The University of the Punjab (UoP) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites of Knowledge production modes, knowledge production", along with "intergenerational ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. Founded in 1882, its international influence has made it one of the most prestigious universities in

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

; being the oldest and largest public sector one in the wider

Punjab region Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

, as well as in Pakistan. The first meeting of the University's Senate was on 14 October 1882 at

Simla Shimla, also known as Simla (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Himachal Pradesh, the official name until 1972), is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summe ...

, which marked the formal establishment of the university. Punjab University was the fourth university to be established by the British colonial authorities in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

; the first three universities were established in other parts of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. There are 45,678 students (27,907 morning students, 16,552 evening students and 1,219 diploma students). The university has 19 faculties of which there are 138 academic departments, research centres, and institutes. Punjab University has ranked first among large-sized multiple faculty universities by the HEC in 2012. There are also two

Nobel Laureate The Nobel Prizes (, ) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make outstanding contributions in th ...

s among the university's alumni and former staff. Additionally, the university is also a member of the

Association of Commonwealth Universities The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) is a charitable organization that was established in 1913, and has over 400 member institutions in over 40 countries across the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth.United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The university has campuses in

Gujranwala Gujranwala is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, fourth most-populous city in the Pakistani province of Punjab. Located in northern-central Punjab's Rachna Doab, it serves as the headquarters of its Gujranwala District, epony ...

, Jhelum, and Khanaspur.

History

The University of Punjab was given its initial impetus in 1854 by

Wood's despatch Wood's despatch is the informal name for a formal despatch that was sent by Sir Charles Wood, the President of the Board of Control of the British East India Company to Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General of India. Wood's communique suggested ...

. The Institute of Administrative Sciences was created in 1962. Many major institutions that were previously affiliated to the university have become independent universities, such as

Government College University, Lahore The Government College University (colloquially known as GCU; Punjabi, Urdu: ) is a public research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded as Government College, Lahore, in 1864 under British administration, it became a university i ...

and Medical and Engineering Colleges.

Pre Partition

On 1 January 1864, Government College, Lahore, (now

) was established. The Lieutenant Governor of Punjab

Donald Friell McLeod Sir Donald Friell McLeod (6 May 1810 – 28 November 1872) was an Anglo-Indian civil servant who served as Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab between 1865 and 1870. He was one of the founders of Lahore Oriental College, now part of the Pun ...

appointed Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner as principal of Government College Lahore (now

). On 12 March 1868, a resolution was adopted at a public meeting in

to establish University of the Punjab at Lahore. On 8 December 1869, Punjab University College was established in

and on 14 October 1882, University of the Punjab was established. Prof.

Arthur Compton Arthur Holly Compton (September 10, 1892 – March 15, 1962) was an American particle physicist who won the 1927 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of the Compton effect, which demonstrated the particle nature of electromagnetic radiati ...

, who discovered

Compton effect Compton scattering (or the Compton effect) is the quantum theory of high frequency photons scattering following an interaction with a charged particle, usually an electron. Specifically, when the photon hits electrons, it releases loosely bound e ...

used to be an appointed lecturer in the university. He received the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

in 1927.

Founding Colleges

After the resolution of 12 March (1868), in 1869 Punjab University College was established, consisting of Punjab University Law College and Oriental College, which are still the oldest departments and founding constituent colleges of Punjab University. Government College University was also made a part of University of the Punjab which was later separated and became an independent university in 2002.

Post Partition

The fate of the university after the

partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

in 1947, was deliberated at the Punjab Partition Committee, with representatives from East Punjab advocating for a division of the university. The senate of the university voted to split the university, and the matter reached the Partition Council at the centre, but a decision could not be made. The government in East Punjab was compelled to establish a new university, which eventually became the Panjab University in

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

Campus

The university is divided into campuses across Punjab with one summer campus located in

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

: * Allama Iqbal Campus: also known as the old campus, located in the centre of

, it is named after the South Asian thinker and mystic poet Allama Muhammad Iqbal. The campus houses the Senate, the Syndicate, the Selection Board and the Advanced Studies & Research Board are generally held there. * Quaid-i-Azam Campus: also known as the new campus, is named after the founder of Pakistan and is located to the south of the Allama Iqbal Campus. Spread over an area of . The campus is the centre of academic and administrative activities of the university. A canal divides the academic blocks from the student lodgings. * Gujranwala Campus: the faculties of Commerce, Economics and Management Sciences, Banking & Finance, Law, English, and Information Technology all conduct teaching in the campus. In addition to degree programs, campus provides short courses, facilitated by ''e-Rozgar'' program of Punjab Information Technology Board. * Khanspur Campus: the summer campus is located at a height of about in the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 pea ...

n range near Ayubia. The campus, in addition to providing research facilities, is used as a recreational center for the faculty and the students. * Jhelum Campus: having opened in 2012, it offers studies relating to the faculties of Commerce, Economics and Management Sciences, Law and Computer Science.

