Feedback & Testimonials

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Special thanks to the following historians, scholars, academics, researchers, friends and relatives (from India, Pakistan, Australia, Canada, France, Kazakhstan, Oman, Switzerland, UAE, UK and USA etc.) for their online and offline comments & feedback regarding the digital historiography project and website. (The comments have been edited to fit the format of this page).

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Dear Ahmer, I’m delighted to see the site up and running. Many congratulations. I hope to make use of it in my own work in future and will share it with my graduate students. Best wishes, Nile 

Dr. Nile Green, Professor & Ibn Khaldun Endowed Chair in World History, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA, February 1st 2019

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Congratulations.

Compiling this vast and varied information is indeed a great work that you have done.

I really appreciate and admire your commitment. You are also doing a favour to the coming generations of researches.

Best of Luck ! Your dedication is praiseworthy.

Dr. Imtiaz Ahmad, Professor / Former Director, Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, Patna, Bihar, India, January 31st / November 29th 2019 / December 14th 2019 

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Dear Ahmer, I have looked at your amazing web site for your grandfather.  It is a true labor of love and extremely comprehensive.  You are to be congratulated on it. I think his translation of the Zain Khan work is remarkable and extraordinarily useful.I met your grandfather so many years ago - about 40 - that it's hard to recall things with great clarity. It must have been in 1981-82 when I was working on a project for the Aga Khan  Foundation.  The project was to document the Islamic monuments of Bihar and Bengal with photographs.  I was using Qeyamuddin Ahmed's book on the Islamic Inscriptions of Bihar as my guide and also the work of D.R. Patil, The Antiquarian Remains of Bihar.  The monuments cited were often difficult to find, especially in dense urban settings.  Your grandfather guided me to many of these buildings in Patna.  I think Dick Eaton accompanied us at times.  Your grandfather was extremely helpful and gracious with his time.  What I don't recall is how I met your grandfather.  It's possible that a Jesuit who was living in Patna at the time, a wonderful man, Father Paul Jackson, introduced us.  Father Jackson has published Maneri's letters.    

All best, Catherine Asher

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Dear Ahmer, Many thanks for working on this important project - what a boon to scholarship. Best, Cathy

Dr. Catherine Ella Blanshard Asher, Professor of Islamic and Indian Art History, College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA, December 10th 2019 & October 10th 2020

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Dear Ahmer Raza, I am grateful for your unprecedented bounty by keeping at this Library’s disposal full-length encyclopedic information through the website on Prof. Askari. Thank you very much. Firuz Shahi has gone to press and I hope it may come out by the end of the month.

Regards. 

Shayesta Bedar,

Director, KBOP Library, Patna

Dr. Shayesta Bedar, Director, Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, Patna,  Bihar, India, December 22nd 2019 

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Dear Mr. Raza, I would like to say how happy I am that you are retrieving and consolidating your grandfather's important scholarship. I might add that it was a great pleasure knowing your grandfather, who was one of the kindest and most informed scholars I ever met in my own efforts to understand Bengali history. When I knew him, back in the early 1980s, he could be found most every day reading Persian manuscripts in the Khuda Bakhsh Library in Patna. He had probably read every manuscript in the entire collection! I have always regarded him as one of the foremost scholars ever to have studied precolonial Bihar and Bengal.  It was truly a privilege to have known him during my own brief stay in Patna, and to have benefited from his extraordinary generosity in sharing his vast knowledge with me. With kind regards, R.M. Eaton

Dear Ahmer,  Thank you so much for sending me the link to Askari Sahib’s website.  I truly admire the zeal with which you have been curating his extraordinary scholarly output.  It is clearly a labor of love!.  And to think -- you still have some two hundred more articles to include!  Thank you again for sending this my way.

With kind regards,

-Dick

Dr. Richard M. Eaton, ​Professor, Department of History, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA, Sept 5th 2019 / October 22nd 2019 / March 14th 2020           

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Dear Ahmer,

I had the pleasure of meeting S. H. Askari in 1979, when I spent nearly a year in India doing research on Sufism and visited many of the most important manuscript collections. Patna was of course on the list, because of the Khudabakhsh Library, and when I visited, the library director B.A. Dar kindly introduced me to Askari sahib, whose work I was familiar with from my time at Aligarh. I recall a wide ranging  conversation that went late into the night, in which his remarkable erudition was displayed in a generous and natural way.  An admirable scholar, no doubt. Thanks very much for your note. About the article, I recall seeing it long ago, and I have requested a soft copy through our inter library loan service. I will send you that copy when I receive it.

Congratulations on establishing the valuable website with all of these remarkable scholarly articles.

Best wishes

Carl Ernst

Dr. Carl W. Ernst, Author of "Refractions of Islam in India" & Kenan Distinguished Professor of Islamic studies, University of North Carolina , Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA, April 23rd and 24th, 2021  

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Dear Ahmer Raza sahib

It is a pleasure for me to receiving a letter from the grandson of great historian Prof. S .H. Askari. You are doing an excellent work for future generations of scholars. Best wishes for you and your project. I will try my best to enrich this project. Thanks & regards. Yours.

Dr. Nripendra Kumar Shrivastava, Professor, Dept. of History, Magadh University, Bodhgaya, India, April 30th, 2021

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Dear Syed Ahmer Raza Saheb,
I am happy to receive your kind words.  For me it had been very lucky having come in contact with saint scholar Prof. Askari, whom I ever considered an epitome of academic world. I learnt the value of simplicity from him. I also appreciate your detailed work on Prof. Askari. 
I again bow my head to his memory. 

