TheUniversity of Calcutta, informally known asCalcutta University (CU), is apublicstateresearch university located inKolkata,West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate colleges and 16 institutes in Kolkata and nearby areas. It was established on 24 January 1857 and is the oldestmultidisciplinary university of the Indian Subcontinent and the Southeast Asian Region. Today, the university's jurisdiction is limited to a few districts of West Bengal, but at the time of its establishment, it had a catchment area ranging fromKabul toMyanmar. It is accredited as an "A" grade university by theNational Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).
The university has a total of fourteen campuses spread over the city of Kolkata and its suburbs. Since 2020[update], 151 colleges and 21 institutes, and centres have been affiliated with CU. The university was fourth in the Indian University Ranking 2021 list, released by theNational Institutional Ranking Framework of theMinistry of Education.
The University of Calcutta in the late nineteenth century, byFrancis Frith
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 theMaharaja of Darbhanga. When the university was first established, it had ajurisdiction fromKabul toRangoon andCeylon, the largest of any Indian university.[5] Calcutta University was the first universityeast of Suez to teach European classics,English literature,European andIndian philosophy andOccidental and Oriental history.[6][7] The firstmedical school in British India, theCalcutta Medical College, was affiliated with the university in 1857.[8] The first college for women in India,Bethune College, is also affiliated with the university.[9]
From 1836 to 1890,Government Science College, Jabalpur, the first Indian science college, was affiliated with the University of Calcutta.[10] The first university library began functioning in the 1870s.Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and Joddu Nath Bose became the first graduates of the university in 1858, andKadambini Ganguly andChandramukhi Basu were the first Indian female graduates in 1882.[11][12][13] The first chancellor and vice-chancellor of the Calcutta University were Governor GeneralLord 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.[3][14][15]
Calcutta Medical College in 1910
Initially, the university was only an affiliating and examining body. All the academic and teaching work was done in constituent colleges, which were thePresidency College, theScottish Church College, theSanskrit College, and theBengal Engineering College. During that period, the Council Room of the Calcutta Medical College and the 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 theWriters' Building. Because of the lack of space, university examinations were conducted in theKolkata Town Hall and in tents in theMaidan urban park.[16]
In 1866, a grant of₹81,600 (equivalent to₹37 million or US$440,000 in 2023) for the site and₹170,561 (equivalent to₹78 million or US$920,000 in 2023) was sanctioned to construct the new building onCollege 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 (equivalent to₹7.7 crore or US$910,000 in 2023) from Maharaja Maheshwar Singh Bahadur.[16]
The Darbhanga Building housed theUniversity Law College, its library and some university offices and afforded space to hold university examinations on its top floor. In the same year, theGovernment of British India granted a sum of₹8 lakh (equivalent to₹25 crore or US$2.9 million in 2023) 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 andRash Behari Ghosh, two eminent lawyers, donated assets totalling₹25 lakh (equivalent to₹67 crore or US$7.9 million in 2023), and founded theUniversity College of Science atUpper Circular Road (now known as Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road).[16]
Senate Hall of University of Calcutta, early 1910s
Before thepartition of India, twenty-seven colleges from East Bengal (now Bangladesh) were affiliated with the university. The Government of West Bengal passed the Calcutta University Act of 1951, which substituted the earlier act of 1904 and ensured a democratic structure for the university. The West Bengal Secondary Education Act was passed in the same year, linking the university with the school leaving examination. Gradually, the requirements of the university grew, and the Senate House was becoming incapable of handling them. After the centenary of Calcutta University, the building was demolished to make space for a more utilitarian building. In 1957, the university's centenary year, it received a grant of₹1 crore (equivalent to₹100 crore or US$12 million in 2023) from the University Grants Commission, which aided with the construction of the Centenary Building on the College Street campus and the Law College Building on Hazra Road campus. The Economics Department got its own building in 1958 nearBarrackpore Trunk Road. In 1965, the Goenka Hospital Diagnostic Research Centre for the University College of Medicine was opened as the university health service. Until 1960, Senate House was one of the city's most prominent landmarks.[16][17]
The University of Calcutta building on College Street
