Government College University Faisalabad

History of the Institute

Government College University, Faisalabad has emerged as a leading center of learning and research in a short span of time. The University with its dynamic faculty and innovative syllabi has become a catalyst of intellectual, social and industrial change. It caters to the diverse needs of society by imparting education in almost all the major fields of learning.

The Government College University’s journey started as a primary school in 1897 in the present building of Government College for Women, Karkhana Bazar, Faisalabad. It was promoted to High School and Intermediate College in 1905 and 1924 respectively. It was elevated to the degree level in 1933 and postgraduate disciplines were introduced in 1963. The long journey that started with the humble beginning reached its climax when it was granted the status of University in October 2002.

The Government University, Faisalabad has a long history of excellence and distinction as an institution. Renowned scholars and eminent personalities have served this institution in various capacities at various stages of its history. It has produced outstanding personnel who have earned great fame not only for themselves but also for the nation.

The luminaries like Mr. Abdul Hameed, Mr. W.H.F. Armstrong, Mr. Lala Chattan Annand, Mr. Hashmat Khan, Mr. Taj Khyal, Mr. Namdar Khan, Mr. Karamat Hussain Jafari, Mr. Mukhtar Mahmood Qureshi, Mr. Asmat ullah Khan, Dr. Asif Iqbal Khan and Dr. Arif Zaidi have served this institution.

The university is situated at the Jhang Road not far from the historical Clock Tower. The main campus is spread on 37 acres and the construction of new campus has been started on an area of 200 acres some 3-4 kilometers away from the main campus at Jhang Road.

The University is offering educational degrees in different disciplines. The University is a hub of educational, social and cultural activities with a close liaison with industry.

School Era

The Middle School, opened by Lala Jowala Das in 1897, was raised to a High School in1905. Chaudhri Fateh-ud-Din, who some years back, retired from the Punjab education service as inspector of schools, Multan Division, was the first headmaster of the high school. To the historiographer, the institution presents the appearance of a rapidly growing youth, who is constantly outgrowing his garments. The high school began to grow in numbers and reputation and it had the exceptional good luck of having a succession of very competent headmasters ….. man who had made their mark in the service. In 1908 Sardar Mohan Singh took over from Chaudhri Fateh-ud-Din, and in turn made over to Lala Harkishen Das, M.A., who remained in charge of the school from 1909 to 1919.

During the headmastership of Lala Harkishen Das the school became very popular, and the records state that the old building (now occupied by the Government Intermediate College for Woman) was soon found to be insufficient for the requirements of the school. With the sympathetic support of Col. Douglas, the then Deputy Commissioner of Lyallpur, Lala Harkishen Das was able to persuade the department to sanction a grant for the new building. Lala Harkishen Das, who has since retired from the service, mentions that the keen personal interest in the matter taken by the late Rai Bahadur Sundar Das Suri, the then Inspector of schools, was of great help to him in securing the building grant of Rs. 1, 15, 000*. The building operations were taken in hand in 1912, but it was three years before the school could be moved into the new building, which with slight alterations and a few additions forms the present building of the college. A very conspicuous feature of the present building is the lovely approach linked on both sides with artistically planted trees of thick foliage forming a beautiful avenue. It testifies to the artistic taste of the planter. The layout of the playfields also reflects credit on those who ‘broke the first sod’. The building itself has little of architectural design or beauty about it, being severely utilitarian in aspect ……. a fit commentary on the spirit of the age in which we live.

Even as a school this institution was able to instill into the young minds of its alumni that love which draws out and develops the healthiest sentiments. Writing in the Degree College special number of the Beacon, an old boy of the school gives expression to his feelings in the following words:-

“These precincts were our ‘world’ years ago. Even now, of some fine morning, when the doors are shut and nobody is near by, I go out of my way and pass through the corridors of this old school of mine. There is none who can dispute this right of old, and once again I feel like a child in the lap of its mother…..”

The school continued to make progress and the next headmaster of note was Sheikh Mohammad Zahur-ud-Din, now Inspector of schools, Rawalpindi Division.

Lala Lachman Das, Head Clerk, who has been associated with the institution for over 19 years, tells an interesting anecdote regarding the next landmark in our annals.

