Rushbrook Williams
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Laurence Frederic Rushbrook Williams, (1890–1978) was a British historian and civil servant who spent part of his working life in India, and had an abiding interest in Eastern culture.


Life and work

Williams was a Fellow of
All Souls' College All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically b ...
,
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
. He built up a school of Mughal studies at the
University of Allahabad , mottoeng = "As Many Branches So Many Trees" , established = , type = Public , chancellor = Ashish Chauhan , vice_chancellor = Sangita Srivastava , head_label ...
,Williams, L.F. Rushbrook, editor (1974). ''Sufi Studies: East and West'', E.P.Dutton & Co., p. 259. . where he was professor of Modern Indian History. He was briefly Eastern Services Director of the B.B.C., and also worked on the editorial staff of ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' (London). He acted as a government advisor on Middle East and Asian affairs, and contributed to publications like the Royal Central Asian Society ''Journal'' and the ''
Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...
''. He became interested in Sufism through his contact with
Sirdar Ikbal Ali Shah Sirdar Ikbal Ali Shah ( hi, सरदार इक़बाल अली शाह, ur, ; 1894 in Sardhana, India – 4 November 1969 in Tangier, Morocco) was an Indian- Afghan author and diplomat descended from the Sadaat of Paghman. Born an ...
and later edited an anthology of contributions to a symposium in honor of the work of the noted Sufi author,
Idries Shah Idries Shah (; hi, इदरीस शाह, ps, ادريس شاه, ur, ; 16 June 1924 – 23 November 1996), also known as Idris Shah, né Sayed Idries el- Hashimi (Arabic: سيد إدريس هاشمي) and by the pen name Ark ...
.Williams, L.F. Rushbrook, editor (1974). ''Sufi Studies: East and West'', E.P.Dutton & Co., p. 18-19; 259. .


Works

Williams wrote several works on India, Asia and the Middle East, among them the following: *''Pakistan Under Challenge'' *''What About India?'' *''The State of Israel'' *''India in 1921-22: A report prepared for presentation to Parliament in accordance with the requirements of the 26th Section of the Government of India Act'' *''An Empire Builder of the Sixteenth Century: A Summary Account of the Political Career of Zahir-Ud-Din Muhammad, Surnamed Babur'' *''Ethnic diversity in India'' *''The black hills: Kutch in history and legend: a study in Indian local loyalties'' *''Handbook for Travellers in India, Pakistan and Nepal'' *''The East Pakistan tragedy'' *''The State of Pakistan'' *''Great Men of India''


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External links

* British expatriates in India British historians of religion 20th-century British writers 1890 births 1978 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire {{UK-historian-stub