University of Calcutta
Formally established on the
24 January 1857, the
University of Calcutta (also known as Calcutta University), located in the city of
Kolkata (previously Calcutta),
India, is the first modern university in the
Indian subcontinent. It is a state-government administered urban-based affiliating and research university. It has its main campuses in
College Street, Rajabazar, Alipore and a host of affiliated colleges in greater
Calcutta .
Pioneers and visionaries
As the first modern university in the Indian sub-continent the University saw its direction being steered by the first Indian vice-chancellor, Sir Gooroodas Banerjee and later by the Indian vice-chancellors
Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee and his son Dr.
Syama Prasad Mookerjee (also a vice chancellor).
Other renowned teachers and educationists such as:
*Sir
Ashutosh Mukherjee,
*Acharya
Prafulla Chandra Roy,
*Acharya
Jagadish Chandra Bose,
*Acharya
Satyendra Nath Bose,
*
Meghnad Saha &
*
P.C. Mahalanobishave all worked at the university.
It was Dr.
Fredrick John, the education secretary to the then British Government in India, who first tendered a proposal to the British Government in London for the establishment of a university in Calcutta, along the lines of London University, but at that time the plan failed to obtain the necessary approval.
However, a proposal to establish two universities, one in Calcutta and the other in Bombay was later accepted in 1854 and the necessary authority was given. The
Calcutta University Act came into force on
24 January 1857 and a 41-member Senate was formed as the policy making body of the university.
During the British era and through the period until Independence in the
1960s, it was regarded as one of the few seats of academic excellence to the east of
Suez.
When the university was first established it had a
catchment area covering the area from
Lahore to
Rangoon (now in
Myanmar) - the largest of any Indian university.
Early begininings
Members of the University's first Senate include:
*
Alexander Duff,
*Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar,
*Prasanna Kumar Thakur,
*Prince Golam Mohammad,
*William Gordon Pratt,
*Frederick John Moat.
The first Chancellor and Vice-chancellor of the Calcutta University were the then Governor General
Lord Canning and
Sir James William Colvil, the then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, respectively.
Sir
Gooroodas Banerjee was the first Indian vice Chancellor of the University of Calcutta. The first meeting of the Senate was held in the Council room of the Calcutta Medical College. A temporary office of the university was first started in a few rented rooms in Camac Street.
On
30 January 1858, the Syndicate of the Calcutta University was constituted.For several years, afterwards the meetings of the Senate and Syndicate were held in a room of the Writer's Building. 244 candidates appeared for the first Entrance Examination of the university which was held in the month of March 1857 in the Town Hall of Calcutta.
In 1862, a decision was taken by the Senate to construct for the university a building of its own. Accordingly, the historical Senate Hall was constructed at a cost of Rs. 2,52,221/- and inaugurated on
12 March 1873 by holding the convocation of the university.
Modelled on the
University of London, the University of Calcutta's current courses include:
*
agriculture*
arts,
*
commerce,
*
social welfare,
*
business management,
*
education,
*
journalism,
*
library science,
*
engineering,
*
technology,
*
fine arts,
*
music,
*
home science,
*
law,
*
science,
*
information technology,
*
women's studies,
*
forensic science,
*
sports,
*
mass communication,
*
counselling.
At a glance
Calcutta University currently has:
*58 departments,
*18 research centres,
*650 teachers,
*3000 non-teaching staff and
*12,400 post-graduate students.
A tradition of notable firsts
* The first university located to the east of Suez to teach European Classics, English Literature, European and Indian Philosophy and Occidental and Oriental History.
* The first medical school of Asia, the
Calcutta Medical College was set up in
1835. Later it was affiliated to the university.
* The first college for women in India, the
Bethune College was set up in
1879.
* The nation's first homeopathy college was established in
1880.
* The Science College was established in
1917, the first in India.
* The first blind school in India came into being in
1925.
* The first university museum in India, The Ashutosh Museum, came into being in
1937.
* The Government Arts College was established in
1951.
* The
Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM) was set up in
1953 as the country's first management institute.
Students from the university have been taking higher studies abroad since its inception. Its alumni are to be found all over the world. During the British era and in the era after
Independence to the
1980s, the preferred destinations for pursuing advanced studies were primarily the
United Kingdom,
United States of America,
Eire,
France,
Soviet Union and
Germany. Recent preferences for visiting students of this university include, apart from the above,
Canada,
Australia,
New Zealand, the
Commonwealth of Independent States,
Cyprus,
China,
Japan,
Hong Kong, and
Singapore.
