Mir Osman Ali Khan, the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad, issued a firman calling for its creation on 29 August 1917.
[9][10][11] In 1917, Sir Akbar Hydari, in a memorandum to the Education Minister, emphasized the need to establish a university in Hyderabad with Urdu as the medium of instruction, "as it is the language of the widest currency in the state".
[12] On 26 April 1917, the Nizam of Hyderabad Mir Osman Ali Khan issued a firman to establish the Osmania University.
[13] After Jasper left Hyderabad, the state architect Zain Yar Jung supervised the construction of the campus.
[18] Eventually, English replaced Urdu as the medium of instruction, and the Nizam's crown was also removed from the university seal.
Admission to Main campus departments of Genetics, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Chemistry, Engineering, Management, and Law is highly competitive.
In 2001, Osmania was awarded five-star status by the National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC) of the University Grants Commission, part of the Government of India.
[29] The affiliated engineering colleges include (in no particular order): Osmania is a non-profit university which is funded and managed by the government.
Admissions into the Bachelor of Engineering, Masters and Doctoral programs in main campus is on a merit basis, evaluated by national entrance examinations (EAMCET, GATE, BCFSBTGMES-N&D, TSLAWCET, O.U.
Other alumni include spiritual guide and founder of Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur, Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshji,[41] pro chancellor of khaja bandanawaz university Syed Muhammad Ali Al Hussaini, former Indian Cricket team captain Mohammed Azharuddin, cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle, novelist Venkatesh Kulkarni, author and poet Sneha Narayanan, PDSU founder George Reddy, former Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, former governor of the Reserve Bank of India Yaga Venugopal Reddy, chemist Garikapati Narahari Sastry, Metallurgist and former Vice Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University Patcha Ramachandra Rao and physicist Raziuddin Siddiqui.
[42] Karan Bilimoria, founder of Cobra Beer, Member of the House of Lords, and the seventh Chancellor of the University of Birmingham earned his Bachelor of Commerce degree from Osmania in 1981.