For more than 200 years, the Government Muslim Higher Secondary School on Saidpur Road has continued to impart education to students.

In 1813, during Sikh rule in Punjab before the arrival of the British, a small school was opened to provide education to the local Sikh community.

Under colonial rule, the small religious school was given high school status, and moved to a new building in 1913 spread over more than 100 kanals of land to accommodate more students. The school also opened its doors to other communities, such as Hindus and Muslims.

Then known as Khalsa High School, the institution became one of the biggest schools in the district and taught many people in northern Punjab.

The foundation stone of the current building was laid by Sir Michael Francis O’dwyer, the lt governor of Punjab. Sardar Sohan Singh and Sardar Mohan Singh played a key role in the building’s construction.

The E-shaped building was constructed in the Anglo-Indian architectural style, with three vast playgrounds and a hostel for students who came from nearby villages and towns to live in.

The building consists of a large enclosure of arched apartments with a gate to the west and three grounds to the east. Stair-towers in the main building give it a majestic view, and in the centre of the entire complex is a hall that is said to have been used for Sikh religious occasions.

There is also a Buddha tree on the premises that is more than 200 years old, while the gardens are decorated with flowerbeds.

In the old days, this area was outside city limits and few people visited. Before partition in 1947, it became an upscale locality mostly populated by wealthy Sikhs and Hindus who built bungalows there.

The building for Khalsa High School was completed in a year, under the management of Sardar Sohan Singh and Sardar Mohan Singh, using donations from Sikhs and Hindus to the tune of Rs16,919.

Among the donors were Maharaja of Faridkot Brijindar Singh who donated Rs1,000 in memory of his wife, Ram Singh Sawahney gave land and Rs500, Sardar Mohan Singh and Sardar Sohan Singh donated Rs6,000 and the Rachunath Mandir Committee donated Rs1,600.

In 1948, the school became the first government-run school in the Rawalpindi division. It was handed over to Syed Niaz Ahmed Tirmazi, who operated a large school in Aligarh, and allotted to him in lieu of the land he left.

The school remained a private institution until 1971, after which it was taken over by the provincial government.

The school’s current principal, Abdul Jalil, told Dawn that the school was allotted to Tirmazi on the condition that he would rename it Muslim High School. He then gifted the school to the Punjab government in 1972.

He said a Turkish primary school was also opened in the school’s backyard, but it closed in the early 2000s.

“In 1996, the school was made an intermediate college,” he said.

The school has more than 700 students from the primary level to second year, he said, adding that higher secondary students have won medals in various subjects and extra-curriculars.

Mr Jalil said the building has many classrooms but fewer people were enrolling their children in government-run schools. There are also two grounds, a hockey ground and a cricket ground, on 47 kanals of land.

Mohammad Yaqoob, a senior teacher, said the school administration possesses records from 1813 but they are in very bad condition. He said they are working to make a list of former students, including Sikhs who have visited the school.

Published in Dawn, June 16th, 2019