AT A GLANCE

Government Islamia College Civil Lines, Lahore is one of the first ranked institutions of
the Punjab. Let us have a glance on the past history of the college. The history of the Govt.
Islamia College Civil Lines, Lahore goes back to the last years of the 19th century when the Arya
Samajists founded the school of Dayanand Ayur Vedic on June 1, 1886. The huge building (09
Acres) of Dayanand Vedic College (DAV College) experienced many revolutionary changes in the
last two centuries. The school started Intermediate classes in 1888 and graduate classes in 1892
and finally M.A. in 1895. The name of the college was attributed to the Hindu leader Sawami
Dayanand Sarasvati, founder of the Arya Samaj moment.

In 1947, the Muslim Muhajreen from the East Punjab were accommodated in the
building of this college. Later this building was divided into two institutions including Taleem-ul-
Islam (which was shifted to Rabwa in 1954) and LSNF School (Licentiate State Medical Faculty).
In 1955, the college building was acquired by the Anjuman-e-Himayat-i-Islam. The Anjuman
gave a new name of Islamia College to this previously DAV College. Initially the administration
of both Islamia College Railway Road and Islamia College Civil Lines remained with The
Anjuman-e-Himayat-i-Islam. 1958, Anjuman decided to give separate identity to Islamia College
Civil Lines Lahore.

The college is providing sports apart from academic activities. This college is providing
the students opportunities for acquiring skill in Hockey, Football, Volley Ball, Basket Ball,
Squash, Badminton, Tennis, Bodybuilding, Rowing, Hiking, Kabaddi, Weightlifting, Handball
Boxing, Tug of War, Cricket, Taikvando and Athletics. Our trained players have always been
bringing a good name and repute to the college and country in International Olympics and
Asian Games. For instance, the name of Sami Ullah Khan, Qasim Khan, Saleem Sherwani,
Naveed Alam, Ahsan Ullah, Muhammad Naeem, Anjum Saeed and Shahzad Chishti in Hockey
and Mohsin Kamal, Waseem Akram, Asif Massod, Amir Nazir, Aaqib Javed, Ashraf Ali and Aleem
Dar in cricket are worth mentioning. There is a long list of our best students in Athletics,
Kabaddi, Volleyball, Basketball, Boxing, Squash and Juddo karate. All of them are the best assets
of this college and the country.

The college has been winning the Boxing Championship held by Lahore Board and Punjab
University for the last 28 years continuously. In Kabaddi we have been top position holder for
the last four years and we have been the best Athletes and the best Hikers of the Punjab
University and other Universities during the last 5 years. In present educational year we have
been holding first and second positions in twelve matches of Lahore Board Squash, Boxing,
Kabaddi, Volleyball, Hockey, Weightlifting, Bodybuilding, Rowing, Taikvando and Wrestling,
whereas we are also top position holder of other competitions. I have the honour to claim that
our players are top position holders in volleyball and Athletics in Chief Ministers Sports
Tournaments. It is hoped that we will be successful in maintaining our former splendid records
in the coming championships and competitions.
 A Brief History of Government Islamia College, Civil Lines,
Lahore (At a glance)
Government Islamia College, Civil Lines, Lahore is one of the top ranking institutions of the
Punjab. Tracing the history of Islamia College, Civil Lines involves presenting illustrious
educational chronicles of two highly influential educational movements of their times.

First, the Arya Samaj movement which established DAV (Daya-anand Ayur Vedic) School in the
present building on June 1, 1886. The school was named after the founder of Arya Samaj
Movement, the prominent Hindu social worker Daya-anand Sarasvati. Many prominent
Lahorite philanthropists of the late 19th century generously contributed towards the
construction of the grand building of the school. Every building shows list of people who
contributed in the construction of that specific block. The huge building (09 Acres) of Dayanand
Vedic College (DAV College) experienced many revolutionary changes in the last two centuries.
The school started Intermediate classes in 1888 and graduate classes in 1892 and finally M.A. in
1895.
Secondly, much earlier, the Anjuman Hamayat- e- Islam, under the president ship of Qazi M.
Hamid-ud-Din had established its first Islamic School in 1884 to provide religious education to
Muslim children. The same school located in Sheranwala Gate was upgraded to intermediate
level by the name of Islamia College in 1892. In 1896 Islamia College was affiliated to the Punjab
University and the first graduate programme was offered, matching the turn of the century, in
1900. It was at that time ‘The only’ Arts college in Punjab affiliated to the Punjab University. In
1907, the Anjuman, with the generous contributions from local Muslim philanthropists and
funds collected by the Islamia College students over a period of seven years, had built a
handsome block of buildings spread over 8 acres between Brandreth and Railway Road, Lahore,
which we now know as Govt. Islamia College, Railway Road.

