Patna University


Patna University, the first university in Bihar, was established on 1 October 1917 during the British Raj, and is the eleventh oldest university of the Indian subcontinent. At that time, the jurisdiction of the university extended to Bihar, Odisha, and the Kingdom of Nepal.
The university oversaw examinations for educational institutions ranging from school finals to the postgraduate levels. This continued almost for four decades, until the establishment of the Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, and the Utkal University, Bhubaneshwar.

History

Patna University was established in 1917 as an affiliating and examining body. On January 2, 1952 it was converted into a purely teaching-cum-residential university with the territorial jurisdiction over metropolitan Patna. It is one of the oldest universities in India. It is the first in Bihar, and seventh oldest University in the subcontinent. The university buildings are mostly located on the bank of River Ganges and in the Saidpur Campus.

Organisation

The university is an affiliating institution and has its jurisdiction over metropolitan Patna. Eleven colleges are affiliated with this 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 the departments of physics, chemistry, mathematics, botany, zoology, statistics and geology.

Faculty of Humanities

This faculty consists the departments of English, Hindi, ancient Indian history and archaeology, Bangla, Sanskrit, Maithili, Persian, Philosophy, Arabic and Urdu.

Faculty of Social Sciences

This faculty consists the departments of history, geography, psychology, ancient Indian history and archaeology, economics, personal management and industrial relations, sociology, political science and public administration.

Faculties of Law, Education, Commerce, Fine Arts and Medicine

Each of this faculty comprises only one department, namely, law, education, commerce, fine arts and BDS.

Traditional and distance education

The university and its affiliated colleges and institutions offer undergraduate and postgraduate courses in different areas like law, teacher training, science, arts, commerce, medicine and engineering. Admission in these courses are mainly based on the result of higher secondary and graduation level results, respectively. The aspirants for research level programs have to sit for a qualifying test followed by an interview. Since 1974, the university also has a Directorate of Distance Education for conducting postgraduate studies in distance education.

Notable people