University College London

London University (1826–36)

University College, London (1836–1907)

University of London, University College (1907–76)

University College London (1977–present)

University College London (UCL) was founded in 1826, the first university to be established in London. It was founded on a secular ethos, admitting students regardless of religious denomination. In 1878 it became one of the first universities in Britain to admit women (only University College, Bristol admitted women earlier, in 1876), although women students needed a letter of reference until 1919 (men did not need this) and women were only admitted to study medicine from 1917. It became one of the founding colleges of the University of London and was formally incorporated into the university in 1907.

With its main campus in the Bloomsbury area of London, UCL soon established itself as a primary centre for higher education and attracted faculty and students from South Asia.  Many South Asians taught or studied at the institution, which became a major hub for intellectual exchanges. For example, Henry Hurry Goodeve brought four Indian students with him from Calcutta Medical College – Dwarkanath Bose, Bholanath Das Bose, Gopal Chandra Seal and Soojee Comar Chuckerbutty enrolled in April 1845. They were sponsored by Dwarkanath Tagore, public subscription and the board of directors.

From the mid-nineteenth century onwards, the institutions hired faculty of South Asian heritage, especially as educators in South Asian languages. For example, Syed Abdoollah was hired as Professor of Hindustani. He was employed from 1859 to 1866 and his tenure coincided with Dadabhai Naoroji, who was employed as Professor of Gujarati between 1856 and 1866. Ganendra Mohan Tagore served as Professor of Bengali and Indian Law in 1860–5; Khitter Mohun Dutt taught Bengali (1865–6) and Hindustani (1867–9), G. Hyder was an educator in Bengali and Hindustani (1866–71), D. K. Shahabudin was appointed Professor of Hindustani, Gujarati and Mahrati between 1871 and 1874. In 1897 Romesh Chunder Dutt was appointed Professor of Indian History.

Many notable South Asians studied at the university and UCL was a major hub for intellectual exchanges and collaborations in the environs of Bloomsbury in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Rakhal Das Haldar, member of the Brahmo Samaj, was educated at UCL in 1861–2. In 1878 Rabindranath Tagore attended lectures at UCL but returned to India before graduating with a degree. Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy studied botany, graduating in 1900. Madan Lal Dhingra enrolled for an engineering degree at UCL in 1906. Poet Nikhil Sen, a friend of Mulk Raj Anand, studied at UCL in the 1920s, while Anand studied philosophy. Plant physiologist Boshi Sen worked at UCL in the 1920s. In the 1930s broadcaster Venu Chitale enrolled at UCL. At the same time, the writer Aubrey Menen studied for a philosophy degree and formed his own drama group.

UCL continues to attract students, staff members and academics from South Asia, positioning itself as ‘London’s Global University’ in 2014 and expanding with UCL East into the East End of London in 2018.