Maulana Azad College is a government college of

liberal arts Liberal arts education () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''skill, art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refe ...

, commerce and science in India, located in central

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

, West Bengal, India. The college is fully government-administered. It is located near the junction of Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road and S. N. Banerjee Road, popularly called "Lotus crossing". It is affiliated to the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

. The college also offers numerous courses in languages associated with

Muslim culture Islamic cultures or Muslim cultures refers to the historic cultural practices that developed among the various peoples living in the Muslim world. These practices, while not always religious in nature, are generally influenced by aspects of Islam ...

, such as Urdu, Arabic, and Persian. The college offers both post-graduate (English, Zoology and Urdu) and under-graduate courses in a number of subjects in the three streams of arts, science and commerce. It is accredited an ('A+') grade by the

National Assessment and Accreditation Council The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is a public autonomous body of the government of India that assesses and accredits higher education institutions (HEIs) in India. It is funded by the University Grants Commission and hea ...

(NAAC) in 2025. The college has been given the status of 'Centre of Potential for Excellence' by UGC.It is one of the best college under Calcutta University.

History

Maulana Azad College was founded on 9 December 1926 by

Victor Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton Victor Alexander George Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton (9 August 1876 – 25 October 1947), styled Viscount Knebworth from 1880 to 1891, was a British politician and colonial administrator. He served as List of governors of Bengal Pres ...

, then

Governor of Bengal In 1644, Gabriel Boughton procured privileges for the East India Company which permitted them to build a factory at Hooghly district, Hughli, without fortifications. Various chief agents, Governors and presidents were appointed to look after co ...

. It was originally called Islamia College. The institution was the culmination of efforts of notable

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

leaders like

A. K. Fazlul Huq Abul Kasem Fazlul Huq (26 October 1873 – 27 April 1962), popularly known as Sher-e-Bangla, was a Bengalis, Bengali lawyer and politician who served as the first and longest Prime Minister of Bengal, prime minister of Bengal during the Britis ...

, then minister of education of Bengal,

Syed Nawab Ali Chowdhury Syed Nawab Ali Chowdhury (29 December 1863 – 17 April 1929) was Dhanbari Nawab family, Nawab of Dhanbari of Tangail in East Bengal (modern day Bangladesh). He was one of the founders of Dhaka University. He was the first Muslim minister of un ...

and Sir Abdul Rahim. With an objective to promote Islamic learning and general education among the Muslim population in British India and with the sustained efforts of contemporary education minister of Bengal, A. K. Fazlul Haque, on 9 December 1924, Lord Lytton, the contemporary Governor of Bengal laid the foundation stone of ''Islamia College'' under the affiliation of University of Calcutta. The first Principal, A. H. Harley, formerly, faculty of Oriental Languages at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. In the 1940, the future founding father of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, studied at the college and stayed at the

Baker Hostel Baker Hostel is a government hostel located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The hostel was founded in 1910 during the rule of the British Raj by Edward Norman Baker, the then Lieutenant Governor of Bengal. The hostel is located at 8 Smith Lane i ...

. After the Independence of India, the college was renamed to ''Central Calcutta College'' and opened admissions to students of all faith. Professor F. J. F. Pereira was made principal of the newly renamed college. In 1960, the college was renamed to its current name ''Maulana Azad College'' in the memory of the

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin (11 November 188822 February 1958), better known as Maulana Azad and sometimes referred as Abul Kalam Azad, was an Indian politician, writer and activist of the Indian independence movement. A senior leader of t ...

. In 1990, the college became a co-educational institution. In 1999, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh visited the college and the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Baker Hostel. On 23 February 2011, the government of Bangladesh and India installed a bust of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at room 23 and 24 of Baker Hostel of the college. The All Bengal Minority Youth Federation demanded the removal of the bust of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from the museum as they deemed the statue offensive to Islamic sensibilities. The demands were rejected by

Mamata Banerjee Mamata Banerjee (; born 5 January 1955) is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current List of chief ministers of West Bengal, chief minister of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal since 2 ...

, chief minister of West Bengal.

Courses

The college offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses in arts, commerce and science in various streams. These are: B.A, B.A (Hons), B.Com. (Hons), B.Sc. (Hons) at UG level. And M.A and M.Sc. at the PG level. The fees are also nominal lying around ₹1,500/year for UG courses and around ₹4,000/year for PG courses.

Admission procedure and cutoffs

The college has an online application process for all its courses. Admission into undergraduate courses are merit-based. While that of postgraduate courses is done by both merit as well as an admission test. The 12th Class Finals cutoff percentage lies around ~90%.

Rankings

Notable alumni

* Abdullah al Mahmood, lawyer and politician. *

Biman Bose Biman Bose (born 1 July 1940) is an Indian politician who was once state Secretary of the West Bengal Communist Party of India (Marxist). He was later succeeded by his trusted aide, Surya Kanta Mishra, although he remained a Polit Bureau of the ...

- Communist politician. * Bishnu De- Poet, writer, and film critic. *

Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury (1906 – 15 April 1966) was a Pakistani politician, journalist, sportsman and writer from erstwhile East Bengal, now Bangladesh, who served in the political spheres of British India and Pakistan. Early life and educ ...

, Health Minister of

East Pakistan Provincial Assembly The East Pakistan Provincial Assembly, known as the East Bengal Legislative Assembly between 1947 and 1955, was the provincial legislature of East Pakistan between 1947 and 1971. It was known as the East Bengal Assembly from 1947 to 1955 when the ...

