Women's College Calcutta

Bethune College is a women's college located on Bidhan Sarani in Kolkata, India, affiliated to the University of Calcutta. It is recognized as the oldest women's college in India. The institution began as the Calcutta Female School, founded in 1849 by John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune with financial support from Dakshinaranjan Mukherjee. The school initially operated from Mukherjee's home in Baitakkhana with 21 girls enrolled, growing to 80 students the following year. A permanent school building was later established on Cornwallis Square, and the school was briefly known as the Hindu Female School. After Bethune's death in 1851, support waned until the government took over the school in 1856, renaming it Bethune School in 1862–63. In 1879, the school was developed into Bethune College, becoming the first women's college in India, while Bethune School became the second women's school in Asia, after one founded by Jyotirao Phule in Pune. The college is ranked 91st among colleges in India by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) in 2024. Notable alumni include Kadambini Ganguly and Chandramukhi Basu, among the first female graduates in the British Empire, along with numerous social workers, freedom fighters, and academics.