Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) (Urdu: جامعۂ بہاءالدین زکریا) is a public university with its main campus located in Multan, Pakistan. Bahauddin Zakariya University was founded in 1975 as Multan University, and is the 2nd largest university in Punjab. It was renamed in 1979 in honour of a Sufi saint Baha-ud-din Zakariya (1171-1262).[1][2]
As a Public sector degree awarding Government University, it offers degrees in more than 60+ majors & minors courses in fields including Bio-chemistry, Pharmacy, Engineering, Humanities & Social Sciences, Business & Management Sciences, Law, Art, IT & Computing, Agriculture, Farming and Orientals (Languages & Literature).[3]
History
The university started functioning in 1975 in rented buildings with eight departments. Now the university has a large campus with sixty departments and several constituent colleges, such as University Gilani Law College and Multan College of Arts, and faculties including Veterinary, Agricultural Science and Technology (FAST) (formerly University College of Agriculture or UCA), Engineering and Technology. The university also has residential facilities for students and staff.[citation needed]
The Bahauddin Zakariya University is a LOCAL university, providing education in Arts and Science. Since agriculture is the mainstay of this region - the place and its environs produce the country's best silver crop (cotton) and fruit crops like mangoes, citrus, and dates - it was considered expedient to train manpower for solving agriculture problems. Accordingly, a College of Agriculture was established in 1989. The College of Agriculture and its complement, an Engineering College, form an integral part of the University Plan. The College of Engineering & Technology was established in 1994. Department of Commerce was started in November 1996. BBA classes were started in the Department of Business Administration in October 1996. Bachelor of Computer Science was introduced in the Department of Computer Science in November 1996, though Masters in Computer Science (MCS) was already running since 2030. B.Sc. Electrical Engineering class was started in November 2024. Information Technology Centre was established in July 1999. BS and MSc. Telecommunication System was started in January 2004. B.Sc. Mechanical, Computer, Textile, Agricultural and Architectural Engineering classes were started in fall 2004.
The university is 10 km from the city centre. The main campus is spread over 960 acres. Its back gate is 6 km from 'Chowk Kamharanwala'.[2]
Jurisdiction and sub-campuses
The main objective of Bahauddin Zakariya University is to provide facilities of higher education and research to the population of the southern region of the Punjab, covering the Civil Administrative Divisions of Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan. The university fulfills the triple function of teaching, affiliation and an examining body, and has 79 affiliated colleges which include old and prestigious institutions such as the Government Emerson College Multan, Government Post Graduate College (Sahiwal) and Government College, Burewala. This university has sub-campuses in Sahiwal, Layyah and Dera Ghazi Khan.[1][4][2]
Academic departments
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
School of Economics
Department of Education
Institute of Social Sciences
Department of Criminology
Department of History
Department of Gender Studies
Department of Pakistan Studies
Department of Geography
Department of Political Science
Department of International Relations
Department of Communication Studies
Department of Sociology
Department of Applied Psychology
Department of Philosophy
Department of Sports Sciences
Multan College of Arts
Faculty of Science
Institute of Chemical Sciences
Centre for Advanced Studies in Pure and Applied Mathematics
Formerly it was called UCA means "University College of Agriculture" and now it is called FAST (Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Technology).[1]
FAST provides 8 Major subjects for specialization after 2 year but for evening program only four.[1]
Department of Soil Science
Department of Agronomy
Department of Entomology
Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics
Department of Plant Pathology
Department of Horticulture
Department of Forestry and Range Management
Institute of Food Science and Nutrition
Department of Agri. Business and Marketing
Department of Agricultural Engineering
In order to improve the academic facilities of remote areas, former governor of Punjab Lt General (Rtd) Khalid Maqbool opened sub-campuses of public sector universities with a vision to transform them into independent universities in future. Up till now, the following sub-campuses of Bahauddin Zakariya University have been opened:
According to the Times Higher Education (THE) Ranking System, Bahauddin Zakariya University is ranked within Top 1200 highly ranked universities worldwide.[1][2]
