Khaja Bandanawaz University is a private minority university in Kalaburagi, Karnataka, established in 2018 by the Khaja Education Society. Its institutional roots extend much further back: the sponsoring society was founded in 1958 and gradually built schools, colleges and professional institutions in the region. After decades of experience in higher education, the society applied to the Government of Karnataka in February 2017 to establish a private university that could bring its higher-education institutions under a unified academic framework. The Karnataka Legislature passed the Khaja Bandanawaz University Bill in 2018. The Governor gave assent on 19 April 2018, the Act was published in the Karnataka Gazette on 21 April, and a state notification dated 23 August 2018 brought the university into existence. The university was established as a unitary private institution with a broad statutory mandate covering science, engineering, technology, humanities, social sciences, education, management, commerce, economics, law, medicine, pharmacy, healthcare, sports and skills. The university carries the name of the Sufi saint and scholar Khaja Bandanawaz Gisudaraz and links its educational mission with learning, tolerance and social responsibility. In February 2019, the Government of Karnataka granted permanent minority status. The institution's development therefore combines the long educational legacy of Khaja Education Society with a modern statutory university structure. Its Kalaburagi setting and inherited professional institutions give it a strong regional role in medical, health, science, technology and multidisciplinary higher education. Its sponsoring society had nearly six decades of institutional experience before university status was created. The university's identity is closely connected with the educational and cultural history of Kalaburagi. 23 February 2017 — Khaja Education Society applied to the Government of Karnataka to establish a private university. 27 August 2018 — The sponsoring body's managing committee resolved to appoint Dr. Syed Shah Khusro Hussaini as first Chancellor.