In 1968, the Centenary Building opened on the former location of the Senate House. Currently, it houses the Central Library, theAsutosh Museum of Indian Art, the centenary auditorium and a number of university offices. By the mid-1970s, it had become one of the largest universities in the world. It had 13 colleges under its direct control and more than 150 affiliated colleges, along with 16 postgraduate faculties.[18] In the year 2001, the University of Calcutta was awarded the 'Five-Star' status in the first cycle of the university's accreditation by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). In 2009 and 2017, the NAAC awarded its highest grade of 'A' to the University of Calcutta in the second and third cycle of the university's accreditation.[19][20] In 2019, the university's central library and 40 departmental libraries were opened to the public. They have over one million books and more than 200,000 journals, proceedings and manuscripts.[21][16]
The seal has changed multiple times over the years. The first seal dates back to 1857. It was changed when theGovernment of India Act 1858 was passed by theBritish parliament. This brought the government and territories of theEast India Company, including the University of Calcutta, under theBritish Crown. Seal three, four and five were introduced in the 1930s; the fourth seal faced criticism locally. The current university seal is the modified version of the sixth seal. The mottoAdvancement of Learning has remained the same through the seal's transitions.[22]
The university has a total of 14 campuses spread over the city of Kolkata and its suburbs. They are referred to asSikhsa Prangan, which means education premises. Major campuses include the Central Campus (Ashutosh Shiksha Prangan) on College Street,University College of Science, Technology and Agriculture (Rashbehari Shiksha Prangan or Rajabazar Science College or Science College) inRajabazar, Taraknath Palit Shiksha Prangan inBallygunge and Sahid Khudiram Siksha Prangan inAlipore. Other campuses include the Hazra Road Campus, the University Press and Book Depot, the B. T. Road Campus, the Viharilal College of Home Science Campus, the University Health Service, the Haringhata Campus, the Dhakuria Lakes (University Rowing Club) and the University Ground and Tent at Maidan.[23][24][25]
Asutosh Siksha Prangan (commonly called the College Street Campus) is the university's main campus where the administrative work is done. Located on College Street, it is spread over an area of 2.7 acres (1.1 ha). It houses the Arts and Language department, administrative offices, museum, the central library, an auditorium etc.[26][27] Exhibits likefolk art of Bengal are present in the Asutosh Museum of Indian Art.[28] Senate House was the first university building situated on this campus; it opened in 1872. In 1960, it was demolished to make way for a larger building, the Centenary Building, which opened in 1968. The Darbhanga Building and the Asutosh Building are the two other buildings opened in 1921 and 1926, respectively.[16]
Rashbehari Siksha Prangan (also known as University College of Science and Technology or more commonly Rajabazar Science College), is located on Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road in Rajabazar. Established in 1914,[29] it houses several scientific and technological departments, including pure and applied chemistry, pure and applied physics, applied optics and photonics, radio physics, applied mathematics, psychology, physiology, biophysics, molecular biology, and others.[23][30]
Taraknath Palit Siksha Prangan (also known as University College of Science or commonly Ballygunge Science College) onBallygunge Circular Road in the southern part of the city, houses the departments of agriculture, anthropology, biochemistry, microbiology, botany, geography, genetics, statistics, zoology, neuroscience, marine science, biotechnology, and most notably geology, among others.[23] It also houses S. N. Pradhan Centre For Neurosciences and the Institute of Agricultural Science.[31]
Sahid Khudiram Siksha Prangan, commonly known as Alipore Campus, located at Alipore, is the humanities campus of the university. The departments of history, ancient Indian history and culture, Islamic history and culture, South and Southeast Asian studies, archaeology, political science, business management and museology are situated on this campus.[32]
The Technology Campus, also known as the Tech Camps, is the newest on the university. It brings together the three engineering and technical departments: The Centre for Research in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, the A.K.C. School of Information Technology and the Department of Applied Optics and Photonics, in Sector 3, JD Block,Salt Lake.[29][33][34]
The university is governed by a board of administrative officers, which includes the vice-chancellor, pro-vice-chancellor for academic affairs, pro-vice-chancellor for business affairs and finance, the registrar, the university librarian, the inspector of colleges, the system manager and 35 others. They monitor the operation of the university and its affiliated colleges and the university's funding.[35][36] The university is funded by the University Grants Commission, theGovernment of West Bengal, other agencies for various research works and by the university's own initiatives like fees, sales proceeds, publications and service charges generated fromendowment funds.[37][38]
