Patna College
Other name | PC |
---|---|
Type | Public |
Established | 9 January 1863 |
Affiliation | Patna University |
Principal | Prof. Dr Sanjay Kumar Singha[1] |
Location | , India 25°37′N85°10′E/ 25.62°N 85.16°E |
Campus | Urban |
Website | patnacollege |
Patna Collegeis a constituent state aided College ofPatna Universitywhich was established in 1863[2]during theBritish Raj.It offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses in science, arts and commerce as well as some vocational courses likeBBA,BMCandBCA.The college is affiliated toPatna University.[3]It is also considered to be the oldest institution of higher education inBihar.[4]
History
[edit]Patna College is the oldest institution of higher education in Bihar. Nearly every major college of Patna-Patna Law College,Engineering College (National Institute of Technology, Patnaat present),Patna Science CollegeandVanijya Mahavidyala,has their roots from this college. Patna College was established on 9 January 1863, during the British Raj.
After the split-up of oldPatna UniversityintoPatna UniversityandBihar Universityon 2 January 1952, the institution saw a significant shift. Until January 1952, the college was a government college and it functioned as an independent unit, but later it became an implied college of Patna University and became responsible only for Undergraduate studies due to the shifting of the burden of Post-graduate learning on University. After the centralization of two years of special honours-teaching, the honours of all art subjects remained in this college. Honours teaching was carried out by the nominated teachers of the Faculty of Arts from all the colleges of the university. In the first two hours, the students of Arts of Honors classes, of other colleges also used to come to study in this college.
But due to the gradual increase in the number of students, up to the end of the eighth decade, honours classes of various art courses were conducted in their respective colleges.
In 1957, all but the Geography, Sociology and Psychology post-graduate departments were shifted to Darbhanga House. However many teachers of Patna College still have been bearing the responsibility of postgraduate education by attending the departments in Darbhanga House.
There is hardly any change in post-operative activities. Maximum old councils, clubs as well as hostels are still under the Principal of the college.
On 9 September 1974, the Economics department was split from the Patna College and it took form intoVanijya Mahavidyala.PresentlyVanijya Mahavidyalais in the college's yard itself.
Patna College is the first college in Bihar that celebrated the centenary ceremony in 1963 itself.
The college is also associated withE. M. Forster's novel,A Passage to India.According to Adwaita P. Ganguly, the institution known asChandrapore Collegein the novel is "a replica of Patna College". Forster met Charles Russell and V. H. Jackson, who were professors of the college, in the course of writing his novel,A Passage to India.Forster had collectedHiuen Tsang'sIndian Diaryfrom Russell before he made his visit toBarabar Cavesthat appear as an important location in the novel. A hostel in the campus of the college is named after Jackson.
The legendary filmmaker,Satyajit Ray,used the picturesque campus of the college for his award-winning film,Seemabaddha.[5]
Campus and buildings
[edit]Theadministrative blockof the college is the oldest of all the buildings. It used to be the site for an opium storehouse and a Dutch factory in the 17th century, much before the college was started. Other buildings were constructed gradually over a period of time.
Some of these are thewestern wing(1871), theeastern(1880), theporticoand the presentBA lecture theater(1882) connected with the main building by the longwestern corridornamed after principal Ewbank. Later the hostels likeJackson, Minto, New and Iqbaland quarters for the principal and professors were constructed.[6]
The college building has been declared to be a heritage site by theArchaeological Survey of India.[6]
Departments
[edit]Arts & Commerce
[edit]- English
- Hindi
- Urdu
- Maithili
- Bangla
- Sanskrit
- Arabic
- Farsi(Persian)
- History
- Political Science
- Economics
- Psychology
- Philosophy
- Sociology
- Geography
- Mass Communication
- Ancient Indian history and Archaeology
150th anniversary
[edit]A number of celebrations were organised during 2012 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the college.[7]Coinciding with the anniversary is the centenary of theBihar Legislative Council,which held its first session in the seminar hall of Patna college in 1913 and returned there to mark the occasion on 20 January 2012.[8][9]
Notable alumni
[edit]- HMJ Sir Khan Bahadur Khuda bakhsh- Eminent Historian, Advocate and Former Chief Justice of Nizam'sHyderabad State,Founder ofKhuda Bakhsh Oriental Library
- Ramdhari Singh Dinkar-The Hindi poet of national eminence.