In just two years DAV School was upgraded. Intermediate classes started in 1888 and the name
was changed to DAV College. In 1892 the college offered its first Bachelors programme and in
the next three years, in 1895 the MA programme was also offered. Major subjects taught at
that time were English Literature, Sansikrit, Persina, History, Philosophy, Mathematics, Physics
and Chemistry.

In 1947, just after the partition , when almost all the local population of Hindus migrated to
India, and massive Muslim migration brought hundreds of thousands of distressed people to
Lahore. During those times of great trial, the building of DAV College housed hundreds of
homeless Muslim immigrants from all over India. Later when the migrants were rehabilitated
elsewhere, in half of the building, Licentiate State Medical School faculty -LSMF School was
established. The other half of the DAV College building was handed over to ‘Taleem ul Islam
College’ which was later moved to Rabwa in 1954. Anjuman- e- Himayat e Islam, the largest
charity and welfare organization of its times, was able to acquire that part of the campus by
offering to renovate the building with the support of the government of Punjab. The Anjuman
shifted all its B.A and M.A classes to this campus under the name-Islamia College. When
Licentiate State Medical Faculty School -LSMF School was moved to Bahawalpur in 1955, the
emptied block and buildings were also handed over to Anjuman- e- Himayat Islam. So during
the period 1954 to 1958, intermediate classes were held in Islamia College, Railway Road. B.A
and M.A classes were held in Islamia College, Civil Lines. Both campuses were administered by
the same Principal.

In 1958, the Anjuman decided to separate the two campuses under two different principals,
while both Arts and Science intermediate classes were started in Civil Lines campus, B.A/B.Sc.
and M.A/ classes were initiated on Railway Road campus. Besides equipping the youth with
high quality education, the college also provided excellent co curricular activities. Consequently,
the college remained a rich source of talented sportsmen in all major sports like hockey, cricket,
boxing, athletics, and football.

The college is presently going through its important phase that started over 44 years ago as a
result of the policy of nationalization in 1972, when all private educational institutions were
nationalized. Consequently, Islamia College became Government Islamia College, Civil Lines and
has been run, since then, by the Ministry of Higher Education, the Government of the Punjab.

These 44 years witnessed further growth both in the number of students and on campus
buildings to house those large numbers of students. On 7th May 1990 a new Science Block was
built to accommodate growing number of science students. On April 22, 1996 another one the
Computer Block was established. Since the hostel lodging facility was under enormous
pressure, a three story new block of students’ hostel residences was built in 1998. Being a
college of exhibiting of high academic performance, Govt. Islamia College, Civil Lines has always
been under tremendous pressure to accommodate maximum number of students in various
courses. To meet the growing need for rooms, the government established a Post Graduate
Block in 2007. Now, another spacious academic block is near its completion.

This is indeed a very brief introduction to a place blossoming with history and tradition. The
human effort that went behind this alma mater of distinction deserves a much larger mention
and appreciation. The rooms, halls and corridors of this magnificent campus have seen
probably hundreds of tireless teachers becoming role models for fresh and highly receptive
youthful minds. The sons of the college are serving as educationists, researcher, engineers,
doctors, public servants, politician, men in rank and plumes, with many a distinction. The
college also provides facilities to students participate in sports. Our trained players have always
brought a good name and repute to the college and country in international Olympics and Asian
games. For instance, the names of Sami Ullah Khan, Qasim Khan, Saleem Sherwani, Naveed
Alam, Ahsan Ullah, Muhammad Naeem, Anjum Saeed and Shahzad Chishti in Hockey and
Mohsin Kamal, Waseem Akram, Asif Massod, Amir Nazir, Aaqib Javed, Ashraf Ali and Aleem Dar
in cricket are worth mentioning.

A student college magazine “FARAN” was launched to provide the students an ample chance to
glorify their literary talent. The students of this college called FARANIAN after the name of their
college magazine.

Indeed a FARANIAN always serves mankind leaving a mark for posterity to follow.

HARKING BACK: Royal space for ‘samadhis’ with a

unique history
Fate takes strange twists. A once beautiful Mughal garden was used in the Sikh era to build the
‘Samadhis’ of their royalty, only for the British to hand it over to a Hindu trust, and when Pakistan
came about a Muslim religious organisation took over.

