Muhammad Shahidullah ( bn, মুহম্মদ শহীদুল্লাহ; 10 July 1885 – 13 July 1969) was a

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 ...

linguist, philologist, educationist, and writer. In 2004, he was ranked number 16 in BBC's poll of the

Greatest Bengali of all time Soon after the completion of ''100 Greatest Britons'' poll in 2002, the BBC organized a similar opinion poll to find out the greatest Bengali personalities in the history of Bengali nation. In 2004, the BBC's Bengali Service conducted the opinio ...

Early life and education

Shahidullah was born on 10 July 1885 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 the village of Peyara in the erstwhile

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia an ...

24 Parganas 24 Parganas district (''cabbiś pargaṇā jēlā'') is a former district of the Indian state of West Bengal. The district was split into two districts — North 24 Parganas district and South 24 Parganas district, with effect from 1 March ...

district. His father, Mafizuddin Ahmed, was the guardian of a mazar, and his mother, Marguba Khatun, was a housewife. Shahidullah passed his school final ''Entrance'' exam in 1904 from

Howrah Zilla School Howrah Zilla School, abbreviated as ''HZS'', is a Governmental, Bengali medium, higher secondary school located in Howrah in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the only government high school of Howrah. It is affiliated with West Bengal Boa ...

. In 1906, he passed the FA exam from Presidency College in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

. He received the

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree with Honours in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

in 1910 from

City College, Kolkata City College is a composite fully state government-aided public college, affiliated to the University of Calcutta. Established in 1881, it is one of the heritage institutions of Kolkata, and played a prominent role in the wake of the Bengal ...

, and Masters of Arts degree in 1912 in comparative philology from the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a public collegiate state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered one of best state research university all over India every yea ...

. He earned his PhD degree from

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University (french: Sorbonne Université; la Sorbonne: 'the Sorbonne') is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sor ...

in 1928 for his research on the dialects of the

Charyapada The Charyapada (IAST: Caryapāda, Assamese/Bengali: চর্যাপদ) is a collection of mystical poems, songs of realization in the Vajrayana tradition of Buddhism from the tantric tradition in Assam, Bengal, Bihar and Odisha. It was w ...

. He was the first Indian Muslim to receive this doctorate degree. He was also a ''

murid In Sufism, a ''murīd'' (Arabic مُرِيد 'one who seeks') is a novice committed to spiritual enlightenment by ''sulūk'' (traversing a path) under a spiritual guide, who may take the title murshid, '' pir'' or ''shaykh''. A ''sālik'' or Su ...

'' (disciple) of

Mohammad Abu Bakr Siddique Moḥammad Abū Bakr Ṣiddīque al-Qurayshī ( bn, মোহাম্মদ আবু বকর সিদ্দিকী আল কুরাইশী, ar, محمد أبو بكر الصديقي القريشي; 15 April 1865 — 17 March 1943) was ...

, the inaugural Pir of Furfura, from whom he received mystic education and ''

khilafah A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

'' (spiritual succession).

Career

Shahidullah began his career by teaching in Jessore Zila School in 1908. After working as the headmaster of Sitakunda High School for some time in 1914, he practiced law at Bashirhat in 24 Parganas. In 1915 he was elected as vice-chairman of the town's municipality. He was Sharatchandra Lahiri Research Fellow (1919–21) under

Dinesh Chandra Sen Rai Bahadur Dinesh Chandra Sen ( bn, দীনেশ চন্দ্র সেন) (3 November 1866 – 20 November 1939)Sengupta, Subodh Chandra (ed.) (1988) ''Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan'' (in Bengali), Kolkata: Sahitya Sansad, p.208 was a ...

at the University of Calcutta and joined 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 ...

as a lecturer in 1921 in Sanskrit and Bangla. During his period at the University of Dhaka he did research on the origins of the Bengali language. In 1925, he presented his thesis that Bangla as a language originated from Gaudi or

Magadhi Prakrit Magadhi Prakrit (''Māgadhī'') is of one of the three Dramatic Prakrits, the written languages of Ancient India following the decline of Pali and Sanskrit. It was a vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan language, replacing earlier Vedic Sanskrit. H ...

. He was principal of Bogra Azizul Huq College from 1944 to 1948. He then returned to the University of Dhaka, serving as head of the Bangla Department and dean of the Faculty of Arts. He taught part-time at the Law Department (1922–25) and the International Relations Department as a teacher of French (1953–55). He worked as head of the Bangla and Sanskrit Department of the University of Rajshahi (1955–58). He served as an editor for the

Islami Bishwakosh Islami Bishwakosh ( bn, ইসলামী বিশ্বকোষ, Islāmī Bishshokōsh, Islamic encyclopedia) is an encyclopedia published by the Islamic Foundation Bangladesh. It is of 25 volumes and also a concise version. The project's leadi ...

project for a while. Muhammad Shahidullah's mastery of different languages was extraordinary and outstanding. He was fluent in 24 languages and had an outstanding knowledge of 18 languages. Some of the notable languages are

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Persian,

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

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 ...

