Jamia Millia Islamia is a Central University located in Jamia Nagar, New Delhi. It was Originally established at Aligarh ,Uttar Pradesh in 1920. In Urdu language, Jamia means ‘University’, and Millia means ‘National’.
It was established mainly in response to the demand of some students of the Aligarh Muslim University for a new National Muslim University which would be free from government influence as they felt that the administration of Aligarh Muslim University was of pro-British stance.
It was established at Aligarh in 1920 by Mohammad Ali Jauhar, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, Abdul Majeed Khwaja, and Zakir Hussain under the presidentship of Mahmud Hasan Deobandi.
Dr.Zakir Hussain was the first Vice-Chancellor of JMI.
The emergence of Jamia was supported by Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore who felt that Jamia Millia Islamia could shape lives of hundreds and thousands of students on the basis of a shared culture and worldview.
In 1925, it was moved from Aligarh to Karol Bagh, New Delhi and on 1 March 1935, the foundation stone for a school building was laid at Okhla, then a nondescript village in the southern outskirts of Delhi.
The institution actively participated in the Bardoli satyagraha, which was led by Sardar Vallabhai Patel and sent volunteers across the country to motivate people to fight for the freedom of the country. The colonial government soon imprisoned many of its teachers and students.
During it’s time of financial crisis, Gandhiji came forward and as an encouragement said, “The Jamia has to run. If you are worried about its finances, I will go about with a begging bowl.” One of Ganhiji’s son also studied in the university.
Jawaharlal Nehru once said that, Jamia is a “lusty child of the non-cooperation days.”
In 1962, the University Grants Commission declared the Jamia a ‘deemed to be University’ and by a Special Act of the Parliament, Jamia Millia Islamia was made a central university of India in December 1988.
In 2019, the university emerged as a centre of the Citizenship Amendment Act protests after the act was passed by the parliament.
Since its inception, Jamia Millia Islamia has produced notable alumni. Notable alumni in Bollywood include Shah Rukh Khan, Mouni Roy; in journalism include Arfa Khanum Sherwani, Barkha Dutt, Anjana Om Kashyap; in politics include Salman Khurshid; in Cricket include Virendar Sehwag.
In 2006, the King of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia paid a visit to the university and donated US$2.90 million for the construction of a library, now known as Dr. Zakir Husain Library (Central Library).