Also, in a contrast to the previous era, where the preferred subjects were
Humanities,
Science,
Engineering,
Medicine, and
Law, the currently preferred subjects are:
*
Business Management,
*
Finance,
*
Commerce,
*
Communication,
*
Information Technology,
*
Fashion Designing,
*
Hospitality Management,
*
Biotechnology,
*
Genetics,
*
Robotics, and
*
Nanotechnology.
Recent surveys among students also indicate an increasing demand for subjects that relate to
natural sciences,
humanities and
social sciences.
*
NAAC Five Star RecognitionThe university has been awarded the ‘five star university’ status by the
National Accreditation and Assessment Council in 2001.
*
Ranking of Institute of Higher Education,Shanghai Jiao Tong University, ChinaThe Institute of Higher Education,
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China has recently prepared a list of the world's top 500 institutions of higher learning (universities, research institutes etc.). The complete list is now available on the internet under the heading "Academic Ranking of World Universities, 2004" (see link above). The University of Calcutta is the only university from India to appear on the list. The other institutions from India on the list are the
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and the
Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.
*
CU gets "Potential for Excellence" tag of University Grants Commission On December 8, 2005, the Indian
University Grants Commission declared Calcutta University as a ‘‘University with Potential for Excellence''.
*
The world's top arts and humanities universitiesOn November 10, 2005,
The Times Higher Education Supplement published its list of the world's top arts and humanities universities. CU, ranked 39, is the only Indian university to make it to the top 50 list. The other university from India to be in the top 100 list is the
University of Delhi.
Three
Nobel Laureates
*
Rabindranath Tagore,
*Sir
Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman and
*
Amartya Sen,
one
Academy Honorary Award winner
Satyajit Ray, were associated with this University as were two past
Presidents of India:
*Dr.
Rajendra Prasad and
*Dr.
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.
Netaji
Subhas Chandra Bose,
Head of State and
Prime Minister of
Arzi Hukumate Azad Hind (1942-1945) and co-counder of the
Indian National Army was an alumnus.
Other important political leaders of
South Asia who were its alumni include:
* Dr.
Ba Maw, who in 1937, became the first
Burmese premier under British rule and was head of state in the first sovereign (although pro-Japanese) government during World War II (August 1943-May 1945),
*
Muhammad Ali Bogra and
*
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, both of them being former Prime Ministers of
Pakistan*
Romanian-
American religious scholar and philosopher
Mircea Eliade studied at the University in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
*In 1883
Kadambini Ganguly (nee Basu) and
Chandramukhi Basu became the first women graduates from the University. In the process, they became the first female graduates of the
British Empire.
*
Kadambini Ganguly also went on to be the first lady
physician to be trained in the
European system of medicine in
South Asia. In
1886, she received her
medical degree from the University.
*
Chandramukhi Basu later became the principal of
Bethune College, thus becoming the first female administrator of an
undergraduate academic institution in
South Asia.
*
Kamini Roy, first female honours graduate in the
British Empire, first
feminist author in India
*
Upendranath Brahmachari, renowned
physician and nominee for the
Nobel prize in
1929 in the category of
physiology and
medicine*
Binay Ranjan Sen, former ambassador of India to the
USA,
Italy and
Yugoslavia,
Japan, and
Mexico and former
Director General,
Food and Agriculture Organization,
UNO*
Satyabrata Rai Chowdhuri, renowned political scientist, emeritus professor, fellow of London University and a former Oxford don of international affairs
*
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, a noted
deconstructionist,
feminist, and translator.
Important writers include:
*
Rabindranath Tagore*
Benjamin WalkerFor a fuller list of the University's famous alumni, see the
List of University of Calcutta people.
*
Official website*
Good source of information*
From Banglapedia.com*
Calcutta -- Educational institutions*
From Encyclopedia Britannica*
Information on the Department of English, University of Calcutta*
Department of Statistics, University of Calcutta*
University of Calcutta - Calcutta, West Bengal Alumni Registry*
Serampore College 1*
Serampore College 2*
University rating by StudentIndia.com
