The University of Punjab

The University of the Punjab (as it is now spelled) was formally established in Lahore, in present-day Pakistan, in 1882. It was the fourth university founded by the British colonial authorities on the Indian subcontinent and it was the first university that expanded its scope from being an examining university to teaching and examining both.

It was founded to take on some of the colleges then affiliated with the University of Calcutta (Kolkata), whose jurisdiction included most of northern India and parts of Burma.

Until independence in 1947 The University of the Punjab fulfilled the educational needs of a vast region of the Subcontinent. Partition of the Subcontinent somewhat reduced the geographical limits of the jurisdiction of the University.

After the creation of Pakistan in 1947, the university in Lahore relinquished its colleges on Indian territory, which then became affiliated with the newly established Punjab University in Chandigarh, India.

J.F. Bruce (1867–1933), who published this work in 1933, was the university’s first professor of history. He describes the early days of the university, donations by ruling princes and individuals, and key figures in its academic development.
The University of Punjab