Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (commonly known as IIT Roorkee or IITR), formerly the University of Roorkee (1948–2001) and the Thomason College of Civil Engineering (1853–1948), is a public university located in Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India. Established in 1847 in British India by the then lieutenant governor, Sir James Thomason, it was given university status in 1949 and was converted into an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in 2001, thus becoming the seventh IIT to be declared. It is one of the oldest institute of Asia.