The College was founded on the 19th July, 1915 through the pioneering efforts of Dr.Annie Wood Besant and the noble band of Theosophical workers who came under her inspiration especially her paternal uncle Prof. Ernest Wood. It was originally named as Woods National College. The event will always be remembered as a land mark in the history of Rayalaseema as the College was at that time, the only institution to cater to the needs of higher education in this region. It also brought the people of the area into closer contact with international programs for the propagation of culture and spiritual ideals of the Theosophical Society and also the National movement for political liberation under the inspiration of Dr.Annie Besant. After the demise of Dr.Annie Besant it was named as Besant Theosophical College as a mark of gratitude to this great soul. It was originally managed by the Theosophical Educational Trust which later renamed as Besant Centenary Trust.
Library: The College Library has on stock about 1,00,000 books on various subjects and bound periodicals. Some rare and out of print books and journals are also available. There are separate wings for P.G., U.G., and Computer Science Courses.The popularity and utility of any Institution gowith its library. Our college library is one of the oldest and the best in our university area. Some rare volumes on literature, philosophy and religion are available. Every year we add books to the library with the assistance of U.G.C and the fund given by the Management. Every year around 1500 to 2000 books are added to the Library . Over 65 Periodicals and 11 news papers are available in the library reading room.General library caters to the information needs of the students, teaching, non-teaching staff and research scholars of the College. About 100 outside readers are registered as members of the library.The activities of the different sections of the library during the period everyday, month, year are given below.Every day about one thousand readers visit the library and number of books are issued to different categories of users. Every year about 2000 books are added to the existing collection to enhance the total stock of the library collection to one lakh documents. Library has subscribed to about 65 Indian periodicals and journals and 5 foreign journals devoted to different subject fields.
Computer Labs: Our Computer Laboratories need Special mention as this is the era of Information Technology.We are very proud to state that we have Computer Systems with latest configurations to our Computer Labs. This facilitated our College conducting English Computer Based University Examinations conducted by the Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati for the First and Second year students numbering around 1200 of our College.We are providing computer courses with centralized air-conditioned labs. For Demonstration purpose we provide state of the art technology L.C.D. projector and well experienced Instructors. We provide fulltime Internet facility to our students.We have Three Separate Labs, Two for Post Graduate Students and one for Under Graduate Students. Providing every 40 computers with LAN facility.
Games and Sports: Games and sports are essential in a students life for they alone give necessary strength and resistance to the body. Thanks to the efforts of Staff in the physical Education Department, our girls and boys have won laurels at different levels in various games.Academic Year starts with general practice session. Two outstanding players; one from Degree Course and One from Intermediate Course will be nominated as General Games Secretaries. Selections Meet is conducted for all games and sports and the teams are formed based on the performance in the Meet. Then the teams are allowed to participate in the Intercollegiate tournaments.