Academics

Rankings

University of the Punjab is ranked 570 Internationally in the

QS World University Rankings The ''QS World University Rankings'' is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with '' Times ...

for the year 2025 and 2nd nationally. It is also ranked #18 in Asian universities by QS Rankings.

Faculties

There are 19 faculties with 10 constituent colleges, 73 departments, centers, and institutes. It has 1006 full-time and 300 part-time faculty members involved in teaching/research and over 6,000 non-teaching/supporting staff with 45,678 on campus students (27,907 Morning students, 16,552 Evening students and 1,219 Diploma students): * Faculty of Arts and Humanities * Faculty of Agriculture * Faculty of Geo-Sciences * Faculty of Information & Media Studies * Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences * Faculty of Commerce * Faculty of Law * Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences * Faculty of Education * Faculty of Engineering & Technology * Faculty of Health Sciences * Faculty of Islamic Studies * Faculty of Life-Sciences * Faculty of Oriental Learning * Faculty of Pharmacy * Faculty of Science * Faculty of Quality & Industrial Systems Engineering Jamia Masjid Punjab University in a Marvelous scene

Jamia Masjid Punjab University in a Marvelous scene

Constituent colleges

* College of Art and Design (PUCAD) * Punjab University Law College (PULC) * Hailey College of Banking & Finance * Hailey College of Commerce (HCC) * University College of Pharmacy Punjab University College of Pharmacy (PUCP) * Punjab University College of Information Technology (PUCIT) * College of Statistical and Actuarial Sciences * College of Engineering & Emerging computing * College of Earth and Environmental Sciences (CEES) * University Oriental College lahore (PUOC)

Institutes

*Institute of Business Administration *Institute of Administrative Services *Institute of Business and Information Technology *Institute of Information Management *Institute of Botany *Institute of Zoology *Institute of Geography *Institute of Special Education *Institute of Microbiology and Biotechnology *Institute of Applied Psychology *Institute of Social and Cultural Studies *Institute of Geology *Institute of Electrical Electronics and Computer Engineering *Institute of Polymer and Textile Engineering *Institute of Chemical Engineering and Technology *Institute of Metallurgy and Material Engineering *Institute of English *Institute of Punjabi and Cultural Studies *Institute of Urdu Language and Literature

Facilities

Library

The library is one of the largest libraries among the universities of

. The library has more than 500,000 books, magazines and periodicals, in nine national and international languages, in print and on CD, DVD, microfilm, microfiche, video and audio cassette, and manuscript. Punjab University Library has a two-storey building with a total area of 102,000 square feet. There are reading halls on the ground and first floors with a seating capacity of 2500 readers. The library has an internet lab. In the library there is a computerised "MLIMs" catalogue for searching material.

Notable alumni

Nobel Laureate

* Abdus Salam (

Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes (, ) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make outstanding contributions in th ...

1979 – Physics) * Har Gobind Khorana (

1968 – Medicine) * Prof. Arthur Holly Compton (Former Faculty member and appointed lecturer in PU.

1927 – Physics for his discovery of Compton's effect)

Educationist

* Manzoor Mirza (Educationist, economist, and book author) * Farkhanda Manzoor - Former Vice-Chancellor of Lahore College for Women University

Politicians

Raja Anwar akistan people party founderand riter of * Asma Jahangir (Human rights activist and lawyer, co-founder of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan) * Choudhry Rahmat Ali (Founder of the Pakistan Movement, coined the name of Pakistan) * Inder Kumar Gujral (12th

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Union Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers, despite the president of ...

) * Liaqat Baloch (Politician and Islamic Activist) *

Muhammad Iqbal Muhammad Iqbal (9 November 187721 April 1938) was a South Asian Islamic philosopher, poet and politician. Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philoso ...

(Urdu poet, philosopher, and politician) * Shahbaz Bhatti (Catholic Pakistani politician and minority rights activist) * Syed Ali Shah Geelani (Pro-Pakistani, Kashmiri-separatist leader) * Yashwant Singh Parmar (founder of the state of

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

in India) * Yousaf Raza Gillani (18th

Prime Minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan (, Roman Urdu, romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Cabinet of Pakistan, cabinet, desp ...

) * Zahoor Ahmed Sajid (former Member of Provincial Assembly of Punjab)

Scientists

* Athar Shah Khan (comedian, poet, and writer) * Bilal U. Haq (marine geoscientist and laureate of France's Prestwich Prize in geology) * Faqir Chand Kohli (father of the Indian IT Industry) * Ishfaq Ahmad ( Theoretical and

Nuclear physicist Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...

, chairman of PAEC during the first atomic tests in Pakistan in 1998) * Muhammad Sharif (Relativistic astrophysicist and cosmologist) * Muhammad Tahir Ul Qadri (Pakistani-Canadian Islamic scholar) * Sartaj Aziz (Pakistani economist, strategist and former National Security Advisor) *

Satish Dhawan Satish Dhawan (25 September 1920 – 3 January 2002) was an Indian mathematician and aerospace engineer. He served as the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) from 1972 to 1984 and is often regarded as the father ...

