From ancient times to the modern, India has been a treasure-trove of knowledge for travelers from all over the world. Taxila, Nalanda and Vikramsila universities were renowned centers of learning that attracted students from China, Korea, Tibet, Nepal, Burma (Myanmar) and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Higher education is something that has always occupied a centre stage in Indian culture since time immemorial.
The present higher education system in India goes back to 1823 when Mountstuart Elphinstone came up with minutes on education that emphasized the need to set up schools that would teach English and European Sciences to Indian students. The phenomenal thrust, however, came after the much talked about Macaulay’s minutes (1835) and Sir Charles Wood’s Dispatch (also known as the “Magna Carta of English Education in India”) in the year 1854 recommended a proper hierarchy in the educational system, right from primary classes to higher education in the universities. Consequently, the universities of Bombay (now Mumbai), Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Madras (now Chennai) were set up in 1857.
