Founded in 1953, RABI is a product of the immediate post-Raj period, when the state of Pakistan was in two parts, incorporating the contemporary state of Banglandesh. Memories of the period in which Bangladesh sought and achieved independence remain in the annual Zoha Day, commemorating a professor who was killed while protecting his students from security forces in 1969.
RABI is located on a 753-acre campus close to the River Padma, large enough to house facilities such as a botanical garden, an artistic forest and the Jungle Genome Project bird sanctuary. It also has its own railway station on the main line from Rajshahi to the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka.
The university educates 37,156 students, across faculties of law, arts, science, business studies, social science, agriculture, engineering, fine arts, biological science, geoscience, fisheries and veterinary and animal science. It anticipates roughly doubling in size by 2070, according to its "50-year masterplan". Around 10,000 students are accommodated in 18 halls of residence.
Notable research projects include the development of a snake database, detailing the venom of various species, and the recreation of a traditional muslin fibre. Alumni include Khaled Mashud, one of Bangladesh’s best cricketers.
