How have Universities Transformed over the Last Millennia

 

Modern Universities in India (Pre-independence, established before 1947)

A comprehensive and detailed history of modern higher education in India is yet to be written. Following is the Chronological list of Higher Education Institutions from modern day India's pre-independent period based on my search so far. I invite the netizens who land up on this post to help make more comprehensive and complete, posting on the information they might have along with weblinks in the comment section below.  Since both colleges and universities are part of University system and whether an institution remained a college or university was a political decision and not educational one, I do not make a distinction between them in the list below. 

1. St Paul’s College, Goa-Portuguese  [Jesuit] (1542-578) 
2. The Delhi College [Now Zakir Husain Delhi College], Delhi, 1792 
3. Fort William College, Kolkata, West Bengal (1800)
4. CMS College, Kottayam, Kerala (1815)
5. Presidency College [Presidency University] (1817) 
6. Serampore College, West Bengal Danish Charter (1818/1827) 
7. Deccan Herald, Maharashtra (1821)
8. Ecole de Médicine de Pondichéry (1823) in Pondichery by French
9. Agra College, Agra, Uttar Pradesh (1823)
10. Scottish Church College, Kokata, West Bengal (1830)
11. Elphinstone College, Maharashtra (1834) [Became separate college from high school in 1856]
12. Calcutta Medical College, (1835)
13. Madras Christian College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu (1837)
14. Presidency College, Madras (1840) 
15. Pachaiyappa's College, Chennai (1842) [Gained College Status in 1889]
16. St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu [Jesuit] (1844)
17. University Maharaja College, Jaipur, Rajasthan (1844) [Established as Maharaja's School]
18. Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, (1847) [Started as 'Civil Engineering College at Roorkee' Took the name 'Thomason College of Civil Engineering at Roorkee' in 1854, became "The Roorkee University" in 1948 and became Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee in 2001. Started the first MArch programme in India in 1969]
19. University of Calcutta (1857)
20. University of Mumbai (1857)
21. University of Madras (1857) [Established as Madras University]
22. St. Xavier's College, Kolkata, West Bengal, (1860)
23. Patna College, Patna, Bihar (1863)
24. University College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala (1866) [Initially called H.H. The Maharaja's College]
25. Ravenshaw College, Cuttack, Odisha (1868) [Became Ravenshaw University in 2006] 
26. St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, Maharashtra, (1869)
27. Aligarh Muslim University/Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College (1875) [Started  with the name ‘Madrasatul Uloom Musalmanan-e-Hind’ was renamed ‘Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College’ I 1877. Became Aligarh Muslim University in 1920] 
28. Mohindra College, Patiala, Punjab (1875) [Also called Government Mohindra College]
29. St Aloysius College, Mangalore, Karnataka (1880) 
30. St Stephen's College, Delhi 1881
31. The American College, Madurai, Tamil Nadu (1881) [Initial years called Pasumalai College]
32. Panjab University, Chandigarh (1882)
33. St. Joseph's College (Autonomous), Bangalore (1882) [Jesuit]
34. Hislop College, Nagpur, Mahrashtra (1883) [Started the first Journalism Department  in India in 1954]
35. Vasantrao Naik Government Institute of Arts and Social Sciences, Nagpur, Mahrarashtra, (1885) started as Morris College, First College in Nagpur
36. Fergusson College, Pune, Maharashtra (1885) [Now Fergusson University]
37. Central College Bangalore, Karnataka (1886) 
38. Allahabad University (1887) 
39. Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute, Mumbai, Maharashtra (1887) [Established as Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute, took the present name in 1997]
40. St Joseph's College, Darjeeling, West Bengal (1888) [Jesuit]
41. Maharaja's College, Mysore, Karnataka (1889)
42. Scott Christian College, Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu (1893)
43. Voorhees College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu (1898)
44. Hindu College, Delhi, 1899 
45. College of Agriculture, Nagpur, Mahrashtra (1906)
46. Jadavpur University, (1906) [From 1906 known as Bengal Technical Institute and later as from 1910 College of Engineering and Technology, Bengal, was made Jadavpur University in 1955]
47. Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka (1909)
48. Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics (1913) [Oldest Commerce College in Asia]
49. Banaras Hindu University (1916)
50. University of Mysore (1916)
51. Patna University, (1917) 
52. Ramjas College  Delhi, 1917
53. College of Engineering, Bangalore, Karnataka (1917) [Now called University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering]
54. Mysore Medical School, Mysore Karnatka (1917) [In 1924 it became Mysore Medial School and now called Mysore Medical College & Research Institute]
55. Maharani's College, Mysore, Karnataka, (1917) [1979 bifurcated Maharani's Science College for Women and the Maharani's Arts College for Women]
56. Osmania University, Hyderabad, (1918) 
57. Jamia Millia Islamia, Aligarh/New Delhi (1920)
58. Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi (1921)
59. University of Lucknow, (1921)) [Established as Delhi University]
60. Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan West Bengal, 1921
61. Union Christian College, Aluva, Kerala (1921)
62. Government Science College, Bangalore, Karnataka (1921)
63. St Berchmans College, Changanassery, Kerala (1922)
64. University of Delhi, Delhi(1922)
65. Nagpur University, [Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University] Nagpur (1923)
66. St. Xavier's College, Palayamkottai, Tamil Nadu, (1923)
67. St. Edmund's College, Shillong, Meghalaya (1924) [Oldest college in Meghalaya, Second Oldest in North East)
68. Loyola College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu (1925)
69. Andhra University, Visakhapatnam (1926) 
70. Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi (1926) [Education in commerce began 1920 however it became a college in 1926 with affiliation to University of Delhi]
71. Agra University [Now Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University), Agra, (1927)
72. Annamalai University, Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, 1929 
73. University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala (1937) [Established as Travancore University]
74. College of Engineering Trivandrum, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala (1939)
75. Vijaya College, Bangalore, Karnataka (1942)
76. St. Xavier's College, Ranchi, Jharkhand, (1944)
77. Govt. College for Women Parade, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir (1944) [Established as Maharani Mahila College]
78. G.S. College of Commerce and Economics, Nagpur, Maharashtra (1945)
79. B M S College of Engineering , Bangalore (1946) -India’s first Private Engineering College
80. B.V. Bhoomaraddi College of Engineering and Technology (1947) [From 2014 KLE Technological University]