Professor Dr. Bharti S. Kumar, Former Dean & Head of the Department of History, Patna University, India, December 12, 2022

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Congratulations on assembling this excellent resource on the life and works of Professor Syed Hasan Askari!  It is a massive project and a work of love.

Best wishes,

David

Dr. David R. Faust, Librarian for South Asia and Middle East, Interim Librarian for East & Southeast Asia, Collections Coordinator for Arts & Humanities and Social Sciences & Professional Programs, Ames Library of South Asia, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA, June 10th 2020

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Dear Ahmer

Greetings from NC!

I had the honor of meeting your wondrous grandad when I made several trips to Patna back in the mid-70s. Most of the material that I received from him were articles he published in local journals, especially Current Studies  and  Journal of the Bihar Research Society. I gave lectures at the Khoda Bakhsh Library back in 1975, and they were published as Notes from a Distant Flute (Tehran 1978). I cite several of your grandfather's pathbreaking

essays in that slim volume, and also acknowledge his assistance in the Foreword (p. 12). I do hope these tidbits, shards from a glorious person/scholar/presence who was your grandfather, can be of some value.

With warm regards, and cheers,

Bruce Lawrence

Professor Bruce B. Lawrence, Marcus Family Humanities Professor of Religion Emeritus, Duke University, NC, USA, March 17th 2020

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Dear Ahmer Saheb,

Thanks for your e-mail. Only two days ago I received a copy of Askari Saheb transl. of Sīrat-i Firūz Shāhī, from the Khuda Bakhsh library. It will be reviewed in our journal, Studies in People’s History, published by SAGE and I’ll forward a pre-print copy of the review to you.

I first had a darshan of your grandfather in 1958 at Trivandrum when I attended a session of the Indian History Congress held there.

I am sure the translation of Sīrat-i Firūz Shāhī, a difficult text full of information on diverse matters will be of great help to students of medieval Indian cultural history.

Warm good wishes,

Yours sincerely,

Irfan Habib

Dr. Irfan Habib, Author of "The Agrarian System of Mughal India 1556–1707"  & Emeritus Professor Department of History, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India, October 7th 2021

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Dear Ahmer Raza Saheb,

It's a pleasure for me to respond from a descendant of the great historian. Professor Askari was renowned for his outstanding scholarship as well as his humility, his humanity as well as his very Indian-ness. I had the good fortune to see him only once and all these images of him have stayed in my mind. This was more than a half century ago, probably after a session of the History Congress.

I just remember having had a darshan of a real vidwan personifying the Sanskrit saying vidya dadati vinayam. The image of a most ordinarily dressed elderly gentleman in a crumpled shirt and pajama and two leading historians listening to him with great deference. Unfortunately my encounter with Professor Askari was just a darshan of the great man; he was talking to some of the most eminent historians like Professor R S Sharma and Professor Nurul Hasan and I, a youngster, was looking at them fascinated. I did not even exchange a word with your Nana ji. A pity that I never got another chance to meet him. That is all l remember. 

You are right l have referred to only one work of his in my book, though l have read a great many of his writings and would often cite them while teaching. It's a wonderful project to have all his oeuvre available to readers, both professional and lay.

​My best wishes and warm regards

Harbans Mukhia 

Professor Dr. Harbans Mukhia, & Author of "The Mughals of India", Emeritus Professor of Medieval History, Centre for Historical Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India, February 7th-9th, 2021

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Hats off to you. My father late Rafique Alam sahib was well acquainted with Professor Askari sahib. As young student I used to hear many interesting incidents of his life from my father and Professor Hasnain sahib who had accompanied him in his search for Persian inscriptions in Bihar. He was a sort of hero among us and inspired us to learn languages to read the sources.

I am so happy to know that Professor Askari has a grand son like you who would take up such a mammoth task.

Wish all powers to your elbow!

Yours sincerely

Ishrat Alam

Dr. Ishrat Alam, Professor, Chairman Centre of Advanced Study in History, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India, June 9th, 2020

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Dear Mr. Reza,

Thank you for all the great work you are doing!

Sincerely,

Ryan

Dr. C. Ryan Perkins, South Asian Studies Librarian & Islamic Studies Librarian, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA, March 17th 2020

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Dear Mr. Raza, This is excellent work you are doing and you should be commended for undertaking such labors.

I'd also be interested to read some more of your grandfather's works as he was a true scholar and well known among Indian historians and intellectuals. 

With best wishes, 

Hayden

Dr. Hayden Bellenoit, Associate Professor of History, US Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD, USA, December 4th 2019 

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Dear Syed Ahmer Raza,
Hello -- it's very nice that you are doing this for your grandfather, though.  I never met him in person, but I'm sure he would be very glad to know of the care and attention his grandson is putting into keeping his legacy alive! thank you very much for your kind note.  I'm afraid that's the one time (Askari, Syed Hasan, ‘Mughal Naval Weakness and Aurangzeb's Attitude Towards the Traders and Pirates on the Western Coast in “Trade, Production, and Incorporation. The Indian Ocean in Flux, 1600–1900”), I have cited him to my knowledge.   

Hi Ahmer, very quick one as I am heading abroad in just a few hours; I don't remember much except that it was a very good article, Ahmer.  I'm on the road at the moment so I don't have it in front of me, but I would not have used it unless it was very good work.  All best wishes for the New Year!  Yours and best wishes, Eric.

