Berhampur University is a state university in Odisha established to serve the higher-education needs of the southern part of the state. It was created under the Berhampur University Act, 1966 and formally inaugurated on 2 January 1967 by the Governor of Odisha, Dr. A. N. Khosla. The university initially functioned as an affiliating institution with jurisdiction over a group of southern Odisha districts and subsequently developed its own postgraduate teaching and research departments. Its permanent campus at Bhanja Bihar, named after the celebrated Odia poet Upendra Bhanja, occupies a site near Berhampur and became the centre of the university’s academic and administrative life. Berhampur University offers teaching and research across humanities, social sciences, languages, science, commerce, management and professional or interdisciplinary areas while also administering affiliated colleges within its assigned jurisdiction. The Department of History, established in 1968, is among the university’s early postgraduate departments and later added M.Phil. and specialized tourism-related study. The institution is recognized under Sections 2(f) and 12(B) of the University Grants Commission Act. Its territorial responsibilities have changed as Odisha created new universities: jurisdiction that once covered seven districts was progressively reorganized, including transfer of colleges in four southern districts to Vikram Dev University from the 2023–24 academic year. Another significant structural change came through amalgamation of Khallikote University, which added departments and academic resources to Berhampur University. These changes show how the institution has adapted while retaining its role as a postgraduate and research centre for southern Odisha. The university’s location gives it strong relevance to regional language, culture, coastal and tribal studies, biodiversity and local development issues. For students, Berhampur University combines the legacy of a university founded in the 1960s with postgraduate education, doctoral research and an affiliating function that continues to connect the Bhanja Bihar campus with colleges across its present jurisdiction.