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A university
is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic
degrees at all levels (bachelor, master, and doctorate) in a variety of
subjects. A university provides both tertiary and quaternary education.
The word university is derived from the Latin universitas magistrorum et
scholarium, roughly meaning "community of masters and scholars".
Relative to the above
definition, there is controversy as to which university is the world's
oldest. Takshashila University may be the earliest, historically-documented
universities. The original Latin word "universitas", first used in time
of renewed interest in Classical Greek and Roman tradition, tried to reflect
this feature of the Academy of Plato. If we consider university simply
as a higher education institution, then it could be Shangyang, founded
before the 21st century BC in China according to legend.Later Taixue and
Guozijian serve as the highest level of educational etablishment while
academies became very popular as non-governmental etablishments teaching
Confucianism and Chinese literature among other things. The choice for
the oldest university is usually among Constantinople, Al Karaouine or
Al-Azhar universities. Nalanda University, founded in Bihar, India around
the 5th century BC conferred academic degree titles to its graduates, while
also offering post-graduate courses. Another Indian university whose ruins
were only recently excavated was Ratnagiri University in Orissa. Al-Azhar
University, founded in Cairo, Egypt in the 10th century, offered a variety
of post-graduate degrees, and is often regarded as the first full-fledged
university. The University of Constantinople, founded in 849, by the regent
Bardas of emperor Michail III, is generally considered the first institution
of higher learning with the characteristics we associate today with a university
(research and teaching, auto-administration, academic independence, et
cetera). The Guinness Book of World Records recognizes the University of
Al Karaouine in Fez, Morocco as the oldest university in the world with
its founding in 859. |
