Professor Syed Hasan Askari
Distinguished Historian & Eminent Scholar
(1901-1990)
News & Events
This section is comprised of important news releases and historical events.
Dr. Mahendra Pal, Director Bihar State Archives, officiated the ribbon-cutting ceremony during the inauguration event of “Professor Syed Hasan Askari Research Hall” on the auspicious occasion of India’s 72nd Republic Day (January 26th 2021) earlier today. Bihar State Archives named the Research Hall to the memory of Professor Syed Hasan Askari on November 28th, 2019.
***Location: Bihar State Archives Directorate, (Archive Building), Abhilekh Bhawan,
15, Jawaharlal Nehru Marg, Bailey Road, Patna – 800001, Bihar, India
***Special thanks to Mr. Mohammad Aslam, Archivist at Bihar State Archives, for sharing these historic photographs with Professor Syed Hasan Askari Historiography Project, Los Angeles, USA.
Official Instagram Page of Professor Syed Hasan Askari Historiography Project (https://www.instagram.com/profaskarihistoriogrphyproject/) is launched to assist young historians and scholars to locate Prof. Askari's literary works etc.
***Event: Professor Syed Hasan Askari Memorial Lecture, 2021
***Organized by: Bihar State Archives Directorate, Cabinet Secretariat Department, Govt. of Bihar, India
***Date and Time: December 28th, 2021 & 11:30am (Indian Standard Time) ***Location: Online BSA Website: https://archives.bihar.gov.in
***YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/nR5JOibTfzM
An honor to be invited for the second time to deliver the “Introductory Lecture” at Prof Askari’s annual memorial function on December 28th, 2021.
Syed Ahmer Raza
***Event: Professor Syed Hasan Askari Memorial Lecture, 2021
***Organized by: Bihar State Archives Directorate, Cabinet Secretariat Department, Govt. of Bihar, India
***Date and Time: December 28th, 2021 & 11:30am (Indian Standard Time) ***Location: Online BSA Website: https://archives.bihar.gov.in
***YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/nR5JOibTfzM
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Article Name: No Dying Before Death
Newspaper Name : The Indian Nation
Dated : 29th May 1978 (Monday)
It is a series in which reporter talked to six eminent scholars of Patna including Dr. S. H. Askari.
Credits: Special thanks to Mrs. Samina Fatima, Mr. Syed Mohammad Ali and Mr. Khursheed Ahmad Hussain for locating, scanning and emailing the newspaper clipping to Prof. Askari Historiography Project, Los Angeles, USA..
Article: Prof. S. H. Askari: A Legend in his Lifetime
Newspaper: The Times of India
Dated: Sunday, July 2nd 1989
Credits: Special thanks to Dr. Syed Shamim Haider, and Mr. Ali Shaan Haider for locating, scanning and emailing the clipping to Prof. Askari Historiography Project, Los Angeles, USA.
Article: Resurrecting a silent, Sufi Historian
Newspaper: The Times of India
Date: Sunday, November 27, 1992
Credits: Special thanks to Dr. Syed Shamim Haider, and Mr. Ali Shaan Haider for locating, scanning and emailing the clipping to Prof. Askari Historiography Project, Los Angeles, USA.
Undying memories!
B K Mishra / TNN / Aug 4, 2019, 04:00 IST
Excerpt:
“The library has nearly three lakh books. Eminent teachers like R S Sharma, S H Askari and D N Jha (history), R K Sinha (English), R Shukla (mathematics), K N Prasad (economics), and R C Sinha (geology) used to visit this place almost daily.”
Recalling an anecdote, Ghosh pointed out that Askari, who used to visit the library in late evening hours, was looking for some books in the midst of stacks and the security guard closed the main gate without noticing him. “He remained locked in the library for several hours before he was taken out,” he said.
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Complete Article:
Undying memories!
B K Mishra / TNN / Aug 4, 2019, 04:00 IST
PATNA: The stage is set for the centenary celebrations of
(PU) Library at Patna Science College
ground on Sunday. Vice-President (VP) Venkaiah Naidu will
inaugurate the event at 12pm.
The VP will reach the library straight from the airport and
inaugurate the library centenary inscription plate at 11.50am.
He will also take a round of the manuscript section located
on the first floor of the library building and address the main
function at Patna Science College ground later. Governor
Fagu Chauhan, chief minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy
Sushil Kumar Modi will also address the gathering. After the function, Naidu will rest for a while and eat lunch at the PU guesthouse till 2.45pm. Engineers and artisans were busy finalizing the construction of stage and pandals at all the venues till late Saturday evening. Police personnel along with magistrates were posted at all the sensitive points. PU library was established on September 24, 1919. It shifted to its new building in 1965, which was inaugurated by the then UGC chairman C D Deshmukh.
