| History of The Patna University (1917-1967) Higher Education in Bihar (1867-1917) | ||||
The history of the Patna University is in a sense the history of modern Bihar. In 1917 half the population of Bihar belonging to the fair sex was deprived of the advantage of higher education. There was not a single girl student in any of the colleges of Bihar, not to speak of any separate institution of higher education for women in the state. The hold of conservatism was so strong on the young men that boarders could not be found to reside in the college hostel constructed by the Government in the last quarter of the 19th century. The few young men who came forward to accept the benefit of western education in the Patna College apprehended that they would lose their caste if they resided in the hostel along with other communities. The eminent historian, Jadunath Sarkar, said in his presidential address at the Biharee Students’ Conference held at Darbhanga in 1916, “Bihar has been fifty years behind the other Provinces in taking to English education and must make more strenuous exertion than others to come to the front line and take her legitimate place in the march of national progress”. Just one hundred years ago, i.e. in 1867, the number of students studying in the Patna College which was the premier and pioneer institution of higher education in the State was so low that there were only seventeen students in the First Year, sixteen in the Second, six in the Third and four in the Fourth Year Class. In March 1875, the number of students in the College rose to ninety seven indeed, but there were only forty Biharees amongst them, others belonging to communities from other Provinces. It must be said, however, to the credit of the handful of teachers who were then in charge of imparting higher education to students in the Patna College that they discharged their duties in a highly satisfactory way. Some of the students fared remarkably well at the B.A. examination of the Calcutta University in 1868; for example, Kailash Chandra Banerjee stood sixth and Shiva Chandra Banerjee thirteenth at the B.A. examination. In 1879, Digambar Chatterjee stood first at the same examination. Between 1885 and 1891, the number of students securing Honours in different subjects was twenty eight. If students studying Honours were few, those who proceeded up to the M.A. stage were fewer still. During a comparatively long period of forty years from 1865 to 1903, only thirteen students passed the M.A. examination from the Patna College.
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