Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi

Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi, widely known as I.H. Qureshi, was a prominent Pakistani nationalist historian and playwright. He served as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Karachi from 1961 until 1971.

Early life and education

Qureshi was born on 20 November 1903 in the noble family of Patiyali, located in the Kasganj District near Allahabad. He completed his matriculation in 1916 and participated actively in the Khilafat movement during that time. After finishing his initial schooling, he attended St. Stephen's College in Delhi where he earned both a graduation degree and an M.A. in history with distinction. He later obtained an M.A. in Persian in 1927.

His academic journey continued at Cambridge University between 1937 and 1940. He studied for a PhD degree there, focusing his thesis on the Administration of the Sultanate of Delhi. During this period, he briefly joined the Pakistan Movement which was founded by Choudhary Rahmat Ali.

Before migrating to Pakistan, Qureshi held several significant academic positions in India. He worked as a lecturer in history at St. Stephen's College from 1928 to 1944. Following his time in England, he joined Delhi University as a professor of history and eventually became the dean of the Faculty of Arts. He also served as the acting vice chancellor of Delhi University.

Career

The Partition riots of 1947 brought significant hardship to Qureshi when mobs burnt his library during the evacuation of Muslim students at St. Stephen's College. He migrated to Pakistan in 1948 to begin a new chapter of his life. In 1949, he was appointed as a professor of history at the University of the Punjab in Lahore. He also served as a member of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan.

His political career included several high-ranking government roles. Between 1949 and 1954, he held positions as deputy minister, minister of state, and finally as a minister with cabinet rank. He served in the ministries of education and frontier regions as secretary. Additionally, he acted as the Minister of Refugee Rehabilitation and later as the Minister of Education.

Qureshi eventually moved into international academia when he joined the faculty at Columbia University in New York. While at Columbia, he wrote his book, The Muslim Community of the South Asia. He later returned to Pakistan to assist Ayub Khan's martial regime in crafting a new education policy. Upon his return, he helped establish the History Department at the University of the Punjab and founded the National Language Authority in the 1970s.

His final professional years were spent at the University of Karachi. He played a central role in the establishment of this institution and served as its vice-chancellor for many years. He remained a member of the history faculty there for the remainder of his life.

As a scholar, he was a key member of the Pakistan History Board. In 1955, he produced A Short History of Hind-Pakistan, which served as a semi-official history of the state. In 1965, he acted as the general editor for a committee of historians to produce a four-volume series titled A Short History of Pakistan. This massive project covered pre-Muslim history, the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughals, and Company rule.

Awards and recognition

Qureshi received the Hilal-i-Imtiaz for his contributions. He is also recognized for editing a four-volume series regarding the history of Pakistan.