India Mint Stamp

Lokith Philately

Permanent Pictorial cancellation of Telangana

Permanent Pictorial Cancellation inaugural day covers

Date of issue: 11.10.1976

Pin code: 500007

Status: Active

PO Name: Jama-I-Osmania

Description: In 1917, Sir Akbar Hydari wrote a memorandum to the then-Hyderabad Education Minister emphasizing the need to establish a university in Hyderabad with Urdu as the medium of instruction. On April 26, 1917, the Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan, issued a firman to establish Osmania University. The university began functioning in 1918 in a building next to Nizam College in Basheerbagh. Initially, it offered only two faculties: Arts and Theology. The first batch of students consisted of 225 individuals, supported by 25 faculty members. The Nizam invited Patrick Geddes and Edwin Jasper to help establish a permanent campus for the university. Geddes surveyed potential locations and submitted his report in 1923, while Jasper prepared the building plans. The Nizam laid the foundation stone for the campus on July 5, 1934. After Jasper left Hyderabad, the state architect Zain Yar Jung took charge of supervising the construction of the campus. After India gained independence and the merger of Hyderabad State, the university came under the jurisdiction of the state government. 

Following the election of the first state government, the central government announced plans to convert Osmania University into a central university with Hindi as the medium of instruction. However, this plan was abandoned due to widespread protests, and eventually, both Urdu and English were adopted as the mediums of instruction. Osmania University is the seventh-oldest university in India and the third-oldest in South India. One of its core ideals, as expressed both in the East and the West, is to foster a national ethos and create an educational and social environment that reflects the idea of 'national unity.' Today, Osmania University is one of the largest university systems in the subcontinent, with over 300,000 students across its campuses and affiliated colleges. It is particularly renowned for its faculties in engineering and technology, law, arts, science, commerce, and management.