Following the Government of British India notification on 20 August 1904, Ceylon went under the University of Madras; provinces, states and agencies of Central India, such as theCentral India Agency,Rajputana Agency,United Provinces of Agra and Oudh etc. went to the hands of University of Allahabad; Northern and North-Western provinces and states went under the University of Punjab. Jurisdiction of schools and colleges in Eastern India was retained by Calcutta University. By 1907, two colleges in Punjab, three in the Central Province, five in the State of Rajputana Agency, six in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh and seven in Ceylon were disaffiliated. A series of disaffiliations continued till 1948. Schools and colleges inOrissa andBihar province went underUniversity of Patna after its establishment in 1917.University of Rangoon was established in 1920 and the Burma region went under it in 1921. In the same year,University of Dacca was established and some colleges inEast Bengal went under it and whole control was cut with thepartition of India in 1947. In 1948, all the schools and colleges in Assam left the university after the establishment ofGauhati University.[5][40]
As of 2020, 151 colleges and 22 institutes and centers, in West Bengal are affiliated with the university.[41][42][43] Some of the affiliated colleges include:[44]
The university has 60 departments organized into seven faculties: arts, commerce, social welfare and business management, education, journalism and library science, engineering and technology, fine arts, music and home science, law and science; and an agriculture institute with six departments.[43]
To provide agricultural education and research, the Institute of Agricultural Science was established under the University of Calcutta. It was founded byPabitra Kumar Sen, who was the Khaira Professor of Agriculture (another endowment chair) in the early 1950s. Initial efforts began as early as 1913, but the first institute was set up only in 1939 atBarrackpore (a city near Kolkata) by the university, following the establishment of theImperial Council of Agricultural Research (now known as the Indian Council of Agricultural Research) in 1926.[45] Although it was shut down in 1941 due toWorld War II. Then, in 1954, a postgraduate department in agriculture was started in Ballygunge Science College by the university, with agricultural botany as the only subject; two years later, a Veterinary Science Institute was included and the department was upgraded into a faculty called agriculture and veterinary science. In 2002 university decided to reopen undergraduate agriculture courses in the agricultural experiment farm campus atBaruipur, a city south of Calcutta. In the same year, the department was restructured as a separate Institute of Agricultural Science.[46]
The Faculty of Arts consists of 23 departments; commerce consists of three departments; education, journalism and library science consist of three departments; engineering and technology consist of eight departments; science has 22 departments and home science offers courses on subjects such as food and nutrition, human development, and home science.[43] The Faculty of Law was established in January 1909 as the University College of Law. It was granted status as the university's department of law in February 1996. This campus is popularly known asHazra Law College. The faculty has many luminaries associated with it, including Rajendra Prasad, Rashbehari Ghose, and Chittaranjan Das.[47][43]
Centers at University of Calcutta
A. K. Choudhury School of Information Technology
Women's Studies Research Centre
Gandhian Studies Centre
Centre for Urban Economic Studies
S. K. Mitra Centre for Space Environment
Peace Studies Research Centre
Centre for Testing and Training for Providing Technical Back up to the Beneficiaries for Agricultural and Horticultural Development
USIC
Centre for Horticultural Studies
CPEPA-UGC center for “Electrophysiology & Neuro-Imaging Studies including Mathematical Modeling”
Centre for Millimeter Wave Semiconductor Devices & Systems
Centre for Translation and Literary Geography
Centre for Pakistan and West Asian Studies
Centre for Research in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities
Centre for South and Southeast Asian Studies
Centre for Studies in Book Publishing
Nehru Studies Centre
Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy
Institute of Foreign Policy Studies
Centre for Pollination Studies
University of Calcutta – Calcutta Stock Exchange Centre of Excellence in Financial Markets (CUCSE-CEFM)
Forundergraduate courses—Arts (BA), Commerce (B.Com.) and Science (BSc) streams (except engineering courses)—one can apply directly for multiple courses based on theirHigher Secondary School Certificate examination or any equivalent exam results. Students are shortlisted according to their marks and the number of places available. For some departments, entrance exams may take place at the sole discretion of the head of the department. Anyone can apply within five years of passing theHigher Secondary Examination.[48] For engineering courses, admission is based on theWest Bengal Joint Entrance Examination (WBJEE) rankings.[49][50] Meanwhile, forpostgraduate courses anddoctoral degree courses, one has to take anentrance exam or written test given by the university or any national level exam related to the subject, held by the UGC. A merit list is prepared on the basis of the exam results.[51][52][53]
