Sanskrit College and University (erstwhile Sanskrit College) is a

state university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

located in

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 West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It focuses on

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 ...

, offering both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Ancient Indian and world history, Bengali, English,

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

Linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

, and traditional orientation learning (Advaitya Vedanta) and Pali.

History

Sanskrit College was founded on 1 January 1824, during the Governor-Generalship of Lord Amherst, based on a recommendation by

James Prinsep James Prinsep (20 August 1799 – 22 April 1840) was an English scholar, Orientalism, orientalist and antiquary. He was the founding editor of the ''Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal'' and is best remembered for deciphering the Kharost ...

and Thomas Babington Macaulay among others. Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya, the scholar of

, was the principal of the college for over 18 years. He was made a Companion of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire (C.I.E.), and a member of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire. He played a crucial role in colonial

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

's educational reformation. He revived the ''tol'' system in Sanskrit education, and introduced titles or " Upadhi". The institution rose to prominence during the principalship of

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay (26 September 1820 – 29 July 1891), popularly known as Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (), was an Indian educator and social reformer of the nineteenth century. His efforts to simplify and modernise Bengali language, Ben ...

in 1851, who admitted students from other than the

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

and Baidya caste. In particular, the ''tol'' or traditional Indian training school model was incorporated as a department in the 1870s. From 1824 until 1851 the college did not have the post of principal but was headed by a secretary. From 1851 the college was headed by a principal.Sanskrit College: About
sanskritcollege.co.in (archive version). Retrieved 7 September 2017.

Transformation into a university

The ''Sanskrit College and University, West Bengal Bill 2015'', aimed at transforming Sanskrit College into a university was passed in West Bengal Assembly on 17 December 2015. The university was established vide ''The Sanskrit College and University, West Bengal Act 2015'' on 19 February 2016 and became functional on 15 June 2016 when the first

vice-chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

, Dilipkumar Mohanta, joined the institute.

Campus

The Sanskrit College and University is located on College Street in central

. Its centrality is heightened by its proximity to Hindu School, Presidency University, Kolkata, 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 ...

, and the Indian Coffee House.It has also an academic and research campus at Nabadwip.

Organization and Administration

Governance

The governor of

is the chancellor of the Sanskrit College and University. The Vice-chancellor of the Sanskrit College and University is the chief executive officer of the university. Raj Kumar Kothari is the current Vice-chancellor of the university.

Departments

Sanskrit College and University consist of the departments of Ancient Indian & World History, Bengali, English, Linguistics, Philosophy, Pali, Sanskrit, and Traditional Orientation Learning(Advaita Vedanta, Panini Vyakarana, and Sahitya).

Academics

Courses

Sanskrit College and University offer different undergraduate and postgraduate courses: * Four year Undergraduate Degree (B.A. Honours/Resarch ) courses: Ancient Indian & World History, Bengali, English, Linguistics, Philosophy, Pali, Sanskrit, Advaita Vedanta, Panini Vyakarana, and Sahitya. * Two-year Postgraduate Degree (M.A.) Courses: Ancient Indian & World History(AIWH ),Bengali, English, Philosophy, Sanskrit, Pali and Linguistics. *Two-year Acharya degree(equivalent to M.A.) in Traditional Oriental Learning (Advaita Vedanta).(TOL ). *Ph D degrees also offered . *They have well established English ,Sanskrit,Linguistics and Pali departments .English department has one of the best quality Faculty .

Central Library

The central library of the Sanskrit College and University is a veritable goldmine for researchers. It contains over 2,00,000 books and 25,000 manuscripts, including several very rare manuscripts. The university has also started a massive digitization program such that it can place these 25,000 manuscripts in the cultural commons.

Sanskrit Charcha Kendra, Nabadwip

The Sanskrit College and University has established a Sanskrit Charcha Kendra, in Nabadwip, Nadia,

. This state-of-the-art research center provides an opportunity to research scholars, and academics to harvest the traditional Indic knowledge base already present in University's repository and to take Indological and Sanskrit studies to the future. *Sanskrit College and University offer Postgraduate Courses (like MA Bengali and Sanskrit ) at Nabadwip Campus.

Notable alumni

* Saradaranjan Ray * Bijoy Krishna Goswami *

Surendranath Dasgupta Surendranath Dasgupta (18 October 1887 – 18 December 1952) was an Indian scholar of Sanskrit and Indian philosophy. Family and education Surendranath Dasgupta was born to a Vaidya family in Kushtia, Bengal (now in Bangladesh), on Sunday, ...

* Krishna Kanta Handique * Mahanambrata Brahmachari *

Bimal Krishna Matilal Bimal Krishna Matilal (1 June 1935 – 8 June 1991) was an eminent philosopher whose writings presented the Indian philosophical tradition as a comprehensive system of logic incorporating most issues addressed by themes in Western philosophy. ...

Abanindranath Tagore Abanindranath Tagore (Bengali language, Bengali: অবনীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 August 1871 – 5 December 1951) was an Indian painter who was the principal artist and creator of the Indian Society of Oriental Art in ...

References

External links

* Academic institutions associated with the Bengal Renaissance Universities and colleges in Kolkata Educational institutions established in 1824 Schools in Colonial India 19th century in Kolkata Sanskrit universities in India 1824 establishments in India {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanskrit College and University