Languages
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.
Sanskrit :
It was in 1878 that the College began teaching Sanskrit, the fountainhead of the culture of India and mother of the Indian vernaculars. Fr. A. Zimmerman, was the first professor. He was followed by Rev. J Martin and many other Jesuit Fathers. The College was fortunate enough to secure the services of a Vedic scholar in Fr. A. Esteller as the head of the department from 1937 till his retirement in 1965. He was helped by his learned collegues - Prof. K.M. Shembavnekar and Prof. G.C. Jhala. It is gratifying to note that Father Esteller was elected Sectional President of Vedic Studies of the 25th Session of the All-India Oriental Conference, held at Jadavpur University in 1970. The college made provision for guiding students doing doctoral theses under Father Esteller and Prof. Jhala. It even participated in Sanskrit drama competitions and won individual prizes.
Pali : The studies in Pali opened a new vista in respect of ancient Indian culture, particularly of Buddhist studies. Professor N.K. Bhagwat who joined the college in 1918 began teaching Pali as an oriental language. The Honours Course in this subject was first started in the University by St. Xavier's. Mrs. Meena V. Talim, the first Ph.D in Pali in the University, was a lecturer in the College.
Persian : 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.
A new department of Islamic Culture was then introduced in the College of which Professor Gorekar was qualified to be the head, and hence Professor A.H. Majid was asked to replace him. The College offers facilities for research in Persian under Professor Gorekar. It would not be out of place to mention that the Ferdousi Literary Association has been organising literary-cum-cultural functions since 1948 for the spread of the Iranian language and culture.
Arabic : The teaching of Arabic in the College was not neglected and it was in 1904 that Professor Abbas began teaching the language. He continued until 1922 when Professor Reza joined the staff, recommended by Maulana Shibili Naomani, the doyen of Islamic studies. In 1959 the Jamiyatu's-Saifiyah or the Saifiyah University of Surat came forward to offer its services to the College to maintain the department with Professor H. Hamiduddin as its head.
Marathi : It was in 1951 that the University introduced the study of modern Indian languages - Marathi, Gujarati and Urdu for the M.A. Course, and in 1921 these languages were introduced at the B.A. level. The College took the opportunity to ask Professor Bhagwat to start the teaching of Marathi in 1922; later Professor M.V. Pethe took over the department. The College had provision for teaching Marathi as a General and Special subject.
The Marathi Vangmay Mandal, founded in 1923, has been doing fine work for the propagation of the Marathi language and literature. It has published two volumes of Pakharan, consisting of articles, short stories and poems written by the students of the College. The Mandal in 1946 founded a Gold Medal at the Matriculation and a scholarship at the University in honour of the noted Marathi dramatist Ram Ganesh Gadkari, while in 1948 it celebrated its Silver Jubilee and founded in 1949 a Marathi Prize in the College. The Mandal conducted the Dr. B. N. Purandare Inter-Collegiate Trophy for elocution in Marathi which become very popular since 1952 and was the first of its kind in the University. The Mandal saw a few years of decline but has now been revived by Professor Raju Shinde of the Botany Department.
Gujarati : The department of Gujarati in the College started functioning in 1937 with Professor Jhala as its head. He was followed by Professor M. M. Jhaveri, who resigned and was succeeded by Dr. R. C. Shah.
It has been helping students for their research in Gujarati literature under the guidance of Dr. Shah. The Gujarati Literary Association has been functioning since 1939 and has brought out a journal named Rashmi, of which eighteen issues have been published, maintaining a high literary standard. The Association has been organising an Inter-Collegiate elocution contest for the Babubhai Jhaveri Trophy since 1947. It has also been arranging debates, dramas and garba dances.
Hindi : With the acceptance of Hindi as a national language after Independence in 1947, the University gave the green signal to its affiliated Colleges to impart instruction in Hindi at the B. A. level and St. Xavier's introduced the department of Hindi with Dr. S. S. Naithani as head. It is one of the few colleges which took the lead in starting B.A. Special Course. The Hindi Sahitya Mandal Scholarship (1951) and the Kamla Hindi Paritoshik (1945) were founded by the Mandal. It has been organising an Inter-Collegiate debating competition for the Bharatendu Uphar (1950) and the F.B. Godindo Hindi Prize (1952) for cultivating the art of debating amongst the students of the College. Besides, it has been arranging lectures and Kavi-sammelans.
Urdu : The College included Urdu as a subject of study in 1922 and from 1938 to 1942 it was a subject at the B. A. level. Knowing the importance of Urdu as a language of culture and integration, the authorities made arrangements for the Honours Course in Urdu. The College has been participating in the scheme of imparting instructions to post-graduate students of Urdu. It has also arranged for research work under the guidance of Professor Gorekar.
The Urdu Literary Society was established in 1944 with the object of propagating the study of the Urdu language and literature, and as such it had founded the St. Xavier's Urdu Gold Medals at the University in 1950 for the B.A. and Inter Arts Examinations, and the Singapurwala Urdu Scholarship in 1954 at the S.S.C. level. Besides it has founded three scholarships in the College, namely, the Dr. Sir Muhammed Iqbal Scholarship (1947), the Prof. S. M. Sayeed Reza Scholarship (1953) and the Professor Khalil Dehadashti Persian Gold Medal (1947).
The College is the first in the University to start three Inter-Collegiate contests for Urdu elocution, dramatics and essay-writing, known as the Mirza Ghalib Trophy for elocution (1949), the Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru Shield for dramatics (1954) and the Sir Ibrahim Rahimtoola Cup for essay-writing (1959). Since 1947 the Society has been publishing annually a literary journal, called Karvan-e-Adab, and has been able to bring out sixteen issues, maintaining a high standard of literary value. The Society has also been arranging Mushairas and literary-cum-cultural programmes to honour the memory of the noted poets and literatteurs of Urdu, namely, Mirza Ghalib, Pandit Chakbast, Maulana Hali, Shibli Nomani, Akbar Allahabadi, Hasrat Mohani, Pandit Kaifi, Moulvi Abdul-Haq, and so on. It may be recalled that the former Muslim Students' Association of the College had published three issues of Caravan-e-Xavier in Urdu.