KARACHI: Dr Ghulam Ali Allana, a scholar and a linguist par excellence made incredible contribution tow­ards literature and research, especially in linguistics, which Sindh needed in the post-independence era.

Dr Allana, who died in a Karachi hospital on Saturday night after long illness, was laid to rest in the Ismaili community graveyard off New Sabzi Mandi Road on Sunday evening.

His funeral prayers were offered in a mosque within the graveyard.

Sindhi Language Authority chairman Dr Mohammad Ali Manjhi, Naseer Mirza, Niaz Panhwar, Dr Qaiz Khadim, Prof Saleem Ahmed, Nafees Ahmed Nashad, Ali Mohammad Cha­nna, Akash Ansari, Zulfikar Halepoto and many other prominent scholars, literary figures and researchers, besides DIG Sultan Khuwaja and elite of the Ismaili Khoja community, attended the funeral.

Dr Allana has left two sons and four daughters.

Dr Allana came from a family of modest means from Thatta district of lower Sindh. This area of coastal belt, though having witnessed many natural and political upheavals, has retained a longstanding tradition of literature. It was from here that many an excellent scholars were encouraged by Mohammad bin Qasim to migrate to Iraq and they formed an academy of translation there.

Born on March 15, 1930, Dr Allana had his schooling in his village, Tarr Khwaja, located in Jati taluka of Thatta district. He pursued his higher education in Karachi and Hyderabad. He did his graduation in Hyderabad and Masters from the University of Sindh in 1955. He began teaching career as a lecturer at the City College, Hyderabad. In 1958, he joined the Sindh University and developed interest in linguistics which earned him a scholarship from London in 1962. He did his Masters in linguistics from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, in 1963 and became the first scholar from Sindh to get the degree in linguistics.

After returning home, he worked hard on the subject.

Dr Allana’s contribution towards linguistics is enormous. Especially, his works on Sindhi phonetics and linguistic history is widely acclaimed. His works titled Sindhi sotiat, Sindhi boli ji lisaani geography and Sindhi boli jo ibhyas earned him laurels.

In 1964, Sindh University established the Institute of Sindhology and Dr Allana headed it. With a simple beginning and support from the well-off people as well as men of letters, the institute gradually became an organisation known to scholars and researchers beyond the country’s boundaries. Dr Allana’s relentless efforts made a difference and the institution kept growing. Today, it is not only a centre of research that has a rich library of books and documents, but also has a treasure of antiques and artefacts of Sindhi culture.

Dr Allana was also appointed chairman of Sindhi department and in 1983, he was appointed the vice chancellor of the Allama Iqbal Open University. In 1993, he was made the vice chancellor of the Sindh University where he worked till 1998. The same year, he was appointed chairman of the Sindhi Language Authority, where he introduced many reforms.

He was working on the compilation of Encyclopaedia Sind­hiana which is still continuing.

In his college life, Dr Allana had started writing fiction. His first novel Laash was published in 1953 and a collection of short stories Chor in the following year. His research work Nasir Khusrao Irani appeared in 1961 which was compiled by Diwan Fazil in 1964 but his work on linguistics appeared in 1964 with the publication of Sindhi suratkhati.

His following works included Sindhi boli jo bunn buniyad (1964) and Sindhi sotiyat (1967). These books on linguistics are regarded as the best research work conducted so far. In recognition of his contributions, he was awarded Sitara-i-Imtiaz.

The deceased scholar authored and edited more than 40 books, in all.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2020