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The
Personality
A student may
feel proud to be associated with the prodigious
personality of his ideal teacher; So I do. My
ideal teacher, Dr. Nabi Bakhsh Khan Baloch,
reflects the traditional Islamic pattern of
"simple-living and high thinking". He puts his
thoughts into practice and digs deep into
knowledge which he proliferates through his
lectures, addresses and writings. During
1961-62, he taught us Anthropology. He entered
the class room at the exact minute and did not
leave a minute before time. All the time, he
lectured according to the outlines prepared by
him, and used the blackboard like a school
teacher. We were required to note down the
points and further study the relevant books in
the seminar-library. He would not even let us
heave a copy of his outlines; rather he stopped
the supply of last years question papers which
helped students cram answers accordingly.
His life style is
simple, super and salutary, all the three
aspects combined into an unassumingly stern and
active personality called Dr. Baloch. Oliver
Goldsmith (1730-1774) described his village
school master as:
"A man he was
stern to view,
I knew him well,
And every truant
knew."
I do not feel any
different, Forty years ago I was his student but
the impact of his robust personality, I have
carried up till now. He is regular in his
evening walk, not a stroll rather a march. One
evening I shuddered to encounter him on his way
back from his walk. I was returning from the
seminar library of which I was the secretary.
"What are you doing here at this time?" He
asked me, and I told him, "How many students
come to the library in the evening hours?" He
asked next, and I told him that some lady
teacher-trainees attended regularly. He looked
at me and said," I hope you don't come for them"
and I really shivered in my shoes.
One evening I saw
cots laid outside Dr. Baloch's residence a 3
room quarter. I asked my name-sake, Habibullah,
who was Dr. Baloch's personal friend and expert
of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai's Risalo, about the
guests. He told me that besides an office clerk
and a student who cannot afford lodging and
boarding hostel and live permanently with Dr.
Baloch's family. Artisans and artists who came
to Hyderabad to perform on Radio Pakistan or
come on personal errands, also stay here and
partake rice and pulses which Dr. Baloch can
afford to offer them. Later on I learnt that Dr.
Baloch had eleven cats, each with a name, a
female hog-deer, chickens and other pet animals
and birds, with whom he conversed, calling them
by name, and feeding them personally on time
every day. The hogdeer was donated to the
municipal garden, where Dr. Baloch sometime went
to meet her. He has a strong aesthetic sense and
has abundant collection of fine arts, artifacts
etc. He watches T.V for the National Geographic
documentaries, the animal world and wrestling.
He is free with his family members and plays
with his children, now grand children, chess,
cards and every other in-door game.
Those days, I
smoked pattay-ji-beeri but I did not know then
that my ideal teacher also did the same. He was
never seen smoking and nobody
would believe that he could ever. As I know now,
he went on with cigarettes, trying the finest
and the cheapest brands, 555 to K-2, then cigars
and finally the pipe, and then he gave up
smoking after a heart by-pass in Islamabad due
to incessant heavy work. He was used to
stimulation by tea taking and smoking. He has
since given up the usual stimulation but not his
life long work habit.
He may be
unkindly described as a penny pincher but
honestly speaking he is not a miser. He spends
where necessary but wisely. He saves prudently
and manages economically. In 1987, Dr. Baloch
received a sum of Rs. 8, 47,544, left by the
late Allama I.I. Kazi with the late Mr.
A.K.Brohi. It was the seed-money for the Allama
I.I. Kazi Memorial Society of which Dr. Baloch
was the General Secretary. He kept the money in
fixed deposit and ran the society out of the
markup earned each year. About 30 publications
have been brought out to proliferate the thought
and teachings of Allama I.I. Kazi. An essay
competition on the life and work of the great
philosopher-educator was initiated at the 20th
death anniversary on 13th April 1981.
I got Rs. 4000 from the funds of the society sat
the first prize, and my moagraph was published
by the Pakistan Study Centre on the initiative
of Dr. Baloch. "Allama Kazi Cultural Centre" has
been established by him adjacent to the
Mausoleum. Yet the un-touched seed-money now
stands at Rs. 9 lac. A financial wizard! No?
