Aswini Charan Choudhury, Secretary, Assam Jatiya Mahasabha, an elite from Kamrup District but settled in Dibrugarh took the initiative to open a college in Dibrugarh after the establishment of Upper Assam College in Jorhat (now known as Jagannath Borooah College).
The foundation of the college, named as Dibrugarh College was laid on 15th June, 1945, which was a red letter day for the public of Dibrugarh and also in the history of higher education in Upper Assam. Admission to the college started on that very day. The college building was first hosted in the George Institution. It was then shifted to thatched building, then vacated by the Government Girl’s High English School. It was placed under the jurisdiction of the Calcutta University, there being no university in Assam till that date.
Jogiraj Basu, the noted Orientalist became the founder principal of the college. Under his able guidance amd scholarship the college played a remarkable role in the development of education in the entire North eastern region. In the beginning, intermediate arts classes were open.
Lakshmi Prasad Dutta, Dr Njrmal Kumar Basu, Birendra Chandra Bhattacharya, Sushil Chandra Dutta, Uma Prasad Dey, Saktipada Patra and Surendra Nath Sarma were appointed as lecturers. They sacrificed a lot for the college and offered their Honorary service for a year.
It is a matter of pride for the college that the first student to get admitted in the college was a girl, named Sarala Choudhury. In the first year of its establishment about 100 students got admitted to the college. The college got its affiliation from the Calcutta University in 1946-47. The first batch of students appeared as private candidates from the Jorhat Centre. With the establishment of the Gauhati university in 1948, the college got affiliated to it. In 1948, the first batch of students graduated from the college.
In 1950, Science section was opened in the college at the initiative of Rohini Kanta Baruah of Dibrugarh, an eminent scientist of all India fame. Teachers of the college led by Lakshmi Kanta Dutta approached the noted businessman Hanumanbux Kanoi, a very prominent tea planter to make a handsome grant for the starting of the science section in the college. The Hanumanbux Surajmal Kanoi Firm Limited complying with the request had donated ₹ 1 lakh for the same.
In recognition of the generosity of Hanumanbux Kanoi, the college was renamed as Dibrugarh Hanumanbux Surajmal Kanoi College. For the opening of the science section, the government of Assam also came forward and allowed the college authority to use a part of the old Berry White Medical School building on rented basis where Physics, Chemistry and Botanical Lab was set.
Construction of the permanent college building in the Kadamoni area was completed by the end of 1957. The land of the college building was donated by the Dibrugarh Municipality. The finest building in the whole north-east India was innaugrated by the then Vice President of India, Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan on 29th December 1958.
DHSK college is one of the early colleges of Assam to offer courses in Commerce which was opened even before the opening of the Science sectionand permitted by the Calcutta University. With a huge demand in the commerce stream, it became difficult to handle the rush in the same builring and accordingly Dibrugarh Hanumanbux Surajmal Kanoi Commerce College adjacent to DHSK College was established in 1960.
