Miranda House

The founding of Miranda House was an important event in the history of women's higher education in the country. It is one of the premier women's institutions of University of Delhi. It was the dream-child of Sir Maurice Gwyer, the then Vice-Chancellor, University of Delhi, and the founder of Miranda House. Its foundation stone was laid by Lady Mountbatten on 7th March, 1948. Within the first few years itself, 'Miranda' became a model, a tradition and a name to be reckoned with both within the country and abroad.

Classes in the college started on 26th July, 1948. Since the building of the college was not yet ready, special permission was sought from the Rector to use the then Registrar's House for residential purposes and the rooms adjacent to the Vice-Chancellor's office for lectures. Classes were also held in the Principal's house which was close to the Central Institute of Education (C.I.E./ Department of Education). On the eve of 15th August, the classes were shifted to the central wing of what is now called Miranda House Hostel. The college celebrated the first anniversary of Independence Day; Mrs. Raksha Saran, a member of the Governing Body, hoisted the National Flag.

Since there was no hostel for women students of University of Delhi, Miranda House, a hostel for women, was established in 1944 by Sir Maurice Gwyer. Initially there were very few students in the hostel but in 1945-46 there was an unexpectedly large increase in the number of residents. Temporary additions to the accommodation became imperative and Sir Maurice approached the Government of India for grants to develop and extend the hostel for 100 students and for eventually developing it into a second women's college (the first being Indra Prastha College). The Government of India agreed and released the funds. Ultimately in 1948, Miranda House, the College, was born. This is the story behind its being known as 'House'.

In half a century of its existence, Miranda House has maintained its growth in various fields. It started with a student strength of 33 in July 1948, which rose to 105 by September in the same year. The present strength is 2090 (1997-98). The strength of the academic staff increased from six in 1948 to 120 (permanent) in 1997-98 and that of non-academic staff from 11 in 1948 (five in the Hostel and six in the College) to 120 in 1997-98. There were only 43 students in the Hostel in 1948, out of which seven belonged to other colleges of University of Delhi. The present strength of the Hostel is 250. These figures speak for themselves about the growth of the college during the last 50 years.

At the time of its founding, Miranda House had six departments, whereas at present there are eighteen. Science teaching was conducted in the University but in 1963-64, B.Sc. General and in 1971, B.Sc. Honours teaching work started in the college. Many new subjects have been introduced in the Humanities and Social Sciences since then.