The Civil Engineering College at Roorkee was formally established with the issuance of a notification by the Government of North West Province on 25th November, 1847, to meet the demand for personnel skilled in civil construction. The first admissions to the Roorkee college were made on 1st January, 1848. In 1854, the college was renamed as "Thomason College of Civil Engineering at Roorkee" in memory of James Thomason who as Lt. Governor of North West Provinces had been primarily responsible for its establishment.

The College continued to make steady progress to meet the requirement of civil engineering personnel particularly for the major projects. It was elevated to the status of a University by an Act of U.P. Legislature in 1948 in recognition of its past performance and its potential and keeping in view the needs of modern India. The University was presented  its Charter on 25th November 1949 in the presence of the first Prime Minister of lndia, Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru elevating the erstwhile college to the first engineering university of independent India.

Since its establishment, the University of Roorkee has played a vital role in providing the technical manpower and knowhow to the country and in the pursuit of research, the University ranks amongst the best technological institutions in the world and has contributed to all sectors of technological  development.

There are special programmes of cooperation through which the University offers engineering and science education to a large number of overseas students, especially from developing nations.

The Department of Post is happy to issue this stamp to mark the sesquicentennial celebrations of the Roorkee University and also of Civil Engineering and higher technical education in the country.

Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India