Aliah University

Madrasa ʿAliya ( _ar. مدرسة عالية) was a madrasa founded 1781 in Calcutta by Warren Hastings [Rahman, Fazlur. "Islam & Modernity". The University of Chicago Press. United States:1982 ISBN 0-226-70284-7, 73-74] although some sources have the founding date as 1780. [" [http://banglapedia.search.com.bd/HT/C_0014.htm Calcutta Madrasa, The] ". "Banglapedia.com". August 24, 2005] Hastings ran the institution out of his pocket for a year and a half until he was later reimbursed by the Bengal Government. It was founded in Baithakkhana near Sealdah, Calcutta but is currently located to the north of Wellesley Square (renamed Haji Md. Mohsin Square) in the Taltala area. Its first head was Mulla Majduddin but Muhammad Ismail took over in 1791.

The school taught Persian, Arabic and Muslim Law (Fiqh) and its graduates were hired as interpreters for the British Raj.

After facing financial crises, Captain Ayron a retired British army officer was appointed in 1819 to be on the Madrasa management committee for helping the Board of Revenue. Upon further financial and administrative deterioration, another European head, Aloys Sprenger, was brought in in 1850.

Upgrade to university status

In 2006 the Madrasa was promoted to the status of a college by the state government but only partially, since it was not recognized by the University Grants Commission (India) or affiliated to any university.

In 2008, the state government passed a bill in the legislative assembly to confer university status to the Calcutta Madrasah College. [" [http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080506/jsp/opinion/story_9196015.jsp Secular Dilemma] ". "The Telegraph" May 6, 2008] The chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, inaugurated the Aliah University on April 5, 2008 and went on to announce the introduction of new courses like religious studies, linguistics, education, nursing, pharmacy, public health and a few vocational training courses. A proposal to introduce business administration and information technology was also considered, but the glaring absences were the pure sciences, social sciences, and Indian and English literatures.

With six classrooms and four office rooms, it is the smallest functioning university in the world.

The Calcutta Madrasah was established in the year 1780. With time, the historical building that housed the madarsa was turned into a university, but only in name, without an infrastructure to match. It has six classrooms and four office rooms. In 2006 the madarsa was promoted to the status of a college by the state government but only partially, since it was not recognized by the University Grants Commission or affiliated to any university. These have deterred the students of the madarsa from competing in national- and local-level examinations. It is impossible to believe that the secular leftist government is unaware of this fact.in the era of British rule in India, the institution was a place for modern liberal education. During the colonial regime, this madarsa emerged as a historical necessity — to promote the study of Arabic and Persian languages and Islamic law with the aim of producing competent officers for the courts of justice. It was founded by Warren Hastings, the first governor general of the East India Company and was named the Calcutta Mohammedan College. The earliest curriculum included courses on law, astronomy, logic, philosophy, arithmetic, geometry, rhetoric, grammar, oratory and theology. Even in 1827, a medical class was introduced by P. Breton, the professor of medicine, and it continued there till the establishment of Calcutta Medical College in 1836.

The year 1927 is very important in the history of Muslim education in Bengal. In various madarsas of Bengal, courses like alim, fazil, kamil, mumtazul muhaddesin, and so on were introduced. Today, graduate and post-graduate courses are offered at the Calcutta Madrasah College and at three other senior madarsas located in Batna (Malda), Beldanga (Murshidabad) and Furfura (Hooghly). Incredible as it may sound, all these courses are being taught without these madarsas being affiliated to any university or recognized by the University Grants Commission.