Centenary and the founding of Dhaka University

Today, July 1, 2021 is the birth centenary of Dhaka University - once known as 'Oxford of the East'. But its birth did not happen all of a sudden. It is quite apparent from its founding and evolution that it emerged from the push and pull of innumerable historical forces and events during the British colonial era in India.

GENESIS AND BACKGROUND: The province of East Bengal and Assam came into being on October 16, 1905 comprising the areas having Muslim-majority populations. Dhaka was made its capital. In contrast to the Bangali Hindus, the partition of Bengal was popular among a majority of the local Muslims not only because of communal or political reasons, but also due to economic and educational grounds. Some statistics may be cited here for clarifying this point. Foreign trade through the Chittagong Port rose four-times in 1905-06 in a matter of five years compared to the figures for 1901-02. The number of college students in the new province was 1,692 in 1905, which rose to 2,560 by 1912. The number of students in all educational institutions of the province rose to 9,36,653 in 1910-11 from only 6,99,051 in 1905. Revenue expenditure for the education sector almost doubled during the period. Besides, as many as 819 girls' schools were set up in the province during 1908-09, which raised the number of such schools to 4,550 by 1910-11.

There was not a single primary school other than private ones in East Bengal at the time of Bengal's partition. But amazingly, the foundation for primary education was firmly and robustly laid in the newly created province during 1905-12. The district and local boards set up innumerable primary schools in the rural areas at that time. The number of Maktabs (primary schools for mainly Muslim pupils) rose to 1,584 in 1911-12 from 1,299 in 1907-08. The number of students in Maktabs also rose to 54,703 from a mere 40,188. The government of East Bengal and Assam offered special scholarships to Muslim students and also raised the number of scholarships. Muslim teachers and sub-inspectors were almost zero in 1905, but their numbers rose to 14,656 and 114 respectively in 1912.

The partition of Bengal (Banga-bhanga) was annulled through declarations made by the British colonial government on November 1 and December 12, 1911. Many observers conjectured at the time that the rapid progress made in East Bengal in the field of education would have culminated naturally and swiftly into the establishment of a university in Dhaka. Following the annulment of 'Banga-bhanga', the British Viceroy Lord Hardinge came on a visit to East Bengal and Assam in the month of January 1912. On January 31, he announced before a delegation comprising Nawab Salimullah, Nawab Syed Nawab Ali Choudhury, A K Fazlul Huq and a few others in Dhaka that the government was very pleased at the progress made in the education sector of East Bengal. He therefore would recommend the appointment of a special officer for the establishment of a university in Dhaka, as well as development of overall education system in the area. A formal announcement on the creation of Dhaka University was then made by the government on February 2, 1912.

OPPOSITION, BICKERING AND DELAYS: But surprisingly, after the conclusion of the Viceroy's Dhaka trip and return to Kolkata, a delegation led by Dr Rash Bihari Ghosh met Lord Hardinge on February 16, 1912 and submitted a memorandum opposing the establishment of Dhaka University. The Viceroy told the delegation that even if a university was set up in Dhaka, it would not be a Muslim university. Rather, it would be a general university open for all. Therefore, it can be said that just as setting up a university in Dhaka was inevitable even when 'Banga-bhanga was not annulled, establishment of such a university was indispensable even after that annulment. It can also be safely claimed that Dhaka University might not have been founded if 'Banga-bhanga' had not occurred.

NATHAN COMMISSIN: The Viceroy sent a letter to the Bengal government on April 4, 1912 to prepare a detailed plan for the establishment of Dhaka University. The 'Nathan Commission' was then constituted on May 27, 1912 by the colonial government, headed by Barrister Sir Robert Nathaniel, to formulate a plan for the setting up of a university in Dhaka. The other members of the 'Nathan Commission' were GW Kuchlu, Director of Public Instruction, Bengal; Rash Bihari Ghosh, Advocate of the Calcutta High Court; Nawab Syed Nawab Ali Choudhury; Nawab Sirajul Islam; Ananda Chandra Ray, Pleader and Zamindar of Dhaka; Mohamed Ali of Aligarh; HR James, Principal of Presidency College, Calcutta; WAT Archibald, Principal of Dacca College; Satish Chandra Acharya, Principal, Sanskrit College, Calcutta; Lalit Mohan Chatterjee, Principal of Jagannath College, Dacca; CW Peake, Professor of Presidency College, Calcutta; and Shamsul Ulama Abu Nasar Muhammad Waheed, Superintendent of Dacca Madrasa. DS Fraser, ICS, was appointed the Secretary of this Commission.