Dr. Eric Tagliacozzo, Author of “Trade, Production, and Incorporation. The Indian Ocean in Flux, 1600–1900” & Professor, the Department of History, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA, January 1st/2nd 2020 

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Dear Ahmer, Thank you for your fine work with the website honoring your grandfather. As a humble tribute, I can say that generations of scholars internationally, including me, have learned so much from his excellent research and deep insights about key topics and issues in Indian history.   (Alas, I never had the honor of meeting him). All the best, Michael.

Dr. Michael Fisher, Author of "A Short History of the Mughal Empire" & Danforth Professor of History, Emeritus, Oberlin College, MA, USA, December 11th-13th 2019

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Dear Mr. Raza, Certainly, one can say that Syed Hasan Askari was an extraordinary scholar who brought to light many sources for the history of Muslim communities in India that are indispensable to our knowledge today. I wish you the best of luck with your project and thank you for having brought it to my attention.

Best regards,

Prof. Blain Auer, Études de l'Islam en Asie du Sud, Section de langues et civilisations slaves et d'Asie du Sud, Faculté des lettres, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland, January 17th, 2020 

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Dear Mr. Raza, I wish you all the best with your good work on this. It is good to honour your grandfather’s work in this manner.

Best wishes,

Thomas de Bruijn

 

Dr. Thomas de Bruijn, Author of “Ruby in the Dust: Poetry and History in Padmāvat by the South Asian Sufi Poet Muḥammad Jāyasī” & Policy Advisor at The Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO), Hague, Netherlands, March 22nd, 2021

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Dear Mr. Raza, I used your grandfather's excellent translation of
T-i-B. I also used the following piece: “Documents Relating to an Old
Family of Sufi Saints in Bihar,” Procs. Ind. Hist. Rec. Com. 26
(1949). Unfortunately, I never met him as he had passed away some years before my entry into graduate school. That said, I commend you for your
efforts. Your grandfather was part of an extraordinary generation of
scholars who were fluent in English, Urdu, Persian and any number of
other languages as well as fastidious scholars. Thanks to their
efforts and generosity, entire archives were opened up to subsequent
generations of scholars (including myself). Best of luck with all your endeavors.
 

ASA Ahmer, Amazing what all has been accomplished. The site is so easy to use and all the links are clean. Many congratulations from UC Berkeley.

 

Best,

Munis

Munis D. Faruqui, Associate Professor, Director of the Institute for South Asia Studies, Sarah Kailath Chair of Indian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA, December 13th 2019 & October 9th 2020.

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Dear Ahmer, Now I regret not to have known so much to put in my biography! I have written an article in French on your grandfather's works, in "du monde musulm Dictionnaire biographique des savants et grandes figures du monde musulan périphérique du XIXème siècle à nos jours". in January 1998. I am going to send you after scanning it. It’s a dictionary of the biographies of great scholars on Islam in countries where Islam is not the main religion. Of course, it’s in French, but it will give you an idea of the work I have done to make the work of Professor Askari known in France. Most of his works I have donated to the CEIAS library in Paris, the best library on India in France.

Sincerely yours,

Catherine SS

Dr. Catherine Servan-Schreiber, Professor, École des hautes études en sciences sociales (School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences), EHESS, Paris, France, December 3rd-5th 2019

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Dear Ahmer Raza sahab, That is very exciting news that you are working on a biography of Syed Hasan Askari. This will be an important contribution to the historiography on Urdu and Indo-Muslim history writing! I am thrilled to learn about it. Please let me know if I can be of any other assistance. I'm excited to learn about this project!

Please keep me posted about the progress of your interesting research- I'm so thrilled to be in contact with you and I will certainly let you know when I next pass through southern California. It would be a pleasure to meet you in person.

Profesor Andrew Amstutz, Professor of History (India and Pakistan, Islam, Buddhism), Little Rock, Arkansas, USA, January 5th 2020 & January 26th 2020

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Professor Hasan Askari ‘s  articles on extremely complex medieval Indo-Persian texts including Taj-ul-Maasir and Ijaz-i-Khusrawi are his inimitable contribution towards the history of the Delhi Sultanate.  His works on the literary and social history of medieval India have helped me greatly in my research.

Dr. Fouzia Farooq Ahmed, Author of "Muslim Rule in Medieval India: Power and Religion in the Delhi Sultanate" & Assistant Professor, Department of History, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan, May 18th 2020

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Dear Raza Sahib, Nice to connect with you. Hope the History Learners will benefit from your presence. Excited to know that you are trying to keep alive the legacy of a very tall historian. Do share your inputs and thoughts.

I am a fan of your grand father’s voluminous and important works. My father and he were in contact with each other.

Nadeem 

Professor Dr. Syed Ali Nadeem Rezavi, Chairman & Coordinator Centre of Advanced Study in History, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India, April 24th 2019 

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Dear Ahmer Raza, Thanks for informing me about your project, and sending me the links to your website about your grandfather. It's a very large project, and I congratulate you on your zeal and devotion to his memory. As for improvements, I have no special advice. I too am constantly catching typos and fixing small mistakes in my own website. But the process always makes me appreciate how much easier that is to do with a website, compared to how it is with a book! Really we're very lucky to have the internet available for our projects.

Yours with congratulations and good wishes,

Fran Pritchett

Professor Dr. Frances Pritchett, Professor Emerita of Modern Indic Languages, Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies, Columbia University, New York, USA, January 25th 2020

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Dear Mr. Raza,

I am delighted to hear from you and this project commemorating the life and work of Prof. S.H. Askari. He was only someone I had heard of from my teachers, especially Professor Mohammad Amin (St. Stephen’s College Delhi and father of Professor Shahid Amin, of Delhi University). I did not know much more about him, certainly not enough to comment on his prodigious scholarship. The citation you have from my book is the only one I have at this time.

