Maulana Barkatullah: The ‘First Prime Minister of India’ Whose Name May Vanish From Bhopal University

A PROPOSAL TO RENAME BARKATULLAH UNIVERSITY, BHOPAL, to Vagdevi Bhojpal University has been passed by the Executive Council of the University. The rename proposal has sparked debate about who Barkatullah was and how he had contributed towards India’s Independence. In 1988, the university was named after Maulana Barkatullah Bhopali; prior to that, it was simply known by the name Bhopal University. Critics are accusing the University of erasing the remarkable legacy of fighter Maulana Barkatullah Bhopali. 

The executive council of the Barkatullah University approved the renaming proposal of the University unanimously at a meeting on June 3, 2026. Now the University renaming proposal has been forwarded to the Governor Mangubhai C Patel for further decision. The renaming proposal said that the new name of the University represented the historical and cultural heritage of Bhopal. They compared Maulana to Raja Bhoj and said that he has made no significant contribution to the region. The new name which is proposed by the Executive Council is ‘Vagdevi,’ a name of a goddess Saraswati and ‘Bhojpal’ nods to Raja Bhoj, who was the 11th-century king.

When was Bhopal University established?

The Barkatullah University in Bhopal was established in 1970 as Bhopal university. In 1988, it was renamed as Barkatullah University honoring the memorable legacy of Mohamed Barkatullah Bhopali, popularly known by his honorific Maulana Barkatullah. Bhopal University changed its name to Barkatullah University 61 years after his death to honor his contribution.

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Who was Maulana Barkatullah?

Maulana Barkatullah's full name was Maulana Barkatullah Bhopali. He was born in Itawra mohalla, Bhopal, on July 7, 1854. Maulana was a freedom fighter, scholar, and a revolutionary who spent his entire adult life outside India, working to end British rule from abroad. He completed his education from Bombay and then London. After completing studies, he started teaching in Liverpool, where he came in contact with several Indian revolutionaries.

In 1899, his speeches and writings drew everyone’s attention to the British authorities, forcing him to leave for the United States. After that, he went to Japan, England, the US, Germany, Russia, Afghanistan, Brussels, Switzerland, and France. In the United States, he met freedom fighter Maulana Hasrat Mohani.

Maulana Barkatullah died in September 1927, when he went to California to attend a Ghadar Party event with his lifelong associate Raja Mahendra Pratap by his side. He was a committed anti-colonial thinker and saw the British policy of divide-and-rule as the primary hurdle to independence. He even wrote about the sufferings of ordinary Indians including both Hindus as well as Muslims under colonial economic exploitation.

Maulana Barkatullah Bhopali’s one of the most prestigious achievements includes that he was the ‘first prime minister of independent India’, as he was associated with Raja Mahendra Pratap, who set up India’s first ‘government in exile’ in Kabul in the year 1915. 

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‘Epitome of Dedication to the Nation’

The most significant chapter of Maulana Barkatullah’s life came during World War I. In December 1915, he established the Provisional Government of India in Kabul, Afghanistan, along with Raja Mahendra Pratap and Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi. Maulana Barkatullah became Prime Minister whereas Raja Mahendra Pratap became President, it was considered as India’s first government in exile which was established outside the control of British rule.

Four years after the formation of the Kabul government, its leaders travelled to Moscow to meet Vladimir Lenin, who was serving as the head of Soviet Russia. He described himself as neither a communist nor a socialist over there. Maulana was never part of the nationalist movement led by the Congress inside India.

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