PU’s former librarian Angiras Kumar Ghosh, who served this institution from 1966 to 2006, told this newspaper,
“The library has nearly three lakh books. Eminent teachers like R S Sharma, S H Askari and D N Jha (history), R K Sinha (English), R Shukla (mathematics), K N Prasad (economics), and R C Sinha (geology) used to visit this place almost daily.”
Recalling an anecdote, Ghosh pointed out that Askari, who used to visit the library in late evening hours, was looking for some books in the midst of stacks and the security guard closed the main gate without noticing him. “He remained locked in the library for several hours before he was taken out,” he said.
According to PU vice-chancellor Rash Bihari Prasad Singh, he started visiting the library in 1967 when he was admitted to the pre-university class at Patna College. He used to prepare his notes in the library and never purchased textbooks from the market. “I still love spending quality time in this library,” he said
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/.../arti.../70515496.cms
PU: Once a hub of academics
B K Mishra / TNN / Sep 5, 2017,
Excerpt:
Several other teachers who received accolades for their outstanding contributions at national and international level include A S Altekar (ancient Indian history and archaeology), S H Askari and Ram Sharan Sharma (history) Arun Haldar (philosophy), Harimohan Jha (philosophy), D N Lal (statistics), B B Majumdar (history), N L Nadda (commerce), V K N Menon and V P Verma (political science), J N Chatterjee (chemistry), R C Sinha (geology) and R P Roy (botany).
Patna College: An Eventful Journey Of 150 Years
Excerpt:
Among its faculty included history stalwarts like R S Sharma, K K Datta, S. H. Askari, Sir Jadunath Sarkar, and Y J Taraporewala (History), M T Gulrajani (English), Gyanchand (Economics). European teachers V H Jackson, J L Hill, and principal J S Armour, among others are still remembered.
Source: https://odishatv.in/news/patna-college-an-eventful-journey-of-150-years-31451
2022 Prof. S. H. Askari Memorial Lecture, Bihar State Archives, Patna, India.
November 28th marks the 32nd death anniversary of Nana Abba. To honor Nana Abba, Bihar State Archives Directorate, Cabinet Secretariat Department, Govt. of Bihar, India, organized Professor Syed Hasan Askari Memorial Lecture (Web Based) on November 27th, 2022, as an annual academic tradition only reserved for few eminent scholars and historians. It was attended remotely by family, friends, relatives, scholars, researchers, historians and academia from different parts of the world. (Bihar State Archives has been organizing it every hear for more than 5 years).
Special thanks to Mr. Suman Kumar (Director, Bihar State Archives Directorate), Dr. S. Siddharth (IAS, Additional Chief Secretary), Dr. Sanjay Garg (Deputy Director, National Archives, New Delhi), Prof. Dr. Bharti S. Kumar (Former Head and Dean, Patna University, Patna), Prof. Dr. Syed Ejaz Hussain (Prof. of History, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, Birbhum, West Bengal), Dr. Ashok Kumar Ranjan (Archivist, Bihar State Archives Directorate), Dr. Bharti Sharma (Archivist, Bihar State Archives Directorate), Md. Aslam (Archivist, Bihar State Archives Directorate), Mr. Pankaj Kumar (IT, Bihar State Archives Directorate) and others for making it a successful event. .........................................................................
*** Topic: Contribution of Syed Hasan Askari in History Writing of Bihar
** Event: Web Based Professor Syed Hasan Askari Memorial Function, November 27th, 2022 @ 11:30am India Standard Time - Online Event
* Welcome Address: Mr. Suman Kumar (Director, Bihar State Archives Directorate)
* Inaugural Address: Dr. S. Siddharth (IAS, Additional Chief Secretary)
* Introductory Lecture: Mr. Syed Ahmer Raza, (Professor Syed Hasan Askari Historiography Project: Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* Chief Guest: Dr. Sanjay Garg (Deputy Director, National Archives, New Delhi)
* Keynote Address: Prof. Dr. Bharti S. Kumar (Former Head and Dean, Patna University, Patna)
* Presidential Address: Prof. Dr. Syed Ejaz Hussain (Prof. of History, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, Birbhum, West Bengal)
* Moderator: Dr. Ashok Kumar Ranjan (Archivist, Bihar State Archives Directorate)
* Vote of Thanks: Dr. Bharti Sharma (Archivist, Bihar State Archives Directorate)
***Organized by: Mr. Suman Kumar, Director, Bihar State Archives Directorate, Cabinet Secretariat Department, Govt. of Bihar, India
**Date and Time: November 27th, 2022 @ 11:30am India Standard Time
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Here is the recorded video of 2022 Prof. S. H. Askari Memorial Function. You may want to skip my 50-minute portion after Dr. Sanjay Garg and listen to Dr. Bharti S. Kumar, Dr. Ejaz Hussain, and Dr. Bharti Sharma first.
