[citation needed] The Lehran[1] was founded by Syed Akhtar Hussein Akhtar, a pioneer in the Punjabi Language Movement, in March 1965 under the mentorship of Faqir Muhammad and noted Punjabi writers Abdul Hameed Amar, Hakeem Sher Muhammad Nasir and Khizar Tameemi.

[3] According to Dawn, the Lehran filled the void for a Punjabi literary magazine for college students in Lahore created after the death of Chaudhary Muhammad Afzal, another educationist, who had also previously mentored Akhtar.

In its early days, the Lehran published articles mainly related to the curricula of Akhtar's college and other general literary ones in Punjabi.

[3] The Lehran was initially published in Shahmukhi, the Perso-Arabic script used for writing Punjabi in the Punjab Province of Pakistan.

Shortly before 2005, Monthly Lehran started to transliterate its articles to Gurmukhi—the Punjabi script used in Indian Punjab.