Dr. Mubarak Ali (21 April, 1941)
Dr. Mubarak Ali (21 April, 1941)
By
Muhammad Habib Sanai
The eminent
historian and scholar Dr. Mubarak Ali was born in Tonk, which was then a
princely state under British India. Regarding his date and year of birth, he
himself once wrote:
“When was I
born? That’s a difficult question. Whenever I asked my mother, she would say it
was the month of Ramazan, and it rained heavily that day. So, it was up to me
to choose a birthdate. When I filled out the admission form for school, I wrote
April 21, 1941. Whether I was actually born on that date or not doesn’t really
matter. Now, it’s my official birthdate—and I count my age from it.”
In 1952, his
family migrated to Pakistan and settled in Hyderabad, Sindh. In 1989, he left
Hyderabad and moved to Lahore, where he still lives today.
Education
According
to him, his father took no interest in the education of him or his siblings.
While still in Tonk, he was enrolled by a cousin in Darul Uloom Khalilia for Nazira
(recitation) of the Quran. His teacher, Bunany Khan, was a harsh and stern man.
After
migrating to Pakistan, he was unable to gain admission to any school for a few
years due to the lack of proper certificates. Eventually, after persistent
intercession by someone, he was admitted to the fifth grade at Khalid Memorial
School.
By
the time he reached sixth or seventh grade, he realized that if he continued at
this pace, he would be overage by the time he completed his Matric, as Matric
at the time required 11 years of schooling. On someone's advice, he left school
and enrolled in the Oriental College to take the Adeeb examination,
which would allow him to obtain a Matric qualification by passing only the
English subject afterward.
He
joined the Oriental College, run by Makhdoom Ameer Ahmed. In 1956, he passed
the Adeeb exam, and in 1957, he secured his Matric certificate after
passing the English paper. He then got admission to City College, where he
studied for four years and earned a B.A. degree.
Afterward,
he enrolled in the History Department at Sindh University, where he completed
his M.A. in History in 1963. Throughout his academic career, he actively
participated in extracurricular activities and represented his college in
debates and competitions. He was also deeply involved in student union
activities.
Career
He began his
teaching career in 1963 as a junior lecturer in the History Department at the
University of Sindh. By the time he left the university in 1989, he was serving
as a professor and head of the Department of General History.
After
joining the History Department, he tried to secure a scholarship for higher
studies abroad but was unsuccessful. As a result, he decided to pursue further
education overseas at his own expense. He gained admission to Queen Mary
College, University of London.
The
British Council had agreed to cover his travel expenses, on the condition that
his application be forwarded through his university. However, the university
authorities refused to send it. Despite this setback, he managed to leave for
London in October 1970 to pursue his dream of earning a Ph.D.
He
spent about a year and a half there, but continuing his studies became
increasingly difficult due to the introduction of tuition fees for foreign
students. When someone informed him about free education opportunities in
Germany, he decided to go there instead. In February 1972, he moved to Bochum,
Germany.
In
1976, he was awarded a Ph.D. by Ruhr University, Bochum, for his research on
the topic “The Mughal Court and Its Rituals.”
In
September 1976, he rejoined Sindh University. However, within weeks, he was
suspended on the grounds of allegedly misbehaving with the Vice Chancellor. Following
the intervention of Pir Aftab Shah, then a minister in the Sindh government, he
was reinstated.
In
his memoirs, he writes that until his premature retirement from service, he was
never assigned any further responsibilities. Even students were barred from
choosing him as a supervisor for their Ph.D. research.
After
leaving Sindh University, he worked as the Director of the Goethe Institute’s
Lahore Centre. However, after a few years, he once again found himself without
a job. For some years, he taught History as a visiting faculty member at the
Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA). Despite these challenges, his
spirit remained unwavering, and he steadfastly held onto his principles.
Presently his main source of income is royalties of books.
Scholarship
To
date, Dr. Mubarak Ali has written and edited over a hundred books in both Urdu
and English. His first book, Tareekh Kia Hai (What is History), was
published in 1982. Interestingly, it was also translated into Sindhi by the
renowned scholar Dr. Ghulam Lakho and published under the title Tareekh Jo
Sabaq in 1984.
His
second book, Tareekh aur Shaoor (History and Intellect) (1983), along
with several of his early works, was published in his handwriting.
History
of Sindh
While Dr. Mubarak Ali is best known
for popularizing the study of history and for challenging the narratives upheld
by establishment historians, his contributions to the history and
historiography of Sindh are equally significant and noteworthy.
His first book on Sindh’s history
was titled Sindh Ki Tareekh Kaise Likhni Chahiye (How to Write the
History of Sindh), published in 1983. The book was later translated into
Sindhi by the renowned writer Aijaz Ahmed Qureshi. Later on this translation
along with some other articles was republished as Sindh jo Awaz in 2001.
As part of his History of Sindh
series, Dr. Mubarak Ali authored two significant works: Arab Daur-e-Hukumat
(1984) and Mughal Daur-e-Hukumat. His essay Naumal: Kya Naumal Ghadar
Tha? (Was Naumal a Traitor?) sparked outrage among Sindhi
nationalists due to its critical perspective.