My main interest in Bihar was concerning the borderlands north of Champaran and Gorakhpur and some additional interest in the Bettiah Raj, a little kingdom in Champaran. By the time I began to research on the Anglo-Gorkha war (1994), Prof. Askari had passed on. I came close to his world of scholarship and living when I came to Patna in 1998 and there met Prof. Qeyamuddin Ahmad. Qeyam Saheb was a great inspiration to me and it was his assistance that helped me make a breakthrough in my project. He possessed photos of old British revenue maps that gave me the first glimpse of the old territorial divisions of Mughal Bihar. I believe that Askari Saheb and Qeyam Saheb belonged to a generation of dedicated scholars, teachers, and mentors who produced a rich inheritance of scholarship mixed with generous doses of friendship extended freely to all. Your project is a timely reminder about a generation of scholars whose lives straddled the transition from colonization to independence and whose contributions to South Asian history needs to be commemorated.

I hope this account is of some use to you. I wish you well in your project and it looks like you have already received a number of commendations about you grandfather’s work as a scholar, teacher, friend, and human being.

With every good wish for the success of your project.

Bernardo Michael

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Dear Ahmer,

I have scanned some of the materials you have curated here and they constitute a valuable collection of Dr. Askari’s works and contributions to South Asian history. This, indeed, is a labor of love and congratulations on setting this up.

I am sure scholars and readers will find this a treasure trove of rich materials.

With every good wish as you continue this endeavor.

Sincerely,

Bernardo

Dr. Bernardo Michael, Professor of South Asian, World History, Historiography, Ethnographic History, Messiah College, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, December 9th 2019 & October 10th 2020 

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Ahmer, Congratulations on setting up the web site. Well done! 

Dr. Kamran Asdar Ali, Professor of Anthropology, Middle East Studies and Asian Studies and the Director of the South Asia Institute, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA & Dean of  Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani School of Humanities and Social Sciences (MGSHSS), Lahore University of Management and Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan, February 4th 2019

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Great, Excellent.You have the blessings of your grandfather. I will share this with my friends and colleagues. It's very nice. You're doing great work. 

Very hard work is highly commendable. Thank you for update.

Dr. Syed Ejaz Hussain, Professor & Head, Department of History, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, West Bengal, India, November 28th 2019 & January 31st 2020 & October 10th, 2020

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Kamal ka kam kiya hai Ahmer miyan.  I really appreciate your devotion to resurrect the obscure writings of your grandfather. It would be a nice idea to bring all these contributions in a book form. I have read / referred to Prof Askari's works only as per my research requirement. But this comprise only a small tip of his vast reservoir.

Dr. Sanjay Garg, Director of the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre, at Nur-Sultan (Astana), Kazakhstan, January 19th 2019 / December 15th 2019

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I never had the privilege of meeting your grandfather, but everything I knew about him suggested that he was a first-class gentleman and scholar.

I attach here the substantial bibliography (some 200 or more Word pages) of the much-expanded second edition of Historical Dictionary of Sufism (see the link below to 2015 Book). It might be of use to you at some point, and includes a couple of your grandfather's other pieces. You'll see the list of abbreviations and the topical outline of the bibliog, search Askari and there he is, in several of the topic categories.

All the best in your work,

Peace, JRenard

Dr. John Renard, Professor of Theological Studies College of Arts and Sciences, Saint Louis University, USA, November 13th 2019

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Dear Raza, I would be delighted to help. I have ordered a PDF of the article through my institutional Interlibrary Loan service and will be in touch as soon as it arrives. 

With best wishes,

Barry Flood

Finbarr Barry Flood, Director, Silsila: Center for Material Histories, 4 Washington Square North, New York, USA
William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of the Humanities, Institute of Fine Arts and Department of Art History, New York University, November 22nd 2019

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Dear Sir, Thanks for getting in touch. The citation (Askari, S. H., “Dabistan-i-Mazahib and Diwan-i-Mubad, 1977“ in  “A storm of songs: India and the idea of the Bhakti movement) reveals my debt to your grandfather's work.

Professor John Stratton Hawley, Author of "A storm of songs: India and the idea of the Bhakti movement" & Claire Tow Professor of Religion, Barnard College, Columbia University, NY, USA, December 27th 2019

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Dear Syed Ahmer Raza,

I went through my material, and yes, the only reference I found in my texts is to "The Mausoleum of a Saint of the Madari Order of Sufis at Hilsa, Bihar."

As you might have noticed, I did my research on the Madariyya Sufi brotherhood and its founder Shah Madar, who died in the 15th century. The Sufi brotherhood is rather difficult to study as, on the one hand, there are not many authentic and contemporary sources and on the other hand, there is a myriad of legends that make it difficult to establish historical facts. Therefore, I was extremely thankful for this article, as it is the only source that proves Jamal al-Din, an important khalifa of Shah Madar to actually have been a historical figure. I'm sure, if your grandfather wouldn't have made the effort of studying the inscriptions at the shrine, they would have been lost.

