VIKRAM DEV UNIVERSITY

Vikram Dev University, previously known as Vikram Deb Autonomous College, is a public state university situated in Jeypore, in the Koraput district of Odisha. It was founded on 1 July 1947 by the Maharaja of Jeypore, Sri Vikram Dev IV (Vikram Deo Verma), as 'Jeypore College' under the government of the Jeypore Estate, Orissa Province. In 1961, the institution was renamed 'Vikram Deb College' in honor of the Maharaja and was upgraded to a First Grade College, introducing undergraduate courses in Science (1961) and Humanities (1963). Honours teaching was introduced between 1968 and 1973, and postgraduate studies began in 1979 with the Department of History, later expanding to Economics, Commerce, Political Science, and Chemistry. The college was declared a lead college in 1991–92. On 2 February 2023, it was declared an affiliating university by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, and it began functioning as Vikram Dev University from 1 June 2023. The university now has jurisdiction over four districts: Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, and Rayagada, an area previously overseen by Berhampur University.