Aliah University – a State University under the Department of Minority Affairs and Madrasah Education, Government of West Bengal – came into existence through the Aliah University Act (Act XXVII of 2007) passed by the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. The Act came into force on 5 April 2008. However, its parent institution – from which it was upgraded to a University – was usually mentioned in various old Government records varyingly as Calcutta Mohomedan College or Calcutta Madrasah or Aliah Madrasah which was established by the British Governor-General Warren Hastings in 1780 at the request of some Muslim gentlemen of Calcutta.