BHU: From Inception to Crisis (1915–65)

About the Book- BHU: From Inception to Crisis (1915–1965) is an account of the first five decades of one of the foremost Indian universities. The book contextualizes its conception relative to the colonial framework of higher education and in terms of the personal background and outlook of its chief architect Madan Mohan Malaviya. It documents the conflicting and evolving visions interpersonal drama activism and politics preceding the passing of the Banaras Hindu University Bill in the Imperial Legislative Council on 1 October 1915 and the struggles and efforts that characterized the institution’s first three decades. Post-independence it looks at some noteworthy events at BHU and concludes by documenting the Congress government’s abortive attempt to secularize the institution by renaming it Madan Mohan Malaviya Kashi Vishwavidyalaya. The book charts BHU’s course from its inception until an assault on its denominational identity provoked a major students’ agitation. Alongside it advances the idea that the university may be seen as the expression of a distinctly Indian ‘dialogic modernity. About the Author- Saumya Dey is a professor of history at Rishihood University Haryana. He did his PhD at the Center for Historical Studies JNU New Delhi. His chief research interests are cultural and intellectual history and the politics of colonial India. His prior books are Becoming Hindus and Muslims: Reading the Cultural Encounter in Bengal 1342–1905 (Munshiram Manoharlal 2015) The Cultural Landscape of Hindutva and Other Essays: Historical Legitimacy of an Idea (Shubhi Publications 2019 [Revised Edition 2023]) Narrativizing Bharatvarsa and Other Essays (Shubhi Publications 2021 [Revised Edition 2022]) The Seedbed of Pakistan: Cultural Conflicts Elite Muslim Anxieties and the Congress 1885–1906 (Vitasta Publications 2023) and Being Hindu: A Political History from Aditya Chola to Narendra Modi (BluOne Ink 2024).