Establishment of Fort William College

Lord Wellesley established the Fort William College in Calcutta in 1800 primarily to train British civil servants in Indian languages, customs, laws, and administrative practices, ensuring they were better equipped to govern the subcontinent. The Court of Directors in London actually opposed it and eventually ordered its closure to set up their own college at Haileybury. > One-line conceptual takeaway: Fort William College was envisioned as an administrative training academy to linguistically and culturally prepare civil servants. Answer: (d).