In the beginning of the 20th century in 1902, there were important engineering colleges at

(A) Roorkee

(B) Madras

(C) Kanpur

(D) Sibpur (Bengal)

(E) Poona

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

The correct option is A, B, D & E only.

To understand why this is the correct choice, let us look at the historical establishment of engineering institutions in India during the British colonial period prior to 1902:
1. Roorkee (Thomason College of Civil Engineering): Established in 1847, it was the first engineering college in India and the entire British Empire. It is now known as IIT Roorkee.
2. Poona (Pune College of Engineering): Established in 1854, it was the second oldest engineering college in India. It initially began as the Poona Engineering Class and Mechanical School to train officers for the Public Works Department.
3. Madras (College of Engineering, Guindy): Established as a Survey School in 1794, it was upgraded to a Civil Engineering College in 1859 and was one of the early prominent institutions offering engineering degrees.
4. Sibpur, Bengal (Bengal Engineering College): Established in 1856, it was set up in Sibpur, Howrah (near Kolkata) to meet the engineering demands of the Bengal Presidency. It is now known as IIEST Shibpur.
5. Kanpur (Harcourt Butler Technological Institute / IIT Kanpur): Harcourt Butler Technological Institute (HBTI) in Kanpur was established later in 1920, and IIT Kanpur was founded in 1959. Thus, in 1902, there was no major engineering college at Kanpur.

Therefore, at the beginning of the 20th century in 1902, important engineering colleges existed at Roorkee, Madras, Sibpur (Bengal), and Poona, but not Kanpur. This matches options (A), (B), (D), and (E).