THE beginning of the 20th century heralded the arrival of big names in literature. Sindhi literature saw a renewed effort for bringing the language at par with other developed languages. Giants like Shamsul Ulema Mirza Qaleech Baig had already blazed a trail in this domain. Dr Nabi Bakhsh Baloch ranked among those scholars who in the early 20th century, and even in the beginning of the 21st century, made tremendous efforts in the fields of scholastics and research.

He hailed from an underdeveloped area of Sanghar district and made a path-breaking contribution to education, literature, folklore and history. He was a historian and scholar par excellence, producing a number of noteworthy works.

Dr Baloch, who was born on Dec 16, 1917, belonged to a peasant family of Jaffar Khan village. He took early schooling at his native village and did his matriculation from Naushahro Feroze.

He did his graduation from Bombay University in 1941 and obtained a degree in law from Aligarh. He won a scholarship from abroad in recognition of his outstanding academic record and proceeded to Columbia University. From there he qualified for the award of a Ph. D. degree in education in 1946.

This was an age of political movements. The struggle for freedom had gained momentum. During his days at Aligarh, he came across Khaksar Tehrik, which influenced him so much that he joined it and became its Salar.

After completing his studies, he retained the position of Salar of Sindh. The Muslim League and other political parties had by now captured the imagination of the populace, especially students.

Muslim League used to hold a regular dialogue with Aligarh students, giving them an opportunity to weigh different options. However, the party’s philosophy did not influence the young Baloch.

The United Nations was the first organisation to offer him a job after his doctorate, which he declined. In 1949, he returned to Pakistan and for some time stayed jobless. He worked in the Information Department for some time, but then resolved to become a teacher.

At that time, the Sindh University was a fledgling institution. After Allama I. I. Kazi was appointed vice-chancellor, he asked Dr Baloch to organise the department of education in 1951, an offer he grabbed with both hands. He did not only set up the department but also offered his expertise in the founding of other departments.

By that time, Sindhi Adabi Board had been given the task of promoting Sindhi literature, translate books about Sindh from other languages and promote other aspects of Sindhi literature.

Its board consisted of literary giants. The board took up a number of ambitious projects -- the most important being the writing of an eight-volume history of Sindh in Sindhi, Urdu and English, compilation of a comprehensive Sindhi dictionary and collection and editing of a 30-volume publication of Sindhi folklore.

Dr Baloch was selected to oversee the execution of such an ambitious undertaking. The project was completed in time. The overwhelming success of the initiative attracted scholars from Egypt and India who came to observe its working. Dr Baloch coordinated the efforts of scholars working in the field and in offices. His missionary zeal was rewarded after the stupendous work won praise from all quarters. Today the work stands out in the literary history of Sindh.

The federal government then gave the Sindh University a project to prepare two dictionaries -- Sindhi into Urdu and Urdu-Sindhi. The project was undertaken under the supervision of Dr Ghulam Mustafa Qasmi and Dr Baloch, who accomplished it with the assistance of the team which had compiled the Sindhi dictionary.

In the compilation of the history of Sindh, eight scholars had to write eight volumes of books pertaining to different eras. Dr Baloch wrote about the Soomra era, but at the same time he helped other scholars with other eras.

The other historians who were given the task included: Dr Duarte, H. T. Lambrick, Dr Mumtaz Pathan and Maulana Ghulam Mustafa Mehar.

Dr Baloch did not confine himself to managing the Sindh University’s education department but also carried on with research in history, linguistics and archaeology.

He came across old manuscripts on history, classical literature, biographies and other documents of value, researched over them, wrote addendums and explanatory notes on them and got them published by the Sindhi Adabi Board. On poetry, his writings were not restricted to Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai but also covered classical poets. He pored over their works, corrected the scripts, and wrote explanatory notes on them, which were published by Sindhi Adabi Board.

When his intellectual work was in full swing, he was assigned other goals by the federal government. He was appointed as vice-chancellor of Sindh University in 1973, a position he held till 1976.

This was more of an administrative job and hindered his research work, but he succeeded in doing justice with the task thanks to a dedicated team groomed by him over the years.

After relinquishing the VC post in 1976, he was called to Islamabad as federal education secretary. He stamped his authority on a typical bureaucratic job too.

During Ziaul Haq’s regime he was appointed as adviser to the Hijra committee in 1983. In 1991 he was appointed founding chairman of the Sindhi Language Authority, which aimed at promoting Sindhi language in various fields.

During the last phase of his life he was working on an interpretation of the poetry of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai. Although it was the Sindh government which had set up the Bhit Shah Cultural Committee Centre in 1953, it was Dr Baloch and his associates, Shaikh Ismail and Mumtaz Mirza, who materialised the project.

As a scholar in various disciplines he made many strides. His works were appreciated as well as criticised. To many of his critics his perceptions and findings were disputed, but he had his own arguments and was never deterred by such comments. He never disowned his ideals nor did he ever amend his views.

Dr Baloch’s life was full of struggle for the promotion of literature. In this mission he worked hard. He represented Pakistan at a number of international educational moots, interacted with a large section of people at home and in the outside world and in many regards brought laurels to the country.