University of Sindh - History

History

After the independence in 1947, the only functioning university in the newly founded nation of Pakistan was the University of Punjab providing services to the developed parts of the Punjab province. The area constituted as the Sindh province came under the academic coverage of University of Bombay which had now become a part of India.

A formal academic centre was therefore needed for Sindh and under the constitutional act no. XVII titled 'University of Sindh', a resolution was passed by the Legislative Assembly of Sindh thus giving birth to this new university in the nation's capital of Karachi. The act was subsequently revised and modified in 1961 and years to come. However, it was the act of 1972 that provided for greater autonomy and representation of teachers, under which the university currently functions.

In the years after the independence from 1947 to 1955, Hyderabad was declared as the capital of Sindh and the university operations were relocated from Karachi to Hyderabad in 1951 where it formally started functioning as a teaching institution in pursuit of fulfilment of its charter and mission to disseminate knowledge.

The first department established was the Department of Education, later raised to the status of Faculty of Education. The departments of basic science disciplines as well as other departments targeted towards Humanities and Social Sciences were added in the mid-50s. With the sudden departmentalised growth of the university's organisational structure, a better equipped campus was desired and a new campus was established in Jamshoro town, 15-kilometres from the city of Hyderabad on the right bank of the Indus river in 1955 and was named after Allama Imdad Ali Imam Ali Kazi, former vice-chancellor of the university as a tribute to the great scholar and visionary. Before Jamshoro was selected for the establishment of Sindh University, is was desolate hilly track but was selected to be a university township away from the humdrum of the city of Hyderabad which lacked room to meet the ambitious expansion programs. Most of the teaching departments under the 'faculty of science' were then shifted to this new campus in 1961. Later in 1970, the departments for arts and humanities followed suit and were transferred to the new campus.

Interestingly, Jamshoro proved a good choice as it is virtually the gate-way to the Indus Valley, world famous for its civilization and rich cultural heritage. The Arnica Fort is located 40 km. to the north of the campus, in the northward continuation of the same hilly track which become Laki Ranges, merging with the Khirthars northwards. Amri, an important archaeological site, lies about 15 km further north. Sehwan, a well known township lies 25 km to the north of Amri. Manchar Lake, the largest fresh water lake in the region, is situated to the west north west of Sehwan. Travelling about 150 km north through the Indus plains brings one to the site of Mohenjodaro, the most important archaeological discovery of the Indus Valley.

The academic march forward continued with the gradual addition of other teaching departments and at present there are 43 full-fledged teaching institutes, centres and departments functioning under various academic faculties. The latest editions were that of the Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering and the Centre for Environmental Sciences, which heralded a new era in scientific research in the country.