Patna College

Patna College, established on 9 January 1863 during the British Raj, is the oldest institution of higher education in Bihar and a constituent state-aided college of Patna University. Many major Patna colleges, including Patna Law College, the Engineering College (now NIT Patna), Patna Science College, and Vanijya Mahavidyala, trace their roots to it. After Patna University split from Bihar University in 1952, the college became responsible mainly for undergraduate studies, though it retained honours teaching in arts subjects. In 1957, most postgraduate departments moved to Darbhanga House. The Economics department separated in 1974 to form Vanijya Mahavidyala, still located on the college campus. The college celebrated its centenary in 1963 and its 150th anniversary in 2012, coinciding with the centenary of the Bihar Legislative Council, which first met in its seminar hall in 1913. The campus, once the site of an opium storehouse and Dutch factory, includes buildings from 1871, 1880, and 1882, and hostels named Jackson, Minto, New, and Iqbal. The college inspired the fictional Chandrapore College in E. M. Forster's 'A Passage to India' and was used as a filming location by Satyajit Ray for 'Seemabaddha'. Notable alumni include Jayaprakash Narayan, Bidhan Chandra Roy, and Sachchidananda Sinha.