- Annada Shankar Ray– Noted Bengali novelist and an early Indian ICS
- Ram Sharan Sharma– Reputed Historian, former chairman,Indian History Congress,Former Head, Dept. of History,Delhi University
- Jayaprakash Narayan- Known for his Concept of ‘Total Revolution’.
- B C Roy(1897–1901) – First Chief Minister ofWest Bengalafter Independence.
- Sachchidananda Sinha(1892) – One of the makers of Modern Bihar, first Chairman ofConstituent Assembly of India.
- Krishna Sinha– First Chief Minister ofBiharafter Independence.
- Anugrah Narayan Sinha– Regarded among foremost builders of Bihar and first Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar.
- Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Sinha– Chief Justice ofPatna High Court(1943) and Chief Justice of India (1959).
- Kishore Kunal- IPS (Retd.), Ex-Vice Chancellor, K S S University,Darbhanga.
- Ganesh Dutt(1895) – a Venerated personality of Modern Bihar
- Uday Narayan Choudhary- Speaker, Bihar Vidhan Sabha
- Mahendra Prasad- Member,Rajya Sabha
- Binod Kumar Roy,Chief Justice of threeHigh Courts of India
Notable faculty
[edit]- Ram Sharan Sharma,historian, and also an alumnus of the college.[10]
- R. K. Sinha,English,[11]
References
[edit]- ^"Patna College celebrates 161st Foundation Day with fervor".The Times of India.10 January 2023.Retrieved5 March2023.
- ^Chaudhary, Uday Narayan (8 January 2012)."Patna College turns 150".The Times of India.Patna. Archived fromthe originalon 1 July 2012.Retrieved29 January2012.
- ^"Colleges of Patna University".Patna University.
- ^"CM promises all help to Patna College for growth".The Times of India.Patna. TNN. 10 January 2012.Retrieved30 January2012.
- ^"'Oxford of the East' badly in need of restoration ".The Hindu.9 January 2014.Retrieved18 May2018.
- ^ab"Of Dutch factory and Patna College".The Times of India.Patna. TNN. 7 January 2012. Archived fromthe originalon 3 January 2013.Retrieved30 January2012.
- ^Kumar, Roshan (4 January 2012)."Lecture plan for college birthday".The Telegraph.Kolkata. Archived fromthe originalon 3 February 2013.Retrieved28 March2012.
- ^Das, Anand S. T. (31 January 2012)."Bihar's oldest college to revive 'royal link'".The Asian Age.Kolkata.Retrieved29 March2012.
- ^Singh, Abhay (20 January 2012)."Council holds centenary meet at Patna College".The Times of India.Patna. Archived fromthe originalon 7 July 2012.Retrieved29 March2012.
- ^Jaiswal, Suvira(23 September 2011)."Secular historian".Frontline.Retrieved14 February2012.
- ^Suresh Nandan Sinha."Homage to Dr R.K.Sinha".article.The Bihar Times.Retrieved2 August2012.
Bibliography
[edit]- S K Sinha (1992).A Soldier Recalls.Lancer International, New Delhi.ISBN9788170621614.Retrieved2 August2012.
- Sujit Mukherjee (1996).Autobiography Of An Unknown Cricketer.Ravi Dayal Publisher, New Delhi.ISBN9788175300019.Retrieved2 August2012.
- Justice Harihar Mahapatra (2011).My Life, My Work.Allied Publishers Private Limited.ISBN9788184246407.Retrieved2 August2012.
- Sudhir Kumar Jha (2005).A new dawn: Patna reincarnated.Sudhir Kumar Jha.ISBN978-81-7525-621-7.Retrieved2 August2012.
- Shreedhar Narayan Pandey (1975).Education and social changes in Bihar, 1900–1921: a survey of social history of Bihar from Lord Curzon to noncooperation movement.Motilal Banarsidass.ISBN978-0-8426-0986-9.Retrieved2 August2012.