History
The madaris rose as colleges of learning in the Islamic world in the 11th century, though there were institutions of learning earlier. They catered not only to the religious establishment, though that was the dominant influence over them, but also the secular one. To the latter they supplied physicians, administrative officials, judges and teachers.
In 1947 there were only 189 madrassas in Pakistan. In 2002 the country had 10,000-13,000 unregistered madrassas with an estimated 1.7 to 1.9 million students. A 2008 estimate puts this figure at "over 40,000".
Most madrassas in Pakistan cater to the dominant Sunni sect, having maximum Deobandi schools, with an estimated 4-10% madrassas serving the minority Shia population.
Read more about this topic: Madrassas In Pakistan
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