Delhi NCR

Meeting people at Jamia Millia Islamia

Jamia Millia Islamia is a central university on a 239-acre campus in Okhla, South Delhi, founded in 1920 during the freedom struggle and now known for its mass communication school, engineering faculty and free civil services coaching. Social life spills from campus lawns into the food streets of Jamia Nagar next door.

The story of Jamia Millia Islamia

Jamia was founded on 29 October 1920 in Aligarh by nationalist leaders including Mohammad Ali Jauhar, Hakim Ajmal Khan and Mahmud Hasan, during the Non-Cooperation and Khilafat movements, as an Indian-run alternative to colonial education. The name means National Islamic University.

The early years were hard. Jamia moved to Karol Bagh in Delhi in 1925, and co-founder Zakir Husain, who later became President of India, was central to keeping it going. In 1935 the foundation stone of the present Okhla campus was laid, and in 1938 Jamia opened a teachers' training institute.

Jamia became a deemed university in 1962 and a central university by an Act of Parliament on 26 December 1988. NIRF 2024 ranked it 13th overall in India and third among universities, with strong rankings in law and architecture.

What the campus is like socially

Jamia is a single, walkable campus, which makes it feel more close-knit than a college-based university. Students move between faculties, the central library, sports grounds and canteens through the day, and the calendar is anchored by Foundation Day and the Talimi Mela. Engineering, mass communication, law, architecture and fine arts students all share the same green spaces.

The neighbourhood is a big part of student life. Jamia Nagar, Batla House and Zakir Nagar are next door, with affordable kebabs, biryani and chai that keep hostel and day-scholar budgets happy. The Jamia Millia Islamia metro station on the Magenta Line puts the rest of Delhi within easy reach.

Traditions every Jamiaite knows

• Foundation Day and Talimi Mela: Every year on 29-30 October, Jamia marks its founding with the Talimi Mela, an educational fair where around 60 departments set up stalls showcasing their work.
• Jamia Through the Ages: A memorable Talimi Mela stall by the History and Culture department recreated a campus gate and told Jamia's story through photographs from the 1920s onwards.
• Engineering fests: The Faculty of Engineering runs Xtacy, ENCOMIUM, Algorhythm and Tangelo Town, a mix of tech, culture and sport.
• Cricket at the Pataudi complex: Inter-faculty and university matches at the campus ground carry extra weight because of the venue's history.

Campus lore and insider spots

• The MiG-23: An Indian Air Force MiG-23 fighter jet presented in 2010 stands outside the Faculty of Engineering, the campus's favourite photo spot.
• Bhopal Ground: The sports complex was built on land donated by Sajida Sultan, Begum of Bhopal. It hosted a 1997 Women's World Cup ODI and a 2005 women's Test before being renamed after Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi in 2016.
• The Sehwag pavilion: A pavilion at the sports complex was dedicated to alumnus Virender Sehwag in 2016.
• Born in Aligarh: Jamia's founders started it in Aligarh in 1920 before it moved to Delhi, a history celebrated every Foundation Day.

How to find your people here

At Jamia Millia Islamia, joining a department society or a campus-wide club in your first weeks is the fastest way to build a real circle.

Fests and societies at Jamia Millia Islamia

Signature fests

• Talimi Mela

Societies worth knowing at Jamia Millia Islamia

• AJK Mass Communication Research Centre: Founded in 1982 by Anwar Jamal Kidwai with York University, Toronto and CIDA, MCRC is one of India's best-known media schools and a magnet for future filmmakers and journalists.
• Residential Coaching Academy: Jamia's free residential UPSC coaching for SC, ST, minority and women candidates. In the 2024 Civil Services exam, 32 of its students made the final list.
• IEEE, CSI, SAE and ASCE chapters: Technical societies in the Faculty of Engineering that run competitions and the faculty's fests.
• Debating and cultural committees: Student groups that organise debates, performances and cultural evenings across the year.

Careers, internships and placements

Jamia's engineering, management and computer applications programmes run campus placements with IT, consulting and core companies, while MCRC graduates move into film, television, journalism and documentary work. Law and architecture graduates benefit from Delhi's courts, firms and studios.

Civil services are a major track. Since 2010, the Residential Coaching Academy has helped hundreds of students into services like the IAS and IPS, entirely free of charge, and many other students prepare for UPSC alongside their degrees.

Notable alumni

• Shah Rukh Khan: Actor, who studied mass communication at MCRC before Bollywood took over.
• Barkha Dutt: Television journalist and Padma Shri recipient, an MCRC alumna.
• Kiran Rao: Film director and producer, an MCRC alumna.
• Danish Siddiqui: Pulitzer Prize-winning Reuters photojournalist, an MCRC alumnus.
• Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh: MCRC alumni whose documentary Writing With Fire earned an Academy Award nomination.
• Virender Sehwag: Former India opening batsman, honoured with a pavilion at Jamia's sports complex.

Rivalries and eternal debates

Jamia and Aligarh Muslim University share a century-old history, since Jamia's founders broke away from the Aligarh college that became AMU, and the two get compared every NIRF season. In Delhi, Jamia versus DU is the everyday debate: one green single campus against a sprawling college network. And yes, students are tired of being confused with Jamia Hamdard, a different university altogether.

What Jamia Millia Islamia is talking about now

Jamia's free UPSC coaching makes headlines every results season, and MCRC alumni keep turning up on global stages, from the Pulitzers to the Oscars.

Meeting people at Jamia Millia Islamia by interest

A lot of friendships here form around a shared interest rather than a class or a hostel wing. If you are into running, reading and book clubs, food and cafe hopping, and music and jamming, those pages cover where that scene actually happens in India and how to find people near you who are into the same thing.

Colleges nearby

Jamia Millia Islamia sits close to St. Stephen's College, Hindu College, Lady Shri Ram College, Miranda House, and Shri Ram College of Commerce, all part of the same Delhi NCR student scene. Cross-college friendships often start at inter-college fests, hackathons, or shared-interest communities rather than in class.

Similar campuses across India

If you are looking beyond your own campus, students at JECRC University, JNU, KC College, and Kristu Jayanti share a similar campus culture, and Zyber works the same way at each: showing you verified people nearby who match on interest, intent, or timing.

Zyber on campus

Zyber is built for meeting people nearby in real time, with verified profiles only. At Jamia Millia Islamia, that means showing you people near you who share your interests or your drive, whether or not you overlap on a class or a society.

New to Jamia Millia Islamia? Start here

If you are just starting out, these freshers guides are written for exactly this moment: first week of college checklist, how to choose societies in college, making friends beyond your branch, and internship in first year.

See meeting people in Delhi NCR, events in Delhi NCR, the freshers guide, the Meet People pillar, or read what Zyber is.