When the new province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was formed in 1901 after its separation from the Punjab, there was only one college in whole province. This scarcity of quality educational institutions forced local youth to travel to faraway regions of the country in pursuit of higher education. This same lack of educational opportunities in the region motivated Nawab Sir Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum and Sir George Roos-Keppel to establish an institution that would not only cater the academic needs of the region but also produce leaders from the region.
History
By 1909, as the idea of a college in the province was taking shape in the minds of both Nawab Sir Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum and Sir George Roos-Keppel, it was further strengthened by their visit to the Aligarh Muslim University the same year. Nawab Sahib asked the students, especially those from the N.W.F.P. who were studying there as to what were the problems they were facing there and how he could help them. The students told him that they needed a hostel. Nawab Sahib informed them that rather than building them a hostel at Aligarh, he would build them a college at Peshawar.Mulana Qutabshah was the first dean of the college. Consequently, on April 12, 1911, Nawab Sahib arranged a meeting of like minded people in Peshawar at the residence of Abdul Karim, contractor at Peshawar city, which was attended by Arbab Ghulam Haider Khan Khalil of Tehkal, Habibullah Khan, Khushal Khan, Sethi Karim Bakhsh, Sir Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum, Khan Sahib Abdul Majid Khan and others. Sir Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum moved the motion for collection of contributions, which was instantly responded to by cash donations by all present.Mian Rahim Shah Kaka Khel donated cash at the meeting and promised to make a hostel for the students apart from the donation, which he did and still it stands in the campus as 'Rahim Shah Ward' In addition to his instant cash donation, the Nawab of Dir promised further cash 5 lakh ropees and 5 kg gold besides four hundred trees. The Nawab of Amb, Nawab Khan i Zaman Khan also made a cash contribution of Rs. 100,000 on the request of Syed Abdul Jabbar Shah to the cause. Subscriptions were also given by the Afridi Chiefs and leading religious elders. An example was set by Bibigul, widow of Khairullah Khan of Prang, who gave her ornaments on Jun 6, 1911 as her subscription towards the college fund. Subsequently, a large plot of land was purchased for the college building from the Khalil of Tehkal Rs. 1,50,000/- from Nizam of Hyderabad was sent by Syed Abdul Jabbar Shah to Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum as donation for the college. Other chiefs and nobles of the North-West Frontier and Punjab, also made various donations. Haji Sahib of Turangzai, the most famous Pukhtun religious leader of the time was requested by Nawab Sir Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum to lay the foundation stone of Islamia College. Haji Sahib agreed to the request, however, he had been declared a proclaimed offender by the British for his anti-British activities and his entry was banned into British controlled territory. He was residing in tribal territory, which was outside British control, so Nawab Sahib prevailed upon Sir George Roos-Keppel and the British to permit Haji Sahib to enter British controlled territory for one day so he could lay the foundation stone of Islamia College. The British agreed to this request with the understanding that Haji Sahib would return to tribal territory once he had laid the foundation stone. Haji Sahib was permitted to enter British controlled territory for the ceremony and spent the night in the 'Pokh' Mosque of Tehkal. At the foundation stone laying ceremony, Sir Roos Keppel and other British officials were present, so Haji Sahib hid his face in his sheet from them and was led by Sheikh Muhammad Ibrahim to the place where he was to lay the foundation stone. After laying the stone Haji Sahib went to Tehkal and then returned to the tribal territory.
Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah's will
Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah visited this College in 1936, 1945 and 1948. Quaid-e-Azam who became lifelong honorary member of the Khyber Union ICP in 1936 made the College one of the heirs of his property in 1939: "All my residuary estate including the corpus that may fall after the lapse of life interest or otherwise to be divided into three parts - and I bequeath one part to Aligarh University - one part to Islamia College Peshawar and one part to Sindh Madrassa of Karachi... Quaid-e-Azam's Will, Bombay, May 30, 1939 Addressing the students of the college on April 12, 1948, he said: “Let me tell you that nothing is nearer to my heart than to have a great center of culture and learning in a place like Peshawar, a place from where the rays of knowledge and culture can spread throughout the Middle East and Central Asia.”
Endowment
According to the Board of Trustees, the College, which is spread over 300 acres of land, has 1089 Jaribs cultivable land in Harichand, Rai Killi and Tarnab,. In addition to this, there are 395 shops and flats in the Khyber Bazaar Peshawar and main bazaar Charsadda.
