500 per month may be given to the incumbent of the Chair and that the balance be utilised for expenses connected with the Department of Politics,” says Dhrub Kumar Singh, Convenor of the Mahamana Archive at the Banaras Hindu University. “According to documents, this arrangement by the Cochin government was to commence on August 15, 1939.”
These annual contributions probably lasted until the accession of the Cochin State to the Dominion of India in 1949.

Rama Varma XVII also contributed to establishing the building, which is now the official residence of the vice chancellor. “The documents of Mahamana Archive reveal that the Maharaja of Darbhanga laid the foundation stone of the Cochin Guest House on September 17, 1939 and thanked Maharaja Sahib of Cochin for presenting this to BHU,” Singh adds. The building was later called Cochin House, but the university authorities do not know when the exact transition of the building becoming the vice chancellor’s official residence took place.

Long before Malayali families could afford to send their children abroad for higher studies, the Banaras Hindu University became a popular destination for students from Kerala. In the 1960s, the Indian central government sent Malayali students to the university as part of a scheme to promote Hindi teaching and eventually make Hindi the link language across India. This writer’s maternal granduncle, M Radhakrishnan, was a pathbreaker in the family and did his MA in Hindi at the university in the mid-1960s.

Whatever the merits of spreading Hindi across India, BHU has played an important role in national integration in independent India. The financial assistance made to the university in its early days by benefactors such as Maharaja Rama Varma XVII contributed to making the large university what it is today.