, French, Assamese, Oriya, Maithili,

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

, Marathi,

Kashmiri Kashmiri may refer to: * People or things related to the Kashmir Valley or the broader region of Kashmir * Kashmiris, an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley * Kashmiri language, their language People with the name * Kashmiri Saikia Baruah ...

Nepali Nepali or Nepalese may refer to : Concerning Nepal * Anything of, from, or related to Nepal * Nepali people, citizens of Nepal * Nepali language, an Indo-Aryan language found in Nepal, the current official national language and a language spoken ...

, Sinhala,

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken diale ...

Sindhi Sindhi may refer to: *something from, or related to Sindh, a province of Pakistan * Sindhi people, an ethnic group from the Sindh region * Sindhi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them People with the name * Sarkash Sindhi (1940–2012 ...

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Buddh ...

etc.

Noteworthy books

* Sindabad Saodagarer Galpa (The Stories of the Merchant Sindbad, 1922) * Bhasa O Sahitya (Language and Literature, essays, 1931) * Bangala Byakaran (Bangla Grammar, 1936) * Diwan-i-Hafiz (Poems of Hafiz, translation, 1938) * Shikwah O Jawab-i-Shikwah (Questions and Their Answers, translation from Iqbal, 1942) * Rubaiyat-i-Omar Khaiyam (Quatrains of Omar Khayyam, translation, 1942) * Essays on Islam (1945) * Amader Samasya (Our Problems, essays, 1949) * Padmavati (Volume I ed, 1950) * Bangla Sahityer Katha (History of Bangla Literature, Volume I in 1953, Volume II in 1965) * Vidyapati Shatak (Collection of Vidyapati's Songs, text analysis, 1954) * Bangla Adab Ki Tarikh (History of Bangla Literature, essays, in Urdu, 1957) * Bangla Sahityer Itihas (History of Bangla Literature, 1957) * Bangala Bhasar Itibrtta (History of Bangla Language, 1959) * Amarkabya (Unforgettable Poetical Works, 1963) * Sekaler Rupkatha (Fairy Tales of Ancient Time), 1965 * Les Chants Mystiques de Kanha et de Saraha

he Mystic Songs He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

1928, Adrien Maisonneuve.

Family

Shahidullah has seven sons and two daughters. Children: Mohammad Raziullah, Mohammad Safiyullah, Mohammad Waliullah, A K Mohammad Zakiyullah, Mohammad Taqiullah, Mohammad Naqiullah, Mohammad Bashirullah, Mohzuza Haque (born Khatun), Masrura Haque (born Khatun). His third son A.K.M. Zakiyullah established a school named 'Dr. Shahidullah Gyanpith' in Hazi Osman Goni Road, Alu bazaar (Old Dhaka) and a research library named ’Dr. Shahidullah Memorial Library and Language Research Center’ in Senpara Parbata, Mirpur-10, Dhaka. Another of his son Abul Bayan M. Naqiyyullah (M.S) studied in George Washington University in Washington DC, USA and settled in Cairo, Egypt after serving as a pathologist in Saudi Arabia. Another of Shahidullah's son, A.K.M. Bashirullah – known popularly by his alias Murtaja Baseer – is considered one of the most stylish and foremost painters in Bangladesh.

Awards and honors

Shahidullah made Professor Emeritus by the University of Dhaka (1967) for his lifetime contribution in research on language and literature. He was also awarded the

Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is t ...

by the

French government The Government of France ( French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who ...

in 1967 for his academic contribution to language and literature. In 1980, 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 ...

awarded him the

Independence 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 ...

posthumously.

Eponyms

* Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah Hall * Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah Academic Building,

Rajshahi University The University of Rajshahi, also known as Rajshahi University or RU ( bn, রাজশাহী বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়), is a public co-educational research university in Bangladesh situated near the northern Bangladeshi ci ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shahidullah, Muhammad 1885 births 1969 deaths Bengali educators Presidency University, Kolkata alumni Translators of Omar Khayyám Linguists from Bengal 20th-century Indian linguists Linguists from Pakistan University of Dhaka faculty University of Calcutta alumni University of Paris alumni Recipients of the Pride of Performance City College, Kolkata alumni Recipients of the Independence Day Award Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Honorary Fellows of Bangla Academy 19th-century Bengalis 20th-century Bengalis Bengali Muslim scholars of Islam Writers from Dhaka People from South 24 Parganas district Writers from West Bengal Bengali-language writers Bengali writers