The Young Samaritan
A century ago, a young American in his late 20s stood on the southern banks of the Yamuna near the holy Triveni confluence at Allahabad, contemplating a patch of obdurate badly eroded soil, which had not been tilled for centuries. He looked at the neighbouring farms' poor crops and famished livestock. As he surveyed the scene he was convinced that the only way India could progress was through modernization of agriculture. He resolved to do something about it. This young man was Dr. Sam Higginbottom, a teacher whose day of departure to the heavenly abode always recalls a life dedicated to that resolve.

The Decision
He became a familiar figure in the surrounding villages and observed the living conditions and agricultural practices of the villagers. He was deeply concerned about the ancient system of agriculture which contributed to low productivity and thus led to extreme poverty amongst them. He was also genuinely disturbed by the vast gulf between the urban Christians and the rural masses. For several months he contemplated upon the Christian neglect of the villages and ultimately by the end of 1909 he decided to bridge this gulf by establishing an agricultural school, which he envisioned would educate the village boys, introduce improved agricultural methods and co-operate with the local farmers in solving their practical agriculture related problems. The evolution of an agricultural school was much more complex. Dr. Sam Higginbottom wished to establish a school that would train young men to work in villages as well as do research in practical agricultural problems of the villagers and make the farmers self reliant. His experiences as a teacher in economics and later in agriculture, his studies about India and his association with Col. Hudson, Superintendent, Naini Jail helped him to develop this school. 1910 was the year of decision when Agricultural Institute was established under the leadership of Dr. Sam Higginbottom, as an ecumenical Institution of the Christian Churches and Church organizations in India.
Convinced that India could only progress by modernizing agriculture, Dr. Sam Higginbottom, a young American teacher, raised funds in the United States to establish Allahabad Agricultural Institute. Over first four decades the institute has done pioneering work for the advancement of agriculture, including introducing pest-resistant high yielding-seeds, improved farm implements and extension programs for farmers under the leadership of Dr.Sam Higginbottom.

The Mission
The gift of Bible sparked in him the desire to seek education at Mount Hermon in the United States, the country that he adopted. Completing High School at age of 24, Higginbottom worked his way through Amherst and Princeton University for a career of helping others. A set of fortuitous events led this former cattle-puncher to accept an offer by the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, New York, to teach economics at the Christian College in Allahabad. However, soon after his arrival in 1903, Higginbottom discovered to his dismay that the economics that he had learned and was to teach had no relevance and provided no clues that could relate to the Indian agrarian economy. Undeterred, he found an ingenious solution to his predicament: What better way could there be to relate the pedalogical concepts of economics to concrete reality than to take his students to nearby villages? he asked himself.
The continuous visits to villages were revelations. The farmers used centuries-old implements and in spite of the naturally rich and fertile soil, their yields were among the lowest in the world. The visits also defined his future to devote his life to teaching the Indian farmer progressive methods of agriculture. He was now in his mid-30's, had no education in agriculture and owed responsibility to his wife and a growing family. But his wife, Ethelind, gave him full support and persuaded him to go to the United States to study agriculture. Taking leave, Higginbottom returned to the United States and enrolled at the Ohio State College of Agriculture in Columbus, Ohio. During these years in United States, he assimilated as much knowledge of scientific agriculture and animal husbandry as he possibly could.
But even more than the degree that he earned, he needed financial backing for his mission. He met friends and strangers, lectured to various groups, making impassioned pleas for donations. At one meeting, he told his gathering, "It is only the abundance of America's good will, of her resources and her conspious ability to help that justify her in giving this assistance to India." He finished his lecture and waited. A young domestic servant in her teens came forward with some trepidation and handed him a $ 5 note. At another meeting, a shabbily dressed worker passed him a soiled $10 note saying, "Take this and use it for me over there." He collected $30,000 (most of it coming from donations of under $10), persuaded two American agricultural experts to join him and returned to Allahabad.

The Beginning
Dr. Sam Higginbottom bought the same patch of dismal land-some 125 hectares, where he stood eight years earlier, to show that there was no land in India so bad that it could not be put under the plow. The land was reclaimed with the help of about a dozen American hillside plows. A small brick dam was constructed and soon a lush, green demonstration farm stood where nothing had grown before. The farm, which was used for giving practical training to students, excited the curiosity of neighbouring farmers, providing them their first introduction to modern farming practices. Thus was born the Allahabad Agricultural Institute (AAI), the result entirely of one man's passion and compassion. The front veranda of his residence served as a classroom-cum-lab and the back veranda as a dining-room-cum-dairy.
The Higginbottoms regularly made fund-raising trips to the United States, and with each new donation the institute grew, both in size and in the number of disciplines taught. In 1914 the government accorded recognition to his institute and sanctioned an annual grant of Rupees 20,000. From then on there was no looking back.
In the year 1926, the AAI severed its ties with the Christian College and became an independent entity. The same year it started a two year diploma course in dairy farming. In 1932 it was formally affiliated with the University of Allahabad. In the same year the institute was recognized by the government for a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture. In 1936, perceiving the important role Indian rural women play in the house, the AAI started an intermediate course in home economics, which was later upgraded to a degree course. Another landmark came in 1942 when AAI introduced agricultural engineering - the only such course offered by an Indian university then. During his tenure, the institute's land area increased to 240 hectares and more buildings came up. AAI developed productive breeds of livestock and innovative agricultural technology; improved pest resistant seeds; and experimented with potent fertilizers and high yielding crops-all largely financed by Higginbottom's trips or, as he put it to visitors, "by the sweat of my tongue." Dr. Sam Higginbottom and AAI were soon recognized as pioneers in the development of agriculture in the country. The Higginbottoms completely identified themselves with India.