Opposite the office of the Superintendent of Lahore’s police is the Islamia College Civil Lines. Till a few years ago on
top of the main building, written in chaste Hindi script, were the words ‘Dayanand Anglo Vedic College, Lahore’. The
original name of the college was recently erased and the Anjuman Himayat-e-Islam, who own the three Islamia
colleges of Lahore, preferred that an empty space carry the Islamic ‘kalima’. But this place has a very interesting
history. In this piece our interest is the three Sikh ‘maharanis’ whose ‘samadhis’ exist on the college premises, laced
with a brief mention of the place itself.
The records tell us that the original garden of which the Chauburji Gateway was just one of many, was part of the
garden of the Mughal princess Zebunnisa, the daughter of the Mughal emperor Shah Jehan. If you approach the
gateway you can read on the gateway the words “Sahib-e-Zebunnisa Begum-e-Dauran.” This is one of the major ‘lost
gardens’ of Lahore which extended from Nawankot to the edge of the shrine of Data Ganj Bakhsh, with the ‘tibba’ of
Baba Farid being a respected place serving as the northern tip. To the West this garden stretched from the banks of
the River Ravi till the edge of Mozang village.

In Mughal days this was the recreational area of the rulers and their families. The constant floods and the ravaging
Afghan invasions saw a lot of the area and its monuments being damaged. In the garden also sat the alleged tomb of
Anarkali. With the coming of Ranjit Singh a set of bungalows were built by the French generals of the Khalsa Army
around this tomb, which today serves as the Punjab Secretariat. A word about Anarkali is in place.

The tomb was surely built by Jahangir for his beloved wife Sahib-e-Jamal, the exceptionally beautiful Turkish
daughter of the religious sage Khawaja Hasan of Herat. Sahib-e-Jamal died in Lahore in 1599 and the marble used on
the grave has the 99 names of Allah inscribed on them. Experts believe this is ‘the finest marble work in the world’ – a
rather tall claim. But in the secrecy of the myth of Anarkali the attributes of the tomb have been lost as has the story of
the beautiful Sahib-e-Jamal.

As the Sikh period started and once Ranjit Singh was in power, this portion of the garden was set aside for the ‘future
samadhis’ of the royal women, while the area to the north of the Badshahi Mosque was set aside for the royal males.
The second wife of Ranjit Singh was a Nakai princess Raj Kaur. She had to change her name as the mother of
Maharajah Ranjit Singh had this name. So she came to be called Rani Datar Kaur, who the maharajah lovingly called
‘Mai Nakain’. She was the mother of Maharajah Kharak Singh and grandmother of the Sikh ‘hotspur’ Prince Nau
Nehal Singh.

The Nakai Misl was one of the most powerful of the Sikh confederacy. Till a few years ago the Pakistani Punjab had a
chief minister by the name of Arif Nakai, whose family claim direct lineage to that Sikh royal family. Mai Nakain died
on the 20th of June, 1838, and the maharaja himself monitored the building of her ‘samadhi’ at the edge of the
remaining garden next to the ‘tibba’ of Shah Fareed, whose simple structure the maharajah also got built out of
reverence. That was damaged badly by the British as they set off to build their police lines next to the District Courts
of Lahore.

The next to pass away was the wife of Maharajah Kharak Singh, Maharani Chand Kaur. She was a powerful woman
who sought power as the ruler after the mysterious death of her husband, who experts believe was poisoned by the
powerful Dogra chief Dhian Singh. As Chand Kaur’s son Nau Nihal Singh was returning from the cremation of his
father to claim the throne, another mysterious incident took his life when the archway of the Roshnai Gate fell on
him.
So Chand Kaur took over power on the premise that her daughter-in-law was expecting the next true maharajah. On
this the crafty Dogra went into action and on the pretext of helping her got a few women from his Jammu hometown
to help her. They smashed her head on the 11th of June, 1842 and threw her from the balcony of the Haveli of Nau
Nihal Singh, today known as the Victoria School inside Bhati Gate. She was cremated near the ‘samadhi’ of her
mother-in-law.

As fate would have it, her daughter-in-law, Sahib Kaur, an Attari Jat chief’s daughter and wife of Nau Nihal Singh,
had a miscarriage and lost her son on the basis of which she was a ‘maharani’. She also died in a conspiracy by the
Dogra family.

All the three maharanis of Sikh royalty were cremated on the grounds of the famous gardens and their ‘samadhis’
built next to one another. Once the British took over this place was initially protected, and with time they started
building administrative offices between the French-built secretariat and the ‘three samadhis’. By this time the Hindu
religious organisation, the Arya Samaj, organised under Dayanand Saraswati, who learning from how Sir Syed was
organising the Muslim Anglo Oriental College at Aligarh, set up in 1886 the first Dayanand Anglo-Vedic (DAV)
College in Lahore.

