Zakir Husain Delhi College (formerly known as Zakir Husain College, Anglo Arabic College, and Delhi College), founded in 1696, is the oldest existing educational institution in India, and is a constituent college of the University of Delhi, accredited with NAAC 'A++' grade. The college comprises an area of 150 acres. The college is situated in south campus of University of Delhi[2] It has had a considerable influence on modern education as well as Urdu and Islamic learning in India, and today remains the only Delhi University college offering BA (Hons) courses in Arabic and Persian.[3]
It was reorganized as the 'Anglo Arabic College' by the BritishEast India Company in 1828 to provide, in addition to its original objectives, an education in English language and literature. The object was "to uplift" what the Company saw as the "uneducated and half-barbarous people of India." Behind the move was Charles Trevelyan, the brother-in-law of Thomas Babingdon Macaulay, the same infamous Macaulay whose famously declared that "a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia".<No citation provided, this is hearsay.>[6][7]
Rev. Jennings started secret Bible classes in the officially secular Delhi College. In July 1852, two prominent Delhi Hindus, Dr. Chaman Lal, one of Zafar's personal physicians, and his friend Master Ramchandra,[8] a mathematics lecturer at the Delhi College, baptised a public ceremony at St. James' Church, Delhi.[3]
Dr. Sprenger, then principal, presided over the founding of the college press, the Matba‘u ’l-‘Ulum and founded the first college periodical, the weekly Qiranu ’s-Sa‘dain, in 1845.[citation needed]
Another cultural intermediatory was Mohan Lal Kashmiri, diplomat, and author, who worked for the East India Company and was educated at the college.[9]
It was renamed Zakir Husain College in 1975 by Indira Gandhi government after Dr. Zakir Husain, a distinguished educator and a President of India.[2] The college was later shifted to its present building outside Turkman Gate in 1986, the old structure in the Madrasa Ghaziuddin complex, still houses a hostel for the college.[5] It was declared a heritage monument by the ASI in 2002. Then in 2008, a separate archive on its history was set up within the college library, with centuries-old books and documents on display, chronicling its 300-year-old history.[1]
Governance
Zakir Husain Delhi College is run by the Zakir Husain Memorial Trust since 1975.[2][5]
Academics
Academic programmes
Zakir Husain Delhi College offers science, humanities and commerce as well as language courses.[citation needed]
Mirza Mehmood Begg Library and Book Bank
The college has a library possessing about 1,18,462 books.[citation needed] It runs on open shelf system but some important text books are also kept in reserve section. It not only caters to the academic requirements but also houses leisure books and books to increase general awareness. The library is named after the college principal Mirza Mehmood Begg.
Salman Gani Hashmi Auditorium
The college has an auditorium with a seating capacity of 417 persons. Various cultural programmes, lectures and college annual function are also organised in this auditorium. This auditorium is named after the former college principal Salman Gani Hashmi.[citation needed]
The Delhi College Archives, situated in a section of the M. M. Begg Library, was inaugurated by Professor Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, chairman, Indian Council of Historical Research, on 18 February 2008.
The archives contain a large number of files relating to the college and significant developments in higher education in Delhi and North India from 1823 onwards. These have been located within the National Archives of India and the Delhi Archives, and analyzed over the last couples of years.
Original writings by teachers and alumni of the college in Urdu, Persian and English are also available in the archives. Text books prepared and/or used during the 19th Century for instruction in mathematics, history, geography, philosophy, literature etc., are on display. The archives also contains secondary sources and books relating to Delhi College and the intellectual ferment in Delhi region during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Student life
Zakir Husain Memorial Lecture
A major annual event in the college calendar is the Zakir Husain Memorial Lecture to commemorate Dr. Zakir Husain. The speaker is an eminent personality of his field. It is organized in the 1st week of February. Zakir Husain Memorial Lecture is organized since 2006 annually. The lecture has been delivered by the following persons so far:
This is the only constituent college of the University of Delhi which holds an annual convocation ceremony. Although, due to the ongoing construction of a new building in the college, the college ground remains occupied as a result of which the ceremony wasn't held since 2017.[when?]
Notable people
The notable and alumni and faculty of the college includes.
^ abAsir Adrawi. Mawlāna Muhammad Qāsim Nanautawi: Hayāt awr Kārnāme [Mawlāna Muhammad Qasim Nanautawi: Life and Works]] (in Urdu) (2015 ed.). Deoband: Shaykhul Hind Academy. p. 52.
^Razzack, A., Siddiqui, A. (2022). The School at Ajmeri Gate: Delhi's Educational Legacy. India: OUP India.
