Christopher Shackle, (born 4 March 1942) is Emeritus Professor of Modern Languages of South Asia 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 degr ...

Life and career

Christopher Shackle was born on 4 March 1942. He was educated at

Haileybury and Imperial Service College Haileybury is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) near Hertford in England. It is a member of the Rugby Group and, though originally a major boys' public school in the Victorian era, it is now co-educational, enrol ...

, and went up to

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ...

in 1959 to read Oriental Studies, graduating with a first class degree in 1963. He then went on to study as a postgraduate at

St Antony's College St Antony's College is one of the colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1950 as the result of the gift of French merchant Sir Antonin Besse of Aden, St Antony's specialises ...

. In 1969 Shackle took up an appointment as a Lecturer in Urdu and Panjabi at

SOAS University of London SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury a ...

, a position he held for the next 10 years. In January 1979 he moved to

Birkbeck College , mottoeng = Advice comes over nightTranslation used by Birkbeck. , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £4.3 m (2014) , budget = £10 ...

to become Reader in Modern Languages of South Asia, returning in 1985 to SOAS as Professor of Modern Languages of South Asia. He is furthermore the head of the

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, Project Leader at the

Arts and Humanities Research Council The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), formerly Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB), is a British research council, established in 1998, supporting research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities. History The Arts ...

's Centre for Asian and African Literatures, and a member of the Centre of South Asian Studies. Shackle is an expert in the

Saraiki language Saraiki ( '; also spelt Siraiki, or Seraiki) is an Indo-Aryan language of the Lahnda group, spoken by 26 million people primarily in the south-western half of the province of Punjab in Pakistan. It was previously known as Multani, after it ...

, which he learned from

Mehr Abdul Haq Mehr Abdul Haq ( Urdu:; , Layyah, British India – Multan, Pakistan) was a philologist from Pakistan. After completing his education he joined education department where he worked on different posts. He retired in 1970. He got his PhD degree ...

. He has written several books on Saraiki literature and

Khwaja Ghulam Farid Khwaja Ghulam Farid (Urdu: ) or Khwaja Fareed (1845–1901) was a 19th-century Sufi poet from Punjab. He was a member of the Chishti Nizami Sufi order. He wrote poetry in several languages, and his literary heritage has been claimed by both th ...

. He was active in Saraiki writers' circle and a friend of Umer Kamal Khan and

Aslam Rasoolpuri Aslam is a male given name and surname used in the Muslim world. It is also a surname of English origin, and has two possible sources, the first being from a topographical name for someone who lived by the hazels, derived from the Old English pre 7 ...

. He has written many books, and published over 19 book chapters and journal articles in the field of Urdu literature. He served as Head of Department from 1983 to 1987 and as Pro-Director of SOAS from 1997 until 2003. He also served as a Humanities jury member for the

Infosys Prize The Infosys Prize is an annual award given to scientists, researchers, engineers and social scientists of Indian origin (not necessarily born in India) by the Infosys Science Foundation and ranks among the highest monetary awards in India to r ...

2020.

Awards

* Fellow of the British Academy (elected 1990) * Pakistan's highest award for the arts, the

Sitara-i-Imtiaz The Sitara-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Sitara-i-Imtiaz, is the third-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") honour and civilian award in the State of Pakistan. It recognizes individuals who have made an "especially meritorious contribution to the ...

(2004) * The Royal Asiatic Society Award (2006)

Selected publications

*''Teach Yourself Punjabi'' *''The Siraiki Language of Central Pakistan; A Reference Grammar'' *''From Wuch to Southern Lahnda: A Century of Siraiki Studies in English'' *(with A. Mandair) ''Teachings of the Sikh Gurus: Selections from the Sikh Scriptures,'' 214 pp., Routledge (UK & US). . 2005. *''Saraiki Marsiya,'' 94 pp. Bazm-e Saqafat (Pakistan). ISBN none. 2003. *(with D. J. Matthews, S. Husain) ''Urdu Literature'', 288 pp., Alhamra (Pakistan). . 2003. *(with J. Majeed) ''Hali's Musaddas: The Flow and Ebb of Islam,'' 262 pp., Oxford University Press (Delhi). . 1997. *Edited books: 2003. SOAS Since the Sixties, 185 pp. SOAS (UK). . *''Teachings of Khawaja Farid (Translation of Isharat-i-Faridi)'', 1978: ''Bazm-i-Saqafat-Multan'' *''Fifty Poems of Khawaja Farid: Translation in English Verse of Poems of Khawaja Farid'', published 1973: ''Bazm-i-Saqafat-Multan''

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Citations

External links

*
SOAS Staff page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shackle, Christopher Living people 1942 births Academics of SOAS University of London Recipients of Sitara-i-Imtiaz Fellows of the British Academy Saraiki-language writers Urdu-language writers Linguists of Punjabi Alumni of Merton College, Oxford