Dhaka University and Halls

Doyel square near Curzon Hall

Monument in front of Teachers Student Centre


Fazlul Huq Hall

Salimullah Hall

Salimullah Hall- birds eye view (pic credit: unknown web site)

Academic bldg

Academic bldg- Arts faculty

Dhaka University: The annulment of the partition in 1912 had a negative effect on the Muslims of Bengal. To placate the sore feelings, the British Govt. made decision on 31 Jan 1912 to build a new University in Dhaka. The buildings constructed in 1904 for the Sectretariate for the ‘Province of East Bengal and Assam’ was transferred to the University in 1921.

Set up in the picturesque part of the city in Ramna, on 600 acres of land, the University was opened on 01 July 1921 with Sir P.J. Hartog as Vice Chancellor. Initially 3 faculties were started; Arts, Sciences, and Law with 12 departments and 3 residential halls. Number of students enrolled was 877 and teachers 60. The university worked hard to build up a high standard of education and soon gained recognition and reputation as the 'Oxford of the East'. Many distinguished scholars were associated with teaching such as F.H. Turner, Haraprasad Sastri, Dr. Mohammad Shahidullah, G.H. Langley, Ramesh Chandra Majumder, A.F Rahman, Prof. Satyandranath Bose (Bose-Einstein Quantum Statistics fame), Dr. Quazi Motahar Hossain and Dr. Innas Ali. Since then the university had made substantial progress and expanded rapidly after partition in 1947. With 47 departments, 8 institutes, 20 centers for advanced research, 16 residential halls, 1 hall for international students, library, approximately 30,000 students and almost 1300 teachers, the University is one of the 100 leading institutions of higher education in Asia.

The University played a central role in all the national movements for democracy and autonomy in East Pakistan, including the language movement of 1952. In the War of Liberation, 14 teachers, 27 employees, and a few hundred students of the University lost their lives. The university contributed to the emergence of a generation of leaders who distinguished themselves in different occupations in Bangladesh.

Related links:
Curzon Hall - Science building
Dhaka University celebrates its Founding Day