History of Dhaka University..

History of University of Dhaka 1

History of University of DhakaUniversity of Dhaka was the first university to be established in East Bengal. Following demands by Nawab SirKhwaja Salimullah Bahadur and others, in 2 February 1912 Viceroy Lord Hardinge proposed that a new Universityshould be established in this partition of Bengal. In 1921 The University of Dhaka was established.

Curzon Hall where the science faculty of University ofDhaka was established in 1921

Introduction

The establishment of the university was a compensation of theannulment of the 1905 Partition of Bengal. The partition hadestablished East Bengal and Assam as a separate province, withDhaka as its capital. However, the partition was abolished in 1911.

In 1913, public opinion was invited before the university schemewas given its final shape. The secretary of state approved it inDecember 1913.[1] The first vice-chancellor of the university, Dr.Philip Joseph Hartog, formerly academic registrar of theUniversity of London for 17 years .

Foundation and early days

Established in 1921 under the Dacca University Act 1920 of the Indian Legislative Council, it is modelled afterBritish universities. Academic activities started on July 1, 1921 with 3 Faculties: Arts, Science and Law; 12Departments: Sanskrit and Bengali, English, Education, History, Arabic and Islamic Studies, Persian and Urdu,Philosophy, Economics and Politics, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Law; 3 Dormitories for students:Salimullah Muslim Hall, Dacca Hall and Jagannath Hall.[2]

Establishment and the British era

Dhaka University Central Students Unionbuilding

It is believed that a combination of political, social and economiccompulsions persuaded the government of India to establish auniversity at Dhaka 'as a splendid imperial compensation' to Muslimsfor the annulment of the partition of Bengal. The first vice-chancellorof the university, Dr. PJ Hartog, a former academic registrar of theUniversity of London for 17 years and a member of the University ofCalcutta Commission, described this phenomenon as the 'politicalorigin' of the institution.

The Partition of Bengal in 1905 provided the Muslim majoritycommunity of East Bengal and Assam with a sphere of influence oftheir own and raised new hopes for the development of the region andadvancement of its people. But its annulment, barely six years later due to stiff opposition from the powerful Hinduleadership, was viewed by Muslims as 'a grievous wrong'. Muslims were late to realise that their educationalbackwardness was a root cause of their decline in other fields of life. Hindus had a clear lead of at least 50 years inadopting the system of education introduced by the British, which freed the Indian mind from the 'thraldom ofold-world ideas' and initiated a renaissance in Indian life. This put Hindus in advantageous positions in every sphereof influence in Bengal. At least four high-level commissions – the Hunter Commission of 1882, the Nathan

History of University of Dhaka 2

Commission of 1912, the Hornell Committee of 1913, and the Calcutta University Commission of 1917 - confirmedthis observation.Viceroy Lord Hardinge was quick to perceive the dissatisfaction of Muslims at the government's decision forannulment and decided to pay an official visit to Dhaka to assuage the aggrieved community. A deputation of highranking Muslim leaders, including Sir Nawab Khwaja Salimullah, Khan Bahadur Chowdhury Kazimuddin AhmedSiddiky,[3] Nawab Syed Nawab Ali Choudhury and A. K. Fazlul Huq, met him on January 31, 1912 and expressedtheir fears that the annulment would retard the educational progress of their community. As compensation for theannulment of the Partition, as well as protest against the general antipathy of Calcutta University towards Muslims,the deputation made a vigorous demand for a university at Dhaka. In response, Lord Hardinge acknowledged thateducation was the true salvation of Muslims and that the government would recommend the constitution of such auniversity to the Secretary of State. This was confirmed in an official communiqué on February 2, 1912.

Sir Syed Nawab Ali Chowdhury, one ofthe proposers of University of Dhaka

Lord Hardinge admitted that since 1906 the provinces of East Bengal andAssam had made great strides forward. That year there were 1,698 collegiatestudents in East Bengal and Assam, and the expenditure on collegiateeducation was Rs 154,358. In 1912, with the same number of institutions, thecorresponding figures were 2,560 students and Rs 383,619. Educationalclasses and schemes were formed with reference to local conditions. From1905 to 1910-11, the number of pupils in public institutions rose from699,051 to 936,653 and the expenditure from provincial revenues rose fromRs 1,106,510 to Rs 2,205,339 while the local expenditure, direct and indirect,rose from Rs 4,781,833 to Rs 7,305,260.Many Hindu leaders were not happy with the government's intention to set upa university at Dhaka. On February 16, 1912, a delegation headed byadvocate Dr Rash Bihari Ghosh, met the viceroy and expressed theapprehension that the establishment of a separate university at Dhaka wouldpromote 'an internal partition of Bengal'. They also contended, as wasrecorded in the Calcutta University Commission report later, that "Muslims ofEastern Bengal were in large majority cultivators and they would benefit inno way by the foundation of a university". Lord Hardinge assured thedelegation that no proposals which could lead to the internal partition ordivision of Bengal would meet the support of the government. He alsoexpressed that the new university would be open to all and it would be ateaching and a residential university. At one stage, Lord Hardinge told SirAsutosh Mukherjee, vice-chancellor of Calcutta University, that he wasdetermined to establish a university at Dhaka in spite of all their opposition.The opposition by Hindu intelligentsia was not the only hurdle in implementation of the plan for the new university.Many complex legal and material issues were to be examined. After obtaining the approval of the Secretary of State,in a letter on April 4, 1912, the government of India invited the government of Bengal to submit a complete schemefor the university, along with a financial estimate. Accordingly, in a resolution of May 27, 1912, the government ofBengal appointed a committee of 13 members headed by Mr Robert Nathan, a barrister from London, to draw up ascheme for Dhaka University. The resolution emphasised that 'the university should be a teaching and residential oneand not of the federal type' and that 'it should bind together the colleges of the city and should not include anycollege which is beyond the limits of the town'. The committee acted with speed and with the thoroughness andwisdom of 25 special sub-committees, it submitted its report in autumn of the same year. The report contained plans