This remained so and would have continued had not 1947 come about, when the DAV College shifted to Ambala in
Indian Punjab, where it has since expanded and done well for itself. In Lahore, the Khalifa Hamiduddin-inspired
Anjuman Hamiyat-e-Islam had set up the Islamia College on Railway Road. They moved the government to hand over
the vacated DAV College, including the ‘samadhis’ of the three Sikh royal ladies within an enlarged space. That is
where they remain, only that now they serve as a badly-maintained dispensary.

This space has always had a communal exclusiveness to it. In the beginning only Mughal royalty could use these
grounds, then it was set aside for Sikh royalty, only for it to be handed over by the British to a communal Hindu
organisation to set up an educational institution, and finally after 1947, a Muslim organisation, also in a way
communal in nature, runs a college similar to the Arya Samaj’s DAV college of Dayanand Saraswati. That communal
exclusiveness remains the fate of this space.

Bhai Ram Singh - An Unforgettable Architect Of Lahore

Apart from the walled city and some Mughal buildings that existed earlier, the rest of the city was built in terms of what he designed.
He designed the Chiefs College (Aitchison College), Lahore Museum, the Mayo School of Arts (National College of Arts), Punjab University Senate House and
scores of other buildings including DAV College and Canopy at Chairing Cross. He was the chief designer of buildings in Punjab in those years, and the man who
built them was Sir Ganga Ram. Between the two of them, they shaped pre-1947 Lahore.
Ram Singh, born 1st August 1858, to the Ramgarhia Sohal family at village Rasulpur, near Batala, district Gurdaspur, India, created a remarkable set of buildings
in Lahore, Amritsarand other cities of the Punjab. His education, training and achievements illustrate the colonial environment in which a native Sikh boy of genius
had the tenacity to surpass his British masters. By the age of sixteen he was sufficiently accomplished as a master craftsman, carpenter, to be called upon by the
Deputy Commissioner’s wife to carryout the delicate and challenging work of repairing a piano. His expertise and talent was spotted by amember of the British
bureaucracy, which led to his enrollment as a student in the LahoreSchool of Carpentry established in 1874. John Lockwood Kipling, a sculptor and painter,trained
in London and working in Bombay at the time, arrived in Lahore to set up the Mayo School of Industrial Art and students of the Carpentry School were enrolled as
its first class.With a remarkable clarity of vision Kipling sought to integrate European Art theory with a thorough study of the extant Indian heritage of art and
architecture. Ram Singh, as Kipling’s star pupil, never abandoned his traditions nor did he turn away from contemporarychallenges of architecture and thus
integrated the two in a creative and magnificent manner.On completion of his studies, Bhai Ram Singh worked at the Mayo School as a teacher and also
participated in all the practical work that the School was commissioned to do.His designs in woodwork won prizes in various exhibitions, and, at the young age of
28 years, he was declared a co-winner with the famous architect Col. Swinton Jacob, in anall-India competition for the design of the Aitchison College, Lahore. He
was commissioned by Queen Victoria to design her Durbar Hall, and she was so delighted with his work that she asked her court artist, Rudolph Swoboda, to paint
Ram Singh’sportrait. The portrait now hangs in the lobby of the Durbar Hall, Osborne House. Bhai Ram Singh rose to be the first native Principal of the Mayo
School in1909, and afterserving for four years retired in 1913.
Bhai Ram Singh passed away in 1916. His impact on the architecture of the Punjab, and Lahore in particular, can be gauged by the fact that all buildings of the
first half of 20th Century carry echoes of his design. Ram Singh’s buildings, Aitchison College, the Mayo School of Arts, the Lahore Museum, the Punjab
University Hall, the boarding house of the
Government College, the Albert Victor Hospital and other buildings in the Medical College complex show an integrity of design with a masterly handling of the
details of construction, in proportion, texture and rhythm. Whether it is the mundane feature of the Albert Victor Hospital porch, or the soaring tower of the Punjab
University, the lofty domes of the Museum, or the grandeur of Aitchison College, Ram Singh imparts to his building that touch of genius that differentiates the
ordinary from the truly inspired works of art. His use of the rope motif, the stylized animals, the variation in levels to play with the strong sun of Lahore and the
resultant chiaroscuro effects of light and shade, give his walls a life of their own. The walls change with the sun, now shining with strong light and later brooding in
the setting sun, they convey messages so typically Indian in their complexity of emotions strongly attached to nature and its vagaries.