adorns the college premises.In 1864 teaching up to the entrance standard was introduced and an European Mr.Hudsen was appointed as prinicipal in 1871.

Four languages, Urdu,Persian,Sanskrit and English were taught by this time.Apart from Sanskrit education of Priyjna,Visharad and Shastari,it taught up to matriculation standard and was affiliated to Calcutta University in 1877.Till the year of 1882,when Punjab University Lahore was set up,it remained affiliated to the Calcutta University.Being the only institution of higher learning in the region,the students from other princely states and neighbouring British ruled districts of Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur were also studying here, whose number had swelled to 280 by 1878-79.Most of these students were staying in boarding.The institution made rapid strides in the field of education under the able guidance of three European principals,Mr.Hudsen,Mr A.R.Wood and Mr A.W. Healy till the year of 1890 as Maharaja was a minor and the control of the state was in the hands of English administrators.

On assuming active control in 1890,H.H. Maharaja Jagatjit Singh Started taking keen interest in the education system of the state and raised it to intermidate college in 1896. The subjects of natural sciences were also added to the curriculum of the college during this period.Maharaja having a great love for French,introduced the language in college in 1916 and this became the only institution teaching French in the region. To accomodate the rising number of students,a new U-shaped building was constructed around old Peepal tree,Consisting of modern day classrooms and verandas in the year of 1912,commemorating the visit of H.H. the king emperor of India and was inaugurated on April 7, 1913 by Sir Louis Dane,the then Lieutenant Governor of Punjab.This building is known as U-block and the classes are held in this even today,with the old Peepal tree still being intact and witness to the old as well as the modern methods of teaching in one.

The co-education classes were started in 1943 with only 12 girls joining the college at that time. However,their number grew to 21 in 1945-46 which was too meager in the total strength of 233 students. How orthodox the society was,is apparent from the fact that there used to be a veil in the center of the classroom,which seperated the girl students from the boys.But Maharaja Jagatjit Singh was commited to women education and opened exclusive schools for girls in the other towns of the state.

The college also excelled in the field of sports and teams in Football,Hockey,Cricket and Tennis participated in various university tournaments. A valueable trophy in Cricket and Football was started in 1909 to encourge the sports.As a result of these efforts,the college Football team got very strong and became champion by winning Intermediate College University Tournament for the first time in 1929 defeating Government College, Ludhiana and Government College, Hoshiarpur.Boxing,Baseball and Basketball were introduced in 1931 and many good players were produced. It became a nursery of Basketball in the later years and produced a number of international players,like Arjuna Awardee Sajjan Singh Cheema, Arjuna Awardee Parminder Singh Bhandal and many more,who represented India in Asia and other international matches. Kabaddi was another game in which the college has the distinction of producing the likes of Sarwan Singh Bal,International player and Kabbadi coach.