of the proposed buildings and estimates of capital expenditure amounting to Rs 5.3 million (later raised to Rs 6.7 million by the Public Works and Development agency) and of recurring expenditure amounting to Rs 1.2 million.

History of University of Dhaka 3

The report went into considerable details about the mission of the university and its courses of study. The committeerecommended that the university should be a state institution with unitary teaching and residential form on the modelof modern UK universities such as Manchester, Leeds, and Liverpool, and that it should encompass seven collegesincluding Dacca College and Jagannath College. The entire teaching in science, law, medicine, and engineering atpostgraduate level was to be conducted by the university itself. In fact, the Dhaka University model was highlyappraised and was later, followed in establishing new universities at Allahabad, Benaras, Hyderabad, Aligarh,Lucknow and Annamalai.

Tomb of Kazi Nazrul Islam near the Dhaka University campusmosque

The Nathan Committee suggested for the university aspectacular site of about 243 acres (0.98 km2) formingpart of the new civil station created at Ramna for thegovernment of Eastern Bengal and Assam. The sitehoused Curzon Hall, Dacca College, the newgovernment house, the secretariat, the governmentpress, a number of houses for officers, and other minorbuildings. In due course, all this land with theirbuildings and other properties was made over to theuniversity in a permanent lease on a nominal rent of Rs1,000 a year. After the committee report was publishedin 1913, public opinion was invited before theuniversity scheme was given its final shape. TheSecretary of State approved it in December 1913. Thenthe First World War intervened creating acute financial

stringency for the government. Even a skeletal scheme estimated to cost only Rs 1,125,000 could not be taken up.This caused misgivings in the minds of Muslim leaders. When Nawab Syed Nawab Ali Choudhury raised the issuein the Indian Legislative Council on March 7, 1917, Shankaran Nair, the government spokesman, reaffirmed thegovernment pledge to establish the university at Dhaka, but added that consideration of a bill already drafted wouldnow have to wait for a report from the Calcutta University Commission, to which the Dhaka university scheme hadbeen referred for advice regarding its constitution and management.

The decision to appoint a commission to enquire into the problems and needs of Calcutta University was announcedby its chancellor Lord Chelmsford at convocation on January 6, 1917. Accordingly a commission was formed withDr. ME Sadler as its chairman. The commission justified the setting up of a university at Dhaka, the second largesttown of the Presidency. Report of the Sadler Commission also indicated that Dhaka was already in the centre of agreat student population as Dhaka division and Tippera district supplied 7,097 out of a total number of 27,290students in the University of Calcutta. The Commission agreed with most parts of the Nathan Committee scheme andurged that the University of Dhaka should be established without further delay.The commission made 13 recommendations, which were adopted, with few exceptions, in the Dacca University Act 1920. The Governor General of India appointed Dr. PJ Hartog as the first vice-chancellor for a term of 5 years beginning December 1, 1920. He assumed office on December 10, 1920. The new university immediately faced serious problems in regard to funds for which it was entirely dependent upon inelastic public revenues from the Bengal government, which would not give a single rupee without authorisation from the legislative council. The next difficulty, as reported by the chancellor to the first court meeting, had been in satisfying the expectations of the Mohammedan community. In spite of the best endeavours the university administration was able to secure only a small number of Muslims for the teaching staff. Also, the number of Muslim students, who represented barely 9% of university students in Bengal, was not many in the initial years. The annual recurring expenditure proposed by the Nathan Committee for the university was Rs 1.3 million but Sir Pravash Mitter, education minister of the Bengal government, reduced it to Rs 500,000. A fund of about Rs 5.6 million built up by the government of India for capital

