Rajkumar College is one of the oldest and most architecturally impressive institutions in Raipur. The campus dates to 1882, when the British established it to educate the sons of the ruling families of central India's many princely states. The main buildings are fine examples of Victorian Gothic institutional architecture transplanted to the Indian plains — red brick, arched verandahs, and a general air of muscular imperial confidence. The college is a working school and not formally open to visitors, but the exterior and campus gates are worth a look if you're passing by. The building stands as an unusually intact piece of the colonial administrative landscape.
Rajkumar College
Elite boarding school founded in 1882 to educate the sons of central Indian maharajas
A story
Rajkumar College was founded by the British as a 'Chiefs College' — the explicit purpose was to educate the sons of local rulers in English manners and loyalty to the Crown, while keeping potential troublemakers in a supervised setting. The strategy had mixed results: several alumni went on to become significant figures in the independence movement. The college still functions as an elite school today, with its Victorian Gothic buildings essentially unchanged.