That Lahore was once known as the city of colleges, gardens and learning, which in no small measure was because of the efforts of two great educationists, they being Leitner and Woolner. Few know of them today.

One cannot refute the fact that our history books tend to ignore the truly great and concentrates on those belonging to a common faith, even if they are insignificant in their contribution. While Leitner helped to set up great institutions in Lahore like Government College, the Punjab University, Oriental College and others, it was Woolner who came to see them run efficiently and establish them as great seats of learning. That today these men are both sparingly known is a reflection of the communal age and times in which we live.

In earlier columns we have reflected on Leitner, so it makes sense to now discuss Woolner. The sole British-era public statue left standing in the city is opposite the Lahore Museum on The Mall is his. While all others have been demolished by our extremist beliefs, this is one that is protected by students of every shade: A tribute to a great scholar, teacher, researcher and vice chancellor of the Punjab University.

Standing tall and impressive outside the Punjab University old campus, everyone knows about the statue, but then if you ask people at random, or for that matter even students of the institutions he led, probable a handful would know about him and what he stood for. So it is in the fitness of things that this column should try to spell out a few things he stood for.

Dr. Alfred Cooper Woolner was born in Staffordshire in England on the 13th of May, 1878, the son of a school head master. When he was two years old, the family returned to their native Suffolk country house near Ipswich. For the next 10 years his mother educated him and at 12 years of age he joined the Queen Elizabeth School, Ipswich. At school he was brilliant. He stood first in every class and won almost every prize. He also participated in dramatics and other school activities.

In 1897, he joined Trinity College, Oxford, and was awarded a scholarship. He studied Sanskrit, Persian and the Classics, and because he scored record marks he was ‘chaired’ around the college. He distinguished himself in Oriental Literature, in the process learning learnt Chinese, Punjabi and Urdu. In 1903, he got a job as principal of Oriental College, Lahore, as well as the registrar of the Punjab University. So it was that he landed in Lahore.

To these two institutions he remained attached till his death in January 1936, in Mayo Hospital, Lahore. So for 33 years this great scholar moulded the very institutions that he worked for, a lifetime of excellence. One description of Woolner is that he instilled in every student the habit of being courteous and kind. The ideal environment for scholarship was well in place.

In 1928, he was made vice chancellor of the Punjab University. Along the way he was awarded a Royal CIE, and made a fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal. In 1933, he was conferred with a degree of Doctor of Literature. His contribution to ancient oriental languages saw the French nomination of ‘Officer d’Academie Francaise’, which for an Englishman still remains a rare honour.

Though most of his time was spent on university administrative pastimes, yet he continued to concentrate on Sanskrit, Prakrit, Punjabi and Persian. His massive collection of Sanskrit and Prakrit manuscripts led to him undertaking several research projects, like ‘Dictionary of Prakrit’ as well as a ‘History of the 13th Century’ and ‘Languages in History and Politics’, all still masterpieces.

Besides these undertakings, he started courses on Jain Studies, as well as Vedic and Vernacular Studies. The result of such an amazing array of research led to him producing in 1917 an ‘Introduction to Prakrit’, in 1925 a classic ‘Asoka Text and Glossary’, in 1931 another classic ‘13 Plays attributed to Bhasa’. After his death in 1937 was published a ‘Handbook of Philology’.

Just as Dr Woolner was a tireless scholar and educationist, his wife joined him in setting up Lahore’s Minerva Club for social discussion and learning. He was known in Lahore for his daily long walks in the evenings on The Mall, and one account tells us that people used to get out of the way to let this tall healthy gent pass. In return Woolner always thanked everyone for the courtesy, smiling in the process. It was local Lahore folklore when people told their friends that the “tall sahib thanked me for letting him pass”.

In December 1935, he fell ill with malaria and developed pneumonia, and died two weeks later. A pall of sadness spread over Lahore and on 8th of January 1936, he was buried in the Christian Graveyard on Jail Road. His grave is registered as number 125 and has a black marble slab with a Vedic line in Devanagari script which reads: “Out of non-being lead me into being; out of darkness into light, out of death into life eternal”. In a way it reflects his lifetime achievements.

The university that he had crafted with immense devotion set up the statue that we still see outside the original campus. After his death his wife donated the amazing 30,000-book Woolner Collection of Sanskrit and other manuscripts to the Punjab Library. A few years ago I went to consult a particular manuscript, and was appalled to see it thrown to one side covered in dust. A column in this newspaper then led to it being dusted and stored in a cupboard. One wonders what happened to it since.

The point is just how does one today honour these two great scholars of Lahore? A few years ago through this column we campaigned to get Katchery Road renamed Leitner Road, as Government College, Oriental College and Punjab University were founded by him/ the then Punjab minister, a gentleman by the name of Rana Sanaullah, speaking in the Punjab Assembly opposed the resolution with the remark: “How can we rename a road by someone who does not read the Quran. He is probably a Jew”.

My retort the following week was that Leitner has written two books titled ‘An Introduction to the Quran’, and ‘Understanding the Quran’. He has, using his own funds, build England’s first mosque at Woking, which even today is a leading Islamic research centre and mosque. When again questioned he retorted: “So what.”

About Woolner there is a need to honour this great man in some appropriate manner. A few scholarships to study the ancient languages of our land should be put in place. After all it is about time the Woolner Collection in the Punjab Public Library needs to be dusted.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2023