Muhammad Siddiq Khan (known as M S Khan; 21 March 1910 – 13 August 1978) was the librarian of the Central Library of the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...

and the founder of the university's Department of

Library Science Library science (often termed library studies, bibliothecography, and library economy) is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and ...

(now ''Information Science and Library Management''). In March 2004, the

Government of Bangladesh The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ সরকার — ) is the central executive government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Con ...

posthumously awarded him the

Independence Day Award The Independence Day Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পদক), also termed Independence Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পুরস্কার), Swadhinata Padak, and Swadhinata Puroskar, is the highest state award given by t ...

, the country's highest civil honor.

Early life and education

Khan was born on 21 March 1910 to a

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the sec ...

family in

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

whose ancestors were members of

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

aristocracy. His father, Israil Khan, had moved with his family from the village of Dhudhuria in Nagarpur,

Tangail Tangail ( bn, টাঙ্গাইল, ), is a major city within the Dhaka Division in central Bangladesh. It sits on the bank of the Louhajang River, north-west of Dhaka, the nation's capital. It is considered to be the main urban area of ...

to Rangoon,

British Burma British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

in order to tutor the children of the deposed Mughal Emperor

Bahadur Shah Zafar Bahadur Shah II, usually referred to by his poetic title Bahadur Shah ''Zafar'' (; ''Zafar'' Victory) was born Mirza Abu Zafar Siraj-ud-din Muhammad (24 October 1775 – 7 November 1862) and was the twentieth and last Mughal Emperor as well a ...

. His father died when he was young whilst his mother, Bolonnessa Begum, got herself in a long-drawn-out litigation with his uncle on proprietary rights to his vast wealth and establishments. Khan spent his childhood in Rangoon and went to school there. He took the matriculation examination in 1925 and stood fifth in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

with distinctions in four subjects. He passed his intermediate examination in arts in 1927 and stood first in

Rangoon University '') , mottoeng = There's no friend like wisdom. , established = , type = Public , rector = Dr. Tin Mg Tun , undergrad = 4194 , postgrad = 5748 , city = Kamayut 11041, Yangon , state = Yangon Regio ...

with distinction in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. In 1929, he received the B.A. honors degree in history from the university and stood first in the second class. In 1932 he got his B.L. degree. He was placed in the first class in the first-part examinations and in the second class in the second-part examinations. In 1936, he got his M.A. degree in history from the university and received the ''Yakub Abdul Ghani Gold Medal''. For this performance he also received the Jardin Prize.

Career

Completing his graduation program, Khan joined Rangoon University as a lecturer in history and political science in 1931 and worked there until the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. His students included

Aung San Aung San (, ; 13 February 191519 July 1947) was a Burmese politician, independence activist and revolutionary. He was instrumental in Myanmar's struggle for independence from British rule, but he was assassinated just six months before his go ...

, one of the architects of the independence of

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

. When Rangoon came under fire from the advancing

Japanese army The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force ( ja, 陸上自衛隊, Rikujō Jieitai), , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service b ...

, Khan escaped by trekking through the mountains to reach his village home. In 1943, he became an officer in the

Civil Defense Civil defense ( en, region=gb, civil defence) or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from man-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, miti ...

department of the government of

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

. The next year he joined as a Liaison Officer under the Industries Directorate of the Bengal government. In 1946, he became the General Secretary of the Bengal

Red Cross Society The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the world's largest group of non-governmental organizations working on humanitarian aid, is composed of the following bodies: *The ''International Committee of the Red Cross'' (ICRC), a comm ...

, a job he retained when moving to

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

after the

partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

in 1947. In 1950, he joined Debendra College in

Manikganj Manikganj is a district situated in Dhaka Division, Bangladesh. Manikganj is one of the green and pollution free towns in Bangladesh. The recent urbanization and highway built joining Dhaka and Shingair Upazilla has given it an outstanding road ...

as its principal. In 1953, Khan joined

as a secretary to

Sayed Moazzem Hossain Syed Moazzem Hossain (1901–1991) was a Bangladeshi academic and Islamic scholar. He served as the vice-chancellor of the University of Dhaka. Early life and education Hossain was born on 1 August 1901, to a Bengali Muslim family of Syeds in t ...

, the then vice-chancellor, who was succeeded by

Walter Allen Jenkins Walter Allen Jenkins (1 April 1891 – 26 September 1958) was an English academic. He served as the 7th vice-chancellor of the University of Dhaka during 1953–1956. Education Jenkins graduated from Emmanuel College in London. Later he obtai ...

eight months later. Jenkins sent Khan abroad in 1954 for further studies in

library science Library science (often termed library studies, bibliothecography, and library economy) is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and ...