There are other articles I find insightful. Your grandfather focused on a time and region that is often neglected in historical research, that is Bihar and Bengal during the 15th and 16th centuries. Furthermore, I think it was Richard Eaton, who pointed out that because of Syed Hasan Askari historians started to consider the letters and malfuzat of Sufis as important historical sources as they contain a lot of relevant information on religious, social as well as political aspects. I completely agree and I'm quite sure that I will refer in my future articles on further articles of your grandfather, such as his discussions of maktubat and malfuzat as historical sources, or " New light on Rajah Ganesh and Sultan Ibrahim Sharqi of Jaunpur from contemporary correspondence of two Muslim Saints". In this regard, the website you created is extremely helpful for scholars as Syed Hasan Askari's discussion of sources often is a good starting point for one's own research.

With best wishes for you and your project,

Ute

Dr. Ute Falasch, Research Fellow at the Center for Religious Studies at Central European University in Budapest, Hungary (Based in Berlin, Germany), April 8th 2020

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Dear Ahmer,

Thank you for your email, and your kind words. I was delighted to hear from you, since I have read and learned a great deal from the writings of Dr. Askari - he was truly a rare scholar. I also wanted to write a short note of congratulation on your really excellent website on Dr. Askari. The website is a great resource, and I hope it will be possible to add all of Dr. Askari’s essays on it. In some of his early essays Dr. Askari sometimes mentioned manuscripts in his possession: I have often wondered whether these were donated to local research institutions in Patna, or whether they remain in your family’s possession: if so, it would be wonderful to also have them available online. Also, it would be really wonderful to read an extended biography of Dr. Askari - his youth, how he decided to become a historian, his political views etc. I do hope you will write it if you haven’t done so already. In this light, I will only mention an anecdote related to me by an archivist at Khuda Bakhsh library. He admiringly described your grandfather to me as arriving by foot every day in the library in the morning, and working uninterruptedly until closing time: always humbly dressed and never distracted from his work. A figure worthy of emulation for all of us!

Best wishes,

Abhishek

Abhishek Kaicker, Assistant Professor, Department of History, UC Berkeley, CA, USA, April 14th 2020

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Salam Ahmer Sahib,

Thank you for writing to me. I'm glad that you are working to disseminate the works of your illustrious grandfather, whose contribution to medieval Indian studies are tremendous. My maternal grandfather, Prof. Said Ahmad Akbarabadi taught at Muslim University,  Aligarh, where he served as Dean, Faculty of Theology. My father, Prof. Muhammad Aslam served the Dept of history, Univ of the Punjab, Lahore for over 35 years. He also worked on medieval India. My grandfather/Nana and father knew your grandfather. My father also cited the works of Prof Askari. I appreciate your efforts, and will surely share whatever I got hold of. 

Warm regards,

Prof. Dr. Tanvir Anjum, Tenured Professor & Chairperson, Department of History, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan, March 25th 2020 

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Dear Ahmer, I am honoured to receive your message. I have read some of the works of Prof. Askari and have great regard for him. Regards, Faraz

Prof. Dr. Faraz Anjum, Associate Professor, Department of History & Pakistan Studies, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan, April 1st 2020 

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Thank you Mr. Ahmer Raza

I'm happy to communicate with you as Grandson of Great historian and good to listen about my book. Thanks.

Dear Sir,
I visited the above mentioned site and find the web quite informative.
I got some new and important articles of Prof. S.H. Askari sb. I would
like to visit the web time to time.
Thanks a lot
Dr. Tahir Hussain Ansari

Dr. Tahir Hussain Ansari, Assistant Professor, Department of History, Assam University, Diphu Campus, Diphu, Karbi Anglong, Assam, India, November 21st 2019. March 24th 2020.

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I never met Professor Askari Saheb, but have read parts of his large corpus of writings, especially while doing my PhD from JNU, New Delhi, 2000. The thesis was published as Sufism, Culture and Politics: Afghans and Islam in Medieval North India, Oxford University Press, 2007. Some of Professor Askari's works have been cited in my book and listed in the bibliography.

Dr. Raziuddin Aquil , Associate Professor, Department of History, University of Delhi, India, November 30th 2019

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Dear Sir! 

Thank you so much for writing, it’s really encouraging to hear from you, with such a deep concern.... 

I’m also honored to cite such a great scholar, Dr Askari in my humble piece of writing.

Best, 

Adeela  

Professor Dr. Adeela Ghazanfar, Author of “Sufi Literature as a Source of Social History: A Case Study of 14th Century Text, Siyar Al-Awliyā”, NUST, Islamabad, Pakistan, March 24th 2020.

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Dear Syed Ahmer Raza sahib, 
Syed Hasan Askari Sahib 's contributions in enriching historical comprehension are tremendous. Your efforts in exploring his valuable scholarship is commendable and a project of this nature definitely requires support. Let me look carefully and I will do my best to let you know. I will also visit your websites after a short while.  I thank you again,  with my best wishes, 
Tahera 

Dr. Tahera Aftab, PhD, Professor of History/Founding Director Women's Studies, UoK, Pakistan (retd.)., Ed. Pakistan Journal of Women’s Studies, Pakistan, June 12th, 2022

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I am Dr. Sampa Ghosh, Assistant Professor of History, Haripal College, West Bengal, India. I am working on Sports History of South Asia. When I was a graduate student, I had read the chapter Sufism in India, then we had reading at a glance of your grandfather's work. Now I refer my students of your grandfather's work on Sufism. Wow.. I loved to know about Prof Syed Askari Historiography Project. I will follow it.. Thank you so much…..

