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 Victoria gate, a prominent building at the university Aligarh Muslim University is a university located in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. It was the first institution of higher education set up in British India for Muslims. Many prominent Muslim leaders, and Urdu writers of the subcontinent have attended the University.Arguably, no other educational institution has contributed more to the shaping of the history of the Indian sub-continent in the 20th century. The University grew out of the work of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan who in the aftermath of the Indian Mutiny felt that it was important for Muslims to gain a modern education and become involved in the public life and Government Services in India at that time. The British decisions to replace knowledge ofPersian in the 1830sfor Government employment and as the language of Courts of Law caused deep anxiety among Muslims of the sub-continent and Khan clearly foresaw the imperative need for the Muslims to acquire proficiency in the English language and "Western Scinces" if the community were to maintain its clout,paricularly in Northern India. He began the road to the formation of Aligarh University by starting various schools. In 1864, the Scientific Society of Aligarh was set up to disseminate Western works into native languages as a prelude to prepare the community to accept "Western Education". In 1875, Khan set up the Mohammedan Anglo Oriental College in Aligarh. He patterned the college after Oxford and Cambridge, schools that he had visited on a trip to England. He wanted to build a college in tune with the British system of residential educational institutiob but with Islamic influences. The institution he st up at Aligarh was Ccalled the Mohammedan Anglo Oriental College-it was the first purely residential educational institution set up either by the Government or the public in India.It,over the years gave rise to a new educated class of Muslims who were active in the political system of the British Raj, and who would serve as a catalyst to change among not only the Muslim population of India, but of the entire subcontinent. The college was originally affiliated to Calcutta University,and was transferred to the Allahabad University in 1885. Near the turn of the century it began publishing its own magazine, and established a law school. It was also around this time that a movement began to have it develop into a university to stand on its own. To achieve this goal, many expansions were made with more and more programs added to the curriculum. A school for girls was established in 1907.  The main mosque of the town, located on campus In 1920, the College was made a Central University, and its name changed to Aligarh Muslim University. Its growth continued. The first chancellor of the university was a female, Sultan Jahan Begum. In 1927, a school for the blind was established, and in the next year, a Medical school. By the end of the 1930s, the school had grown to include an Engineering college. Upon independence of India,after independence (1947)its charter was modified (1951)to bring it in line with the secular constitution by enabling non-muslims to be also part of its governing structure. The University received many high-profile visitors such as Jawaharlal Nehru (for whom the medical school was renamed), the Shah of Iran, and King Saud. These high profile visitors also earned the university contributions from across the globe, including from the United States; a cultural complex with an auditorium was named after President Kennedy in honor of this gift. Currently the University has almost thirty thousand students, and over two thousand faculty members with over eighty departments of study. It continues to function as an important education institution in India, and draws many foreign students.
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