The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or abbreviated as DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. On the first day of July 1921, the university opened its doors to students. Today, it is the largest public research university in Bangladesh, with a student body of 37,018 and a faculty of 1,992. It was identified by AsiaWeek as one of the top 100 universities in Asia.
Nawab Bahadur Sir Khwaja Salimullah, who played a pioneering role in establishing the university in Dhaka, donated 600 acres of land from his estate for this purpose.
It has made significant contributions to the modern history of Bangladesh. After the Partition of India, it became the focal point of progressive and democratic movements in Pakistan. Its students and teachers played a central role in the rise of Bengali nationalism and the independence of Bangladesh in 1971.
The university's distinguished alumni include Muhammad Yunus (winner 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, pioneer of Microcredit), Natyaguru Nurul Momen (Pioneer litereteur, Theatre & Cultural Doyen; who was both an early student and teacher of DU), Muhammad Shahidullah (educator, philologist and linguist), Serajul Islam Choudhury (the country's leading public intellectual and writer), Rehman Sobhan (social democratic economist), Mohammad Ataul Karim (physicist), Abul Fateh (one of the founding fathers of South Asian diplomacy), Buddhadeb Bose (20th-century Bengali poet), Lotay Tshering ( Prime minister of Bhutan ) and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (the founding father of Bangladesh). It also enjoyed associations with Satyendra Nath Bose, Vijayaraghavan, and Kazi Nazrul Islam.
Before Dhaka University was established, near its grounds were the former buildings of Dhaka College affiliated to the University of Calcutta. In 1873 the college was relocated to Bahadur Shah Park. Later it shifted to Curzon Hall, which would become the first institute of the university.
The establishment of the university was compensation for the annulment of the 1905 Partition of Bengal. The partition had established the Muslim majority Eastern Bengal and Assam as a separate province, with Dhaka as its capital. All India Muslim League, newly formed in Dhaka, wholeheartedly supported the move.
However, the partition was abolished in 1911 due to severe opposition from Indian National Congress and Bengali Hindus. Deeply hurt by the decision of annulment of Bengal partition, a Muslim delegation led by Nawab Sir Khwaja Salimullah Bahadur, the then Nawab of Dhaka demanded a university be set up in Dhaka. To appease the majority Muslim masses of East Bengal, Lord Curzon agreed and declared that a university as a center of excellence would be established in Dhaka. Salimullah, who played a pioneering role in establishing the university in Dhaka, donated 600 acres of land from his estate for this purpose.
In 1913, public opinion was invited before the university scheme was given its final shape. The secretary of state approved it in December 1913. The first vice-chancellor of the university, Dr. Philip Joseph Hartog, formerly academic registrar of the University of London for 17 years was appointed.
Established in 1921 under the Dacca University Act 1920 of the Indian Legislative Council, it is modelled after British universities.[citation needed] Lord Ronaldshay, Governor of Bengal between 1917 and 1922, was its first chancellor. He designated Nawaab Syed Shamsul Huda a life member of the university. On Huda's recommendation, Lord Ronaldshay appointed Ahmad Fazlur Rahman as a provost.
Academic activities started on 1 July in 1921 with 847 students along with 3 faculties: Arts, Science and Law; 12 departments: Sanskrit and Bengali, English, Education, History, Arabic and Islamic Studies, Persian and Urdu, Philosophy, Economics and Politics, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Law; and 3 dormitories for students: Salimullah Muslim Hall, Dacca Hall and Jagannath Hall.
In 1936, the University awarded honorary doctorate degrees to Jagadish Chandra Bose, Jadunath Sarkar, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Allama Iqbal and Rabindranath Tagore.
The university played a significant role in the Bengali Language Movement, when Bengalis joined to fight against Urdu being the official language in East Pakistan.
Dhaka University was the main place where the movement started with the students joining and protesting against the Pakistan government. Later countless students were massacred in where the Shaheed Minar stands today. After the incident, Bengali was restored as the official language.
Faculties
The university consists of 13 Faculties and 83 Departments.
1.Faculty of Arts
- Department of Bangla
- Department of English: The department has 41 faculty members in total. Nevin Farida is the honorable chairperson of the department.
- Department of Persian Language and Literature
- Department of Philosophy
- Department of History
- Department of Arabic
- Department of Islamic Studies
- Department of Islamic History and Culture
- Department of Sanskrit
- Department of Information Science and Library management
- Department of Language Science
- Department of Theater and Performance Studies
- Department of World Religions and Culture
- Department of Pali and Buddhist Studies
- Department of Urdu.
- Department of Linguistics
2.Faculty of Business Studies
The Faculty of Business Studies (FBS) was established in 1970 as a Faculty of Commerce. It started the journey with two departments- the Department of Accounting and the Department of Management. Two more departments were created in 1974 and the authority introduced the semester system from the 1977–1978 session. The names of B.Com and M.Com degrees were changed to BBA and MBA respectively during the 1994–95 sessions. Following its re-branding as Faculty of Business Studies, four other departments were added to this Faculty over the course of next thirteen years. In 1995, the faculty of commerce took its current name and became Faculty of Business Studies.
Muhammad Abdul Moyeen became the acting dean of the Faculty of Business Studies in May 2020.
Currently, there are nearly 153 teachers, 10 officers, 58 employees, and nearly 6100 students under the faculty and the departments are as follows.
- Department of Management Studies
- Department of Accounting & Information Systems
- Department of Marketing
- Department of Finance
- Department of Banking and Insurance
- Department of Management Information Systems
- Department of International Business
- Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management
- Department of Organization Strategy & Leadership
3.Faculty of Biological Sciences
- Department of Soil, Water and Environment
- Department of Botany
- Department of Zoology
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- Department of Psychology
- Department of Microbiology
- Department of Fisheries
- Department of Medical Psychology
- Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology
- Department of Educational Psychology
4.Faculty of Engineering and Technology
- Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
- Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
- Department of Computer Science & Engineering
- Department of Nuclear Engineering
- Department of Robotics and Mechatronics Engineering
5.Faculty of Fine Arts
- Department of Ceramics
- Department of Craft
- Department of Drawing and Painting
- Department of Graphic Design
- Department of Oriental Art
- Department of Printmaking
- Department of Sculpture
- Department of History of Art
6.Faculty of Law
- Department of Law
7.Faculty of Pharmacy
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology
- Department of Pharmaceutical Technology
- Department of Pharmacy
8.Faculty of Science
- Department of Physics
- Department of Mathematics
- Department of Chemistry
- Department of Biomedical Physics and Technology
- Department of Theoretical Physics
- Department of Applied Mathematics
- Department of Statistics
- Department of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry
9.Faculty of Social Sciences
- Department of Economics
- Department of Health Economics
- Department of Political Science
- Department of International Relations
- Department of Anthropology
- Department of Public Administration
- Department of Mass Communication and Journalism
- Department of Communication Disorders
- Department of Printing and Publication Studies
- Department of Television Film and Photography
- Department of Sociology
- Department of Development Studies
- Department of Criminology
- Department of Japanese Studies
- Department of Women and Gender Studies
- Department Of Peace and Conflict Studies
10.Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences
- Department of Geography and Environment
- Department of Geology
- Department of Oceanography
- Department of Disaster Science and Management
- Department of Meteorology
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