History of University of Dhaka 4

expenditure on the university, when transferred to the Bengal government for disbursement, was merged by Mitterwith provincial funds. Only Rs 900,000 was released on the plea that 'the Dhaka University was in possession of anextensive area of land and many buildings of the government of Bengal'.On top of this, the education minister directed the university to retrench and restrict expenditure to stay within therecurring grant of Rs 500,000. The retrenchment was felt most severely in the departments of Islamic Studies,English, Chemistry and Economics. Mr Hartog also referred to the rumour spread by activists of the non-cooperationmovement that the tuition fee for an undergraduate student of the university was raised from Rs 8 to Rs 60. Thisdiscouraged admission in the opening session in 1921. Hartog, however, reported to the annual court meeting of1922-23 that he felt proud of the achievements of the university. He put the university on a firm footing in his 5-yeartenure of dedicated service in it. The advancement of the young university in the direction of academic excellencediligently marked by Hartog was carried forward by able successors such as Prof Harry Langley, AF Rahman, Dr.RC Majumdar, Dr. Mahmud Hussain and others. Under Vice-Chancellor Hussain, the University consolidated itsfundamental focus on academics. It also made national headlines when he extended an invite to then-President ofPakistan Ayub Khan, who declined citing 'security reasons', the first of many subsequent refusals from high-rankingofficials to visit East Pakistan.

The numbers of students from 1921 to 1948There were few students in the first era of University of Dhaka. The numbers of students of the first few years waslike this[4]

Session Number of Muslim students Number of total students

1929-'30 427 1300 (Except the training college and Medical Schools)

1930-'31 399 1300

1930-'34 1027

1934-'35 933 (Including 39 lady students)

1937-'38 595 1527

1939-'40 673 1527

1940-'41 600 1633

1945-'46 1000(Including 90 lady students)

1946-'47 1092 (Including 100 lady students)

1947-'48 1693(Including 72 lady students)

History of University of Dhaka 5

Tagore in Dhaka University

Rabindranath Tagore in Jagannath Hall

A poem written by Rabindranath Thakur for amagazine of Jagannath Hall

In 1926 University of Dhaka invited Rabindranath Thakur to join aconference named The meaning of Art. He came to Dhaka and visitedCurzon Hall at 10 February.

Dhaka varsity in liberation war (1970s)

Teachers who were killed in 1971

In the liberation war of Bangladesh the students and teachers ofUniversity of Dhaka played a vital role. The infamous ordinance of1961 was annulled and substituted by the Dacca University Order of1973 which restored its autonomy and provided a democraticatmosphere for the community of teachers and students where theycould engage freely and fully in academic and intellectual pursuits.Teachers at the University of Dhaka who were killed during theliberation war include:[1]

History of University of Dhaka 6

Name of Teacher Institution

Dr. Mohammad Mortuza The university's chief medical officer

Giasuddin Ahmed University of Dhaka

Dr. ANM Muniruzzaman University of Dhaka

Dr. Jyotirmoy Guha Thakurta University of Dhaka

AN Munir Chowdhury University of Dhaka

Mofazzal Haider Chowdhury University of Dhaka

Dr. Abul Khair University of Dhaka

Dr. Serajul Hoque Khan University of Dhaka

Rashidul Hasan University of Dhaka

Anwar Pasha University of Dhaka

Dr. GC Dev University of Dhaka

Dr. Fazlur Rahman University of Dhaka

Dr. Faizul Mohi University of Dhaka

Abdul Muktadir University of Dhaka

Sarafat Ali University of Dhaka

Sadat Ali University of Dhaka

AR Khan Khadim University of Dhaka

Santosh C Bhattacharya University of Dhaka

Mohammad Sadeq University Laboratory School

Anudippayan Bhattachariya University of Dhaka

References[1] Sajahan Miah. "University of Dhaka" (http:/ / www. banglapedia. org/ httpdocs/ HT/ U_0030. HTM). In Sirajul Islam. Banglapedia: National

Encyclopedia of Bangladesh. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. .[2] http:/ / www. univdhaka. edu/ DownLoads/ DU-Prospectus-2008. pdf[3] Muhammad Abdus Salam. "Siddiky, Kazemuddin Ahmad" (http:/ / www. banglapedia. org/ httpdocs/ HT/ S_0371. HTM). In Sirajul Islam.

Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. .[4] Dhaka University & the History of East Bengal: An interview of Professor Abdur Razzak, written by-Sordar Fazlul Karim সরদার ফজলুল

করিম রচিত ঢাকা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় ও পুর্ব বঙ্গীয় সমাজ:অধ্যাপক আবদুর রাজ্জাকের আলাপচারিতা

External links• University of Dhaka Official website (http:/ / www. du. ac. bd/ )• Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka Official website (http:/ / www. iba-du. edu/ )•• Dhaka University at a glance• Institute of Statistical Research and Training (ISRT) (http:/ / www. isrt. ac. bd/ )•• History of the Formation of Dhaka University Our Bangla. Retrieved: 2007-07-2

Article Sources and Contributors 7

Article Sources and ContributorsHistory of University of Dhaka  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=532130640  Contributors: Billinghurst, CommonsDelinker, Disavian, Euryalus, EyeSerene, Frdayeen,Gobeshock Gobochondro Gyanotirtho, Hmains, Karachikhan, Lightmouse, Murad67, Nadiatalent, Nafsadh, Ohconfucius, PhnomPencil, Ragib, SamuelTheGhost, Shuvro.shuvro, Sidhu Jyatha,Wavelength, Woohookitty, 7 anonymous edits

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