Khalifa Muhammad Asadullah (1890–1949)
Khan Bahadur Muhammad Asadullah could be rightly called the main architect of the library movement in the Indo–Pakistan sub–continent. He was in the very first class of Asa Don Dickinson, an American librarian, started in 1915 at the University of the Punjab. He started his career as the first graduate librarian at the GovernmentCollege, Lahore; then he moved to MAO (Muhammedan Anglo–Oriental) College, Aligarh (India) in 1919; he was the librarian of the Imperial Secretariat Library at Delhi for eight years; and finally landed at the Imperial Library, Kolkata in 1929. In recognition of his superior performance the British Government in 1931 awarded him the exalted position of Librarian of the Imperial Library, Kolkata. He was the first Muslim and the second native to hold this coveted position. On 18 July 1947 he left the Imperial Library to serve the newly–created Pakistan like many other Muslim officers.
Asadullah was one of the key figures, along with Dr. Ranganathan, Dr. Niharanjan Roy, Professor Bashiruddin, Professor F.M. Velt, Justice Abdul Qadir, and Lala Labhu Ram, who were responsible for the formation of the Indian Library Association. He was its secretary from 1933 to 1947. He was also associated with the All India Muslim Educational Conference, Aligarh; the MuslimHigh School, Kolkota; the Aligarh Old Boys Association (Bengal Branch), and AligarhMuslimUniversity.
In Pakistan he was appointed Officer on Special Duty in the Ministry of Education. A number of librarians believe that the defunct Directorate of Archives and Libraries was the brainchild of Asadullah. Perhaps the directorate was created to accommodate him but there is no evidence to substantiate this assumption. Many of us may not be aware that he was a very close relative of Chowdhury Muhammad Ali, who then held the position of secretary–general of the Government of Pakistan and later the Prime Minister of the country . Asadullah suffered a stroke and died in November 1949 in Lahore.
Khan Bahadur Muhammad Asadullah could be rightly called the main architect of the library movement in the Indo–Pakistan sub–continent. He was in the very first class of Asa Don Dickinson, an American librarian, started in 1915 at the University of the Punjab. He started his career as the first graduate librarian at the GovernmentCollege, Lahore; then he moved to MAO (Muhammedan Anglo–Oriental) College, Aligarh (India) in 1919; he was the librarian of the Imperial Secretariat Library at Delhi for eight years; and finally landed at the Imperial Library, Kolkata in 1929. In recognition of his superior performance the British Government in 1931 awarded him the exalted position of Librarian of the Imperial Library, Kolkata. He was the first Muslim and the second native to hold this coveted position. On 18 July 1947 he left the Imperial Library to serve the newly–created Pakistan like many other Muslim officers.
Asadullah was one of the key figures, along with Dr. Ranganathan, Dr. Niharanjan Roy, Professor Bashiruddin, Professor F.M. Velt, Justice Abdul Qadir, and Lala Labhu Ram, who were responsible for the formation of the Indian Library Association. He was its secretary from 1933 to 1947. He was also associated with the All India Muslim Educational Conference, Aligarh; the MuslimHigh School, Kolkota; the Aligarh Old Boys Association (Bengal Branch), and AligarhMuslimUniversity.
In Pakistan he was appointed Officer on Special Duty in the Ministry of Education. A number of librarians believe that the defunct Directorate of Archives and Libraries was the brainchild of Asadullah. Perhaps the directorate was created to accommodate him but there is no evidence to substantiate this assumption. Many of us may not be aware that he was a very close relative of Chowdhury Muhammad Ali, who then held the position of secretary–general of the Government of Pakistan and later the Prime Minister of the country . Asadullah suffered a stroke and died in November 1949 in Lahore.