Lahore was historically known as a city of educational institutions and gardens. It sounds incredible; an integral part of educational institutions are books. In other words, libraries.

Let me remind you how the destruction of Nalanda (university) or Darul Hikmat of Bagdad is remembered; their libraries were either burnt to ashes or thrown into rivers. Thus the glorious traditions of higher learning in India and Iraq were laid to rest, never to rise again.

That Lahore was one of centres of higher learning in the subcontinent needs to be researched. From the present perspective the claim looks doubtful, looks sketchy, and for some non-existent. The reason is simple; if no traces of old libraries are found, the existence of institutions of higher status becomes doubtful. Higher learning has an umbilical bond with books. Just look at Lahore. It has a population of almost 14 million, a huge number by any standard. But can boast of hardly less than six public libraries such as Punjab Public Library, Dayal Singh Trust Library, Quaid-i-Azam Library, Model Town Library, Defence Public Library Complex and Chughtai Public Library. Most of them look detached, cold and uninviting. Quaid-i-Azam Library, housed in a spectacularly beautiful Lawrence Garden on the Mall Road, is a sight to be savoured. Its colonial style building is a wonderful piece of architecture. It was initially used as a Natuch Ghar -Bal Room- where sahebs and mems saheb used to cool out after their day’s work. The library is designed as a research library where only members have to have a degree in order to be qualified as a member. Believe me I am not joking. A responsible officer told me that some of the rules had been relaxed.

The Defence Public Library is the funniest thing in the town. Only its members can have access to the library, and in order to be a member one has to be a resident of Defence Housing Authority. The Authority enforces strict gender segregation; they have separate male and female sections. Physical distance between the two sections acts as an Afghan Taliban curtain. Low and behold! This is the area where the old and new rich live on the most expensive piece of land, and pretend to be the most advanced and westernised segment of our society. They like even to consume imported yoghurt.

Apart from this pitiable number of public libraries we have college and university libraries designed for students. Majid Sheikh, who knows the history of Lahore like the palm of his hand, writes in one of his columns : “probably the oldest known ruler interested in books held sway over Lahore was the emperor Harsha Vardhana…Chinese traveller Xuan Zang…mentions wonderful book collections… we know of Lahore ruler being ransacked and flattened by invader Mahmood of Ghazni in 1021 AD. In that act, and this is presumption, every book was lost forever… We then see Lahore being rebuilt and destroyed seven times, last being the Mughal invader Babar, who was no mean poet and book collector. Akbar, the Great, who expanded the walled city, Lahore, who built the finest collection the city had till then seen. Hehimsel would set off to pick any rare manuscript and always travelled with his librarian. In his days, the Lahore Fort had a collection of over 24,000 books and rare manuscripts in a number of languages.” After Akbar we have Maharaja Ranjit Singh who became a formidable ruler of Punjab, and was illiterate like Akbar. He had a great passion for knowledge. “His Lahore Fort’s Toshakhana record, compiled in 1849 by Dr. Login, the library rare books and manuscripts had over 27, 570.”

Majid writes in another column The History of Punjab Public Library after the British captured Lahore: “The British then started ‘Anarkarli Book Club’, and the board stated, as one account of Golding tells us, ‘European only’. When the Lawrence Hall was built and became part of the Lahore and Mian Mir institute, now called the Lahore Gymkhana, the library was moved there. Thus the ‘baradari’ became available once again. At this stage Lt. Governor, Sir Charles Atchison wished that a library to reflect the immense history and literary traditions of Lahore be built in the baradari.” Sadly, post-Partition we did not try to build on this tradition. In our puritan streak we destroyed and threw away Sanskrit and Punjabi books in Gurmukhi script.

Good news is that recently Quad-i-Azam Library has added a section of Punjabi books. Credit surely goes to Mr. Kashif Manzoor, D.G. Libraries, Punjab. He himself is a man of letters and an intellectual. One hopes he will see to it that the section becomes worth the name. Mr. Kashif has made the library a happening place where literary and cultural events are regularly held in a wonderful atmosphere. May I suggest that all public libraries in Punjab must reflect linguistic and literary richness of the country born of historical diversity. — soofi01@hotmail.com

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2025