No one has hitherto attempted to write a history of Edwardes College. However, the College’s centenary in AD 2000 is a suitable moment to undertake such a task. The history presented here is a brief outline sketch of the main event and developments, challenges and themes of the last 100 years.

The time will no doubt come when a full and thorough history is written. The present author, however, has only had limited time and resources. It is hoped that this short history will bring to a wide readership a better knowledge and understanding of how and why Edwardes College came into being and more remarkable still how and why it has flourished and grown in stature over the last century. What the future holds is not ours to tell, though our actions can help to mould it. The present author has had the immense privilege of playing a part in shaping the present. It may perhaps be argued that this closeness to current events of the author diminishes the value of this history. That may be. I have attempted to give a balanced, objective and honest account based upon the evidence available. It is, however, one person’s view and should be read as such.

The 19th century historian Lord Acton said of history that: “It must be our deliverer not only from undue influence of other times, but from the undue influence of our own”. And the great Roman Historian Cicero reminds us that: “To be ignorant of the past is to remain forever a child”.

I sincerely hope that at the very least this brief history will serve to remove some of the ignorance of the past and will enable us to see in a clearer light the true nature of this fine college, past and present.

Edwardes College began as a missionary foundation at the high water mark of British Rule in the Subcontinent. The story that unfolds in the following pages attempts to describe the development, challenges and changes that the college has encountered as two world wars came and went, as the in dependence movement gathered momentum, as independence and partition were declared, and as fifty years of Pakistan as a nation were achieved.

Edwardes College is now, of course, very different from what it was in the early days. And yet as you walk through the lovely campus and talk to the students and staff you gradually come to realize that the founding ideals and purposes are still alive. As we enter the new century it is right that a wide public reflects on this history and asks afresh what this college stands for and what standards and ideals it should continue to pursue and uphold.

Pre-History: 1855 to 1900

Edwardes High School was founded in 1855 by Sir Herbet Edwardes KCB GSCI Commissioner of Peshawar. This was the most significant educational achievement and possibly the most important work of his life. Lord Dalhousie appointed Edwardes Commissioner for Peshawar Division in September 1853. Edwardes was instrumental in acquiring the palace of Sardar Yar Muhammad Khan of the Durrani family to house a school and church. The School bearing his name was, therefore, established in the heart of the Old City adjacent to where the beautiful All Saints Church now stands. The first headmaster was Rev. Robert Clark of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) of London and at the end of the first year there were around one hundred students. Sir Herbert Edwardes felt passionately that the Colonial Government had obligations to provide for quality education for the local population. In the early years the school received Rs.240 as grant-in-aid from the government. By 1862 there were 219 boys on the roll (70 Muslims, 137 Hindus and 12 Christians) and by 1884 there were 500 students at the school. In 1872 a boarding house for external students was constructed in a large garden in the cantonment. The curriculum included English, Persian, Urdu, Arithmetic and Scriptures.

In 1889 the viceroy, Lord Landshown, inspected the school while on a visit to Peshawar. In a speech made at that occasion he said:

“…Remember that education in the true sense of the word means a good deal more than book learning, and that your object should be to obtain, while you are here that larger kind of education which consists, not merely in obtaining proficiency in school work, but the organization of those qualities which are indispensable in order to make a good school boy or a good citizen. Loyalty, respect for authority, modesty, self-respect, truthfulness and a keen sense of honor, these are lessons which no amount of reading will teaching efficiently…unless supplemented by noble contacts and other influences and I believe such influences exist in the Mission School here.”

It was considered to be something quite remarkable that a school should have been established in such a place. The central purpose was the education of Pathans and the early records list Yusufzais, Khattaks, Afridis, Oraksoais, Mohmands, Ningraha and Durranis. There were also sons of Kabuli Sardars as well as boys from Kafiristan, Chitral and Swat.

Edwardes, along with men like Lawrence and Abbot, was in the classical mid-Victorian mould of soldier-administrators with evangelical Christian convictions. Underlying the enterprise of establishing high quality education was the evangelical commitment to proclaim the Gospels. It was not long until Edwardes High School had gained a reputation as “one of the best schools in India”.

Beginnings: 1900 to 1907

College classes were started at Edwardes High School on 1 May 1900. Rev. Hoare, while Principal of the school took the decision to open College classes in the school and undertook that, if recognition were given, a building would be established and separate classes organized. For a number of years the College operated as part of Edwardes High School under the auspices of the Church Missionary Society of London. The founding Principal was Rev.H.J.Hoare. During these years there were about 30 students in the college. In 1903 the Principal reported:

“…The college continues to do good work in a quiet way…and will in the near future prove a very real force in the moral and social culture.”

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