Founded by the personal initiatives led by Sir S.A. Qayyum and Sir George Roos-Keppel in 1913, it is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Pakistan, and its historical roots are traced from the culminating point of the Aligarh Movement. The university provides higher learning in arts, languages, humanities, social sciences and modern sciences. In 1950, the University of Peshawar was founded as an offshoot of Islamia College Peshawar, with the later being associated to the university as a constituent college.Initially established as Islamia College, it was granted university status by the Government of Pakistan in 2008; the word college is retained in its title for preserving its historical roots.