Zoom Based Recorded Event on YouTube: https://youtu.be/6dps7HXjgAA
****Schedule:
*** Moderator: Dr. Ashok Kumar Ranjan (Archivist, Bihar State Archives Directorate) 11 mins: 30 secs
*** Welcome Address: Mr. Suman Kumar (Director, Bihar State Archives Directorate) 14 mins: 54 secs
*** Moderator: Dr. Ashok Kumar Ranjan (Archivist, Bihar State Archives Directorate) 19 mins: 06 secs
*** Chief Guest: Dr. Sanjay Garg (Deputy Director, National Archives, New Delhi) 20 mins: 10 secs
*** Introductory Lecture: Mr. Syed Ahmer Raza, (Professor Syed Hasan Askari Historiography Project: Los Angeles, CA, USA) 25 mins: 40 secs (Start 27 mins: 10 secs)
*** Moderator: Dr. Ashok Kumar Ranjan (Archivist, Bihar State Archives Directorate) 1 hr: 11 mins 37 secs
*** Keynote Address: Prof. Dr. Bharti S. Kumar (Former Head and Dean, Patna University, Patna) 1 hr: 12 mins: 19 secs
*** Moderator: Dr. Ashok Kumar Ranjan (Archivist, Bihar State Archives Directorate) 1 hr: 19 mins : 06 secs
*** Presidential Address: Prof. Dr. Syed Ejaz Hussain (Prof. of History, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, Birbhum, West Bengal) 1 hr: 19 mins: 48 secs
*** Moderator: Dr. Ashok Kumar Ranjan (Archivist, Bihar State Archives Directorate) 1 hr: 34 mins: 35 secs
*** Vote of Thanks: Dr. Bharti Sharma (Archivist, Bihar State Archives Directorate) 1 hr: 35 mins: 16secs
*** Moderator: Dr. Ashok Kumar Ranjan (Archivist, Bihar State Archives Directorate) 1 hr: 39 mins 20 secs
***Prof. Syed Hasan Askari Historiography Project - Official YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYEtQ62M-_UR3bLTQs5cUEA
*Prof. S. H. Askari Memorial Function, Bihar State Archives, Patna, India.
1. 2020 Event: https://youtu.be/8dmI0KDhDyE
2. 2021 Event: https://youtu.be/nR5JOibTfzM
3. 2022 Event: https://youtu.be/6dps7HXjgAA
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On November 30th 2022, Department of History, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan, announced Professor Syed Hasan Askari Post Graduate Research Fellowship for MPhil and PhD students and scholars. The main objective is to encourage academic reengagement by having the dissertations based upon Prof. Askari’s scholarly works so further research can be done on his published articles in collaboration with “Professor Syed Hasan Askari Historiography Project, Los Angeles, USA”. (Quaid-i-Azam University is ranked as # 1 public research university in Islamabad, Pakistan).
Additional universities and institutes in India, USA and other countries are also being considered to launch similar research fellowship initiatives to honor the life and legacy of Prof. Askari.
Links:
*Department of History, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
1. http://hist.qau.edu.pk/2022/11/30/prof-syed-askari-post-graduate-research-fellowship/
2. http://hist.qau.edu.pk/fellowship/
*Professor Syed Hasan Askari Historiography Project, Los Angeles, USA
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Heartfelt gratitude and special thanks to the officials and staff of Bihar State Archives Directorate, Cabinet Secretariat Department, Govt. of Bihar, India for organizing Prof. S. H. Askari Memorial Lecture in the honor of Prof. Askari every year since 2013.
These lectures were attended initially in person at Bihar State Archives (2013-2019 before Covid) and now remotely through Microsoft Teams / Zoom based Webinars (2020-2022) by family, friends, relatives, scholars, researchers, historians and academia from different parts of the world.
Recording of these lectures (2020-2022) are available on Bihar State Archives’ website @ https://archives.bihar.gov.in/. You can click on “Other Activities” and then selecting “Seminar / Conference / Memorial Lecture” from the dropdown menu. Scroll down on this page for Prof. S. H. Askari Memorial Lecture 2019 and Prof. S. H. Askari Memorial Lecture 2021. You can also click on “Video Gallery” for Prof. S. H. Askari Memorial Lecture 2020 and Prof. S. H. Askari Memorial Lecture 2022.
