University of Bombay (University of Mumbai)

University of Bombay

(University of Mumbai)

University of Mumbai is one of the oldest educational institutions in the country established way back on 18^th July 1857. At the time of its establishment of was called as the University of Bombay. The city of Mumbai was called as Bombay in English language till 1995. In the year 1995 Shiv Sena-BJP alliance government headed by Manohar Joshi, the then Chief Minister of Maharashtra changed the name of Bombay to Mumbai. Since that time Bombay is referred or called as Mumbai. Subsequently, from 04 September 1996 the University of Bombay also came to be known as University of Mumbai.

The University of Bombay was established as per the provisions of Wood’s Dispatch of 1854. Sir Charles Woods was the President of the Board of Control of British East India at that point of time. He had written a letter to Lord Dalhousie, the then Governor General of India. This letter of Sir Charles Woods to Lord Dalhousie became famous as Wood’s Dispatch in history. In this letter or dispatch Sir Charles Woods had given suggestions or recommendations to Lord Dalhousie about the changes and reforms to be brought in the field of education in British India. Some of the important suggestions in Wood’s Dispatch were- Language of instructions in Primary school should be mother tongue or regional language of that area, in secondary school both English and Regional language can be used but at Higher Education level English should be the language of instructions. Among other things it also recommended that the British government of India should give importance to women’s education, should consider education as its one of the important responsibilities. It also asked the British government to promote the Grant-in-Aid system. By Grant-in-Aid system we mean that a private individual or institute can start the school or college and the government would give them grants in monetary forms in order to run the school. The Wood’s Dispatch also asked the British government of India to establish the Universities. Accordingly, on January 18, 1857 University of Calcutta was established, on July 18, 1857 University of Bombay (Mumbai) was established and on September 05, 1857 University of Madras was established.

The University of Mumbai caters to the needs of thousands of students every year and offers academic programmes from different areas such as Arts, Commerce, Science, Law, Engineering, Fine and Performing Arts, etc. The University of Mumbai has given lots of successful graduates who have contributed to towards the nation and society. Some of these alumni are Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade, Justice Kashinath Tryambak Telang, R.. G. Bhandarkar, Dadabhai Naoroji, Sir Pherozshah Mehta, Lokmanya Tilak, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Jamshedji Tata, Homi J. Bhabha, P. L. Deshpande, Yashwantrao Chavan, Mukesh Ambani, etc.

Some of the Indian Vice Chancellors of University of Mumbai during British rule were as following:

Justice Kashinath Tryambak Telang

Ramkrishna Gopal Bhandarkar

N. G. Chandavarkar

Sir Pherozshah Mehta

R. P. Paranjpye

Earlier the University of Mumbai functioned from the Fort Campus in South Mumbai. Later on a huge campus was developed at Kalina in Santacruz (East) which is known as the Vidyanagari.

One of the most important attractive constructions at the Fort Campus is Rajabai Clock Tower. One of the famous and rich Indian brokers namely Premchand Roychand had given donation for the construction of, hence, it was named after his mother Rajabai.

The University of Mumbai has two libraries one is located at Fort Campus and the other one is at Vidyanagari.

The administration of the University of Mumbai is looked after by the Honourable Vice Chancellor. The Honroubale Vice Chancellor is assisted by the Pro-Vice Chancellor, Registrar, Director of Examination and Evaluation Board, Director of Students Development Department, Director of Department of Lifelong Learning and Extension (DLLE), NSS Coordinator and the team of Deputy and Assistant Registrars. There is also a Clerical Staff, Class IV Staff and Security Staff of the University of Mumbai.

The University of Mumbai comes under the Department of Higher Education, Government of Maharashtra.

The academic achievements and success of the University of Mumbai has been duly recognised by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) when it awarded A++ Grade to University of Mumbai in the month of August 2021.

As mentioned above the University of Mumbai caters to the educational needs of several thousand students every year. Without any doubt the University of Mumbai is one of the best and quality education institutions in India and the world.