I have seen him
in relaxed mood as well. The first time, during
50's, when he came to our village to meet a
sughar, uncle Haji Abdul Qadir Siddiqui. He sat
through the night and got all his abiyat
(poetry) transcribed, while listening to him and
appreciating his art. He has had many such
sittings in his research galore, through the
length and breadth of
Sind, and has collected much more
material on the culture and literature of Sindh
than has been published so for.
The
contribution
For me it is
difficult to circumscribe the contribution of
Dr. Baloch towards the renaissance of Sindh,
revival of its educational tradition and
enriching the world of knowledge. He is a
prolific writer with over 100 published books
and a lot unpublished. He has done orignal
research on the life and poetry of Shah Abdul
Latif Bhitai (10 volumes) as well as compiled.
Edited and published the poetry of other
prominent classical poets of Sindh. He has
explored and published Sindhi folk-lore, (44
books) and helped promote arts, museums,
libraries and art galleries. His services
towards developing the Sindhi Adabi Board, the
Sindh University, the Mehran Arts Council and
Sindh's atmost all literary, cultural and
educational institutions, is a record so far in
Sindh history. At the federal leve, too, he has
immensely contributed towards institution-
building and advancement of knowledge. Indeed he
has laid firm formations for continuous research
in history, literature and education, with us he
is a precious asset and golden apportunity for
an overall advancement into the 21st
century.
Shah Latif, the mentor of Dr. Baloch and of us all, says”تان ڪي ساڻن اور، جان آهين اوطاقن ۾“
)converse
with them (the saint scholars) till they are
available at open houses). May be live long, but
the mortal will leave us one day. After him, we
will have to set a research institute to study
the life and work of Dr. N. A. Baloch. Better to
avail of his benevolent presence amongst us,
these days. It requires a sharper insight. I
would like to sum up my observations with the
following couplet of Allama Iqbal:
”هزار چشمـﻶ تيرﻵ سنگ راه سـﻶ پهوڻـﻶ،
خودي مين ڊوب کر، ضربِ کليم پيدا کر“
__ And conclude
with a prayer, and blessing from Shah Latif.
” جکرا جيئين شال، تنهنجو ڪنين مدو م سُڻان،
جيئن تو اچي ڪالهه، نالائق نوازيا.
Seema Qureshi
Dr. Nabi
Bakhsh Baloch:
An Endless
Journey
(Summarised and
correction supplied)
He is the son of the soil, a man of folk wisdom. Dr. Nabi
Bakhsh Baloch has devoted much of his time to
Sindhi literature (oral as well as written) and
culture, an academician by profession, but a
Sindhologist by instinct, he is a tireless
traveller who has combed every nook and corner
of Sindh to discover and record its past and
present. From the life and times in the
Indus valley, Sindh's mountains, deserts and
plains to its people; it's fairy tales and
political turmoil, from kings to poets, beggars
to thieves, past civilizations to the present
times, Dr. Baloch has discovered, collect,
compiled, researched and authored a formidable
range of subjects. "Dr. Nabi Bakshs Baloch never
retires, "say his friends and foes in Sindh.
He simply
attributes all the plaudits to his simple
upbringing. I come from a land of folklore, so
it was but natural that I imbibe it, says Dr.
Nabi Bakhsh Baloch. Born in December 1917, his
father Ali Muhammad Khan Baloch hailed from a
peasant family from
Jafar Khan Laghari Village
(District Sanghar), whose inhabitants are known
to be staunch followers of Pir Pagaro.
Reminiscing over
his childhood days, he says, "I still remember
the socio-economic fabric of my village long
before the introduction of canals in Sindh.
There were the cobblers, the blacksmiths, and
the potters. Peasants would irrigate their lands
with naar (a wooden wheel fitted with clay pots
that draws water from below and is driven by a
pair of bullocks in a circle). It used to make a
fascinating sound."
The lifestyle and
customs had a profound effect on Nabi Bakhsh
Baloch's childhood. He was enrolled in the
famous Naushahro Feroz Madressah and High
School, which has produced men of high caliber
like Allama Umar Bin Muhammed Doudpoto and
Justice Muhammed Bachal Memon (who fearlessly
authored Sindh High Court's historic judgment
against the dissolution of Pakistan's first
constituent assembly). Dr. Baloch did his
matriculation from the same madressah with
second position among the Muslim candidates from
Sindh and graduated from Bahauddin College
Junagadh.
