The Batticotta Seminary was an educational institute founded by the

American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) was among the first American Christian mission, Christian missionary organizations. It was created in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College. In the 19th century it was the l ...

(ABCFM)'s

American Ceylon Mission The American Ceylon Mission (ACM) to Jaffna, Sri Lanka started with the arrival in 1813 of missionaries sponsored by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). Although they had originally planned to work in Galle, the Briti ...

at Vaddukodai, in the

Jaffna Peninsula The Jaffna Peninsula (, or ) is a region in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is home to the capital city of the province, Jaffna, and comprises much of the former land mass of the medieval Jaffna Kingdom. The peninsula was historically ...

north

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

in 1823. It was founded as part of the medical mission of John Scudder, Sr. and was subsequently led by

Nathan Ward Nathan Ward may refer to: * Nathan Ward (ice hockey) (born 1981) * Nathan Ward (missionary) (1804–1860) See also * Nathaniel Ward (disambiguation) {{hndis, Ward, Nathan ...

. In 1846 the mission experienced a significant cholera outbreak.

Emerson Tennent Sir James Emerson Tennent, 1st Baronet, FRS (born James Emerson; 7 April 1804 – 6 March 1869) was a Conservative Member of the United Kingdom Parliament for the Irish seats of Belfast and of Lisburn, and a resident Colonial Secretary in Ceyl ...

judged the Batticotta Seminary equal in rank with many European universities. The late Sabapathy Kulendran, the first bishop of the

Jaffna Jaffna (, ; , ) is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a Jaffna Peninsula, peninsula of the same name. With a population o ...

Diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

of the

Church of South India The Church of South India (CSI) is a united Protestant Church in India. It is the result of union of a number of Protestant denominations in South India that occurred after the independence of India. With a membership of over 4.5 million, it ...

(JDCSI) observed that the seminary brought about a tremendous upsurge the like of which has never been seen in the country before or after.

Closure

It was closed in 1855 under the leadership of E. P. Hastings. The reason for such a decision being that it was not successful in the mission of its founding namely, conversion of

Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

Reopening

The seminary was reopened in 1871 by alumni as Jaffna College with EP Hastings as the first principal.Jaffna College History

References

History of Jaffna District Evangelical seminaries and theological colleges 1823 establishments in Ceylon American Ceylon Mission 1820s establishments in Ceylon Religious organisations based in Sri Lanka {{christian-seminary-stub