The Genesis of Bihar National College
Bihar National College, popularly known as B. N. College, was established in 1889 by two avid educationists and nationalists, Babu Bisheswar Singh and Babu Shaligram Singh of Kulharia Raj, Bhojpur, Bihar.
During the colonial yoke after the Indian National Congress was formed in 1885, these two brothers felt the crying need to stoke up nationalist feelings amongst the students and christened this college Bihar National College. The then British Government mounted immense pressure upon them to delete the word 'National' and promised to confer the title of Raja and grant a very large Jagir.
However, these Singh brothers were committed to the ennobling and lofty causes of national education and did not succumb to British pressures. At that time, Bisheswar Singh was a student of the final year (Law) at Calcutta College of Law. The Governor-General of Calcutta expelled him from the college. Furthermore, when Bisheswar Singh began practicing law at the Patna Civil Court after obtaining his PL certificate, he was barred from sitting in the Bar Association. The British Government declared them to be 'Vidrohi', and eventually, Shaligram Singh's son, Shashi Shekhar Singh (the father of Justice K. B. N. Singh), was shot dead in the freedom movement in 1942. Jagpati Kumar, who was among the revered seven martyrs of the 1942 Quit India Movement at the Patna Secretariat, was also a proud student of this college.
Academic Milestones & Constitutional Status
- 1892: Calcutta University granted it the status of a First Level College.
- 1923: Taken under Government control with the efforts of the then Commissioner of Patna, Accdale Earle, and given the status of a full deficit grant college.
- 1952: Converted into a constituent unit of Patna University and permanently affiliated under Section 12(B) of the UGC Act 1952.
- 2003: Accredited with B++ grade by the UGC NAAC Peer Team.
- 2011: Accorded College with Potential for Excellence (CPE) status by UGC vide Letter No.
F. 12-1/2010 (NS/PE) dated 07th December, 2011.
Torchbearers & Galaxy of Singular Intellectual Gems
The college has flourished stupendously under visionary Principals including Mr. Akshay Kumar Mazumdar, Dr. D. N. Sen, Moinul Haque, Dr. D. P. Vidyarthi, Dr. S. K. Bose, Dr. Amarnath Sinha, Dr. M. P. Sinha, and Dr. P. K. Poddar. At present, the college continues its march under the leadership of Principal Prof. (Dr.) Rajkishore Prasad.
Padma & National Awardees from B.N. College
Other illustrious alumni include Lal Narayan Sharma (First Attorney General of India), Prof. Siddheshwar Prasad (Union Minister for 11 years & Governor of Tripura), Sri Lalu Prasad Yadav (Former Chief Minister of Bihar & Union Railway Minister), Late Sri Sushil Kumar Modi (Former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar), and Justice Mihir Kumar Jha (Hon'ble Justice, Patna High Court).
Celebrated literary stalwarts on the faculty have included Dr. R. C. Prasad (translator of Sri Ramcharitmanas), Dr. R. C. P. Sinha (translator of Homer’s Iliad & Odyssey into Hindi), Dr. Rameshwar Singh Kashyap (creator of iconic Loha Singh), and Dr. Abdul Moghni (eminent Urdu scholar).
Along with Honours degree courses across 18 academic subjects, the college offers PG courses in English and runs highly successful vocational programmes: BCA, BBA, Biotechnology, and Functional English.