Dr. Sampa Ghosh, Assistant Professor of History, Haripal College, West Bengal, India, December 30th 2022

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Dear Ahmer (if I may)

Thank you for the mail and I have fond memories of Askari saheb. I first met him when my father took me to his Sultan Ganj house in my young student days. Askari saheb treated me with affection and encouraged me to read history. My second meeting was longish. He was admitted to Gandhi Eye Hospital in Aligarh for surgery and I visited him there. Soon after I left for England and I could not meet him. He was always talked about by his colleagues and students and had a legendary reputation for simplicity, rigorous research and lucidity. Needless to say I read most of his research and found it to be quite useful.

I will be happy to be of any help in bringing his works to a wider audience and keeping his memory alive.

all good wishes

Najaf

Dr. Najaf Haider, Professor of Medieval and Early Modern History, Centre for Historical Studies. Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India, December 12th 2022

 

Renowned historian Syed Hasan Askari (1901–1990), a scholar of medieval India and Sufism, was considered a walking encyclopedia of Persian documents and Persian manuscripts related to medieval India. Along with serious and research writing, he also did excellent work on the provincial history of Bihar. I am reading Askari sahab's writings particularly essays. They are simply illuminating. 

To know in detail about Syed Hasan Askari's historiography, works and life-journey of Syed Hasan Askari, visit the best website focused on his overall work:
https://www.professorsyedhasanaskari.com.

Dr. Shubhneet Kaushik, Assistant Professor, Department of History, Satish Chandra College, (affiliated to Jananayak Chandrashekhar University), Ballia, UP, India, December 9th, 2022, & January 6th 2023

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Dear Ahmer,

 

Happy new Year! Thank you very much for your kind email. Congratulations on creating this online archive, it is very useful.

I never met your grandfather, unfortunately, but his chapter on Indo-Persian music is a pioneer piece on the subject. I simply cited that chapter in my article in 2006 among other earlier works on the subject. His work is now more meaningful to me after I started the Indo-Persian music project at UCLA. I’d love to have digital copies of his work on music, including the one that I have cited, thank you very much.

Thanks again, wish you good luck!

 

Best wishes,

Mohsen

 

Dr. Mohsen Mohammadi, Ph.D. ,Director of Indo-Persian Music, Department of Ethnomusicology, Assistant Director, Center for India and South Asia (CISA), UCLA, Los Angeles, USA, January 17th, 2023 

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Hello, I am interested in Prof. Askari's research on Raja Ramnarain.. Hello! Thank you so much for your message! I apologize for the late reply. I did receive the list of references and found them very helpful. Professor Askari's series of articles in the Indian Historical Quarterly are very helpful to my work and I am benefitting from them now. I am working on a paper on the aftermath of the campaign of Plassey. Your website is excellent. I'm always interested in correspondence with anyone studying the Bengal Subah during the eighteenth century. Very best regards,. 
Dear Ahmer, Thank you so very much for this; the listing of citations that you gave was quite helpful. I do see some articles by Prof. Askari beyond those about which I already knew, and some are indeed quite relevant. I very much appreciate your help. I am a scholar of the Seven Years' War as a global conflict, and am especially interested in the Bengal campaign of 1756-57. Having worked on this subject before, I believe that Raja Ramnarain's actions and capabilities are one of the "missing links" in the understanding of that war of Anglo-American scholars. Indian scholars, however, like Prof. Askari have done important work on him and Anglo-American scholars really need to integrate his scholarship into the American scholarship on the Seven Years War, which remains unfortunately too myopic. I am hoping to help rectify that, and access to Askari's work from the mid-twentieth century is critical. Thank you again so very much for what you do! Very best regards, Mark
Dr. Mark Danley, PhD, Co-editor of , “The Seven Years' War, Global Views”, NY, USA, January 15th, 2023 
 

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I don't know who has initiated the work in this regard - this website in the name of Askari sahab. My heartfelt thanks to him or them.  I adored him so much. My poem 'Itihasvid' (in Bengali) collected in a book in 1984, was about him. I take this opportunity to show my respects to him, again.  
Much later I knew, that for Medieval Bihar, his works are the only reference point for historians all over the world.

Bidyut Kumar Pal, Patna, Bihar, India, Saturday, April 6th 2019

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I am a Bengali poet. Remain engaged in literary and journalistic writings in three languages, Bengali, Hindi and English. Have some books published. Presently Editor of Behar Herald, an old weekly English tabloid. Earlier I was an employee of one public sector bank. When working as a clerk in the Patna University branch of Allahabad Bank, as duty-rotation, I could get the chance of serving him. Whenever he came to the bank I was awed. Such a great man in front of me, across the counter? I do not remember but in some of my articles I might have used his name also to expose the prevailing scenario of intellectual corruption and dishonesty. He is the only authority on medieval Bihar. It was only on his reference used by Bedar sahab of Khuda Bakhsh Library, I became interested to translate 'Dildar ke dohe' in Bengali.

Bidyut Kumar Pal, Editor of Behar Herald, Patna, Bihar, India, Monday, January 30th 2023

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Sir, as committed, I translated the poem as per my ability. It was written 45 years ago, hence there are so many weaknesses and fascinations with ideology in the poem. However, here it is. Since word file can't be sent through Messenger, I uploaded the poem in blog. Here is the link:
https://bidyutpal.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-historian.html

Bidyut Kumar Pal, Editor of Behar Herald, Patna, Bihar, India, Monday, February 1st 2023

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Great efforts. Congratulations. The website looks great. 

