page_title: University of Calcutta
section_title: Pre-independence
hierarchical_section_title: University of Calcutta / History / Pre-independence
caption_attribution_description: English: The Calcutta University
context_page_description: The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University, is a collegiate public state university located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It was established on 24 January 1857 and was one of the first institutions in Asia to be established as a multidisciplinary, Western-style university. Presently, the university's jurisdiction is limited to a few districts of West Bengal. Within India, it is recognized as a "Five-Star University" and accredited an "A" Grade by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council. The University of Calcutta was awarded the status of "Centre with Potential for Excellence In Particular Area" and "University with potential for excellence" by the University Grants Commission.
  The university has a total of fourteen campuses spread over the city of Kolkata and its suburbs. As of 2020, 151 colleges and 21 institutes and centres are affiliated with it. The university was seventh in the Indian University Ranking 2020 list, released by the National Institutional Ranking Framework of the Ministry of Human Resource Development of the Government of India.
context_section_description: Dr. Fredrick John, the education secretary to the British Government in India, first tendered a proposal to them in London for the establishment of a university in Calcutta, along the lines of London University. In July 1854, the Court of Directors of the East India Company sent a dispatch, known as Wood's despatch, to the Governor General of India in Council, to establish universities in Calcutta (now Kolkata), Madras (now Chennai) and Bombay (now Mumbai).
  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. The land for the establishment of the university was given by Maharaja Maheshwar Singh Bahadur, who was a Maharaja of Darbhanga. When the university was first established it had a jurisdiction from Lahore to Rangoon (now in Myanmar), and Ceylon, the largest of any Indian university. Calcutta University became the first university located to the east of the Suez to teach European classics, English literature, European and Indian philosophy and Occidental and Oriental history. The first medical school in Asia, the Calcutta Medical College, was affiliated with the university in 1857. The first college for women in India, Bethune College, is affiliated with the university. From 1836 to 1890, Government Science College, Jabalpur, the first Indian science college, was affiliated with the University of Calcutta. The first university library began functioning in the 1870s. Joddu Nath Bose and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay became the first graduates of the university in 1858, and Dr. Kadambini Ganguly and Chandramukhi Basu were the first Indian female graduates in 1882. The first chancellor and vice-chancellor of the Calcutta University were Governor General Lord Canning and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Sir William Colvile, respectively. Ashutosh Mukherjee was the vice-chancellor for four consecutive two-year terms (1906–1914) and a fifth two-year term in 1921–23.
  Initially, the university was only an affiliating and examining body. All the academic and teaching work was done in constituent colleges, which were the Presidency College (now called Presidency University), the Sanskrit College and the Bengal Engineering College (now called Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology). During that period, the Council Room of the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital and private residence of the vice-chancellor used to house the Senate meetings. The faculty councils generally met at the residences of the presidents of the faculties concerned, in the Civil Engineering College or in the Writers' Building. Because of the lack of space, university examinations were held in the Kolkata Town Hall and at other locations like Maidan using tents.
  In 1866, a grant of ₹81,600 (US$1,100) for the site and ₹170,561 (US$2,400) was sanctioned to construct the new building on College Street. It opened in 1873 and was called Senate House. It had meeting halls for the Senate, a chamber for the vice-chancellor, the office of the registrar, examination rooms and lecture halls. In 1904, postgraduate teaching and research began at the university, which led to an increase in the number of students and candidates. After almost sixty years, a second building, known as the Darbhanga Building, was erected in 1912 with a donation of ₹2.5 lakh (US$3,500) from Maharaja Maheshwar Singh Bahadur. It housed the University Law College, its library and some university offices and afforded space to hold university examinations on its top floor. In the same year, the Government of British India granted a sum of ₹8 lakh (US$11,000) for the acquisition of a market, Madhab Babu’s Bazar, situated adjacent to the Senate House, and construction of a new building for the teaching departments began. It opened in 1926, and was later named the Asutosh Building, after Asutosh Mukherjee, vice-chancellor of the university in 1906-14. Between 1912 and 1914, Taraknath Palit and Rash Behari Ghosh, two eminent lawyers, donated assets totalling ₹25 lakh (US$35,000), and founded the
caption: Calcutta University between 1850s and 1870s
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