(Indian rocket scientist, chairman of

ISRO The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO ) is India's national space agency, headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka. It serves as the principal research and development arm of the Department of Space (DoS), overseen by the Prime Minister o ...

, and director of the

Indian Institute of Science The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a Public university, public, Deemed university, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The ...

) *

Shoaib Mansoor Shoaib Mansoor (; born 4 February 1951 Karachi) is a Pakistani television and film director, writer, producer, lyricist and musician of Mahajir (Pakistan), Muhajir origin. Active in the Television in Pakistan, television industry since 1976, w ...

(Pakistani movie director) * Wasiullah Khan (Pakistani-American founder of the East–West University in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

) * Yash Pal (Indian educator and scientist known for cosmic ray research as well as popularizing science education in India)

Lawyers

* M.D Tahir * SM Zafar * Ali Ahmed Kurd * Sardar Latif Lhosa * Asma Jahangir * Naeem Bukhari

Judges

* Javed Iqbal (Son of Allama Muhammad Iqbal) * Mian Saqib Nisar (25th Chief Justice of Pakistan) * Jawwad S. Khawaja (23rd Chief Justice of Pakistan) * Asif Saeed Khosa (26th Chief Justice of Pakistan) * Muhammad Afzal Zullah * Muhammad Munir (2nd Chief Justice of Pakistan) * Nasim Hasan Shah (12th Chief Justice of Pakistan) * Muhammad Yaqub Ali (CJP 1975–1977) * Mansoor Ali Shah * Nasira Iqbal * Irshad Hasan Khan (CJP 2000–2002) * Munib Akhtar * Azmat Saeed * Malik Shehzad Ahmed Khan

Architects

* Nayyar Ali Dada (Sitara e Imtiaz)

Literature

* Khalid Iqbal Yasir, poet * Shahbaz Malik, writer

Noted PU faculty

(Most of the alumni listed above also served in the University of the Punjab faculty, so their names are not repeated here) * Prof. Arthur Compton (Nobel Lauterate- 1927 in Physics for his discovery of Compton's effect) * Anwaar Ahmad (Writer and scholar, Received Pride of performance award for his literary services) * Anna Molka Ahmed (Artist, Tamgha e Imtiaz 1963 and Pride of Performance award 1969) * GF Bruce (Journalist and fashion editor for Town and Country) * Mian Shah Din (Barrister and judge) *

Oliver Elton Oliver Elton, Fellow of the British Academy, FBA (3 June 1861 – 4 June 1945) was an English literary scholar whose works include ''A Survey of English Literature (1730–1880)'' in six volumes, criticism, biography, and translations from severa ...

(English literary scholar) * Kanwal Ameen (2010 HEC Best University Teacher Award) * E.M. Forster (Famous English novelist. Nominated for Nobel Prize Awards in 20 separate years) * Omar Asghar Khan (Pakistani economist and founder of National Democratic Party) * Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner (British Orientalist) * Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi (Pakistani historian and received Sitara e Imitiaz) * Sir Ganga Ram (Pakistani architect who designed and built Aitchison College, Lahore Museum, General post office Lahore, Hailey College of Commerce and also Model Town and Gulberg) * Alfred Cooper Woolner (ex Vice chancellor of

Punjab University Punjab University may refer to: India * Punjab Agricultural University, a state agricultural university in Ludhiana, Punjab * I. K. Gujral Punjab Technical University, a state university in Kapurthala, Punjab * Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Techn ...

)

Vice Chancellors

* James Broadwood Lyall * Baden Henry Powell * George Robert Elsmie * William Henry Rattiga * William Mackworth Young * Charles Arthur Roe * Thomas Gordon Walker * Sir Lewis Tupper * Sir P C Chattrji * Frederick Robertson (judge) * Sir James Ewing * H J Maynard * J Stephenson * H B Durrand * Geoffrey Fitzhervey de Montmorency * A. C. Woolner *

Malcolm Lyall Darling Sir Malcolm Lyall Darling (10 December 1880 – 1 January 1969) was a member of the Indian Civil Service (ICS) who was appointed Assistant Commissioner of the Punjab, British India, Punjab, British India, in 1904. Having held numerous other pos ...

* George. D. Brane * B H Dobson * C H Rice * Muhammad Afzal Husain * Abdur Rahman (Pakistani judge) * Omar Hayat Malik * Mian Abdul Rashid * S. A. Rahman * Muhammad Ajmal * Lt. General Muhammad Safdar * Mujahid Kamran * Zafar Moeen Nasir * Niaz Ahmad Akhtar * Asghar Zaidi * Khalid Mahmood

References

External links

Official website
of University of the Punjab {{authority control British India Vice-chancellors of the University of the Punjab Public universities and colleges in Punjab, Pakistan Universities and colleges in Lahore Universities and colleges established in 1882 1882 establishments in British India