Oldest Colleges in India

A good history of Higher Education in India is yet to be written. Even when some efforts in writing it are undertaken the focus have been on Universities and excluded colleges from that history. The Universities in which until recently were only government entities did not have a college of their own and even if they did, they were treated as separate institutions with little autonomy. The damage the affiliation system has done to innovation and knowledge production in India unimaginable. The contribution of the college in India to the economy, civil society is far more than the Universities. Therefore it is important to map histories of colleges in India. 

A clarification to those who are unfamiliar with the Indian Higher Education. In India to this day colleges cannot award degrees and are affiliated to the University which determines, its number for enrollment, subjects and their curriculum it can teach, conducts examinations, and awards degrees. [Yes, the colleges receive step motherly treatments and get reduced to 'teaching shops' in the process. But the resilience and creativity the colleges have shown in the face of such treatment is amazing] There are about 40,000 colleges affiliated to about 300 State and Central Universities. At least 20,000 of them are likely to close down in the next 10-15 years due to the implementation of National Educational Policy . Hence, it is important to map their histories. 

Following is the Chronological List of Colleges I have put together as a step in that direction. I welcome your suggestions to build this list. This list also includes those Universities which began as Colleges and later were upgraded to a University. You may mention the names of colleges the year of establishment and weblinks to support your recommendation in the comment section below.  

