Hindu College is one of the colleges under the affiliation of University of Delhi in Delhi, India. Founded in 1899, it offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses in science, humanities and social sciences. The college is also among the oldest colleges in Delhi.
Hindu College is ranked among the top colleges in India for humanities, science and commerce with more than 100 faculty members.[1][2][3] It has been awarded the 'Star College' status for the Department of Biotechnology, by the Ministry of Science and Technology of India.[4] Notwithstanding its name, students from all religions are admitted.
Hindu College was founded in 1899 by Krishan Dassji Gurwale in the backdrop of the nationalist struggle against British Raj. Some prominent citizens, including Gurwale Ji, decided to start a college that would provide nationalist education to the youth, while being non-elitist and non-sectarian. Originally, the college was housed in a humble building in Kinari Bazar, Chandni Chowk, and it was affiliated to Punjab University as there was no university in Delhi at that time. As the college grew, it faced a major crisis in 1902. The Punjab University warned the college that the university would disaffiliate the college if the college failed to get a proper building of its own. Fortunately, Rai Bahadur Lala Sultan Singh came to rescue the college from this crisis. He donated a part of his historic property, which originally belonged to Colonel James Skinner, at Kashmiri Gate, Delhi, to the college. The college functioned from there till 1953.[5] When the University of Delhi took birth in 1922, Hindu College along with Ramjas College and St. Stephen's College were subsequently affiliated to the University of Delhi, making them the first three institutions to be affiliated with the university.[6]
Hindu College was a centre for intellectual and political debate during India’s freedom struggle, especially during the Quit India Movement. This is the only college in Delhi to have a Students' Parliament since 1935, which provided a platform to many national leaders including Mahatma Gandhi, Motilal Nehru, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Sarojini Naidu, Annie Besant, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Subhash Chandra Bose for motivating the youth. Responding whole-heartedly to Gandhi Ji's Quit India call in 1942, the college played a leading role in India’s freedom struggle as some teachers and students of the college even went to prison[7] and it closed its gates for several months