The Gujarat University was conceived in the nineteen twenties in the minds of public-spirited and learned men like Gandhiji, Sardar Patel, Acharya Anandshankar B. Dhruva, Dada Saheb Mavlankar, Kasturbhai Lalbhai, and many others. However, the University could came into existence only after the achievement of independence. In 1949, the University was incorporated under the Gujarat University Act of the State Government ‘as a teaching and affiliating University.’ This was done as a measure of decentralization and reorganization of University education in the then Province of Bombay.

During its life of more than five decades, the University has seen the establishment of seven more Universities which were carved out of the jurisdiction of the Gujarat University, viz., Sardar Patel University, Saurashtra University, Bhavnagar University, South Gujarat University, Gujarat Ayurveda University, Gujarat Agricultural University, and North Gujarat University. Even then, Gujarat University is the largest in the state catering to the needs of higher education of more than two lakh students scattered over 235 colleges, 15 recognized institutions, and 24 approved institutions. There are 34 Post-Graduate University departments and 221 P.G. Centres.

Gujarat University is an affiliating University at the undergraduate level, while it is a teaching one at the post-graduate level. Indeed, the responsibility for post-graduate instruction has been statutorily given to the University, and accordingly, it has evolved a plan of co-ordinated instruction under the direct control and supervision of the University to ensure efficient and diversified instruction. An important feature of this University is the system of external examinations in the Faculties of Arts and Commerce, both at undergraduate and post-graduate levels. The external examinations were introduced to enable working students and others who could not afford the high cost of university education to realize their dream.

Gujarat University has developed phenomenally in the last 67 years to be recognized as a premier University in the country today. It provides education in one of the widest ranges of disciplines to about two lakh students.