These concise works, along with
other essays on the history and historiography of Sindh, were later compiled
into several anthologies, including Sindh: Khamoshi Ki Awaaz (1992), Sindh
Ki Pehchan (1989), and Sindh Ki Tareekh Kya Hai? (2021).
Interestingly, another book with the
title Sindh Ki Pehchan was published in 2019, featuring his keynote
speech at the Sindh Literature Festival, an interview, and a collection of
select articles.
In addition to his work in Urdu, Dr.
Mubarak Ali has written numerous essays in English on the history and
historiography of Sindh, many of which have been included in various
anthologies.
One such book, In the Shadow of
History (1993), features a fourth section titled History of Sindh,
which contains 18 of his articles on the subject. Another compilation, Essays
on the History of Sindh (2005), brings together nine of his essays and
research papers.
He has also compiled and edited following prominent books
about history of Sindh:
(1) The English factory of Sindh (1983): It is
based on extracts gleaned from 13 volumes of the book “English Factories in
India” compiled by anonymous compiler. Dr. Mubarak enlightens us that “William
Foster collected the factory records from 1618 to 1669 and published the same
in 13 volumes from Oxford (1909-27). The present volume is highly valuable for
the scholars and the students of the history of Sind.”
(2) McMurdo’sAccount of Sindh (1985): Dr. Mubarak
Ali notes that “McMurdo's Account of Sind is turning point in the historiography of
Sind. While writing the history of Sind, he did not deal with the rulers, their
courts, political intrigues, and civil wars, but concentrated his research on
the detail and description of the country, its climate, products, animals, and
the peoples. The history of the masses which was generally ignored by the court
historians, is brought into lime light by McMurdo.”
(3) DELHOSTE'S OBSERVATION ON SIND (1987): To explore the
possibility of opening the Indus River for trade, a British mission was
dispatched to Sindh to negotiate with the Talpur rulers. One of the members of
this mission was Lieutenant Edward Delhoste, a surveyor and draftsman attached
to the 16th Regiment of the Bombay Native Infantry. According to Dr. Mubarak
Ali “Lt. Edwarde Delhoste started his journey from Mandavi and minutely
surveyed all the villages and towns on his route and recorded, all information
about cultivation, roads, population (men, women, and children), catties,
number of ploughs in villages, soil, crops, revenue, buildings (temples,
mosques, and tombs), water supply, forests, mines, products of the country. He
gave his comments on the social, political, and economic condition of Sind
during the 19th century. After completing his journey and surveying the
country, he noted down his observations about Sind separately and submitted it
to the Bombay government. His report on Sind covers various aspects of the
country and society such as climate, people, amusements, language, religion,
revenue, government, rulers, army, vegetables and products, animals, fisheries,
roads, forts, and carts. Delhoste shrewdly observed the contradiction in the
Sindhi society.”
(4) Imperialism at Work, Crow’s Report and Dispatches
on Sind (1987): Nathan Crow, a civil servant of the Bombay Government during
the British period, first arrived in Sindh in 1799 as part of the first
commercial-cum-political mission. He returned in 1800 for a second mission and
remained in Sindh for 17 months. Dr. Mubarak Ali observes “His Account, though
written for the Bombay Government, contains rich material on the history and
culture of the 19th century of Sindh. After a brief history of Sind,
he recorded his observations on the soil, climate, fruits, vegetables, animals,
inhabitants, population, language, dress and the strength of the army and
position of the fortification.”
(5) A Social
and Cultural history of Sindh (1987): About this book Dr. Mubarak Ali
informs us that “In this volume an attempt is made to construct a social and
cultural history of Sindh based on the accounts of European travelers who
visited Sind from the 17th 10 19th centuries… The book,
thus, presents the social and cultural life of Sind up to the British conquest.
The extracts from the accounts and observations of the travelers are selected
chronologically with care to avoid repetition.”
(6) Sindh Observed (1993): It contains 19 research
articles and essays that were originally published in the Journal of the
Sindh Historical Society, which remained active from the mid-1920s until
1947. Dr. Mubarak Ali thinks that “in order to understand the history of Sindh,
the articles written by eminent historian and Scholars are selected from the
journal of Sind Historical Society. These articles were written by prominent
historians and scholars, who, after painstaking research brought to light the
ancient as well as modern history of Sindh. As the journal ceased to publish;
and its complete record is not available in any library, it is decided to
publish collection of best of articles and make them available to scholars and
general readers.”
(7) Sindh Analysed (1994): This book is a combined
volume of two earlier works: McMurdo’s Account of Sindh (1985) and Delhoste’s
Observations on Sindh (1987), both discussed above.
Quaterly Tareekh
He launched the quarterly Tareekh
and edited more than sixty issues of the journal.
Awards
He has received the following awards
and recognition:
¶ Faiz Ahmed Faiz Award- 1989
¶ Hassam-ud-Din Rashidi Gold Medal Award by Sindh Graduate Association- 2002
¶ Communal Award giving by Dalai Lama- 2009
¶ Life time Achievement Award giving by Sobho Gayanchandani 1 May 2014
¶ Khwaja Ahmad Abbas International Award by Pakistan Academy of Letters –
2018
Conclusion
This public intellectual, erudite
historian, and scholar, despite losing his eyesight, continues to contribute
numerous articles each month to various newspapers and websites.
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