The College began as a Zilla school in 1856 and attained the status of an Intermediate College with the name of ‘Union College’ with the addition of F.A. Classes in 1878. It was renamed as Native College in 1887 with a student strength of 127 and 12 members of staff. The medium of instruction was English. The college faced an acute financial crisis around 1893. The Managing Committee, headed by the District Magistrate, A.WB. Higgins. ICS, approached the late Raja Saheb Harihar Mardaraj Deo of Khallikote who generously donated liberal amounts and later created an endowment with a lakh of rupees. As a fitting tribute to the magnanimity of the late Raja Saheb, a resolution was adopted at a public meeting on 16th August 1893 to rename the college as Khallikote College. After the death of the Raja Saheb his son, the late Rama Chandra Mardaraj was made President of the Managing Committee who continued the practice of donating large sums of money as occasions arose to keep the college functioning. The Raja Saheb of Dharakote, Late Madan Mohan Singh Deo donated Rs. 10,000/- for construction and equipment of laboratory in 1910, not a small gesture at that time.