Prime Minister Narendra Modi will spend 1 hour and 15 minutes at the Patna University centenary year celebrations programme at Patna Science College on Saturday.

During his stay, PM will release the university souvenir and a book, History of Patna University. Three varsity teachers - Jaydev Mishra from the department of ancient history and archaeology, Jayshree Mishra, a retired history teacher of Magadh Mahila College, and Surendra Kumar from Patna College has written the 200-page book.

The book deals with the history of Patna University, its establishment, colleges coming under Patna University, its glorious period and the period when it started losing its shine. Jaydev Mishra said: "The British government in 1912 constituted the R. Nathan committee to look the requirement of a university in Patna for promotion of higher education in Bihar, Odisha and Nepal. The committee members, comprising Indian and Britishers, submitted a report on the setting up of a university in Patna."

In 1917, under the Patna University Act, the university was set up on October 1, 1917, on the banks of Ganga. J.G. Jennings, the principal of a college under Allahabad University, was made the first vice-chancellor of university. He served as VC till October 1920.

The university was formed on the style of University of London and its first postgraduate session was from 1919-21. At the start, it had three government colleges, five government-aided colleges and two vocational colleges. The university jurisdiction covered Bihar, Odisha and Nepal.

Mishra said: "Very few knew that Patna University since its inception in 1917 till 1951 also conducted the matriculation examination. The VC of Patna University at that time used to visit the matriculation ceremony of schools with good matriculation results."

In 1925, Bihar College of Engineering (BCE), presently the NIT, and Patna Medical College came under Patna University. The BCE established in 1886 was earlier known as Survey Training School. In 1928, Patna Science College was set up and it came under Patna University. In 1940, Patna Women's College came under PU.

In 1946, Magadh Mahila College was set to promote girls' education came under PU. In 1951 under Patna University Act, the university was made teaching and residential university and the same year, school education was removed from the varsity. Till the late-1970s, the varsity was known for its teaching and had a glorious history. Known as Oxford of the East, it had a long list of students in civil service examinations, judiciary and in science. Mishra said: "Among the long list of alumni, Indian-American scientist Akhouri Sinha on whose name Mount Sinha, a mountain in Antarctica was named, was a prominent one. Sinha had done his MSc in zoology from Patna University in 1956."

In the freedom movement too, freedom fighters like Jayaprakash Narayan and the seven young men who sacrificed their lives in the Quit India Movement. The Martyrs' Memorial, also known as Shaheed Smarak, outside the Assembly premises, has a life-size statue of these seven young men. Present-era alumni include RJD chief Lalu Prasad, chief minister Nitish Kumar, Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, Ravi Shankar Prasad and deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi among others.