Higher education in Bangladesh began with the establishment of Dhaka University in 1921. Three decades later, in 1953, Rajshahi University, known as the Lighthouse of the North, was established on about 300 hectares of land in the green Motihar area on the left side of the Rajshahi-Dhaka highway, 5 kilometers north of Rajshahi city. It is the second largest educational institution in the country.
With the aim of promoting and promoting education among the backward communities of the Barendra region, scholars from various professions took a special initiative to establish the university in Rajshahi. The university was established with the aim of developing education and culture, developing leadership qualities, and providing a conducive environment for talent and thinking.
The university’s reputation has been growing steadily since its establishment as a result of various practical initiatives. Every year, numerous students graduate from the institution and continue to engage themselves in nation-building through their own talents and thinking. The students of this institution played a brilliant role in the formation of the Bangladesh nation. The nation still remembers with gratitude the sacrifice of Syed Muhammad Shamsujoha (1934-1969), a renowned professor of the chemistry department of this university, who was martyred in the 1969 mass uprising. He set a unique example by saving the lives of his students at the cost of his own life.
Rajshahi University still feels proud of this student-friendly teacher who was killed by a Pakistani soldier’s bayonet and bullets. Rajshahi University had a special contribution in the great Liberation War. Many of the university’s students and teachers actively participated in the Liberation War.
Professor Habibur Rahman (1923-1971) of the Mathematics Department, Sukharanjan Samaddar (1938-1971) of the Sanskrit Department, and Mir Abdul Qayyum (1939-1971) of the Psychology Department were brutally murdered by the barbaric Pakistani army. The Bengali nation has not forgotten their sacrifice in the Liberation War.
The students of this university have played a leading role in the struggle for all rights like the Liberation War. The main task of the university is to produce knowledge as well as to distribute it, and Rajshahi University is also doing that work constantly. The teachers of the faculties of arts, science, and commerce of this university are constantly producing new knowledge, and their research articles are being published in domestic and foreign research journals.
Teachers are distributing that knowledge among the students, and the various practical results invented by Rajshahi University are of great use to the nation to make Bangladesh a scientific nation. In addition to taking lessons in the classroom, the students of this university are involved in various sports and cultural activities.
Rajshahi University has the largest stadium in the country among universities. In addition, there are lawn tennis and basketball playgrounds in front of each hall. There are two spacious gymnasiums for students. Every day, students play football, cricket, hockey, etc. in the playground. Rajshahi University students keep their bodies healthy through physical exercise.
Culturally, this university has an old tradition. The country’s first poetry organization ‘Swanan’ was founded in this university. There are several drama groups including the University Theater, Anushil Natyadal, SamakalNatyachakra, Ruda. They practice drama throughout the year. There is also a debate organization.
Besides, more than fifty organizations including various social organizations such as Bandhan, Pathak Forum, Swajan are active. Rajshahi University has several institutions to be proud of. First of all, we have to mention the Barendra Research Museum (1910). This is the first museum in the country.
Natore landowner Kumar Saratkumar Roy (1876-1946), historian Akshaykumar Maitreya (1861-1930) and teacher Ramaprasad Chanda (1873-1942) together established the country’s oldest museum in Rajshahi in 1910. It is the country’s most valuable museum in terms of archeological resources.
During the Pakistan period, the museum was affiliated to Rajshahi University. This museum has a special reputation both at home and abroad. In addition, this university also has the first museum of the country’s liberation war called Shaheed Smriti Sangrahshala (1976). There are two more specialized museums in the Department of Zoology and the Department of Folklore. In these two museums, students of the departments are familiarized with real materials.
Every year, students of the folklore department go to different parts of the country for field research, from where they collect various materials of the country’s folk culture and document them. Through this, huge archives have been built in the folklore department. Each such department has its own style of study.
Currently, there are a total of 59 departments in this university under 12 faculties. In addition, there are 6 higher research institutes for conducting higher research such as MPhil, PhD, post-doctoral, etc. Among these, the first to be mentioned is the Institute of Bangladesh Studies (1974), which is known as IBS throughout the country.
It is the first and only unique institution in the country to conduct higher MPhil, PhD and post-doctoral research on Bangladesh. There are also institutes called the Institute of Biological Sciences (1989), the Institute of Business Administration (2000), the Institute of Environmental Sciences (2000), and the Institute of Educational Research (2000).
The university has 15 different educational institutions affiliated to it. The fame of this university in Barendra, i.e. the northern region, has spread across the country and the world today by providing higher education opportunities through these institutions. History shows that the establishment of Rajshahi University was not an isolated incident. Initiatives were being taken to establish a university in the northern region, i.e. Rajshahi, for a long time.
Rajshahi is the main educational city of the country. It is home to many century-old educational institutions like Rajshahi Collegiate School (1828), the first school in East Bengal; Loknath High School (1846), Pramathanath Government Girls’ High School (1868), Rajshahi Government Madrasa (1874), Bishweshwar Bholanath Hindu Academy (1898), Engineering and Survey Institute (1898). Rajshahi College (1878), the first recognized college of Calcutta University, is also located in this town on the banks of the Padma. Rajshahi had a special reputation in terms of education. After the establishment of Dhaka University, all the education enthusiasts of this town made a strong demand to the government for the establishment of a university in Rajshahi. The then Pakistan government accepted the people’s demand at one stage.
The establishment of Rajshahi University was confirmed by the passing of the Rajshahi University Act 1953 in the session of the then East Bengal Management Council on 31 March 1953. Dr. Itrat Hossain Zuberi (1910-1964), former principal of Rajshahi College, was appointed as the first Vice-Chancellor of the university.
A 64-member University Implementation Committee was formed with prominent Rajshahi lawyers and then MLA Madar Bakhsh (1905-1967) and Dr. Zuberi as joint secretaries. They were the ones who drafted the management of Rajshahi University. The educational program of Rajshahi University began in the academic year 1953-54 with the admission of 161 students.
Initially, postgraduate courses were introduced in philosophy, history, Bengali, English, economics, and mathematics. The honors course was started a decade later, in 1962. All the educational work of the university began in the historic Bara Kuthi on the banks of the Padma River.
The then administration chose the large building, which commemorates the Dutch and English, as the university office and residence of the vice-chancellor. At that time, classes at Rajshahi College were held for two hours from seven to nine in the morning. The university authorities had arranged for the students to stay in the Fuller Hostel adjacent to Rajshahi College and the female dormitory in the Lalkuthi adjacent to the large building.
The library, teachers’ lounge, medical center, etc., which were essential for the university, were located at Bholanath Vishweshwar Hindu Academy. The office of the important Controller of Examinations was located in a part of Kunjamohan Moitra’s Zamindar house near the Ghoramara main post office. And thusRajshahi University began its institutional journey.
Rajshahi University moved permanently to its present green campus in Motihar in 1964, although the construction of the university’s infrastructure began in 1958. Rajshahi University continues to cultivate knowledge and creativity to create world-class human resources to meet the needs of the changing times.
It has ensured a world-class curriculum and a conducive learning and research environment with talented faculty for the creation and dissemination of knowledge. The university continues to maintain international standards by emphasizing human and moral values. The most beautiful university in the country currently has 17 residential halls for students and 1 dormitory for international students. There are residential facilities for teachers, officers and employees. In a natural environment, students are making the best of their time on the vast campus to serve the motherland. May the 72-year-old traditional Rajshahi University continue to spread the light of knowledge as a beacon of Bangladesh and North Bengal for hundreds of years to come.
Dr. Uday Shankar Biswas: Professor, Department of Folklore, Rajshahi University