In the year 1924, at the prize distribution of the school, the Headmaster Lala Hukam Chand, in his report remarked that there was persistence rumour ‘hanging like the sword of Damocles’ to the effect that the school would soon be converted into an intermediate college. On the conclusion of the Headmaster’s report Sir George Anderson in his presidential speech humorously told the gathering that the sword of Damocles which the Headmaster feared, must fall, and that the High School would be raised to an Intermediate College from May, 1924.

Headmasters

Lala Jowala Das 1897 to 01-09-1905 M. B. Middle School
Ch. Fateh-ud-Din 02-09-1905 to 14-05-1908 Govt. High School
S. Mohan Singh 15-05-1908 to 27-09-1909 Govt. High School
Lala Harkishen Das 28-9-1909 to 15-04-1919 Govt. High School
Lala Gokal Chand 16-04-1919 to 17-05-1921 Govt. High School
Lala Fateh Chand 18-05-1921 to 28-06-1921 Govt. High School
Sh. Mohd. Zahir-ud-Din 29-06-1921 to 29-04-1922 Govt. High School
L. Bhagwan Das 01-05-1922 to 11-03-1923 Govt. High School
Ch. Hukam Chand 12-03-1923 to 30-04-1924 Govt. High School

College Era

In May, 1924, the High School became an Intermediate College …… four-year institution with two high classes and two intermediate classes. Rana Abdul Hamid Khan, now the Principal of the deMontmorency College, Shahpur Sadr, was appointed the first Principal, but he was here for the brief space of four months only. On September 15, 1924, Mr. W.H.F. Armstrong assumed charge of the institution.

To start with, the high classes were fairly big, containing in all some 150 students, but the numbers in the high classes soon began to dwindle and recruitment to these classes became a troublesome problem for the authorities. Reviewing the entire period from the year 1924 to the year 1933, we find a steady decline in the number of students in these classes this was due largely to the absence of feeder schools and the competition of the high schools having their own middle departments. The maintenance of these classes consequently became very expensive and the dropping away of these classes in 1933 enabled the institution to effect an appreciable economy in the per capita cost of maintenance. All through the years the annual reports contain a note of pessimism in regard to the high classes. To quote from the principal’s report for 1032-33 “the local MBA school is not working as a feeder school (Large proportion of the studies bring draft into the high schools) for our 9th class. The Principal have no control over the school, and to the cooperation of the distract inspector of schools is scarcely of any help in improving the enrolment and the Municipal Committee has apparently no sympathy with our school classes. In these unfavorable circumstances we find the number in the school classes to be steadily decreasing in spite of our best efforts to the country.”

Thus, we find the college slowly reaching out to a higher destiny, where the high classes will have no place in the economy of things.

The history of the intermediate classes, however, presents an interesting contrast to the career of IX and X classes. In the year of the opening of the college, as many as 97 students were admitted to the first year. In the following year (1925), 117 were admitted and Principal Armstrong’s report for the year bespeaks some embarrassment pride on this score. “When the third class (i.e,first year classes) admissions took place in January, 1925,” remarks the Principal “I admitted 117 applications and turned away many……. More then one hundred students were admitted on the assumption that some would fall out after the vocation.”

The popularity of our intermediate classes encouraged the local Khalsa High School to convert itself into an intermediate college. But the opening of this college did not, in any manner, adversely affect our number. “Once again,” runs the report for 1926-27, “when the III class (year I) was admitted in January, 1926, many applications had to be turned away especially on the science side. The opening of a new Khalsa College at Lyallpur and a new Government College at Jhang apparently had no effect what ever on the number desiring admission to this college.”

