The University of Delhi is a central university established in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly. It began as a unitary, teaching and residential university with only three colleges—St. Stephen’s College, Hindu College and Ramjas College—and about 750 students. Over the following century, Delhi University developed into one of India’s largest and most diverse university systems, combining university departments with a major network of constituent colleges across the national capital. Its academic structure now spans humanities, languages, social sciences, sciences, commerce, management, law, education, technology and professional fields. The university’s North Campus and South Campus anchor a much wider college network distributed throughout Delhi. DU’s institutional model is distinctive because academic life is shared between central university departments and autonomous college communities operating under common university regulations, curricula and degree systems. The university has played a major role in the development of modern higher education in Delhi, expanding rapidly after Indian independence as new colleges, faculties and departments were created to serve the capital’s growing population. Its statutory leadership structure includes the President of India as Visitor, the Vice-President of India as Chancellor and the Chief Justice of India as Pro-Chancellor. Delhi University marked its centenary in 2022, commemorating its growth from three colleges into a system with numerous faculties, departments and colleges and a student population extending into the hundreds of thousands. The university’s academic scale, public-college network, research departments and central location have made it a major destination for students from across India. Its history reflects both continuity with pre-independence institutions and sustained expansion in response to the educational growth of Delhi and the country. That scale gives DU a distinctive federal character: students may study in different colleges and campuses, yet remain connected through university-wide academic regulations, examinations, degree structures and shared departments, centres and research institutions.