1. St Paul’s College, Goa-Portuguese/Jesuit (1542-578) 
2. The Delhi College [Now Zakir Husain Delhi College], Delhi, 1792 
3. College of Engineering, Guindy, Chennai, Tamilnadu  (1794) [First named 'School of Survey', named Civil Engineering School in 1858, and College of Engineering in 1859]
4. Fort William College, Kolkata, West Bengal (1800)
5. CMS College, Kottayam, Kerala (1815)
6. Presidency College [Presidency University] West Bengal (1817) 
7. Serampore College, Serampore, West Bengal-(1818/1827) Danish Charter 
8. Deccan Herald, Maharashtra (1821)
9. Agra College, Agra, Uttar Pradesh (1923)
10. Scottish Church College, Kolkata, West Bengal (1830)
11. Elphinstone College, Maharashtra (1834) [Became separate college from high school in 1856]
12. Calcutta Medical College, (1835) 
13. Madras Christian College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu (1837)
14. Presidency College, Madras (1840) 
15. Pachaiyappa's College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu (1842) [Gained College Status in 1889]
16. St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu [Jesuit] (1844)
17. University Maharaja College, Jaipur, Rajasthan (1844) [Established as Maharaja's School]
18. College of Engineering, Pune, Maharashtra, (1854) [Started as 'Poona Engineering and Mechanical School' and named  "Poona Civil Engineering College" in 1864. It took other names such as 'Poona College of Science'  in 1879 and later as 'Poona Civil Engineering College' and later as 'Government College of Engineering, Poona' in 1911]
19. Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, (1847) [Started as 'Civil Engineering College at Roorkee' Took the name 'Thomason College of Civil Engineering at Roorkee' in 1854, became "The Roorkee University" in 1948 and became Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee in 2001. Started the first MArch programme in India in 1969]
20. St. Xavier's College, Kolkata, West Bengal, (1860)
21. Patna College, Patna, Bihar (1863)
22. University College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala (1866) [Initially called H.H. The Maharaja's College]
23. Ravenshaw College, Cuttack, Odisha (1868) [Became Ravenshaw University in 2006] 
24. St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, Maharashtra, (1869)
25. St Aloysius College, Mangalore, Karnataka [Jesuit] (1880)
26. St Stephen's College, Delhi, (1881)
27. The American College, Madurai, Tamil Nadu (1881)
28. St. Joseph's College (Autonomous), Bangalore, Karnataka (1882)
29. Hislop College, Nagpur, Mahrashtra (1883) [Started the first Journalism Department  in India in 1954]
30. Vasantrao Naik Government Institute of Arts and Social Sciences, Nagpur, Mahrarashtra, (1885) started as Morris College, first College in Nagpur
31. Fergusson College, Pune, Maharashtra (1885) [2018 declared Fergusson University]
32. Central College Bangalore, Karnataka (1886)
33. St Joseph's College, Darjeeling, West Bengal (1888)
34. Maharaja's College, Mysore, Karnataka (1889)
35. Scott Christian College, Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu (1893)
36. Voorhees College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu (1898)
37. Hindu College, Delhi, (1899) 
38. Sri Pratap College, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir (1905) [Got is present name in 1912]
39. Jadavpur University, (1906) [From 1906 known as Bengal Technical Institute and later as from 1910 College of Engineering and Technology, Bengal, was made Jadavpur University in 1955]
40. Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics, Maharashtra (1913) [Oldest Commerce College in Asia]
41. Amar Singh College, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir (1913) [Established as Amar Singh Technical Institute]
42. Women's Christian College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, (1915)
43. Ramjas College  Delhi, 1917
44. College of Engineering, Bangalore, Karnataka (1917) [Now called University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering]
45. Mysore Medical School, Mysore Karnatka (1917) [In 1924 it became Mysore Medial School and now called Mysore Medical College & Research Institute]
46. Maharani's College, Mysore, Karnataka, (1917) [1979 bifurcated Maharani's Science College for Women and the Maharani's Arts College for Women]
47. Union Christian College, Aluva, Kerala (1921)
48. Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth, Pune, Maharashtra, (1921)
49. St Berchmans College, Changanassery, Kerala (1922)
50. St. Xavier's College, Palayamkottai, Tamil Nadu, (1923)
51. ILS Law College, Pune Maharashtra (1924)
52. Loyola College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu (1925)
53. Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi (1926) [Education in commerce began 1920 however it became a college in 1926 with affiliation to University of Delhi]
54. College of Engineering Trivandrum, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala (1939)
55. Patna Women's College, Patna Bihar (1940)
56. Vijaya College, Bangalore, Karnataka (1942)
57. St. Xavier's College, Ranchi, Jharkhand, (1944)
58. Govt. College for Women Parade, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir (1944) [Established as Maharani Mahila College]
59. G.S. College of Commerce and Economics, Nagpur, Maharashtra (1945)
60. National Institute of Engineering, Mysore, Karnataka (1946)
61. BMS College of Engineering, Bangalore, Karnataka (1946)
62. B.V. Bhoomaraddi College of Engineering and Technology (1947) {From 2014 KLE Technological University}