ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY:-

Established in 2006, Ravenshaw University Cuttack is a public-state university located in Cuttack, Odisha. It was founded in 1868 as the Ravenshaw College and upgraded to a university in 2006. The university is recognised by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and is accredited with an ‘A++’ grade by the NAAC. It is also a member of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU). Ravenshaw University Cuttack comprises 25 departments including the Departments of Zoology, Geography, Economics, Hindi, Philosophy, Odia, and Sociology, among others.

Ravenshaw is the oldest institution of higher education in the state of Odisha and one of the oldest institutions of higher education in India. It was founded in 1868 with intermediate level (F. A.) classes at the Cuttack Zilla (district) School (now Ravenshaw Collegiate School). The high school, which was also known as the Cuttack High School, was elevated to a first grade college in 1876. It became widely  known as Cuttack College until it was rechristened Ravenshaw College as a tribute to T. E. Ravenshaw, who was the Commissioner of Cuttack Division and had played a key role in its creation. The office of Ravenshaw College and Ravenshaw Collegiate School was separated in 1904.

Ravenshaw College was affiliated to Calcutta University in 1876. But the affiliation was restricted for a limited number of courses such as English, Vernacular Composition, Sanskrit, Persian, Logic, Mathematics, Philosophy, Physics, Chemistry and Botany. The affiliation of the College was transferred to Patna University on 1 October 1917. For the first time officers of Indian Educational Service (IES) grade were assigned to Ravenshaw College. New faculty arrived and teaching and research activities gained momentum. Amid the outbreak of World War I and later the Non-cooperation movement, the College continued to provide a stimulating environment for the young students. 

Soon, Ravenshaw College, because of the activities of its faculty and students, became a driving force in the civic and political life of the state of Orissa. The famous literary movement called Sabuja juga was born through the writings of young students (of the College) such as Annadashankar Roy, Kalindicharan panigrahi, Baikunthanath Patnaik, Saratchandra Mukherjee and Harihar Mahapatra; the Utkal Sahitya Samaj often had faculty members of Ravenshaw College as speakers; the great Professor Jogesh Chandra Ray, who introduced Samanta Chandra Sekhar’s great work, the astronomical treatise Siddhanta Darpana to the world, was honoured by the oldest learned society of Odisha, the Puri Mukti Mandap which conferred on him the title ‘Vidyanidhi’.

Ravenshaw College celebrated its Diamond Jubilee on 18 January 1936. On 1 April 1936, the new province of Orissa came into being. It was in the Ravenshaw College Hall (now called Heritage Hall) that Sir John Austin Hubback was administered the oath of office of the Governor of Orissa. In the euphoria that followed, new practices of community and social life were introduced which gave a distinct character to Ravenshaw College. The first Provincial Durbar was held in the College Hall on 9 January 1937. Soon after, the first Legislative Assembly of Orissa started operating from the College Hall from 28 July 1937.