Faculty of Arts, Banaras Hindu University


Faculty of Arts, Banaras Hindu University is a faculty in the Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India which offers courses in History, Culture, Philosophy, Languages, Literature along with various Professional and Vocational courses. It was founded in 1898 and is the oldest and largest faculty in the Banaras Hindu University. Faculty of Arts was formerly known as the Central Hindu College. In 1916, the Banaras Hindu University grew around the "nucleus" of the Faculty of Arts.

History

Formally known as Central Hindu College, The Faculty of Arts is the oldest and largest faculty in the Banaras Hindu University. It was founded in 1898 by Dr. Annie Besant and became the main centre and the core of Banaras Hindu University in 1916 by Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya. THe Faculty of Arts was "Mother Faculty" out of which many other faculties and departments of the university grew.

Organization

Faculty of Arts' administrative head is a dean. The dean is responsible for all aspects of the Faculty's operations, including budgets, administration, planning, support services, faculty appointments, curricula and student affairs. The dean is appointed by and reports to the Vice-Chancellor of the university.
There are 23 different departments in the Faculty of Arts that offer Certificate courses, Special courses, Undergraduate diploma, Undergraduate degree, advanced Postgraduate diploma, Postgraduate degree and Doctorate in following three categories;
  1. History, Culture and Philosophy
  2. Language and Literature
  3. Professional and Vocational courses

    Departments

Notable alumni of the faculty of arts include:
NameCourseSubjectYearOccupationRemarks
Ahmad Hasan DaniMASanskrit1944Pakistani intellectual, archaeologist, historian & linguistFirst Muslim graduate of BHU
Anant Sadashiv AltekarHistorian, archaeologist and numismatist
Awadh Kishore NarainMAAIHC1947Indian historian, archaeologist & numismatist
B. D. LakshmanBAIndo-Fijian politician, union leader & businessman
Baldev UpadhyayaMASanskrit1922Hindi & Sanskrit scholar, literary historian, essayist & criticPadma Bhushan awardee
Colin TurnbullMAIndian Religion & Philosophy1947British-American anthropologist
Kashinath SinghPhDHindi1965Indian writer and scholar of Hindi languageSahitya Akademi Awardee
Koenraad ElstMAIndology1992Orientalist and Indologist
Kuber Nath RaiHindi & SanskritHindi literature & Sanskrit scholar
Lal Mani JoshiMAPali1964Buddhist scholar
Liu AnwuMAHindi1958Chinese translator
Ma Su KrishnamurthyMAHindi1962Kannada and Hindi writer
Manu BhandariMAHindi1953Hindi writer
ParaguBurmese writer
Prithvi Nath KaulaLibrary and Information Sciences specialistPadma Shri awardee.
Rajbali PandeyPhDIndian writer and author
Ram Krishna SinghMAEnglish1972Reviewer, critic and contemporary poet
Rewa Prasad DwivediMASanskrit1962Sanskrit scholar and poet
Robert M. PirsigMAEastern Philosophy & culture1954American writer and philosopher
Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena---Hindi writer, poet, columnist and playwright
Satya Vrat ShastriPhDSanskrit-Sanskrit scholar, writer, grammarian and poet
Shankar Dayal SinghBA--Indian Politician
Sita Ram Chaturvedi---Indian educator, dramatist and scholar of Hindi and Sanskrit language and literature-