In a first since Partition, Pakistan university introduces Sanskrit, plans Gita and Mahabharata courses

Pakistan university revives Sanskrit, plans courses on Gita and Mahabharata

For the first time since the 1947 India-Pakistan Partition, a university in Pakistan has formally reintroduced the teaching of Sanskrit, marking a significant cultural and academic milestone.

Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) has expanded a previously offered three-month weekend workshop into a full four-credit university course after witnessing strong interest from students, researchers, and academics.

The initiative is being led by Dr Ali Usman Qasmi of the Gurmani Centre at LUMS and Dr Shahid Rasheed, an associate professor at Forman Christian College. They have emphasised the importance of classical languages as cultural bridges, describing Sanskrit as a shared heritage of the region and a key to accessing ancient philosophical, literary, and historical texts.

The course also aims to revive scholarly engagement with Pakistan’s largely untouched Sanskrit manuscript collections, particularly the palm-leaf texts preserved at Punjab University.

Following the programme’s success, LUMS is planning to introduce future courses on texts such as the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita, with the long-term goal of developing Pakistan-based scholarship in Sanskrit studies.

The university hopes to eventually expand Sanskrit teaching into a year-long course by 2027, signalling a renewed academic engagement with a language that shaped much of South Asia’s intellectual and cultural traditions.