Aligarh Muslim University is one of the most popular universities in the Indian subcontinent and located in Aligarh, which forms part of the state of Uttar Pradesh. This university was created by the Indian Parliament and was modeled on the University of Cambridge. It is regarded as one of the very first institutions, which were set up during the British colonial rule with the purpose of higher learning. It was initially known as Anglo-Oriental Islamic College and the founder of this university was a great Muslim social reformer Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. It was Sir Syed Ahmed Khan who felt it was important for the Muslims to gain modern education and also become involved in the public. Besides the academic programs and achievements, the popularity of the university also lies in the fact that several prominent Muslim leaders and Urdu writers have graduated from here.

In the year 1875 Sir Syed Ahmed Khan set up the Mohammedan Anglo Oriental College and patterned it after the Cambridge and Oxford Universities without compromising on the Islamic values. Originally the college was affiliated to the Calcutta University and later on was transferred to the Allahabad University in the year 1885. By the year 1920 the college was transformed into a university and was named as the Muslim University. This university is a residential academic institution and offers as many as 250 courses in the traditional and modern branches of education. The University currently has 12 faculties including Arts, Commerce, Agricultural Sciences, Law, Engineering and Technology, Management Studies and Research, Life Sciences, Science, Medicine, Theology, Social Science and Unani Medicine. Near the turn of the century the university began publishing its own magazine and also established a law school. The facilities provided to the residential students include accommodation, guesthouses, health services, computer center, hobbies workshop and library. The current strength of the university is thirty thousand students and more than 2000 faculties. The departments of study amount to eight. It also draws students from other countries like West Asia, Africa and South East Asia. Some seats are also reserved for the SAARC and Commonwealth countries. This university also hosts one of India`s premieres Engineering College called Dr. Zakir Hussain College of Engineering and Technology. The Ministry of Human Resource Development recently offered the IIT status to the university but it was not possible due to the unwillingness of the university to grant it an autonomous status.

This university is open to all irrespective of caste, creed, sex or religion. In the recent times this university became involved in a legal battle when it announced a fifty percent reservation for the Muslim community for some of its courses. The Division Bench of the High Court of Allahabad struck down two sections of the Aligarh Muslim University Act and also rejected the minority status of the university as it was set by an act of the Indian Parliament. The university campus is three kilometers away from the main city.