His youthful
years in the 1930's were spent in Sindh. It was
the time when the movement for separation of
Sindh from Bombay was launched by Muslim
nationalist politicians like Sir Shah Nawaz
Bhutto and Muhammed Ayub Khuhro. "Sindh, at that
time, was a neglected province annexed to Bombay
and Sindh Muslim masses were kept
underprivileged," he says of those days. "Sindh
progressed considerably after its separation
from Bombay Residency and the introduction of
the canal system," he elucidates further.
These were the
times when the Hur (the disciple of Pir Pagaro)
were engaged in their revolt against the British
in Sindh. After his B.A. (Honours) from
Bahauddin College Junagadh he enrolled in the
Aligarh Muslim University, then a hub of the
Muslim nationalist student's movement. His
thesis was on Islamic civilization. Dr. Baloch
also actively participated in the Khaksar
Movement at Aligarh. He did his masters and law
degree from Aligarh in 1941-43. He was selected
by the British Government for higher studies
abroad with specialization in Education and got
his masters and doctorate from Columbia
University, New York.
Dr. Baloch was in
the United States when Pakistan came
into being. According to him he had a lot of
intellectual and political confilicts with the
then Hindu think-tanks like Tarik Nath Das. "I
believed in what Mr. Jinnah stood for in the
Lucknow Pact, "he says.
Dr. Baloch
established the Pakistan chapter of Muslim
Students Association in th United States. "The
main object of the association was to counter
propaganda against movement for Pakistan."
While there, Dr.
Baloch joined the United Nations Internship and
worked in the NGOs department (of ECOSOC) "long
before the word 'NGOs' became fashionable here,"
he syas.
During his stay
in the
USA, Dr. Baloch also concentrated on oriental studies in context of the
Islamic civilization. Dr. Baloch had left good
impression as an interne in the U.N. and he was
offered a 'lucrative' job in the NGO division by
the Hungarian bass Mr. Laslo Hamorie, but he
refused responding, "Don't you know
Pakistan has come
into being."
He opted for his
newly liberated country and with great
difficulty got a job in the Ministry of
Interior, Information and Broadcasting as an OSD.
later on, Sindhi Adabi Board was set up and was
drawing an outline on a comprehensive Sindhi
dictionary (an idea originated by G.M Syed
during his tenure as Sindh Education Minister).
Dr. Baloch offered his services for the project.
"The time limit for compiling the dictionary was
three years. I worked for 20 hours a day with my
team comprising of energetic young men, Sardar
Ali Shah Zakir, Mumtaz Mirza, Shaikh Muhammed
Ismail and completed the project."
After that he
took upon himself the gigantic task of
collecting and compiling various generic
varieties of Sindhi folklore. For that he
traveled to every nook and corner of Sindh and
came across hundreds of sughars (wise men and
women). The publication of more than 40 volumes
of Sindhi folklore published by Sindhi Adabi
Board goes to his credit, to the majority of
people in interior Sindh. Dr. Nabi Bakhsh Baloch
is known for his works on Sindhi folklore. Then
the Sindhi Adabi Board stopped publishing
Sindhi folklore completely. "By
doing so, they killed all ideas and prospective
projects on Sindhi folklore and culture," he
says.