Dr. Syed Asghar Mehdi, Author of "Rural Communities Himalayan Tourism" and Associate Professor, Department of Tourism, Mewar University, Rajasthan,  India, January 31st 2019

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Life History of a Historian. Ahmer - gargantuan task! You’ve made your own mark too.  Wonderful job and great achievement. So happy to see the results of your perseverance over the last few years. Ahmer, youngest son of Sanjeeda Baji/Abid Bhai who has done a monumental work in last three years in preserving Professor Askari's (my Phupha) historical work for the modern cyber world with no territorial boundaries. Ahmer's work shows his love and dedication for his family and its intellectual heritage. Great effort and three cheers for Ahmer. 

Ahmer, This is a splendid effort and a true compliment that will record his (Professor Askari's) name and work for generations to benefit from. Bravo. 

Ahmer, Great stuff. All of us, young & old, would (now) know more about Professor Askari's academic accomplishments. Professor Askari's achievements are common assets and we are very proud of him. Most of the people would be very pleased to know the website, his work and lifetime achievements. 

Ahmer, great stuff and very well deserved compliments from professors/researchers on your 3 years of hardwork in compiling Phupha's work. Well done 

Syed Zawar Haider, February 1st 2019, November 28th 2019, December 14th 2019

Zaiba Haider, Karachi, Sind,  Pakistan, February 1st, 2019

Zaiba N Zawar Haider, Karachi, Sind, Pakistan, February 6th 2019 & November 28th 2019

 

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Found it easy to read and search. All the details of libraries having his (Professor Askari's) work was impressive and useful. 

Comprehensive picture of his work and achievements. I went through the website again on laptop to read with special focus ..... if anything is missed, but find it detailed and methodically documented.

The learned and concerned Scholars/ Professors are full of praise for the remarkable consolidation of your Nana’s work. Definitely requires great deal of perseverance. Self- motivated research is even more difficult . Shows your passion and diligence you inherited from your nana. I know it requires a different mindset to research on totally different topic. You must have put lot if effort and time. I know ..... you are driven by passion and sharing that.

You also have good interpersonal skills otherwise its difficult to retrieve so much sitting in other end of world.

Nudrat Sheikh, Islamabad, Pakistan, February 4th 2019 / August 16th, 2019, December 14th, 2019

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Dear Ahmer, I am so happy to see your work on Askari Nana.

Yours is the first attempt to collect Nana's history on this medium.

Surely we will now be able to read his works, otherwise he was getting lost.

Heartiest Congratulations.

Shakeel Hussain, Islamabad, Pakistan, November 28th 2019

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What a great effort by Ahmer, truly amazing. I had always heard that Phuppa was a renowned Historian and and an eminent scholar who had won many Presidential and National awards but  reading thru the reviews of distinguished international scholars, I realized that he was a extraordinary scholar, of an international repute, a pride for not only his immediate family but for the whole family, community and his province Bihar.
Mrs Salma Jawed, Lahore, Pakistan, November 28th 2019

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Indeed high quality commendable work Ahmar. You and Phupa (Prof. Askari) have made us proud of your contribution.

Naqi Mustafa, Karachi, Pakistan, November 28th 2019

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Oh, such a nice compilation even after his (Professor Syed Hasan Askari's) death on 28th, November, 1990, Bravo.

Bravo Ahmar! Your research in a field much different from your own, can be specially categorized as a genius effort. Keep it up. 

Syed Najam Askari, Brighton, UK, January 31st 2019 & November 28th 2019

 

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Going thru website for past hour, overwhelming ... I mean in an impressive and emotional way! Such vast work done by my Dada Abba (Prof. Askari). And such vast work you (Ahmer) have been putting in.

Dr. Asiya Kabir, New York, USA, March 18th 2020

 

 

Thanks Ahmer. Congrats on successfully completing the website project. It is your extraordinary interest which has given the result and you deserve full admiration. 

Great efforts of you (Ahmer) have made it possible and you really deserve laurels. Jitni bhi tumhari taareef ki jae kam hogi kyonke Prof. Askari ko tumhare efforts ne unke death ke taqriban 30 years baad bhi jaise zindagi dedi hai, mashaallah,well done.

Wonderful. Your devoted work has been duly rewarded. Congratulations. Message contents are great tributes to Professor Askari who looked so simple and down to earth but was a real great soul and without your efforts by creating his dedicated website, who would have known him for his works as the only reference point in medieval India all over the world.

I find myself short of words in praise of you for the interest and dedication you have in nana abba's works.Everyday there are new additions which are being made available to the researchers of present generation in nana abbas field and your contribution towards this is commendable.

Great and continuous efforts have been made by you as a result of which nana abba's research works are made easily available internationaly for reseachers of present time. We are always short of words to give credit for your endevours. Please do keep up and complete the project to your entire satisfaction.

Mumtaz Amir, Patna, India, January 31st 2019 / April 1st 2019 / April 2nd 2019 / April 6th 2019 / December 15th 2019 / February 25th 2020

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Very well articulated website. 

Aamir Ishaq, Irvine, California, USA, January 31st 2019

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Ahmer, Best Wishes. Your efforts in designing the web site has started bearing fruits. Many more professors will acknowledge your hard work and get benefited with his (Professor Askari's) work. For us it is always a matter of pride. Our blessings are always with you. 

ماشااللہ،احمر کی محنت کی جتنا تعریف کی جائے کم ہے.

It appears a heart felt message. Thanks Ahmar. You have really done great. Made Professor Askari alive in our heart.

Really a commendable job Ahmar.You deserve a heartiest congratulation from us.

