SindhStudies

  Mirza Qaleech Beg (4 th October, 1853-3 rd July, 1929) Muhammad Habib Sanai This year , on October 4th, Sindh is going to celebrate the 171st birth anniversary of Mirza Qaleech Beg, the doyen of Sindhi literature. Sindhi has the oldest tradition of writing poetry, and for more than five hundred years, it has been used for lyrical composition. From the sixteenth century, some religious scholars tried to compose books on religious matters by using rhymed prose, which later scholars called Sindhiyoon . In the British era (1843-1947), after introducing the present Arabo-Persian or Naskh script in 1853, the government announced prizes, etc. for writing books in Sindhi, therefore, Sindhi prose received a great impetus. In the initial phase, Sindhi prose consisted mostly of school books, however, in the second phase, numerous writers appeared on the horizon of Sindhi literature, who enriched Sindhi prose by their translation, adaption, and writing of original works of fiction a...

  During the nineteen eighties, when I was working as a Stenographer in the Department of Archaeology, I heard the name of Taj Sehrai during a conversation between Syed Hakim Ali Shah Bokhari, himself a prominent and first qualified Sindhi Archaeologist, and another foreign Archaeologist. Foreign Archaeologists, working in different Archaeological missions, especially in Sindh, used to visit the Karachi Head Office of the Archaeology Department, and most of them used to chat with Saeen Hakim Ali Shah Bokhari. I gathered that those who either carried out excavations at archeological sites or explorations of historical sites of Sindh, especially of Dadu District had utilized the services of Taj Sehrai during the prospecting and excavations of these ancient remains. Taj Sahrai was an educationist, historian, self-taught archaeologist, and cultural anthropologist. His expertise can be recognized from the fact that when other foreign dignitaries came to Pakistan, Taj Sahib was called ...