. Khan arrived in London on 30 September 1954. He started regular course work as decided by Professor Irwin. After due completion of course work, Khan spent one academic year working intensively in selected university and other academic libraries in Great Britain. Irwin arranged a training program with several libraries at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, as well as the libraries of the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

and

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

. Khan successfully completed his training. After completing a two-year course on the theory and practice of university librarianship in the London School of Librarianship and Archives, under the supervision of Irwin, during 1954–55 and 1955–56, Khan returned to his ancestral place. Upon return, he joined as the librarian of the Central Library of the university in June 1956, a position he held until his retirement in 1972. Khan introduced a diploma course for

and, along with Ahmad Hossain, founded the Library Association of East Pakistan. When the Department of Library Science was established in 1959, he was appointed the head of the department. In his 19 years of service to the Library, he introduced the

Dewey Decimal System The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), colloquially known as the Dewey Decimal System, is a proprietary library classification system which allows new books to be added to a library in their appropriate location based on subject. Section 4.1 ...

library classification A library classification is a system of organization of knowledge by which library resources are arranged and ordered systematically. Library classifications are a notational system that represents the order of topics in the classification and al ...

and oversaw its implementation. He faced job-related financial troubles when he retired. KHan was the vice-president of the

Pakistan Library Association The Pakistan Library Association (PLA) is a representative national body of librarians in Pakistan. It was formed in Karachi in March 1957. It is responsible for looking after the interests of the professional librarians who work for the developm ...

(1957, 1958, and 1968) and the president for several tenures. He was the General Secretary of from 1962 to 1965. He was a vice-president of Asian Federation of Library Association from 1957 to 1960. Khan wrote a number of books, as well as columns for ''

Holiday A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...

'' and ''

The Bangladesh Observer ''The Bangladesh Observer'', founded by Hamidul Huq Choudhury in 1949, was the oldest, continuously published English-language daily newspaper in Bangladesh until it ceased publication in June 2010. History Since its inception as ''The Pakist ...

''. He published a news bulletin for the University of Dhaka and edited the ''Eastern Librarian'' as the founder editor until 1976.

Death and legacy

Khan died after prolonged illness on 13 August 1978 in

. He did not receive any honors during his lifetime. He was made a fellow of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...

for his scholarly contributions. Nearly a quarter of century later the

Association introduced a gold medal in his name, an honor given to other distinguished figures such as

Maulana Bhasani Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani (12 December 1880 – 17 November 1976), often shortened as Maulana Bhashani, was a Bengali politician. His political tenure spanned the British colonial India, Pakistan and Bangladesh periods. Maulana Bhashani was pop ...

and

Abu Sayeed Chowdhury Abu Sayeed Chowdhury (31 January 1921 – 2 August 1987) was a jurist and the President of Bangladesh. Besides that, he held the positions of the Chairmen of the United Nations Commission on Human rights, the vice-chancellor of the University ...

. The government of Bangladesh posthumously awarded him the Independence Day Award, the highest civil honor of the country, in 2004. His daughter Shireen Rashid received the award. On 21 March 2010, Khan's 100th birthday, Library Association of Bangladesh has declared "21st March" as the ''Library Day of Bangladesh''.

List of publications

Khan wrote the following articles:

English

History

# "Captain George Sorrel's Mission to the Court of Amarapura 1793: An Episode in Anglo-Burmese Relations". ''Journal of the Asiatic Society of Pakistan'', vol. II 1957, pp. 131–153 # "Badr Maqams of the Shrines of Badr Al-Din-Auliya". ''Journal of the Asiatic Society of Pakistan'', vol. II 1962, pp. 17–46 # "A Chapter in the Muslim Struggle for Freedom: Establishment of Dacca University". ''The Dacca University Studies''.

Library science

# "The Oriental Manuscript Collection in Dacca University Library". ''The Eastern Librarian'', vol. I No. 1, 1966, pp. 32–37 # "A Co-operative Acquisition Plan for Pakistan's Third Five-year Development Plan", 1965–70. ''Pakistan Librarianship'', 1963–64, pp. 93–101 # "College Library Authority and Organization". ''The Eastern Librarian'', vol. III No. 4, 1969, pp. 7–21 # "The Challenge of McLuhan". ''The Eastern Librarian'', vol. 5 No. 3–4, 1971, pp. 187–197 # "Marketing of Books in East Pakistan: Problems, Prospects and Projects". ''The Eastern Librarian'', vol. II No. 1, 1967, pp. 49–62; vol. II No. 2, 1967, pp. 17–23; vol. II No. 3, 1968, pp. 51–61; # "Book Promotion in School Libraries". ''Pakistan Librarianship'', 1962–63, pp. 92–93 # "A Blueprint for University Library Development". ''Pakistan Librarianship'', 1963–64, pp. 160–170 # "Libraries in Pakistan". ''The Eastern Librarian'', vol. II No. 1, 1967, pp. 1–14 # "Libraries in Education". ''East Pakistan Education Week'', 1968, pp. 34–50 # "University Librarianship To-day and Tomorrow". ''The Eastern Librarian'', vol. III No. 1, 1969, pp. 21–28 # "The India Office Library: Who Owns It?" ''The Eastern Librarian'', vol. I No. 1, 1966, pp. 1–10 # "Our Libraries and Our National Antiquities". ''The Eastern Librarian'', vol. III No. 2, 1968,pp. 1–7 # "Comments on the Government of Pakistan's Third Five-year Development Plan—1965–1970". ''Pakistan Librarianship'', 1963–1964, pp. 55–56