Dr. Balochs first
appointment was OSD in Information Broadcasting
Division of Ministry of Interior from when he
resigned in 1951. He was offered a job as
professor of Education by the then Sindh University's Vice Chancellor
saintly scholar Allama I.I. Kazi (Now Dr. Baloch
is married to one of his nieces). He had been
teaching at the Sindh University, until he was
appointed Vice Chancellor by the regime of
Zulifiqar Ali Bhutto in the wake of unrest in
various Jamshoro campuses by Sindhi nationalist
student. During his tenure as V.C. Sindh University, Shah Latif
University Campus at Khairpur Mirs, S.U Engineering College at Nawab
Shah, and department of Pharmacy and Pakistan
Studies at Jamshoro campus were founded. He
remained Vice Chancellor from 1973 to 1976 until
he was replaced by Shaikh Ayaz. Zulifiqar Ali
Bhutto wanted him to Islamabad "which proved to
be a blessing in disguise for me, "he says
He was appointed
as a Secretary (OSD) in the Federal Ministry of
Education and Culture. Dr. Baloch was appointed
by the Zia regime as the first Vice Chancellor
of Islamic University. It was during his tenure
that the university became completely
functional. He also undertook an impressive one
hundred great books project for the Hijra
Council Islamabad. The aim of the project was to
translate and edit books on Islamic science and
civilization into English. The books included
Khawarzmi's book of Algebra, Bairuni's on
Mineralogy (Precious Stones) Banu Musa's on
meachanical devices and Automata and Jazari's
work on Hydraulic Technology etc etc.
Besides all this,
he has 80 books on literature, education,
history, culture, lexicography, music and
folklore to his credit (they are either authored
or edited by him). He has also served as a
member of UNESCO's International Editorial
Committee on the preparation of History of
Central Asian Civilizations, and the first
chairman of Sindhi Language Authority.
Presently, Dr. Baloch is professor Emeritus of
Sindh University and Honorary Professor on the
Allama I.I. Kazi Chair. Currently, He is busy
working on a ten volume standard edition of Shah
Jo- Ressalo of which seven volumes have so far
been completed.
"I have never
seen Dr. Nabi Bakhsh Baloch but I have always
imagined and visualized him since my childhood,
when I started learning Sindhi alphabet, as I
had read his name on our first Sindhi primary
text-book edited by him," says Najma Baloch, a
housewife in Hyderabad.
With his very
objective and professional approach as a
historian, and his workaholic nature towards all
the scholarly pursuits that he undertakes, he
has often been subjected to criticism by a
certain section of Sindhi writers and political
activists. but Dr. Nabi Bakhsh Baloch counters
it in his own characteristic manner saying,
"History can only be judged on the basis of
evidence, because it's the past. It can not be
decided by votes".
(The Daily "DAWN"
Karachi
The Review, March
18.12.1998
Dr. N.A.
Baloch
Introduction
to Beruni's book
Kitab al-Jamahir
fi Ma'arafalat-Jawahir
Beruni's booked
Kitab al-Jamahir fi Ma'arafalat-Jawahir is
presented to the reader, in English translation,
under the Great Books Project.
This solid
work-historically the first worthy text on
mineralogy has not received the scholarly
attention commensurate with its importance,
though the need for its detailed study has been
felt for a long time. It was during the thirties
of this century that Fritz Krenkow edited the
Arabic text which was published by the Da'irat
al-Ma'arif, Hyderabad Deccan, in 1355 A.H./1936
A.D. He used all the three known manuscripts of
the book. the more complete and correct Tope
Kapi Sarai Ms. (Tibb. 2047) transcribed in 626
A.H. the less accurate Escuarial Ms. and the
more legible Rashid Effendi Ms. (Qaysariyah) and
also offered the following description of the
Tope Kapi Sarai Ms.:
"The copyist of this manuscript (Tibb. 2047)
calls himself at the end Ahmad b. Siddiq b.
Muhammad, the physician, and says that he
completed the copy for his own use and of those
after him, on the first day of the month of
Safar, 626 A.H…… In the margins of this copy are
frequent notes often correcting or disputing
statements of Beruni, by another scholar who
claims to have had other works of our author at
hand, and calls himself Muhammad b. Ahmad Khatib
Dariya in the Salihiyya of Damascus. He lived
some what later as he cites the book of drugs by
Ibn al- Baitar. In a note on the front page he
states that he acquired the manuscript in 678.
A.H. The next owner is Muhammad b. Ibrahim b.
Sajd al-Ansari. I have not been able to find a
biography of the first, but the second is beyond
doubt the celebrated Ibn al- Akfani who died in
749 A.H. of plague. He also composed a work on
jewels (Nukhab ad- Dhakha'ir, a short treatise
of 15 pages, published by Cheikho in the journal
al-Mashriq in 1908)" |
