The University of Lucknow (LU; officially UoL) is a public research university in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1864 in Lucknow as Canning College, it is one of the India’s 17 oldest universities established during British India, the 10th oldest university in present-day India, the fourth-oldest university in Uttar Pradesh, and the first state university in Uttar Pradesh.
The University's principal campus is located at Badshah Bagh on University Road, a historic royal garden originally developed by Nawab Naseer-ud-Din Haider for his wife, Qudsia Mahal. An additional campus is situated at Jankipuram, and a third campus is under development in Sitapur district, focusing on vocational and skill-based education.
The University of Lucknow is the largest state university in Uttar Pradesh and the only public university in the state offering both on-campus and online degree programmes. It is a teaching, residential, and affiliating university comprising 13 faculties, 51 departments, and 16 institutes and centres, with 556 affiliated colleges across Lucknow and the surrounding districts. Since 2020, its affiliating jurisdiction has also included the districts of Raebareli, Hardoi, Sitapur, and Lakhimpur Kheri.
The University of Lucknow is the only state university in Uttar Pradesh to be granted Category-I autonomy by the University Grants Commission (UGC) for excellence in teaching and research. It is also the first public university in Uttar Pradesh to receive an A++ accreditation from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).
Contents
History
The British, during the colonial period, transformed the Indian educational system, transitioning Indian education from the traditional Gurukul system to schools, colleges, and universities. Educational institutions established during the colonial period are still operational today, and Lucknow University is one of them.
In the summer of 1862, the first Viceroy of British India, Charles John Canning, died in London. For his loyalty during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, commonly referred to as the Mutiny, he was rewarded with a taluk (subdivision of a district). In his posthumous memory, a group of his loyal talukdars in Awadh decided to donate eight annas (half a rupee) from their annual income to run the school, and the scheme also received government support. Just two years later, on 1 May 1864, Canning High School was established with 200 students. It initially operated from two rooms of a mansion in Khayaliganj, Aminabad, before shifting to the Aminuddaulah Palace in Aminabad. The palace, which now houses the Central Hotel near Jagat Cinema and Amin-ud-daula Park, served as the school's premises, where it provided education up to the high school level.
The Canning High School was upgraded to the status of a full-fledged college in 1866, and its name was changed to Canning College. In its early years, the college had no building of its own and shifted between several locations. In 1866, it moved from the Aminuddaulah Palace to the Lal Baradari in Kaiserbagh (now the site of the Uttar Pradesh State Lalit Kala Academy), where it remained for two years, during which its first batch of intermediate students graduated. Owing to an increase in student enrolment, the college was subsequently shifted to its own building at Pari Khana in Kaisar Bagh, the site now occupied by the Rai Umanath Bali Auditorium and Bhatkhande Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya (formerly the Marris College of Music).
Owing to an increase in student enrolment, the management of Canning College sought a larger site for the institution. The provincial government agreed to purchase the college's building at Kaiserbagh for ₹2,10,000 to accommodate the Provincial Museum (now the State Museum, Lucknow). Consequently, the college planned its relocation to Badshah Bagh, which would become its permanent campus.
The foundation stone of the new college building at Badshah Bagh was laid by Sir John Lawrence, the Viceroy of India, on 13 November 1867. Designed in the Indo-Saracenic style, the building featured high ceilings and wooden staircases. Construction took about eleven years, and the new campus was formally inaugurated on 15 November 1878 by Sir George Couper, Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western Provinces and Chief Commissioner of Oudh. Following the completion of the building, Canning College shifted from Kaiserbagh to Badshah Bagh, where the University of Lucknow's main campus is located today.The Badshah Bagh estate originally formed part of the estates associated with the Maharaja of Kapurthala. In 1905, the estate was transferred to the management of Canning College, further consolidating the institution's presence on the site.