Principals

Rana Abdul Hameed Khan 1 May 1924 – 14 Sep 1924 Government Intermediate College
W.H.F. Armstrong 15 Sep 1924 – 10 Apr 1927 Government Intermediate College
Sardar Tara Singh 11 Apr 1927 – 8 Jan 1928 Government Intermediate College
Rai Behadar Mr Mun Mohan 8 Jan 1929 – 30 Sep 1928 Government Intermediate College
Sardar Tara Singh 2 Oct 1928 – 7 Dec 1928 Government Intermediate College
Lala Chaitan Anand 8 Dec 1928 – 1 Oct 1933 Government Intermediate College
Lala Chaitan Anand 2 Oct 1933 – 31 Dec 1937 Government Degree College
Siri Krishan Kapoor 1 Jan 1938 – 15 Nov 1942 Government Degree College
J.L Wilson 26 Nov 1942 – 11 Oct 1946 Government Degree College
W. A. Barnan 12 Oct 1946 – 31 May 1947 Government Degree College
Gomti Parshad 1 June 1947 – 31 Aug 1947 Government Degree College
Hashmat Khan 1 Sep 1947 – 3 Jan 1949 Government Degree College
Dr. Ahmed Mukhtar 4 Jan 1949 – 30 Oct 1950 Government Degree College
Saadat Ali Khan 1 Nov 1950 – 22 Jan 1951 Government Degree College
Hashmat Khan 22 Jan 1951 – 19 Jul 1951 Government Degree College
Taj Muhamaad Khial 20 Jul 1951 – 30 June 1954 Government Degree College
Mian Namdar Khan 1 July 1954 – 31 Jul 1956 Government Degree College
Dr. Atta Mohi-ud-Din 1 Aug 1956 – 13 May 1959 Government Degree College
Mian Namdar Khan 1 Jun 1959 – 8 Nov 1959 Government Degree College
Syed Karamat Hussain Jafrri 29 Nov 1959 – 22 Apr 1968 Government Degree College
Mukhtar Mehmood Qureshi 23 Apr 1968 – 18 Dec 1972 Government Degree College
Munir Ahmed Ch 19 Dec 1972 – 19 June 1977 Government Degree College
Nazir Ahmed Awan 30 June 1977 – 16 Mar 1978 Government Degree College
Muhammad Naseer Ansari 25 Mar 1978 – 24 Jun 1979 Government Degree College
Shujaat Hussasin Bukhari 24 Jul 1979 – 1 Sep 1979 Government Degree College
Mian Muhammad Basheer 1 Sep 1979 – 20 Nov 1981 Government Degree College
Ch. Muhammad Sadiq 1 Dec 1981 – 18 Oct 1982 Government Degree College
Shoeb Bin Hassan 19 Oct 1982 – 31 May 1983 Government Degree College
Muhammad Aslam Khan 8 Jun 1983 – 12 Sep 1983 Government Degree College
Niaz Ahmed Ch 13 Sep 1983 – 11 Nov 1986 Government Degree College
Manzoor Ahmed Ch 12 Nov 1986 – 24 Dec 1986 Government Degree College
Dr. Bashir Ahmed Rana 24 Dec 1986 – 4 Jan 1990 Government Degree College
Ch. Muhammad Akbar 4 Jan 1990 – 13 Jun 1990 Government Degree College
Dr. Muhammad Ishaq Qureshi 14 Jun 1990 – 11 Apr 1991 Government Degree College
Dr. Shabir Ahmed Qureshi 11 Apr 1991 – 2 Oct 1995 Government Degree College
Dr. Bashir Ahmed Rana 2 Oct 1995 – 10 Oct 1997 Government Degree College
Zarar Akhtar Awan 10 Oct 1997 – 31 Dec 1997 Government Degree College
Dr. Shabbir Ahmed Quershi 01 Jan 1998 – 15 Aug 2000 Government Degree College
Asmat ullah Khan 15 Aug 2000 – 14 Sep 2000 Government Degree College
Dr. Mehmood Akhtar Cheema 15 Sep 2000 – 5 Sep 2001 Government Degree College
Dr. Riaz Majeed 6 Sep 2001 – 19 Nov 2001 Government Degree College
Dr. Abdul Rashid Khan 19 Nov 2001 – 31 Oct 2002 Government Degree College

University Era

Vice Chancellors

Prof. Dr. Asif Iqbal Khan 2003 to 21-11-2006 Government College University Faisalabad
Prof. Dr. Arif Ali Zaidi 01-01-2007 to 12-12-2008 Government College University Faisalabad
Prof. Dr. A. M. Khalid 13-12-2008 to 12-03-2009 Government College University Faisalabad
Prof. Dr. Shahid Mehboob Rana 11-03-2009 to 24-10-2010 Government College University Faisalabad
Prof. Dr. Zakir Hussain 25-10-2010 to 24-10-2014 Government College University Faisalabad
Prof. Dr. Muhammad Zuber 25-10-2014 to 17-12-2014 Government College University Faisalabad
Prof. Dr. Muhammad Ali (Tamgha-e-Imtiaz) 18-12-2014 to 22-11-2018 Government College University Faisalabad
Prof. Dr. Nasir Amin 23-11-2018 to 23-07-2019 Government College University Faisalabad
Prof. Dr. Shahid Kamal 24-07-2019 to date Government College University Faisalabad

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