Overview
Osmania University is a collegiate public state university located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It was established following a firman issued by Mir Osman Ali Khan, the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad, on 29 August 1917. It is recognised as the third oldest university in southern India and the first to be established in the erstwhile Kingdom of Hyderabad.
The university holds the distinction of being the first Indian university to use Urdu as a language of instruction, with English as a compulsory subject. Today it operates as one of the largest university systems in the world, with a substantial student population spread across its main campus and a wide network of affiliated colleges. As of 2012, it hosted around 3,700 international students drawn from more than 80 countries.
Osmania University is a non-profit institution funded and managed by the Government of Telangana. Admissions to its Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral programmes on the main campus are conducted on a merit basis, with candidates evaluated through national and state-level entrance examinations including TG-EAPCET, TG-CPGET, TG-LAWCET, TG-PGLCET, GATE, the Osmania PhD Entrance Exam, DOST, and the Osmania University Common Entrance Test, depending on the course of study.
The university is accredited by the NAAC with an 'A+' Grade and has been conferred the status of 'University with Potential for Excellence' by the University Grants Commission, New Delhi. Its alumni and faculty include several notable figures, among them Bharat Ratna recipient and former Prime Minister of India P. V. Narasimha Rao.
References
Adapted from the English Wikipedia article on Osmania University.