Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith is a Public University located in Varanasi or Benaras, Uttar Pradesh, India. Established in 1921 as Kashi Vidyapith and later renamed, it is administered under the state legislature of the government of Uttar Pradesh. The university has more than 350+ affiliated colleges spread over five Districts(Varanasi, Chandauli, Bhadohi, Mirzapur, Sonbhadra). It is one of the largest State Universities in Uttar Pradesh, with hundreds of thousands of students, both rural and urban. It offers a range of Professional and Academic courses in Arts, Science, Commerce, Law, Computing and Management. Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidypeeth has earned B+ status from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council.
Inspired by Gandhi's call for self-reliance and swaraj (self-rule), the Kashi Vidyapith was the first modern university organised by Indians in British India. The university, along with contemporaries such as the Jamia Millia Islamia and the Gujarat Vidyapith, were outside the control and support of British authorities, supported and managed entirely by Indian nationalists and educationalists. Attracting young Indians from across the country, its faculty included prominent nationalists and scholars such as Acharya Narendra Dev, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Jivatram Kripalani, Babu Shriprakash and Babu Sampurnanand. Gandhi and Indian nationalists encouraged Indians to boycott British-run institutions in favour of institutions managed entirely by Indians. Many prominent Indian industrialists and politicians provided financial and administrative support to the university.
Shiv prasad Gupta was born in Varanasi on 28th June 1883. He graduated from Allahabad University where thinkers and national leaders like Acharya Narendra Deo and Pandit Govind Vallabh Pant were his college-mates. Inspired by Lokmanya Tilak, he joined the Congress. A close associate of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. he was the treasurer and member of the Working Committee of the Congress from 1924 to 1931. Elected President of the Congress Political Conference of the United Province at Kashipur, he announced the ultimate goal of total independence in his presidential address.
In 1914 and 1930, he visited the USA, England, Japan and Europe. He first met Mahatma Gandhi in London. During these visits, he met sevearl Indian revolutionaries and fredom fighters living abroad. On his way back to India, he was arrested by the British Police in Singapore, jailed and tortured. Taking active part in all the movements after 1920, he was sent to jail several times. A successful leader of the national movement in Eastern U.P. and Varanasi, people honoured him with the title of "Rashtra-Ratna".