Former colonial prison transformed into India's first IIT 75 years ago

Prelims-testable facts

• 01IIT Kharagpur was established in 1951 as the first IIT in India.
• 02The campus of IIT Kharagpur was originally a Hijli Detention Camp, a colonial prison used to detain Indian revolutionaries.
• 03The Hijli Detention Camp was converted into an IIT campus in 1951, marking the beginning of India's technical education revolution.
• 04IIT Kharagpur was established under the Indian Institute of Technology Act, 1956.
• 05The campus was initially used to hold classes in a detention camp, with the first batch of students starting in 1951.
• 06IIT Kharagpur is located in West Bengal, India, and is one of the premier technical institutions in the country.
• 07IIT Kharagpur was founded by the Government of India in the aftermath of World War II, as part of the country's efforts to build a strong technical education system.

Trap alerts

• Most people think IIT Kharagpur was established in a colonial prison as a deliberate choice, but actually it was due to the lack of available land and resources in other locations.
• Most people think IIT Kharagpur was the first IIT to be established in India, but actually it was one of the first few IITs to be established, with the first IIT being IIT Bombay.
• Most people think IIT Kharagpur was established solely as a technical institution, but actually it was also intended to serve as a center for research and innovation.