As of 2015[update] the school has more than 2,000 students.[10] It is ranked 1st in India by Educationworld India for the year 2015 in the category day-cum-boarding schools.[11]
The school has its origins in the Residency School, founded by Sir Henry DalyGovernor General of India's Agent to Central India Agency in 1870, as a school for the children of nobility and aristocrats in the Indore Residency. It was later renamed as the East Rajkumar College in 1876, and in 1882 the school received its present name, The Daly College, after its founder. The school was visited by Lord Northbrook (1st Earl of Northbrook) Viceroy and Governor-General of India in 1875, thereafter it was renamed "Indore Residency College" in 1876. In 1882 the Chiefs named the school "The Daly College" to honour the contribution of Sir Henry Daly.
In 1905, Sir Henry's son, Sir Hugh Daly, was appointed agent to the Governor-General for Central India at Indore, to the position previously occupied by his father. He took great interest in the Daly College and made it flourish it as a Chief's College. Maharajadhiraja Sir Tukojirao Holkar III, Maharaja ofIndore (Hokar State) then donated 118 acres (0.48 km2) of land east of the old campus and rulers contributed to build on the newly acquired land. Construction started in 1906 on two student houses, a temple, a mosque and the Principal's residence. The main building was constructed with marble from the Udaipur quarries and was designed in the Indo-Saracenic architecture by Col. Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob. The clock tower was donated by Maharaja Sir Sayaji Rao IIIGaekwad of Baroda.[20]
The main building was officially inaugurated on 8 November 1912 by Lord Hardinge (1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst) Viceroy and Governor-General of India, after which the old campus was given up. For the next 28 years the college was open exclusively to the sons of the Princes and Chiefs of Central India as well as the rest in the Indian Empire. In 1940 the Board of Governors decided to prepare students for a modern and free India. The Daly College came together with a few other institutions and started the Indian Public Schools Conference. Its doors were thrown open to admissions on merit, regardless of caste or creed. Recently, the school added an 1100+ seat auditorium to its infrastructure.
The school became coeducational residential in 1997, and in 2005 it became a member of the Round Square. It was proclaimed the second best school in India in 2013. The school won the prestigious "Kasliwal Trophy" for a record 20 times (1992–2012).
Motto –
The Sanskrit motto "Gyanamev Shakti" or "Knowledge is power".[21]
Coat of arms –
The arms represent the main section of the Central Indian Community Maratha, Rajput, Bundela and Mohammedan. The arms have been devised in great measure from those given to chiefs on the Delhi, banners of 1877.
1st Quarter – 'Tenne' is the nearest Heraldic colour to 'Bhagwa', the colour of Maratha standard and of Saivite devotee: the wings and flame represent the Pawars (Puars of Dewas Junior, Dewas Senior & Dhar), who derived descent from the Parmars, the worldwide Sovereignty of clan being proverbial (Wings), while they were also Aganikulas (Flame), the play of 6 argent and gules gives the well known Holkar banner, while the horse of Khandoba is their emblem, the chief azure is for Scindia, and the cobra is the mark of the house.
2nd Quarter – A Barry of fives is the Pachranga of the Rajputs: the sun representing the Suryavanshis and the moon the Chandravanshis, the flame the Agnivanshis.
3rd Quarter – Green is the Mohammedan colour and the crescent their badge: the tower represents Bhopal and its fort of Fatehgarh, the spear and 'talwar' the Pindari element, and the fish, the Mani Martib- the sacred emblem.
4th Quarter – Purpure or murrey is given to all Bundela Arms, the Chevron 'gutty de sang' refers to the traditional origin from 'bund' a drop, the fort on a hill to the famous Ath-kot of Bundelkhand, and to the Vindhyas whence also (Vyandhyelkhand) they derive their name: Devi Vindhyvasini of Mirzapur is the Tutelary goddess of the clan.
The Daly arms are commemorative of General Sir Henry Daly, from whom the College derives its name. All these symbols of different states are brought together by a common motto 'Gyanameva Shakti'.
The Supporters –
On the right a Maratha prince and on the left Rajput Prince. Below the barley refers to Bundelkhand and the poppy to Malwa, thus designating the east and the west of the Region. And the British Lion is seated on top.
^M. O'Dwyer (1988). India as I Knew it: 1885–1925. Mittal Publications. p. 161. Archived from the original on 9 November 2023. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
^Frederic Boase (1912). Modern English biography: containing many thousand concise memoirs of persons who have died since the year 1850, with an index of the most interesting matter. Netherton and Worth. p. 16. the Daly college, Indore erected as a memorial of him was opened 14 Nov, 1885.
^Speeches By George Nathaniel Curzon. Office of the Superintendent of Govt. Print., India. 1902. p. 408.
^Ramesh Chandra Majumdar, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bharatiya Itihas Samiti (1969). The History and culture of the Indian people. G. Allen and Unwin. p. 72.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Kenneth Frampton, Rahul Mehrotra, Preeti Goel Sanghi, Shilpa Ranade (2000). World architecture 1900–2000: a critical mosaic. Springer. p. 24. ISBN978-3-211-83291-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)