The Reinforcement
Under the guidance of Dr.Sam Higginbottom, Prof. Mason Vaugh, an Agricultural Engineer, founded the Department of Agricultural Engineering. Several farm implements such as Mould Board Ploughs (Wah Wah Plough, U.P. No.1, U.P. No.2, Shabash Plough) also called iron ploughs, hoes, cultivators and wheat thresher were, for the first time introduced in India. The next phase of the Institute was taken up in the year 1948-49, and the major expansion such as the construction of the College of Agriculture, New Hostels and residences took place during this period. The most famous agriculture Extension Project “Jamuna Par Punar yojna”, in which the “Gaon Saathi”, (recruitment of village level workers) was introduced into the extension system for the first time in India. The first planners of our country took the idea of the 'Village Level Worker' as a community development model. On the 25th of Aug. 1950, the AAI was registered to function as a Christian Educational Institute of a national stature.
The State Govt. of U .P. had certified that the Allahabad Agriculture Institute is a Minority Educational Institution within the meaning of clause (i) of article 30 of the Constitution of India, vide their letter No. 4894 15-80 (ii) dated the 12th of Sept. 1980 and also certified as a Minority Institution by the U.P. Higher Education Service Commission, vide letter No. 250/ 258/83-84 dated 24/5/1983. In October 1947 the Institute was brought under an independent Board of Directors, which was sponsored as an ecumenical body by a number of Churches and Christian Missions called The Board of Directors.
In order to obtain more academic freedom and to strengthen the specialized programmes of Teaching, Research and Extension a proposal was submitted to the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India by the Director, Dr. Rajendra B. Lal on the 31st of August 1994, that the Institute be granted the status of a Deemed University. In 1997 a team of experts from ICAR and UGC visited the Institute and gave their recommendation that the Institute be declared as a Deemed University, as it had all the potentials of a University. On the 15th of March 2000, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, Hon'ble Minister of HRD, Govt. of India, gave his approval to the recommendations of the UGC. The Central Government issued the notification No. F-9-26/94-U.3. dated the 15th of March 2000, declaring the Allahabad Agricultural Institute-as Deemed University and Prof. (Dr.) Rajendra B. Lal, was appointed as the first Vice-Chancellor of the University. The dream of the founder came to its fulfillment, as he always wanted to see A.A.I., a degree awarding Institution.

Mission Accomplished
Having completed his mission for the forty years in India, Dr. Higginbottom retired and returned to the United States in 1945, two years before India got its independence, a cause which was very dear to him. "I am anxious," he once said, "to see the day when India shall take her proper place as one of the great self-governing peoples of the world .... India's future can be richer than India's past. "I am always brooding over ways and means of avoiding this fearful waste of human life, of transforming it into a positive asset to enrich the world." Even when Higginbottom was living a retired life in the United States, his interest in India remained undiminished. He was delighted when the Indian Government gave top priority to the agricultural development in the First Five-Year Plan. That, he thought, was the greatest tribute to him and his work.

Gandhi ji and Dr. Samhigginbottom
Speaking of the institute, Gandhiji once said, "The agricultural school under Dr. Sam Higginbottom meets my ideals in vocational education." The two had first met in Banaras (Varanasi) in 1916 where Dr. Higginbottom was there to speak on agricultural development at the inauguration of the Banaras Hindu University. Both took an instant liking to each other. Dr. Higginbottom, who found Gandhi ji "irresistible in his personal charm," said, "I heard what he had to say about non-violence and he heard what I had to say about feeding the hungry and as I was impressed with him so was he with me." When the two met again in Allahabad, Gandhi ji told Higginbottom, "So far as I am concerned it was a case of love at first sight." Although his commitment to the institute was total, Higginbottom and his wife found time to administer a leprosy colony at nearby Naini. They collected funds to build brick houses, a 50-bed hospital, a well equipped dispensary and a separate home where the inmates' disease -free children were given vocational training. Mrs. Ethelind Higginbottom received the most eloquent tribute when, during a visit to the colony, Mahatma Gandhi ji turned to her and said, "I have been watching the faces of these poor inmates. Every one of them lighted up at your approach. I would give anything if people loved me the way these lepers love you.”