BRIEF HISTORY OF PATNA UNVIERSITY
The Patna University came into being by an Act of Legislature in 1917. It is the 7th oldest University to be established on the Indian subcontinent and the first in Bihar.
The University was established as an examining body and conducted examinations right from Matriculation to the Postgraduate classes. Its jurisdiction extended to Bihar, Orissa and Nepal and for four decades since its inception, this University guided the destiny of these States.
The Patna University remained the only University of Bihar till January 1952 when its character was changed to a Residential University though for some years it continued to conduct examinations of educational institutions in Nepal till the Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, came into being. After establishment of the Utkal University, Bhubneshwar, the Patna University ceased to exercise its control over educational institutions in Orissa.
Since its birth, the University was fortunate to have the guidance and co-operation of eminent residents of Bihar and Orissa such as Hasan Imam (who became the President of Indian National Congress) Dr. Rajendra Prasad (the first President of our republic and an eminent freedom fighter), Sachidanand Sinha (the first President of the Constituent Assembly of India and the maker of the modern Bihar and the longest serving Vice-Chancellor of Patna University), Braj Kishore Prasad (a great freedom fighter) etc. Some very distinguished scholars who were internationally known, such as Sri Jadu Nath Sarkar, Ram Autar Sharma, D.M.Datta, H. P. Maity, C. J. Hamilton and other served this university as teachers in its early years. Sir Syed Sultan Ahmad, an eminent Barrister and High Court Judge was the Vice-Chancellor of this University for seven years. He became Member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council for Law and later for Information and Broadcasting. Justice B. P. Singh, the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India, Justice L. M. Sharma, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India, Justice K. B. N. Singh, Ex-Chief Justice of Madras and Patna High Court as well as Governor of Madras and Bihar, Mr. Lal Narain Sinha, the first Attorney General of India and a number of political decision makers and many others who are presently holding the key posts of the Government of India and the various State Governments are the illustrious alumini of this University.
From the very beginning the University had a number of well-known institutions both professional and non-professional associated with it. It has a full-fledged Law College, Teachers’ Training College along with Engineering and Medical Colleges.
Right from its inception this University has acted as the torch-bearer of modern scientific and technical education in Bihar, Orissa and Nepal. It is needless to emphasize that the University became the harbinger of modernity, social transformation and economic growth.
The alumni of this University participated in India’s freedom struggle at all stages. When the non-cooperation movement was started by Mahatma Gandhi in 1920, the students of Patna University especially those studying engineering decided to boycott all Government-run educational institutions. They requested the leaders of the non-cooperation movement in Bihar, Maulana Mazharul Haque, to provide an alternative institution so that they could continue their studies. Bihar Vidyapeeth was, thus, born and the inauguration was performed by Mahatma Gandhi.
When nationalism was still nascent in the country, the two patriotic brothers of renowned Kulharia Zamindar family Sri Bisheshwar Singh and Sri Shaligram Singh founded the B. N. (Bihar National) College (1889) who were bold enough to suggest the name out of their great love for the nation and gifted it to the State.
During the Quit India Movement of August 1942 several students including Baliram Bhagat and L. N. Mishra actively participated. After freedom was achieved they became prominent public figures and achieved position of distinction in public life.
Since its inception the University has been a saga of progress, advancement, and excellence in the field of higher education. In fact, the alumni of this university provided the bulk of manpower to run the administration at all levels and have significantly contributed to the task of national reconstruction, particularly, during post-independence period. The overwhelming number of teachers, lawyers, judges, journalists literateurs, scientists, engineers, doctors, politicians etc., were alumni of the Patna University.
After independence it was realized by the leaders of the country that modern education was a major resource which ought to be developed to ensure economic progress and major social transformation. Hence efforts were made to popularise modern education. It was also felt that the Patna University, the oldest and a leading university in the country with its sound infrastructure should concentrate on research and divest itself of the responsibility of conducting various examinations at the state level. As a preliminary step, postgraduate teaching in several new subjects such as Statistics, Sociology, Labour and Social Welfare, Applied Psychology, was started. The Postgraduate departments were delinked from the colleges. This was a step towards creation of a residential university with adequate research input which were carried out with great vigor. The structure of the University was completely changed. It was turned into the first residential University of Bihar with the provision that only an eminent teacher should become the Vice-Chancellor. As a result of this Dr. K. N. Bahl a scholarly teacher and eminent Scientist of the country was appointed the first Vice-Chancellor. The structure of the University was further changed. The colleges ceased to impart postgraduate education. For each subject, post-graduate departments were established. It was hoped that the teachers in these departments would devote themselves to research besides carrying on teaching assignments. The change in the character of the University was reflected in the phenomenal increase in the output of research work, publication of research articles and monographs. Doctoral and postdoctoral research were carried out with sincerity of purpose.
Several teachers of the University won great name and fame in the academic world. Many of them became the Fellow of National Academy, some of them became Presidents and Sectional Presidents of Science Congress and apex organizations in their respective disciplines. When the Indian Council of Historical Research was established in 1973, Dr. R. S. Sharma, a teacher of this University was appointed the first Chairman. A former Vice-Chancellor Dr. George Jacob held the post of the Chairman of the University Grants Commission, New Delhi.
The University also opened new courses to cater to the emerging needs of the Society. The Faculty of Commerce came into existence.
Postgraduate teaching in the Faculty of Medical Sciences was begun and after sometime postgraduate studies in the Faculty of Law, Engineering and Education were also started.
In addition, the University also runs a Directorate of Distance Education (DDE) established in 1974. The main objective is to promote higher education among those who are employed or otherwise engaged and are in no position to attend regular classes.
A new faculty of Fine-Arts was created when the half-a-century old Government Art College was transferred to the Jurisdiction of the Patna University.
The University celebrated its Silver Jubilee in 1944 and its Golden Jublee (1967), in the year 1970 with the President of India Sri V. V. Giri as the Chief Guest. Many great national leaders and many internationally known public leaders and personalities have visited the University. Among them mention may be made of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, Smt. Sarojini Naidu, Govind Ballabh Pant, C. D. Deshmukh, etc