Renowned Historian, Writer, I H Qureshi Remembered

Renowned historian, scholar, writer, and a professor of political history Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi was remembered on his death anniversary on Tuesday

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Jan, 2019 ) :Renowned historian, scholar, writer, and a professor of political history Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi was remembered on his death anniversary on Tuesday.

Born on November 20, 1903 he was popularly known as I.H. Qureshi.

He belonged to a noble family of Patiali, District Etah, a town in Uttar Pradesh. Qureshi did matriculation in 1916 and joined Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College Aligarh.

He did graduation and M.A in History from St. Stephen's College, Delhi with distinction.

In 1927, he got M.A in Persian. He served as Lecturer in History at St. Stephen's College from 1928 to 1944. Between 1937�40, he studied at Cambridge University for a PhD degree.

Qureshi was an activist of the historic Pakistan Movement, and served in the ministries of education and frontier regions as the secretary; in addition, he was elected a member of the parliament of Pakistan. But, due to his association with academia, he resigned from his government appointments and joined the academic faculty at the Columbia University as a professor of South Asian history.

He returned to Pakistan and founded the National Language Authority (NLA) in the 1970s and helped set up the History Department at the University of the Punjab.

Later, Qureshi joined the faculty of history at the University of Karachi and spent the rest of life there. Qureshi has also been credited for editing a four-volume series on history of Pakistan.

His books on the history of Muslim community in the South Asia as well as other publications on the Pakistan Movement, Administration of the Mughul Empire, role of religious scholars in politics, brought him into the category of the distinguished historians of South Asia. After retirement he associated with writing and research. He died on January 22,1981.

His History Work in English included Administration of the Sultanate of Delhi (1942),Ulema in Politics,Akbar, the Architect of Mughal Empire,Education in Pakistan,The Administration of Mughal Empire,The Struggle for Pakistan,The Muslim community of the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent, 610�1947: a brief historical analysis,The History of the Freedom Movement,A Short History of Pakistan, The Religion of Peace, and A Nation Born of Sacrifice (co-authors Altaf Husain & General Muhammad Musa).

His urdu Work included But Tarash,Band Lifafa,Katt Putlian,Gunha kiDiwar,Mitthai ki Tokri,Moalim Aswad,Mullah Aala,Nafrat kaBeej,Hamzaad,Neem Shab, and Naqsh-e-Akhir.