. * Kazi Golam Mahbub, politician. * Khaleque Nawaz Khan language movement activist who defeated incumbent Prime Minister of the then East Bengal in 1954 Jukto Front election. * K G Mustafa, journalist. *

Khuda Buksh Khuda Buksh (1 February 1912 – 13 May 1974) was an Bengali life insurance salesman and humanitarian from the Indian subcontinent. For four decades he represented the "life and soul of the insurance industry" throughout the region, leaving a m ...

, an insurance executive. * M Osman Ali, one of the founders of

Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

. *

Mashiur Rahman (politician from Jessore) Mashiur Rahman (19201971) was a Bangladeshi lawyer and politician, a member of the East Bengal Legislative Assembly and cabinet minister in the East Pakistan government of Ataur Rahman Khan. He was instrumental in the founding of the Bangladesh A ...

- ex-minister, member of the parliament, and the highest ranking Awami League leader assassinated by the Pakistani army during the 1971 liberation movement of Bangladesh. * Mohammed Salim (politician) - Ex

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

MP from

Raiganj (Lok Sabha constituency) Raiganj Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 543 Lok Sabha, parliamentary constituencies in India. The constituency centres on Raiganj in West Bengal. All the seven assembly segments of No. 5 Raiganj Lok Sabha constituency are in North Dinajpu ...

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

Member and senior

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)) is a Communism in India, communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party in India in terms of membership and electora ...

(CPI(M)) leader. *

Muhammad Mansur Ali Muhammad Mansur Ali (16 January 1917 – 3 November 1975) was a Bangladeshi politician who was a close confidant of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding leader of Bangladesh. A senior leader of the Awami League, Mansur also served briefly as the ...

- A senior leader of the

and also served as the

prime minister of Bangladesh The prime minister of Bangladesh (, : Bāṅlādēśēr Prôdhānmôntrī), officially prime minister of the People's Republic of Bangladesh (, : Gôṇôprôjātôntrī Bāṅlādēśēr Prôdhānmôntrī), is the head of government of the Ba ...

in 1975. * Muhammad Habibar Rahman, chairman of the department of mathematics at the University of Rajshahi and killed in 1971 by Pakistan Army. *

Muhammad Shamsul Huq Muhammad Shamsul Huq (12 October 1912 – 23 February 2006) was a Bangladeshi politician and educator. He served as an education minister in erstwhile East Pakistan, and became the minister of foreign affairs six years after the independence of ...

, Vice-Chancellor of the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public university, public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka w ...

and Foreign Minister of Bangladesh. *

Nafis Ahmad Nafis Ahmad (1911–1982) was a Bangladeshi geographer and educationalist. Early life Ahmad was born in 1911 in British India. He finished his undergraduate degree in 1934 and master's degree in 1935 from the Aligarh Muslim University. In 1953, ...

, geographer. * Serajuddin Hossain - prominent Bangladeshi journalist and was the news and executive editor of ''

The Daily Ittefaq ''The Daily Ittefaq'' (, Bangla pronunciation: ) is a Bengali-language daily newspaper. Founded in 1949 by Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani and Yar Mohammad Khan, it is the oldest and one of the most circulated newspapers in Bangladesh. The newspape ...

''. *

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), also known by the honorific Bangabandhu, was a Bangladeshi politician, revolutionary, statesman and activist who was the founding president of Bangladesh. As the leader of Bangl ...

- Founding leader of

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

, its

first President First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and later served as the prime minister of his country. * Sultan Ahmed - Indian politician and the Union Minister of State for Tourism in the Manmohan Singh government. * Syed Altaf Hossain, Minister of Railways of Bangladesh. *

Syed Azizul Huq Syed Azizul Huq (; 1 October 1912 – 11 February 1992), also known by his nickname Nanna Mia (), was a Bangladeshi politician and former member of parliament for Barisal-2 in the 1986 and 1988 Bangladeshi general elections. He was a member of ...

, member of parliament of Bangladesh. *

Tofail Ahmed Tofail Ahmed (; 22 February 1919 – 28 March 2002) was a well-known Bangladeshi researcher of Folk Art. He was also a collector of Folk artifacts and has authored several books on Bangladeshi Folk arts and Crafts. He was awarded the ''Shilu Abe ...

, researcher of folk arts. * Taradas Bandyopadhyay - Son of Bengali author Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, wrote number of short stories and novels like ''Kaal Nirabadhi'', ''Saptarshir Alo'', ''Kakkhopath''. Most notable among them was his contribution to '' Taranath Tantrik.'' * Wahiduzzaman, politician and minister of commerce of Pakistan. * Zahur Ahmad Chowdhury, Minister of Health and Family Welfare.

Notable faculty

Itrat Husain Zuberi Itrat Husain Zuberi () (8 June 1920 – 14 December 1964) was a noted educationist of Pakistan. He started his educational career as a teacher in East Pakistan. He served in various capacities such as professor, Principal, Vice Chancellor, ...

, professor of English and future Vice-Chancellor of the

University of Rajshahi The University of Rajshahi (), also known as Rajshahi University (RU), is a public research university located in Rajshahi, Bangladesh. It is the second oldest and third largest university in Bangladesh. The university's 59 departments are or ...

References

External links

Maulana Azad College
{{authority control Universities and colleges in Kolkata University of Calcutta affiliates Educational institutions established in 1926 Memorials to Abul Kalam Azad 1926 establishments in India