The colonial government provided the following outline regarding the terms of reference of the commission: The proposed university will be a teaching one having residential facilities; it would not have a federal or centralised structure; the colleges of Dhaka town and not those outside it will be under its jurisdiction. The Nathan Commission submitted its recommendations based on the suggestions made by its 25 sub-committees. An annual expenditure of Taka 5.31 million was envisaged for the construction of this university. The commission proposed to run Dhaka University as a state university with government employees looking after it. The commission was in favour of treating the colleges of Dhaka town as residential units of the proposed university. Besides, it was in favour of keeping provisions for post-graduate studies in sciences, engineering, law, medicine, arts and Islamic studies in the university.

The Nathan Commission proposed establishment of Dhaka University on 450 acres of abandoned land in the erstwhile capital territory of East Bengal and Assam province, which included structures like Dhaka College, Government House, Secretariat, and Government Press buildings. The report of the Commission was published in 1913 for eliciting public opinion, and then was approved by the Secretary of State in December 2013. But the university faced many obstacles prior to its founding. The colonial government recommended a depleted budget for Dhaka University in the backdrop of the First World War. In line with that, an amended plan was submitted with a budget of only Taka 1.12 million by incorporating Dhaka, Jagannath and Mohammedan Colleges, as well as a new arts college in the university. But even that was not implemented.

SADLER COMMISSION: A majority of the population of Bengal became apprehensive due to the delays in the establishment of Dhaka University. In March 1917, Syed Nawab Ali Chowdhury called upon the government to immediately place the Dhaka University Bill for consideration of the Indian Legislative Council. In the same year, a commission formed by the then Viceroy and chancellor of Calcutta University Lord Chelmsford for investigating the problems of that university was also tasked to offer advice on the planned Dhaka University. Headed by the vice-chancellor of Leeds University Sir Michael Earnest Sadler, the commission acknowledged the need for setting up a university in Dhaka, but there were differences of opinion on whether it should be a residential one or an entity having grant-sanctioning authority. The colonial government was in favour of according Dhaka University the status of a residential university. On the other hand, the Muslim leaders of East Bengal supported the idea of bringing the colleges of East Bengal under the jurisdiction of Dhaka University, so that the Muslim students were spared from the alleged discriminations practised against them by Calcutta University. The Hindus in general were against making Dhaka University an affiliating or grant-sanctioning university.

Ultimately, the Calcutta University Commission or 'Sadler Commission' recommended the setting up of a residential university in Dhaka. This commission praised the plans of the Nathan Commission. But it did not condone the proposal of that commission to make Dhaka University a state or public university. Instead, many educationists including the principal of Dhaka College Professor F C Turner made strong recommendation to establish Dhaka University as an autonomous entity. An assistant professor of law at Dhaka College Dr Naresh Chandra Sengupta termed 'autonomy' as the main strength of any university. Professor of Political Science and Economics at Dhaka College T T Williams demanded full independence of the university in financial matters as well. It can be gauged from these that the issue of autonomy was accorded much importance even during the colonial era.

In place of colleges, the Sadler Commission recommended that various residential halls of the proposed university should be considered as units; and it also proposed the establishment of Dhaka Hall and Jagannath Hall. The commission suggested that the areas within the radius of five miles from the council house of Dhaka University should be considered as the university campus.