Dr. Imtiaz Amir, Patna, Bihar, India, January 31st 2019 / February 12th 2019 / April 6th 2019 / December 14th 2019

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Great work done (on the website). 

Great work done by you Ahmar in compiling such huge and important data/information related to (Professors Askari's) work !!!

Great reviews by such renowned scholars! Congrats Ahmer for such a great work! Correct and what a marvelous work done! Hope you pursue this field academically also since you have a interest and a knack of it!

Javed Mohsin, Delhi, India, January 31st 2019 / February 12th 2019 / December 14th 2019

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Impressive and well deserved. Thanks. 

Dr. Izhar Mustafa, Rochester, New York, USA, January 31st 2019

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Good reading. He (Professor Askari) really was a great man. 

Jameel Hussain, Karachi, Sind, Pakistan, January 31st 2019

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Great job! 

Mohsin Ali, Delhi, India, January 31st 2019

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Wow!! What an amazing work, so proud of you. Thanks for sharing. It is good to see your dedication. Ahmer’s research is really commendable. Hats off for you Ahmerfor your good work & dedication ,your Nana must be very happy up there too. RIP Askari Nana 

Firdaus Mustafa, Rochester, New York, USA, January 31st 2019 & November 28th 2019

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Awesome effort. Thanks. 

Syed Nasir Raza, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA, January 31st 2019

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"Great work!" 

Dr. Syed Mansur Raza, Geneva, Switzerland, January 31st 2019

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Looks great. Thanks for doing this. 

Ashar Ali, Toronto, Canada, January 31st 2019

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Thanks Ahmer. Tumhari wajah se (Professor Askari) ke bare me bahot kuch janne ka mauqa mila. 

Rumana, New Delhi, India, January 31st 2019

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Great! 

Rubab Amir, Bhagalpur, India, January 31st 2019

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"Really great work done (on the website) by Ahmer single handedly.

Syed Muhammad Ali, Patna, Bihar, India, January 31st 2019

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It (website) looks great! A few of my friends are history buffs and I had sent them to the Facebook page before. I can redirect them to the website now! 

Ashar Javed, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, January 31st 2019

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Good job. Really put in a lot of effort. 

Dr. Sakina Fatma Raza, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA, February 1st 2019

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This is amazing, Ahmer. Thanks for sharing. You have done a massive project, so inspiring. 

Atia Naqvi, Karachi, Sind, Pakistan, February 1st 2019 &  November 28th, 2019

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Good efforts on the website.

Ahmed Saeed, Perth, Australia, February 3rd 2019

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I did look (at) this website over and it is amazing what he (Professor Askari) has done. Well, great job (on website). That is really really awesome. 

Fatima Kazmi, Queen Creek, Arizona, USA, February 4th 2019

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Love the website! Thank you for putting this all together. Commendable effort! 

Sharmeen Fatma, Los Angeles, California, USA, February 5th 2019

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Good job!

Riffat Masood, Tehran, Iran, February 6th 2019

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Great brother. Proud of you.

Mukesh Meghwar, Kapri Mori, Sind, Pakistan, February 6th 2019

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Great work. Congratulations!

Tehmina Janjua, Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, February 6th 2019

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Checked the website, Ahmer. You have done a wonderful job highlighting the contributions (of Professor Askari). His work is truly admirable. Thanks for bringing it to us. You have done an amazing job putting Phuppa's extraordinary accomplishments together. He was an amazing man. I wish I could have spent some time with him.

Wali Haider, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, February 6th 2019 & Novmeber 28th, 2019

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Ahmer, great work by you. Following the footsteps of the Great Professor Askari. Keep up the good work.

Pervez Hasnain, Toronto, Canada, February 6th 2019

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Great work Ahmer, it is really commendable for you to compile such data.

Dr. Asghar Naqvi, Karachi, Sind, Pakistan, February 6th 2019

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Congratulations on completing such an important project to capture his (Professor Askari's) life and his achievements.

Dr. Mukhtar Haider, New Jersey, USA, February 6th 2019

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"This is great."

Tarique Jamal, Patna, Bihar, India, February 7th 2019

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"WOW! - So proud of him (Professor' Askari's) work !!!"

Guriya Syeda Shakeel, Islamabad, Pakistan, February 12th 2019

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You (Ahmer) did a great job.

Abis Amir, Delhi, India, February 14th 2019

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Tumhari (Ahmer) mehnat rang la rahi hai thank you Ahmer.

Razia Fatima Haider, Karachi, Sind, Pakistan, February 18th 2019

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Sir, I want to read all the books by Prof Askari.

Ahmer Rizvi, India, March 26th 2019

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Hi Sir/Madam, Good Evening, I am looking for a copy of Sirat e Firoz shahi in English. Kind of you. I am trying to do some research on Oiniwar dynasty of Mithila, which had a branch in Champaran. The book Sirat e Firozsahi seems to have some information around that . Mr Askari has been pioneer of some of fundamental research in Bihar history and have got very astonishing papers on Oiniwars (one I read been quoted to have related to Shiva Singh and his sons ...very rare information).

Suyasham Kumar, India, 

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Even after nearly three decades of his death and no promotional efforts from any of his kith & kin, friends etc, Prof. Askari being remembered for his dedication.......Ahmar you also really deserve to be thanked for your efforts!!!!! BRAVO

Syed Najam Askari, Brighton, UK, April 2nd 2019

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Thanks to you Ahmar.  Professor Askari ka qabile fakhar nam ham hir se sunne lage hain.

Razia Fatima Haider, Karachi, Sind, Pakistan, April 6th 2019

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