IIT (BHU) Varanasi has formerly been known as the Banaras Engineering College (BENCO), the College of Mining and Metallurgy (MINMET), the College of Technology (TECHNO) and the Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University (IT-BHU). Its establishment is intimately linked with that of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU). The first convocation ceremony at BHU was held on 2 December 1920. The Chancellor of the University, Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar of Mysore who had come to preside over and address the convocation, performed the opening ceremony of the Banaras Engineering College (BENCO) Workshop buildings. An Artisan Course was started on 11 February 1919. BHU has the credit of first starting degree classes in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Metallurgy and Pharmaceutics, thanks to the foresight of its founder, Pt. Madan Mohan Malaviya.