Patna University is a public state university in
Patna, Bihar, India. It was established on 1 October 1917 during the
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
. It is the first university in
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Ben ...
and the seventh oldest university in the
Indian subcontinent in the modern era. It offers different undergraduate and postgraduate degree level courses.
History
Patna University was established by an Act of the Imperial Legislative Council passed in September 1917.
It started the journey in October 1917 as an affiliating and examining body when JG Jennings took charge of this university as the first vice-chancellor. In the modern era of India, it is one of the oldest universities in this region. Later in 1919, the governing bodies of the university—the Senate and the Syndicate—were formed. The iconic Wheeler Senate House of the Patna University was built in 1926 for which Raja Devaki Nandan Prasad of Munger donated the money.
When the university was first established it had jurisdiction over all higher educational institutes of Bihar, Odisha, and the Kingdom of Nepal. It oversaw examinations for educational institutions ranging from
school finals to the
postgraduate levels. This situation continued almost for four decades, until the establishment of the
Tribhuvan University
Tribhuvan University (TU; ne, त्रिभुवन विश्वविद्यालय) is a public university located in Kirtipur, Kathmandu. Established in 1959, TU is the oldest university in Nepal. In terms of enrollment, it is ...
,
Kathmandu
, pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia
, coordinates =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name =
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Provi ...
, and the
Utkal University,
Bhubaneshwar
Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango tr ...
.
On 2 January 1952, it was converted into a purely teaching-cum-residential university with territorial jurisdiction over only metropolitan
Patna. The university buildings are mostly located on the bank of the River Ganges and in the Saidpur Campus.
Organisation and administration
Governance
Chancellor of the Patna University is the governor of
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Ben ...
. The Vice-chancellor of the Patna University is the chief executive officer of the university. Girish Kumar Chaudhary is the current Vice-chancellor of the university.
Faculties and departments
Patna University has 30 departments organised into eight faculties: Science, Humanities, Commerce, Social Sciences, Education, Law, Fine Arts and Medicine.
*Faculty of Science
This faculty consists of the departments of
Physics,
Chemistry,
Mathematics,
Botany
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
,
Zoology,
Statistics, and
Geology.
*Faculty of Humanities
This faculty consists of the departments of
English,
Hindi,
Bangla,
Sanskrit,
Maithili,
Persian,
Philosophy,
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...
, and
Urdu.
*Faculty of Social Sciences
This faculty consists of the departments of
History,
Geography,
Psychology,
Ancient Indian History and
Archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscape ...
,
Economics,
Personnel Management &
Industrial Relations,
Sociology,
Political Science, and
Public Administration.
*Faculties of Law, Education, Commerce, Fine Arts, and Medicine
Each of these faculty comprises only one department, namely,
Law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vari ...
,
Education,
Commerce
Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...
,
Fine Arts
In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...
, and
BDS.
Affiliations
The university is an affiliating institution and has jurisdiction over the
Patna city. Eleven colleges are affiliated with this university.
Academics
Traditional and distance education
The university and its affiliated
college
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...
s and
institutions offer undergraduate and postgraduate courses in different fields like law, teacher training, science, arts, commerce, medicine, and engineering. Admission in these courses is mainly based on the result of common entrance test(CET) conducted by Patna University. The aspirants for research-level programs have to sit for a qualifying test (RET) followed by an interview. Since 1974, the university also has a Directorate of
Distance Education
Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...
for conducting postgraduate studies in distance education.
Libraries
Central Library of the Patna University was set up in 1919. Besides the central library, there are also departmental libraries in each department of the university. The university library has a collection of more than 4,00,000 volumes which include books, journals, manuscripts, patents, and other valuable collections.
Ranking and accreditation
Patna University is recognized under Section 12B of the UGC Act. In 2019, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) awarded 'B+' grade to the Patna University in the first cycle of the university's accreditation.
Notable people
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patna, University of
1917 establishments in British India
Universities in Bihar
Education in Patna
Educational institutions established in 1917