Khalifa Mohammad Asadullah

Khalifa Mohammad Asadullah (1890 – 1949)[1] was a pioneer of the library movement in the Indian subcontinent before 1947. He was also the first prominent librarian to opt for Pakistan at the time of independence in 1947.[1]

Early life

He was born on 6 August 1890 in Lahore, British India (now Pakistan) to Maulvi Mohammd Ziaullah and Alam Jan.[2]

Marriage and family

In 1908, he married Hameeda Begum in Lahore and fathered 14 children. His sons-in-law included AVM Saeedullah Khan and Pakistani diplomat, Enver Murad; his daughters-in-law included Zaib-un-Nissa Hamidullah and his great granddaughters include the Pakistani novelist, Uzma Aslam Khan.

Training

He studied under Asa Don Dickinson in 1915 at the University of the Punjab.[3]

Career

In 1916, he became the first qualified librarian of the Government College in Lahore.[4] He then became the librarian of MAO College (now Aligarh Muslim University) in 1919.[5] In 1921, he joined the Imperial Secretariat Library in New Delhi and Simla, a post he held for 8 years.[5]

In 1930, he was appointed the Librarian of the Imperial Library (now National Library of India) in Calcutta, a post which he held for about 17 years.[6] While there he started the library training programme.[7]

Pakistan

In 1947, after the declaration of Pakistan's independence, he was made officer on special duty in the Ministry of Education.[5]

Indian Library Association

In 1933, he was one of the founding members of Indian Library Association[8] and was its first Secretary from 1933 to 1947.[5]

Honours

He was honoured with the title of Khan Bahadur in 1935.[4]

Death

He died on 23 November 1949[9] at Lahore. He was buried in his family section of the Ferozpur Road graveyard, Lahore.

References

  1. 1 2 Syed Jalaluddin Haider, Pioneers of Library Movement in Pakistan Pg 3, Online at: http://eprints.rclis.org/10348/1/PJLIS_1_Haider.pdf accessed 25 Jan 2013
  2. ↑ Biographical Encyclopedia of the World, Institute for Research in Biography, Inc, New York, NY, USA 1st edition, 1940
  3. ↑ http://web.missouri.edu/~umcellislibraryoms/pdf/Dkn/dkn.pdf
  4. 1 2 :.GC University Lahore
  5. 1 2 3 4 Syed Jalaluddin Haider, Pioneers of Library Movement in Pakistan Pg 4, Online at: http://eprints.rclis.org/archive/00011342/01/PJLIS_1_Haider.pdf
  6. ↑ History of the National Library, India
  7. ↑ Encyclopaedia of Library and Information Science, Edited by: Allen Kent, Harold Lancour and Jay Daly vol 21 1977 Pg 257
  8. ↑ Indian Library Association
  9. ↑ World Libraries: The Pioneers: Abdul Moid
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