One of the leading lights in the academic scenario of the state, The Bankura Zilla School, formerly known as ‘Bancoorah Free School’, was established in 1840, eighteen years prior to the establishment of the illustrious Calcutta University. The main building which was originally used as a ‘Sepay hospital’ and now adorns the campus with its majestic Gothic façade, was ‘erected through the liberality of Moharajadhiraj Raja Mahatab Chand, Bahadur of Burdwan in A.D.1851’.The school initially ran its expenses ‘by public subscription’ and was transformed into a Free School from 1940 under the supervision of the ‘Local Committee of Public Instruction, Bancoorah’.Among the illustrious alumni of the school are SirRashbehari Ghosh, Bandey Ali Mia, Pramathanath Chatterjee, Ramananda Chattopadhyay of ‘Prabashi’ fame  and Nirmal Kumar Siddhanta