Undergraduates may enroll for a three- or four-year program in engineering. Students choose a major when they enter the university and cannot change it unless they opt later for the university's professional or self-financed postgraduate programs. Science and business disciplines are in high demand, largely in anticipation of better employment prospects. Most programs are organized on an annual basis, though some programs are semester dependent. Most departments offermaster's programs of a year or a few years' duration. Research is conducted in specialized institutes as well as individual departments, many of which have doctoral programs.[43]
The University of Calcutta has the largest research center, which started from Post Centenary Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the University of Calcutta, January 17, 2006. This is the Center for Research in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (CRNN) on the Technology Campus of CU at Salt Lake, West Bengal.[54] The university has 18 research centers, 710 teachers, 3000 non-teaching staff and 11,000 postgraduate students.[55]
The central library at theAsutosh Siksha Prangan was started around the 1870s.[21] Apart from 39 departmental libraries, it has a central library, two campus libraries, and two libraries at the advanced centers spread across the seven campuses. Students at affiliated colleges can also access the central library. The university library has over one million books and more than 200,000 bound journals, proceedings, manuscripts, patents and other valuable collections.[28][56]
The University launched a modernInstitutional Repository is a digital platform that makes the university's research freely available online, aligning with the open access movement in academia. Launched in April 2020, enhancing global access to its research.[57] It seems likely that this benefits the global scholarly community by providing free access to previously paywalled content. Research suggests increased visibility, citations, and collaboration opportunities for researchers worldwide.[58]
The university has its own publishing house called University Press and Publications along with a book depot, which was established in the 20th century. It publishes textbooks, treatises, journals and confidential papers for all the examinations conducted by the university. It also publishes the journalThe Calcutta Review, which is one of the oldest Asian university journals.The Calcutta Review was established bySir John Kaye in May 1844. It has been issued biannually since 1913.[59][60][61]
In 2001, the University of Calcutta was awarded "Five-Star" status in the first cycle of the university's accreditation by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).[72] In 2009 and 2017, NAAC awarded its highest grade of 'A' to the University of Calcutta in the second and third cycle of the university's accreditation.[19] The UGC recognized the University of Calcutta as a "University with Potential for Excellence", on 8 December 2005.[73][74] It was also awarded the status of "Centre with Potential for Excellence in Particular Area" inElectro-Physiological andNeuro-imaging studies includingmathematical modeling.[75][76]
The Manuscript Library at the university has also been designated as a "Manuscript Conservation Centre" under theNational Mission for Manuscripts, which was established in 2003.[77][78] The university has the highest number of students who have cleared the doctoral entrance eligibility exam, known asNational Eligibility Test, in Natural Science and Arts to become eligible to pursue research with a full scholarship awarded by the Government of India.[79][better source needed] The university is a member of the United Nations Academic Impact initiative.[80]
The university has a ground and tent in Maidan, where various sports are played.[81] Inter-college tournaments in sports likefootball,archery,basketball, andhockey are also organised.[82] The university rowing club started in the year 1983 atRabindra Sarobar.[83][84] The Calcutta University Students' Union organises social and cultural activities occasionally, which include blood donation camps, environmental awareness programmes, relief fund collection, teachers day celebrations, andSaraswati puja, among others.[85][86]
Most of the affiliated undergraduate colleges located in the city have their own student hostels. The university has 17 hostels, of which eight (two for undergraduates and six for postgraduates) are for women. A total of 13 hostels are for paying guest students located across the city.[87]
In 1938, the then Vice-Chancellor Syama Prasad Mookerjee asked Rabindranath Tagore to compose a "university song" for the university. Rabindranath composed two songs instead of one— "Cholo Jai, Cholo Jai" and "Subho Karmapathe Dharo Nirvayo Gaan" (in English,"Let's go, let's go" and"Take up fearless song on the path of good deeds" respectively). The former song was adopted and sung by parading students on the university's foundation day on 24 January 1937. In the post centenary golden jubilee year of the university, the latter was adopted as the new university song.[88][89]
Banerjee, Pramatha Nath (1957).Hundred Years of the University of Calcutta.Kolkata, India: University Press and Publications.
Bose, P. K. (1973).Calcutta University: Some Problems and Their Remedies.Kolkata, India: University Press and Publications.
Chakraborty, Rachana (1998).Higher Education in Bengal, 1919-1947: A Study of Its Administration and Management. India: Minerva Associates.ISBN9788185195766.