APPROVAL IN LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL: The Dhaka University Act was placed at the Indian Legislative Council on September 11, 1919. The government then sent the bill to the Calcutta University authorities for examination. The university formed a 9-member committee for examining the bill. The lone Muslim member of this committee Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah expressed his strong opinion in favour of passing the bill. Then despite opposition from some senate members of Calcutta University, the senate gave its consent to the bill after amending some sections and sub-sections during deliberations held on December 17-20, 1919. Then on February 12, 1920, the bill was sent to the select committee of the legislature, and was finally passed by the Indian Legislative Council on March 18, 1920 with some changes to 13 recommendations made by the Calcutta University Commission. The Governor General assented to the law on March 23, 1920. Dhaka University finally started its journey formally on July 1, 1921 after a lapse of another year.

Overall, the delay in the materialisation of Dhaka University had multiple causes. These included the First World War, administrative red tape of the colonial government, as well as the opposition of the Calcutta University authorities regarding the setting up of a second university in undivided Bengal. Apart from Dr Rash Bihari Ghosh, a powerful opponent to the establishment of Dhaka University was Sir Ashutosh Mukhopadhyay. The former vice-chancellor of Dhaka University Dr Ramesh Chandra Majumdar had written in his essay 'Dhaka's Memory' that Lord Hardinge once asked Sir Ashutosh, in exchange for what would he give up his opposition to Dhaka University? Sir Ashutosh eventually stopped opposing Dhaka University after obtaining governmental sanctions for four new professorial posts at Calcutta University.

FOUNDING AND TEETHING DIFFICULTIES: The Academic Registrar of London University Sir Philip Joseph Hartog was appointed the first vice-chancellor of Dhaka University for a 5-year term from December 1, 1920. He joined his new post on December 10, 1920. The first Treasurer (Honorary) of Dhaka University was J H Lyndsay ICS (from July 1 1921 to February 20, 1922). The first Registrar was Khan Bahadur Nazir Uddin Ahmad (from April 10, 1921 to June 30, 1944), and the first Proctor was Fida Ali Khan (1925-30). The first secretary of the university teachers' association was Prof. S D Ayar.

Professor W A Jenkins was the first president of Dhaka University Students' Union (1924-25), while Jogendranath Sengupta was the first secretary. The first convocation of Dhaka University was held on February 22, 1923. The monogram of the university carried the slogan 'Truth shall prevail' at its inception, which was continued up to 1952.

A major part of the initial manpower and infrastructure of Dhaka University came from the teachers and buildings (at present Curzon Hall) of Dhaka College. The institution started its academic journey with three faculties (arts, science and law), 12 departments, 60 teachers, 847 students and 3 residential halls. There were eight departments in the arts faculty, viz. Sanskrit and Bangla, English, Education, History, Arabic and Islamic Studies, Farsi and Urdu, Philosophy, and Political Economy. The three subjects under the science faculty were Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics. And the lone department under the law faculty was Law. Among the 877 pupils under the three faculties, 386 were attached to the Dhaka (presently Shahidullah) Hall, 313 to Jagannath Hall, and 178 to Salimullah Muslim Hall as resident cum non-resident students.

PRESENT STATUS: This oldest university of Bangladesh has 13 faculties at the present. These are: arts, science, law, social science, biological science, pharmacy, engineering and technology, earth and environmental sciences, fine arts, medicine, post-graduate medical science, and education faculty. Apart from 83 departments, there are 12 institutes and 56 research centres under the university. There are 20 residential halls for the students. Besides, there are separate hostels for the fine arts faculty, the Institute of Business Administration, as well as for foreign students. A distinctive feature of Dhaka University in the beginning was its non-affiliating, residential character like that of the Oxford University. However, since 1947, the University has been awarded an affiliating mandate in place of an exclusively residential character.

The main institutes of the university are: Institute for Education and Research, Statistical Research and Training Institute, Institute of Business Administration, Institute of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Institute of Social Welfare and Research, Institute of Modern Languages, Institute of Information Technology, and Institute of Leather Engineering and Technology. There are some monuments and sculptures on the university compound, which include 'Aparajeyo Bangla' (Invincible Bangla), and 'Shoparjita Swadhinata' (Self-earned Independence). Currently, there are around 40 thousand pupils and about 2 thousand teachers at Dhaka University.

Dr Helal Uddin Ahmed is a retired Additional Secretary and former Editor of Bangladesh Quarterly.

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