In 1780, at the behest of Warren Hastings, the first Governor General of India, and some eminent Muslim citizens of Kolkata an educational institute was established. Different government documents cite the name of this educational institute varyingly, such as Government Mohamedan College, Mohamedan College of Calcutta, or Calcutta Madrasah. Afterwards it popularly came to be called Aliah Madrasah. It is definitely worth mentioning that in British ruled India, Aliah Madrasah was the first government-established educational Institution.

The main intention for establishing this institution was to educate the children of the higher classes of Muslim families in Arabic, Persian, and Islamic Law so that they may be eligible to get jobs in different Government Departments like Administration, Taxation, and Judiciary. However, within a decade the curricula of Aliah Madrasah had also encompassed modern subjects like Arithmetic, Geometry, Astronomy, and Natural Philosophy along with the more traditional branches of learning like Law, Theology, Grammar, Philosophy, Logic, Rhetoric, and Oratory. In 1821, in the presence of eminent government officials the first annual examination of Aliah Madrasah was conducted and in 1826, courses on medicine were taught in this institution till 1836 when this faculty was transferred to and housed in Calcutta Medical College following its establishment that year. In 1826, English was first introduced at Aliah Madrasah, though the number of students was quite low due to Persian still being the state language of British India. After the British Government instituted English as the state language and the medium of communication for all official purposes in 1837, a Department of English was established at Aliah Madrasah.

After the Revolt of 1857, seeds of suspicions were sown in the minds of the British rulers about the loyalty of the Muslims. So the government wanted to stop the aid allocated for the running of Aliah Madrasah. However, these dark clouds rolled away very soon. Between 1869 and 1947, a number of committees and commissions suggested various reform measures for the improvement of Madrasah education in Bengal, particularly Aliah Madrasah. After the partition of India in 1947, this institution again faced severe problems. According to the decision of the Separation Council, all books and manuscripts, assets and estates of Aliah Madrasah were transferred to the Dacca Madrasah. It was only by dint of hard work and initiative of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first Education Minister of independent India, that the institutional framework of Calcutta Madrasah was again set up and teaching restarted. During the early years of its existence, Aliah Madrasah was ahead of its times in the field of education; however, its success in enabling Muslim youths to obtain government jobs while also imparting knowledge on the various streams of traditional and modern education, needs to be re-evaluated now. Only by putting the legacies of the past into a proper perspective can a logical and effective framework be constituted for successful running of this Institution and its further development.