The work centers around the development of university education in India from 1857-1887. It analyses the historical and chronological developments of the university education in relation to the changing socio-political situations. Data were mainly collected from printed official reports and surveys. In analysing the development of higher education in India the methodology adopted was obviously historical and the problem is looked at from the point of view of relevant social science disciplines and there is an attempt to write it in the light of new history of education that has emerged in the west. The study highlights the fact that the university system was strongly influenced by the British model of higher education.