Remembering Sultan Ahmed: First Indian VC of Patna University, patron of academia

PATNA: Exactly 100 years ago, renowned barrister Sultan Ahmed took charge as the first Indian vice-chancellor of the then-young Patna University which flourished in the 1920s as several historic academic institutions of the PU were born during his illustrious tenure. The once-famed Patna University, whose aura has diminished in the past few decades, came into being on October 1, 1917, with JG Jennings as the university's first VC.

Ahmed, a legal luminary, was appointed as the third VC of the university and took charge on October 15, 1923, and served till November 11, 1930, one of the longest terms in its history by far, according to archival records. The hallowed Patna Science College whose charming campus sits in the vicinity of the PU administrative block, Bihar College of Engineering (later upgraded to NIT-Patna), Prince of Wales Medical College and Hospital (renamed Patna Medical College and Hospital after independence), Bihar and Orissa Veterinary College (later Bihar Veterinary College), all saw their birth during his tenure as the VC.

Former vice-chancellor of Patna University, RBP Singh, during whose tenure the PU completed its centenary, hailed Ahmed and his illustrious legacy. "He was a formidable barrister and served in various key positions in the then British government. Sir Sultan finds his name in history also as the first Indian vice chancellor of Patna University and his contribution to the growth of the university is phenomenal as academic institutions for engineering, medical, science and veterinary streams were born during his tenure," he told PTI.

The Patna Science College was set up in 1927 and moved to its own campus having a cluster of handsome buildings with cutting-edge laboratories later which was inaugurated by the then viceroy Lord Irwin on November 15, 1928. Legendary professor of physics at Patna College (set up in 1863, later came under PU), V H Jackson, who later served as the second VC of the university from October 16, 1920, to October 14, 2023, went on to become the first principal of Patna Science College and its institutional legacy rests a lot on his vision.

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Bihar College of Engineering came up in 1924, Prince of Wales Medical College and Hospital was set up in 1925, and the foundation stone of Bihar and Orissa Veterinary College was laid on April 2, 1927, by then governor of the province Sir Henry Wheeler, who on February 25, 1927, had officially inaugurated the medical college, first conceived in 1921. Singh, the former VC, said, Wheeler and Ahmed both were "great patrons of education" and several education institutions were either built or inaugurated by the then governor (tenure 1922-27) in the province in the 1920s.

The university, which began its journey from a wing in the Patna High Court building (completed in 1916), five years after Bihar and Orissa was carved out as a separate province from Bengal in 1912, also found a permanent home in a new university building on Ashok Rajpath in the 1920s. The capacious senate hall of the university -- Wheeler Senate House -- was inaugurated in 1926 by Sir Henry Wheeler, who had also laid its foundation stone in 1925, according to archival records.