Dr. Hari Singh Gour University, commonly known as Sagar University, is a central university located in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, India. Established in 1946 by the jurist and educationist Dr. Hari Singh Gour, it is one of the oldest universities in central India and was conferred central university status by the Government of India in 2009.
| Name | Dr. Hari Singh Gour University |
|---|---|
| Former name | University of Saugor |
| Type | Central University |
| Founded | 1946 |
| Founder | Dr. Hari Singh Gour |
| Location | Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, India |
| Central University status | 2009 |
The university was founded by Dr. Hari Singh Gour, a noted lawyer, parliamentarian, and the first Vice-Chancellor of both the University of Delhi and the University of Nagpur. He endowed a substantial portion of his personal wealth to establish a university in his hometown of Sagar, in the Bundelkhand region of central India. The institution was inaugurated as the University of Saugor on 18 July 1946.
For several decades it functioned as a state university affiliating colleges across the Sagar division and surrounding regions. It was renamed Dr. Hari Singh Gour Vishwavidyalaya in honour of its founder, and later acquired central university status under the Central Universities Act, 2009.
The university campus is spread across the Pathariya Hills on the outskirts of Sagar city. It offers undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral programmes through faculties covering arts, sciences, social sciences, commerce, law, education, and applied sciences. The university also houses departments in fields such as criminology and forensic science, anthropology, pharmaceutical sciences, and earth sciences.
The university is historically significant as one of the earliest universities established through private endowment in pre-independence India. It has played a major role in higher education in the Bundelkhand region and has produced notable alumni in academia, public service, and the arts. Its conversion to a central university expanded its mandate and brought it under direct funding by the Government of India through the University Grants Commission.