The history of the Patna University is in a sense the history of modern Bihar. In 1917 half the population of Bihar belonging to the fair sex was deprived of the advantage of higher education. There was not a single girl student in any of the colleges of Bihar, not to speak of any separate institution of higher education for women in the state. The hold of conservatism was so strong on the young men that boarders could not be found to reside in the college hostel constructed by the Government in the last quarter of the 19th century. The few young men who came forward to accept the benefit of western education in the Patna College apprehended that they would lose their caste if they resided in the hostel along with other communities. The eminent historian, Jadunath Sarkar, said in his presidential address at the Biharee Students’ Conference held at Darbhanga in 1916, “Bihar has been fifty years behind the other Provinces in taking to English education and must make more strenuous exertion than others to come to the front line and take her legitimate place in the march of national progress”.