Darjeeling Hills University is a state university in West Bengal serving the Darjeeling hill region from its academic base at Mungpoo. Its statutory origin lies in the Greenfield University Act, 2018, which created the legal framework for a new university in the hills. The legislation was subsequently amended so that the institution was formally designated Darjeeling Hills University. The Greenfield University Amendment Bill was introduced on 31 January 2019, and the corresponding amendment Act followed on 19 November 2019. The university later entered the University Grants Commission’s list of recognized universities in September 2022. Academic development then moved from statutory creation to campus operation. On-campus classes at the Mungpoo site commenced on 9 April 2024, marking an important transition from planning to regular teaching. The university’s postgraduate portfolio includes humanities and social-science subjects shaped by the linguistic, cultural and historical setting of the eastern Himalayas. Its History curriculum, for example, includes Indian, Bengal and world history, historiography, archaeology and art and architecture, while other departments address regional languages, literature and social inquiry. The university is recognized under Section 2(f) of the UGC Act. Its location in Mungpoo gives it a regional mission distinct from universities based in the plains of West Bengal: it can develop teaching and research attentive to the social, cultural, environmental and linguistic contexts of the Darjeeling hills. Academic boards, admission processes and postgraduate examination systems have been built progressively as the institution has matured. Darjeeling Hills University is therefore best understood as a young public university whose key milestones are statutory establishment, UGC recognition and the recent commencement of regular on-campus postgraduate teaching in the hill region. The university’s development is closely tied to Mungpoo, where on-campus academic activity began in April 2024, giving the hill region a dedicated public university presence beyond earlier temporary arrangements.