The Pakistani Professor who Sought to Revive Sanskrit: Dr Shahid Rasheed and the Saga of Sanskrit Learning in Present-Day Pakistan

BREAKING ALL EXISTING STEREOTYPES and communal intolerances, stands Dr. Shahid Rasheed, based in Lahore, Pakistan, who has taken up the responsibility to profess and preach Sanskrit—a literary and cultural tradition that has shaped South Asia’s philosophy, geography and spiritual traditions over time.

From the Indus valley civilization to the abode of great linguist and philosopher Maharshi Panini, the entire region encompassing the present-day India, Pakistan and some parts of Afghanistan, had been the place where the cultural, social and literary tradition of “Sanskrit” took shape. Hence, for scholars like Dr. Rasheed it is pertinent to establish one's connection to such a rich cultural heritage. 

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With this zeal in mind, Dr. Rasheed embarked on a journey to revive the literary culture of Sanskrit in Pakistan, making it the first attempt of its kind since the great partition of 1947. His dedication was immediately recognized, as the Gurmani Center of Languages and Literature at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) began its short-language course on Sanskrit—making it the first instance of such shared cultural belonging since partition.

Following this, The University of Punjab Lahore (public) also launched a three-month course in the classical language of Sanskrit. 

Dr. Rasheed’s Journey: From Engineering and Islamic Thought to Reviving Sanskrit

While the world is fairly aware of Dr. Rasheed’s initiative, it is very important to unravel his personal life and academic trajectory. Dr. Rasheed began his academics as a student of electrical engineering and then law. However, over time his interests began to revolve around the questions of society, human lives and existence.

His interests in these questions led him to a masters program in sociology at Oxford, and eventually a PhD in Islamic Thought and Civilization from University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan. The interest in societal concerns were rightly materialized, as he also served the Civil Services of Pakistan from 1999 to 2008. 

Presently, he is a faculty at the Forman Christian College in Lahore. It was during his days in the university that he found a calling in the classical languages. What began as an interest in Islamic intellectual history, gradually reached Sanskrit—a major landmark in south Asia's philosophical, cultural and spiritual heritage.

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In order to build on his interests, he reached out to Professor McComas Taylor—a renowned academic in the field of Sanskrit studies and south Asian region at the Australian National university. It was professor Taylor’s guidance that led Dr. Rasheed to acquire a degree of proficiency in Sanskrit. His sanskrit education was also guided by Dr. Antonia Ruppel—the author of the renowned book, “Cambridge companion to Sanskrit studies.”

The Initial Experiments With Sanskrit

After a three-month long course on elementary Sanskrit grammar, Dr. Rasheed was now ready to begin his experiments in professing the great literary and cultural tradition of Sanskrit. In today’s world, the expanse and vastness of this language is often conflated and fit into small compartments and boxes. However, Sanskrit travels far beyond those constraints.

It developed over a wide geographical and cultural context. Let us take for example, Maharshi Panini—the great linguist and philosopher, who was one of the primary architects of this literary tradition and its grammatical nuances—was from Pakistan. Scholars believe that Panini was born near the banks of the Sindhu river, in Shalatura—a place close to present-day Lahore. 

Dr. Rasheed was ambitious and brave with his dreams. His perseverance to revive the practice and culture of Sanskrit among the students and people in Pakistan attracted the attention of other notable academics. It was his interaction with Dr. Ali Usman Oasmi—director of the Gurmani Center of Languages and Literature at the LUMS—that accelerated the realization of his goals. Dr. Qasmi widely acknowledged his ideas, and a course on Sanskrit was initiated at the LUMS.  

In December 2025, the LUMS began its first Sanskrit classes, with Sanskrit verses and passages of Mahabharata and Bhagavad Gita being taught. It started off with the basic Sanskrit level I and II. Following suit, the University of Punjab Lahore (public) also launched a three-month course in this classical language.

Dr. Rasheed has spoken a lot about his initiative, often narrating how people used to claim his lectures and board instructions as AI-generated. However, his zeal in reviving this literary and cultural tradition in Pakistan has been applauded around the world for its bravery.

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Rightly so, what began as one’s personal interest in learning a classical language has become a dedicated course at Pakistan’s reputed universities, with the chances of becoming a full-fledged course in the coming year.

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