Printing and publication

# " William Carey and the Serampore Books (1800–1834)". ''LIBRI'', vol. II No. 3, 1961, pp. 197–280

Editorial

# "Ahmed Hussain". ''The Eastern Librarian'', June 1970 # "The Bleak Horizon". ''The Eastern Librarian'', September 1967 # "Wanted – A national Advisory Commission on Libraries". ''The Eastern Librarian'', December 1967 # "Progress of Librarianship in East Pakistan: Decade of Progress". ''The Eastern Librarian'', June 1968 # "Who is an Expert?" ''The Eastern Librarian'', vol. II No. 3, 1968 # "Import of non-book Reading Materials". ''The Eastern Librarian'', March 1969 # "Libraries and Postal Vagaries". ''The Eastern Librarian'', June 1970 # "Any one can run a library". ''The Eastern Librarian'', December 1967 # "A New Library System for Bangladesh". ''The Eastern Librarian'', vol. VI No. 1-2 1971 # "The Death of A Library". ''The Eastern Librarian'', June 1967 # "Those who stand and serve". ''The Eastern Librarian'', March 1967 # "Books on Bonus". ''The Eastern Librarian'', June 1971 # "Brickbats – and no Banquets!" ''The Eastern Librarian'', March–June 1971 # "Pakistani Library Journals". ''The Eastern Librarian'', September 1966 # "Should Institutional Libraries Hold Import Licenses?" ''The Eastern Librarian'', September 1966

Preface

# ''Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Conference Volume of the Pakistan Library Association, November 1964'' # ''Proceedings of the Sixth Annual Conference Volume of the Pakistan Library Association, November 1965''

Book reviews

# ''Technical College Libraries: A Guide to Problems and Practice''. by K. W. Neal, published by the author at 41, Wychbury Road, Finchfield, Wolverhampton, UK 1965, pp. 159. and ''The Eastern Librarian'', vol. I No. 1966, pp. 49–50 # ''The Pakistan National Bibliography: Annual volume 1962'' # ''Oriental Dictionaries: A Selected Bibliography'' # ''Southern Asia'' # ''Libraries in the East: An International and Comparative Study''

Miscellaneous

# ''Felix Carey: A Prisoner of Hope'' # ''Import of Reading Materials from Abroad'' # ''A Comparative Study of Copyright Laws'' # ''Annual Report: Pakistan Library Association''

Bengali

Printing and publication

# বাংলা মুদ্রণ ও প্রকাশনার গোড়ার কথা (''Early History of Bengali Printing and Publication''). Bangla Academy, Dhaka. 1371 (Bengali Year), pp. 206, illustrated Price. 5.00

taka The Bangladeshi taka ( bn, টাকা, sign: , code: BDT, short form: Tk) is the currency of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. In Unicode, it is encoded at . Issuance of bank notes 10 and larger is controlled by Bangladesh Bank, while ...

(''

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

version'') # বাংলা মুদ্রণ প্রকাশকে কেরী যুগ (''Carry Period in Bengali Publication'').''Sahitya Protika. 5:1, 1368 (Bengali Year) pp. 153–268'' (''

version'') # বাংলা মুদ্রণের গোড়ার যুগের ইতিহাস (''Early History of Bengali Printing'') ''Gronthagar. 1369. pp. 243–268''(''

version'')

Library science

# গ্রন্থাগার সম্প্রসারণ ও জনপ্রিয়তা বৃদ্ধির উপায় (''Techniques of Library Extension and Popularization''). ''Pak Samachar, 1956''(''Bengali version'') # শিশু গ্রন্থাগার (''Children Library''). Boi. 2:10, 1959 # গ্রন্থ: গ্রন্থাগারিক ও গ্রন্থবিক্রেতা (''The Book: Librarian and Book Seller''). Porikrom. 2:2 October 1962

History

# ব্রহ্মদেশের ইতিহাসে মুসলমান (''Muslim in Burmese History''). Bangla Academy Potrika. 5:1, 1961. pp. 33–37.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Muhammad Siddiq 1910 births 1978 deaths Bangladeshi librarians University of Yangon alumni Recipients of the Independence Day Award Bangladeshi people of Mughal descent People from Tangail District