Bose returned to India in 1885 after having earned much recognition in England. At the behest of Lord Ripon, the Viceroy of India, he was appointed to the post of officiating professor of physics at the prestigious Presidency College, in Calcutta. Because he was the first Indian to hold such a title, his appointment was controversial from the start, and many British professors protested to the Principal and the university authorities, clearly stating that they considered Indians incapable of scientific thought.