Affiliation : St. Xavier's College    Date of establishment : 1948    Email : admin@xaviers.edu    Url : http://www.xaviers.edu/hlang.htm    More : Fr. C. Lindmann was the first Jesuit scholar in Persian studies who took to the teaching of Persian in the College in 1875, as the Islamic languages, Persian and Arabic, have left their permanent impress upon all aspects of Indian life and letters. Professor Taky Haji Mehdi joined the College in 1880 and Professor Agha Rustum Meherban in 1887, but the department of Persian studies as such began functioning only when Professor Moulvi Abbas entered in 1904. He was followed by Professor S.M. Sayeed Reza in 1922 who headed the department with Professor Khalil Dehdashti as his learned colleague who unfortunately died young in August, 1944. Professor Reza continued until he retired in 1955 when Professor Nizamuddin S. Gorekar was installed as the head until 1958. It is a matter of pride that the College was the first in extending patronage in making arrangements for instruction in oriental languages such as Sanskrit, Pali, Arabic and Persian, along with modern Indian languages like Marathi, Gujarati, Urdu and Hindi, thereby creating a cosmopolitan atmosphere and fostering a national outlook in the students.