Jagannath University, Bangladesh

Jagannath University, in the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka, was established in 1858 with only 48 students. Originally known as the Dhaka Brahma School, in 1872 it was taken over by a local landlord, who renamed it after his father, Jagannath.

The university offers degrees across 38 departments, grouped into seven faculties and two institutes: the faculties of science, arts, business studies, social science, law, life and earth science, and fine arts, and the institutes of modern language and education and research.

Jagannath University publishes nine academic journals, in subjects including psychology, law and economics.

The university opened its first hall of residence – a 16-storey building, with 157 rooms for female students – in 2022. The hall provides a dining room, a canteen, a library and a common room, as well as running a language club and a debating club.

There are also university-wide societies: a central sports committee runs interdepartmental competitions in sports such as football, cricket and volleyball. It also arranges interuniversity competitions.

Among Jagannath University’s alumni is Brozen Das, the first Indian to swim the English Channel.