Roorkee - Encyclopedia

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

ROORKEE, or Rurki, a town of British India, in the Saharanpur district of the United Provinces, on the Oudh & Rohilkhand railway, 22 m. E. of Saharanpur. Pop. (Igor) 17,197. It is the headquarters of the workshops of the Ganges canal, and also of the Bengal Sappers and Miners. Two heavy batteries of artillery are usually stationed in the cantonment. The Thomason Civil Engineering College, founded in 1848, was transferred from the Public Works to the Education Department in 1895 and reorganized. It was instituted in order to train natives in engineering, and students originally received stipends. After 1875 the emoluments were limited, and became in the nature of scholarships, but the education of all students remained practically free till 1896, when fees began to be charged. The college works in co-operation with the workshops and foundry of the canal, and also trains in surveying, photography and other subjects, having chemical, physical, electrical and mechanical laboratories and workshops.