Dayaram Jethamal Science College(DJ Science College), Karachi
Inaugurated as Sind Arts College by Governor of Bombay Lord Reay, on 17th January, 1887 and renamed D.J. Science College (upon completion of the present structure), on 15th October, 1882. Located in the heart of old Karachi, the foundation stone for this college was laid on 19th November, 1887 by Lord Dufferin, Viceroy of India. The college is named after Diwan Dayaram Jethmal its main benefactor. The cost of construction is reported to have been Rs.186, 514/- out of which the Government contributed Rs. 97,193, the balance being raised through public donations.
Before 1887 not a single Sindhi had been able to obtain a Master’s Degree or any degree in Science. Looking far ahead of his time, and realising the need for, and the great value of, higher education for Sindhis, Diwan Dayaram Jethmal, a prominent philanthropic Sindhi gentleman, bestirred himself, and collecting a band of some of the leading citizens of Karachi approached the Government with a strong appeal for the establishment of a College in Karachi to be affiliated to the University of Bombay. Undaunted by all the difficulties which were put in their way they succeeded in impressing upon the Citizens of Karachi and the people of Sindh the urgent need for a College and soon collected a sum of money equal to more than three times that asked for by the Government.
On the 17th January 1887 the cherished dream of this noble band of selfless Sindhis came to fruition. His Excellency Lord Reay, then Governor of Bombay, formally opened the College in a bungalow in the Thattai compound on Bunder road. In April 1887 the College shifted to the place on Bunder, which the Sindhi Gymkhana was later situated, and was housed in three two-storeyed bungalows. It was there from 1889 to 1892 when is shifted to its present site. Originally called the Sindh Arts College, its name was changed to Dayaram Jethmal Sindh College in memory of the gentleman, but for whose vision and persistent efforts this passed away in the very first year of its existence.
Government-aided, it was run by a board. It began with five professors and twenty-eight on its rolls. Dr. R. M. Walmsley. D.Sc., was its first Principal. He came expecting it to be a technical college teaching the useful arts, and was disappointed to find it to be teaching the humanities. So he stayed for just a short while on the 14thNovember 1887.
The building was completed by 1892 and formally opened by Mr. H. E. James, then Commissioner-in-Sindh on the 15th October 1892.
The College building cost Rs. 186,000. A veritable Palace of learning, it is a two storied building situated on a plot of land measuring 16,485 sq. yards, presented for the purpose by Govrnment. It was erected under the supervision of Mr. J. Strachan, M.I.C.Q., engineer and Secretary of the Karachi Municipality.
