Jamia Millia Islamia was established at Aligarh on 29 October 1920 by Mohammad Ali Jauhar, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, Abdul Majeed Khwaja, and Zakir Hussain under the presidentship of Maulana Mahmud al-Hasan.It moved to its current location in Okhla(Delhi) in 1935.
The main reason behind its establishment was the demand of some students of the then Aligarh Muslim University for a new National Muslim University which would be free from government influence, as they felt that the administration of Aligarh Muslim University was of pro-British stance
