, c. 1937.|alt= '' at the University College of Arts, c. 1939–1945. addresses students with the arts college (Old Main) in the background, c. 1973. In 1917,
Sir Akbar Hydari, in a memorandum to the Education Minister, emphasised the need to establish a university in Hyderabad with
Urdu as the medium of instruction, "as it is the language of the widest currency in the state". On 26 April 1917, the
Nizam of Hyderabad Mir Osman Ali Khan issued a
firman to establish the Osmania University. The university began functioning in 1918 in a building adjacent to the Nizam College at
Basheerbagh. Arts and theology were the only two faculties offered, and the first batch consisted of 225 students and 25 faculty members. The government invited the Scottish
urban planner Patrick Geddes and the Belgian architect
Ernest Jaspar to establish a permanent campus. Geddes surveyed prospective locations and presented his report in 1923.
Post-Independence (1947-present) After independence and the
accession of Hyderabad State in 1948, the university fell under the purview of the state government. After the election of the first state government, the central government announced plans to convert Osmania University into a
central university with
Hindi as the medium of instructions. However, this led to protests and with pressure from the
Mulki agitation, the plan was dropped. Eventually, English replaced Urdu as the medium of instruction, and the Nizam's crown was also removed from the university seal. == Seal ==