Campus
In the early days, the Canning College had no building of its own, and the scene of its activity periodically changed as one or other building proved unsuitable or insufficient. During the first twelve years, the college was shifted from its original location, the Aminuddaulah Palace, to a number of places, one after another, including the Lal Baradari. At last, it was housed in its own building at Kaisar Bagh. The foundation stone of this new building was laid by the Viceroy, Sir John Lawrence, as far back as 13 November 1867, but the work of construction was not completed until 1878. On 15 November of that year, Sir George Couper, Lt. Commissioner of Avadh, formally opened the new building.
The University has three main libraries, apart from each department having its own. The Central Library of the university known as the Tagore Library, established in 1941, is one of the richest libraries in the country. It was designed by Sir Walter Burley Griffin, the designer of Australian capital city of Canberra. It has 5.25 lakh books, 50,000 journals and approximately 10,000 copies of approved Ph.D. and D.Litt. dissertations. The Cooperative Lending library was established in 1966 to lend books to economically under privileged graduate and post graduate students for the whole session to be restored only after their examinations are over.
The university also provides residential facilities to teachers, students and non-teaching staff. There are overall 18 hostels for boys and girls in the university. Kailash Hall and Nivedita Hall can house nearly 600 female students.
During the past 30 years, there has been an extension of the University Campus by State Government near the Institute of Engineering and Technology.
Organisation and administration
Governance
The University of Lucknow is governed by the provisions of the University of Lucknow Act. The Governor of Uttar Pradesh serves as the Chancellor, while the Vice-Chancellor is the principal executive and academic officer responsible for the administration of the university. The university's governance structure includes statutory authorities such as the Executive Council, Academic Council, Finance Committee, and Court, which oversee administrative, academic, financial, and policy matters. Day-to-day administration is carried out through various faculties, departments, and administrative offices under the supervision of the Vice-Chancellor.
Vice-Chancellors
The vice-chancellor of the University of Lucknow is the chief executive and leader of the University of Lucknow. The following people have been vice-chancellors of the University of Lucknow:
1920 – Gyanendra Nath Chakravarti
1926 – Matthew Brown Cameron
1930 – Jagat Narain Mulla
1932 – Raghunath Paranjpye
1938 – Sheik Muhammad Habibullah
1941 – Raja Maharaj Singh
1941 – Biseshwar Dayal Seth
1947 – Acharya Narendra Dev
1951 – Acharya Jugul Kishore
1955 – Radha Kamal Mukherjee
1958 – K. A. Subramania Iyer
1960 – Kali Prasad
1961 – Randhir Singh
1961 – A. Vittal Rao
1968 – Mukund Behari Lal
1971 – Gopal Tripathi
1973 – Ashok Kumar Mustafi
1975 – Rajendra Vir Singh
1978 – Girija Shankar Mishra
1979 – Girija Prasad Pandey
1981 – Radha Prakash Agarwal
1982 – Ratan Shankar Mishra
Academics
The University offers 15 undergraduate and 67 postgraduate programmes, serving more than 16,000 students, and is supported by 478 academic and 1,927 non-academic staff.
Centres
Source:
APJ Abdul Kalam Center for Innovation
Population Research Centre
Center for Advanced Studies in Social Work
Malaviya Mission Teacher Training Center
Centre for Cultural Texts, Records and Translation of Indian Literatures
J.K. Institute of Sociology, Ecology and Human Relations
Institute of Human Consciousness and Yogic Sciences
Centre of Online, Open and Distance Learning
Rankings
The NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework) ranked it 29th in Law and 98th overall in India in 2025.
Notable people
Alumni
The university's alumni include Judges of the Supreme Court of India and various High Courts, distinguished academicians, public leaders, and holders of constitutional offices, including former Presidents of India, Chief Ministers, and Governors.
Honorary alumni
The University of Lucknow presented its first honorary degrees (D. Litt) in October 1922 during first convocation at Brown Hall to Harcourt Butler.This accolade has been bestowed on several prominent Indian figures, a wide range of distinguished individuals from both the academic and non-academic worlds. Honorary degrees are approved by the Executive Council of the university and finalized with the consent of the Governor of Uttar Pradesh, who serves as the ex-officio Chancellor of state universities.The degree is traditionally awarded to the recipient at the university's annual convocation ceremony.