<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>PAÑJ&#256B&#298 PRACH&#256RN&#298 SABH&#256</TITLE>
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<p class="C1">&#65279PAÑJ&#256B&#298 PRACH&#256RN&#298 SABH&#256, society for the promotion of Punjabi language, established in 1882 under the aegis of the Lahore Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257. In pursuance of the policy set forth in the famous Wood's Dispatch of 1853 (a letter from Sir Charles Wood, President of the Board of Control of the East India Company) high schools in some district and <i>tahs&#299l</i> towns and primary schools in some villages were opened in the Punjab and a system of grants-in-aid for privately run schools was, introduced. The medium of instruction in village schools opened by the British was Urdu, and the syllabi were drawn up on secular basis. This meant a setback to indigenous education in Punjabi, traditionally carried out in <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s, &#7693er&#257s</i> and <i>dharams&#257l&#257s</i>. As G.W. Leitner, <i>History of Indigenous Education in the Punjab</i>, 1883, states on the basis of a survey of some districts carried out by Bh&#257&#299  Gurmukh Si&#7749gh, "...it is clear that by the establishment of Government village and town schools and the procedure adopted by them, a death blow has been dealt to the indigenous Gurmukh&#299 [Punjabi] and N&#257gar&#299 [Hindi] schools. A solicitude for obtaining employment for their children induced the parents of many pupils attending the indigenous schools to withdraw them from those institutions of combined religious and secular education and to send them to the purely secular schools established by Government... He [Bh&#257&#299 Gurmukh Si&#7749gh] further shews that the disparity between the number of the Gurmukh&#299 knowing people of the old school and that of the same class in the present time is out of all proportion, the former being many times more than the latter."</p>
<p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;	Under the new regime, Punjabi received little official patronage. The Añjuman-i-Pañjab, a literary association formed in 1865, had a Punjabi section for which L&#257l&#257 Bih&#257r&#299 L&#257l Pur&#299, R&#257i M&#363l Si&#7749gh and Bh&#257&#299 Harbhagat Si&#7749gh translated a few English books into Punjabi. In 1873, some leading Sikhs of the day set up in Amritsar a society called Sr&#299 Gur&#363 Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257. Its primary aims were the reform and propogation of the Sikh faith and the promotion of Punjabi language. Bh&#257&#299 Gurmukh Si&#7749gh (1849-98), then a student at the Government College at Lahore, left off his studies to work for the new movement. He was instrumental in having Punjabi included, in 1877, in the curriculum at the Oriental College, Lahore, where he himself was appointed the first lecturer to teach the language. The Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257, Lahore, established in 1879 with Bh&#257&#299 Gurmukh Si&#7749gh as its secretary, set up the Pañj&#257b&#299 Prach&#257rn&#299 Sabh&#257 in 1882 with the object of popularizing and promoting Punjabi. It had Sard&#257r Attar Si&#7749gh of Bhadau&#7771 as its patron and R&#257o Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh as its president. Prominent among the members were Bh&#257&#299 Gurmukh Si&#7749gh, So&#7693h&#299 Hukam Si&#7749gh, L&#257l&#257 N&#257nak Ba<u>kh</u>sh, Bh&#257&#299 Ratan Si&#7749gh and Bh&#257&#299 &#256y&#257 Si&#7749gh. A highlight of the Sabh&#257's short career was the presentation in May 1882 of a memorandum signed by 50,000 persons supporting Punjabi to the Hunter Commission, appointed to assess the working  of the educational system introduced in response to Wood's Dispatch, and to suggest measures for its improvement. The memorandum of the Panj&#257bi Prach&#257rn&#299 Sabh&#257 contained two main demands : (1) that Punjabi should be the official language for all government business in the Punjab, and (2) that it should be introduced as medium of instruction in government and government-aided schools. The Sabh&#257 lapsed upon the establishment in 1886 of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n Lahore whose educational branch under L&#257l&#257 Bih&#257r&#299 L&#257l assumed its duties and functions.</p>
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BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1">Leitner, Gottlieb Wilhelm, <i>History of Indigenous Education in the Panjab since Annexation and in 1882</i> [Reprint]. Patiala,1971<BR>
</ol><p class="CONT">Sarmukh Si&#7749gh Amole<br></p><BR>
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