Dhaka Madrasah

Dhaka Madrasah (Mohsinia Madrasah) When the Bengal Government decided to establish Alia Madrasah in 1873 during the time of Lieutenant Governor Sir george campbell, one Alia Madrasah was established in Dhaka in 1874 under the approval of Madrasah Reform Committee. Since the madrasah was founded under financial support of Haji Muhammad mohsin fund it was named as Mohsinia Madrasah. However, it was known as Dhaka Madrasah. Educationist Baharul Uloom maulana obaidullah obaidi suhrawardy (1832-1885) was appointed as first superintendent of the Madrasah.

On 16 March 1874, Maulana Obaidullah Obaidi Suhrawardy started functioning of the Madrasah in a rented house at Patuatuli with the students of 169 . In the same year the Madrasah was shifted to the third floor of another rented house at Roy Saheb Bazar. At the ground floor of the building was used as student hostel and the second floor as the residence of Maulana Obaidi Suhrawardy.

Nawab khwaja abdul ghani of Dhaka donated Rs 5,500 for the purchase of land for the Madrasah and with that money 2.40 acres of land was bought on the northeastern side of the present Bahadur Shah Park. Under the supervision of Maulana Obaidi Suhrawardy, the Madrasah building was constructed as per Muslim architectural design. Major Mann designed the architectural plan of the Madrasah building and the construction engineer was Vivian Scott. The Madrasah was shifted to its new building in 1880.

There were two departments in this Madrasah, Arabic and English. There were 7 classes under the Department of Arabic. The syllabus of Kolkata Alia Madrasah was followed there. The students of English Department studied up to Entrance level. In 1881 three students of this madrasah passed the Entrance examination. In 1883, out of 338 students 202 were from English department. Arabic, Persian, Bengali and Science were taught in this department. Western culture was also taught in the Department of English. All of the expenses of the Madrasah from 1874 to 1915 were borne by the Haji Mohammad Mohsin Fund.

In 1915 Dhaka Madrasah was elevated to a high madrasah under the new scheme education system. In 1916 the Anglo Persian department of the madrasah was separated to a new institution with the name Dhaka Government Muslim High School. With the establishment of Dhaka University in 1921 this Madrasah was transformed into Islamic Intermediate College so that its students could get admission in the Department of Islamic Studies of the University.

In 1947, there were four classes in madrasah section and one class in college section. The Humanities department was introduced in 1957. In 1962, with the abolition of the madrasah, the classes of madrasah section were merged with the secondary classes. In 1968, the school section was separated from the college and the commerce department was introduced. The college was then renamed as Government Islamia College and the high school was renamed as Islamia Government High School. The college opened Science section in 1970.

In 1972, the College once again took rename as Kabi Nazrul Government College. [ABM Saiful Islam Siddique]