History

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History of Government College Lahore

The Government College Lahore was opened on January 1st, 1864 by an order of Lt. Governor Punjab. Its establishment was subsequently confirmed by the government of India in April. 1864. In the same year i.e. 1864 this institution was affiliated to the Calcutta University for the examination in arts. Doctor. G.W.Leitner of the Freiburg University then a professor of Arabic and Mohammedan law at king’s college London was appointed as principal. The college was temporarily located in first instant along with Zilla school in a portion of Raja Singh’s Hawalee. A couple of rooms on the first floor consisted of a boarding house.

The first college class consisted of 9 students who matriculated from Calcutta University and almost all the students of the college were given scholarship .the value of the stipend range from Rs.10/-to 15/-. The first examination of the student’s send up was that of F.A. of the Calcutta University in1865.

The old building in the city had long been found unsatisfactory and in April 1871 the college was moved to a large bungalow in Anarkali. The borders first lived in out-houses and subsequently in ‘Bans Mondi’ known as “choty lal ki koti”. The hostel kept on shifting. Some times in a big house in the area of Mozang and some times in Anarkali and Court Street.

The present picturesque of the college with a large center clock tower, in situated on an eminence to the east of district Kutcheri and north of the public garden known as Nasir Bagh. The structure of the building is in Gothic style, and contains accommodation for the college, a large examination and lecture hall used also for convocation purpose, and two large rooms, one for a library, and other for models etc.

The college till about 1890 consisted of twelve large class roams, and four small once, or sixteen in all, eight were in the lower and eight in the upper story.

The Examination and Lecture hall is 55’ x 35’with a gallery of 10 feet wide all round, access to which, as well as to the upper rooms and the Library is gained by a masonry staircase. Access to the upper rooms of the College, is gained by a wide staircase, an octagonal tower, at the northwest corner of the building. The connecting passages and the verandahs are 10 feet wide.

The outer walls and all the exposed parts of the superstructure are of large, well shaped bricks, carefully dressed and laid in Flemish bond, with straight and fine joints. The outside brick-work is finely dressed, and the moldings and ornamental portions are neatly excruciated.

Designed by W. Purdon, Esq., superintending engineer, and constructed by Raj Bahadur Kanhia Lal, at a cost of price Rs.320537. The construction was commenced in 1872 and was completed in five years. More than double of the accommodation has been added to the above construction after 1900 especially after 1947.

The Government College has a big library containing thousands of books. There is also a well-stocked museum.

It may be added that in the year 1994 this college was made autonomous with a Board of Governors. The college now formulates it's own policies in respect of academics and other activities including financial matters.

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