In the early 1920s Rajah Sir S. R. M. Annamalai Chettiar founded Sri Minakshi college, Sri Minakshi Tamil College and Sri Minakshi Sanskrit College at Chidambaram. In 1928, Rajah Sir S. R. M. Annamalai Chettiar agreed with the local Government to handover the above said institution for establishing a University. Thus, on 01.01.1929 Annamalai University was established as per Annamalai University Act 1928 (Tamil Nadu Act 1 of 1929). One of the most significant developments is the enactment of the Annamalai University Act, 2013 (Tamil Nadu Act 20 of 2013), which has come into force from September 25, 2013. Annamalai University is accredited with ‘A’ Grade by NAAC in 2014. “The NIRF-2018” by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has ranked the University in the band 101 - 150 in the overall category as well as the University Category. In the Pharmacy Category the ranking is 20th in India. In the Medical Category the ranking is 24th . "The Times Higher Education World University Ranking - 2018” has ranked Annamalai University in 801 - 1000 for Overall category and 401 - 500 for Life Sciences category. "The CWTS Leiden Ranking 2017", on scientific impact of universities and on universities’ involvement in scientific collaboration & scientific performance, has ranked the University at 14th based on the number of publications and 3 rd based on the proportion of publications that, compared with other publications in the same field and in the same year, belong to the top 10% most frequently cited. “The Nielsen - India Today Ranking” (2017) has ranked Annamalai University 11th among the top 30 Universities in India. Among the top 100 institutions for Higher Education in India the “SCImago Institutional Ranking” has ranked Annamalai University as 4 th in Tamil Nadu and 20th in India. Annamalai University is one of the largest unitary, teaching, and residential Universities in Southern Asia comprising of 10 Faculties and 49 departments of study. This University has played a pivotal role in providing access to higher education to thousands of youth cutting across the social spectrum, especially from economically and socially disadvantaged classes. In this respect, this University’s service to the nation is tremendous.
