The
East India Company and
British rule were closely related to the spread of modern education in the subcontinent. In 1780, during the
Company rule, the rulers established the Calcutta Madrasah (now
Aliah University), and 1791, they established the
Sanskrit College in
Varanasi for Indians, and the
Fort William College in 1800 for the employees of the
East India Company. Following the passage of the '
Charter Act 1813', the
East India Company was instructed by the British government to focus on the education of Indians. The act was the foundation of modern Indian education. Hindu College (now
Presidency University) was established in 1817. Various debates were held about the means and methods of spreading education in India. In 1835, a member of the British Parliament,
Lord Macaulay, proposed in the 'Minute on Education' that India's education should be in the English language and in the light of European knowledge. As a result, the Governor General of India
Lord Bentinck gave the '
English Education Act' effect. The
General Committee of Public Instruction, the government body responsible for education at the time, recommended in a report submitted to
Lord Bentinck on 20 April 1835 that schools be established in major cities under the
Bengal Presidency to teach
English literature and science. They also recommended to allocate money from the government fund for establishing such schools wherever possible and to start the program from
Dhaka and
Patna. Later,
Lord Auckland, the Governor General of India, presented his famous Minute on Education in 1839, following which the General Committee of Public Instruction proposed the establishment of a college in Dhaka to the Governor General in 1840. The proposal was approved on July 18, 1841. On November 20, 1841,
Dacca Central College was established.
Cambridge University student and Hindu College (now
Presidency University) teacher J. Ireland was appointed the first Principal. Dhaka College, one of the main educational institutions of the subcontinent, started its journey with 3 rooms on the second floor of the English Seminary School (now
Dhaka Collegiate School) building. The local 'Public Education Committee' bought the land for the college building.
Colonel Garstin designed the building. On November 20, 1841,
Daniel Wilson, Bishop of Calcutta, laid the foundation stone of the college at Sadarghat. The construction of the building was completed in 1844 and on May 25, 1844, the students started their education in the new building. In the first graduating class there were both
Muslim and
Hindu students, as well as a number of foreign students, mainly from
Armenia and
Portugal. Since its inception, Dhaka College has been an important educational institution in
Bangladesh for leading the cultural, social and intellectual activities of
East Bengal. It was renamed as
Dacca College in 1846. In 1854, due to '
Education Dispatch' of
Sir Charles Wood, discipline and coordination was established in Indian modern education. Due to the new educational policy, since 1854 the meritorious students of Dhaka College got the opportunity to study medicine in
Calcutta Medical College, the only medical college in the subcontinent that time. After the establishment of
Calcutta University in 1857, Dhaka College was affiliated to it. In the first year, 4 students were sent from Dhaka College to appear in the BA examination, although one student appeared in the examination named
Dinanath Sen (দীননাথ সেন). In 1873, the college was relocated to a spacious building to the east of
Victoria Park to accommodate the increased number of students and the physics and chemistry laboratories. In 1875, a separate science building was established and science classes were opened in Dhaka College. Dhaka College became the heart of modern education in
East Bengal by providing higher education in philosophy, history, literature, mathematics, law and science - which continued until the establishment of
Dhaka University in 1921. of University of DhakaHowever, there was no dormitory in Dhaka College until 1880. Though a dormitory was built in 1874, it did not last long. Subsequently, the first dormitory named Rajchandra Hindu Student Hostel was constructed at Shridas Lane,
Bangla Bazar for Dhaka College in 1880 with a completely private grant subject to the permission of the government. In 1903 new infrastructure plans were made for Dhaka College and in 1904 land was acquired and construction work started. On February 19, 1904,
Lord Curzon inaugurated the construction of
Curzon Hall. At a government meeting on May 27, 1904, it was decided to build a modern dormitory for Dhaka College. In 1908, construction of
Curzon Hall was completed and Dhaka College was shifted to
Curzon Hall and some adhering buildings at
Ramna area after the
partition of Bengal. The road on the east of
Curzon Hall was named as College Road when Dhaka College was here. In March 1908, the construction of Dhaka Hall (now
Shahidullah Hall) was completed. Dhaka College transformed into a full-fledged residential college here in a beautiful natural setting with a separate science building, Dhaka Hall (now
Shahidullah Hall) for students and four residential buildings for professors. With the beginning of the
World War I in 1914, its adverse impact on Dhaka College resulted in declination of academic activities and other development works. Even, there were chances of the college buildings being taken over by the military. In July 1920, another college named
Dacca Intermediate College was founded comprising the intermediate classes of Dhaka College for strategical reasons. On August 20, 1920, the new college was moved to the then Engineering School (now
BUET) campus. Only the remaining BA, BSc, MA and MSc classes were accommodated in
Curzon Hall. On July 1, 1921, the
University of Dhaka was established. Dhaka College has a glorious contribution and sacrifice for the establishment of the University of Dhaka. A section of Dhaka College was merged with the newly created university. In fact, all the movable and immovable properties of Dhaka College, students, teachers, staffs, employees, books, library, science rooms and various buildings were brought under the university so that the university could start its academic activities on July 15, 1921. A large amount of college land and campus, hostels and other infrastructures, scientific equipment and various scholarships allotted to meritorious students were also handed over to the university. On the other hand, Dhaka College was shifted to the Residence of Lieutenant Governor (
Old High Court Building) and the Engineering School (now
BUET) building was made the student hostel of the college. The Engineering School (now
BUET) was moved to
Secretariat building. In 1943, the High Court College building had to be vacated to rehabilitate the wounded soldiers of
World War II. The armed forced occupied the building and used it as a tent. Then the college was shifted temporarily to Islamic Intermediate College (now
Kabi Nazrul Govt. College) located in Luxmibazar. Shortly afterwards, the official and academic activities of the college were conducted in a rusty old private building of late Khan Bahadur Abdul Hai located in Siddiq Bazar, adjacent to
Fulbaria Station. Apart from this, a few houses were rented and used as college hostel. In 1955, the journey of Dhaka College was started anew with new infrastructures in the present campus at
New Market area with a land area of 24 acres. In 1972, undergraduate courses on some subjects were reopened. In 1982, the English spelling of the city was officially changed from Dacca to Dhaka. As a consequence the college was named
Dhaka College. During the , the college had to relinquish about 6 acres of land. At present, the college is situated on 18.57 acres.
Affiliations == Academics ==