Aliah University is a state-controlled minority university in Kolkata, West Bengal, tracing its lineage to the Calcutta Madrasah established in 1780. The university was created under the Aliah University Act, 2007 and began functioning under that framework in 2008. Its history gives it a distinctive place in Indian higher education because the predecessor institution combined traditional Islamic learning with an early and gradually expanding engagement with modern subjects. During the nineteenth century, the institution introduced public examinations and experimented with subjects including medicine, reflecting attempts to adapt its curriculum to changing educational requirements. After independence, the institution was revived and reorganized, and a state committee in the early 2000s examined its future development. Those recommendations contributed to its elevation to university status. Today Aliah University operates multiple campuses in Kolkata, including the New Town campus, the Park Circus campus and its heritage location at Haji Md. Mohsin Square. The university offers education in engineering and technology, basic sciences, humanities, social sciences, management, languages, education, Islamic studies and other fields. Its modern academic character is therefore broader than the historical madrasah model from which it developed. The New Town campus, whose foundation was laid in 2011 and whose principal building was opened in 2014, gave the university purpose-built infrastructure for expansion. Aliah University’s statutory framework recognizes its minority character while placing it within the state higher-education system. The institution combines a long historical legacy with contemporary professional and research-oriented programmes, making continuity and transformation central to its identity. Its campuses preserve different stages of that evolution: the heritage location reflects the historic educational institution, while New Town supports modern multidisciplinary teaching and administration. This combination allows Aliah University to serve students across religious studies, liberal disciplines, sciences and professional fields while retaining a distinctive connection to more than two centuries of educational history in Kolkata.