The Microsoft Teams and Zoom Based recordings of Prof. S. H. Askari Memorial Lectures (2020 – 2022) are also available on Official YouTube Channel of Prof. Syed Hasan Askari Historiography Project - : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYEtQ62M-_UR3bLTQs5cUEA
1. Prof. S. H. Askari Memorial Lecture, November 28th, 2020: https://youtu.be/8dmI0KDhDyE
2. Prof. S. H. Askari Memorial Lecture, December 28th, 2021: https://youtu.be/nR5JOibTfzM
3. Prof. S. H. Askari Memorial Lecture, November 27th, 2022: https://youtu.be/6dps7HXjgAA
Sharing the digital outline of rare set of scholarly papers penned in the honor of Prof. Askari, received in an email from Director of Khuda Bakhsh Library earlier this month.
As the title shows, Prof. Askari was named as the “Khuda Bakhsh Annual Lecturer for the year 1975-1976”. Looks like that these three papers were read/published in his honor by late Prof. A. L. Srivastava, Department of History, Agra University (a friend of Prof. Askari) and late Prof. Qeyamuddin Ahmad (a close student of Prof. Askari and father of Dr. Imtiaz Ahmad).
Prof. A. L. Srivastava (September 16, 1899 - July 12, 1973) first met Prof. Askari at Khuda Bakhsh Library in May 1934 per the first paragraph of his scholarly paper. His 6-page scholarship “Professor S.H. Askari As I know Him” is a treat to read….
The papers by late Prof. Qeyamuddin Ahmad were first published in "Professor Syed Hasan Askari Felicitation Volume by Śrīdhara Vāsudeva Sohonī, The Journal of The Bihar Research Society, Special Issue“, in 1968, and then published in "Readings in Indian History, Syed Hasan Askari Centenary Volume", in 2001. These papers are the cornerstone of the Historiography Project.
A rare find of Prof. Askari’s interview, both in audio and book formats!
*Audio clipping of Professor Syed Hasan Askari’s interview by Raza Ali Abidi sahib in Patna, India, for his “Kutub Khana” documentary program, sponsored by BBC London Urdu Service (October 1982 – March 1983).
1st link to Kutub Khana Audio YouTube Video # 17: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFjaLA82iNQ
In this second audio clip, Nana Abba (Professor Syed Hasan Askari) briefly shared with the listeners, as how he discovered Maulana Daud's Sufi romance Chandaayan from dargah of Maner Sharif. This particular manuscript was later known as Maner Sharif manuscript.
2nd link to Kutub Khana Audio YouTube Video # 21: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhAjQXYcZnc
Prof. Askari’s scholarly articles on this topic both in English and Urdu languages are listed below;
Mulla Daud's Chandain and Sadhan's Maina Sat I, II, III by Professor Syed Hasan Askari, Published in Patna University Journal, Vol. xv, 1960.
Chandain az Mulla Daud aur Mainasat az Miyan Sadhan (qadeem hindi prem kathaian) (I) by Professor Syed Hasan Askari, Published in Maasir, Urdu Magazine, Vol. pt. 16, April, 1960
Chandain az Mulla Daud aur Mainasat az Miyan Sadhan (qadeem hindi prem kathaian) (II) by Professor Syed Hasan Askari, Published in Maasir, Urdu Magazine, Vol. pt. 17, July, 1960
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***About Kutub Khana, BBC London Urdu Service (October 1982 – March 1983):
“Kutub Khana”: A documentary project for hunt for the treasure of knowledge and wisdom.
Raza Ali Abidi sahib traveled all over the subcontinent in search of books and libraries and discovered some well preserved and some ignored collections. Here he narrates many amazing stories about the books left by our fore-fathers. Here you will hear several foremost scholars talking about this valuable treasure.
Source: From Raza Ali Abidi’s YouTube Channel (2012)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL32F0EB6CE3742143
https://www.bbc.com/urdu/bbc_urdu_radio/p0567jgs
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This interview of Professor Syed Hasan Askari was also later documented by Raza Ali Abidi in his book, “Kutub Khana” (1985). Please review the chapter, “Aik teer meray seenay per”, Page #s 117,118,119,120 by clicking on the link below.
https://www.rekhta.org/.../kutub-khana-raza-ali-abidi...
Additional pages for review; “In sey milay”, page #s 3, 4, 5, 6 & “Unhein Khuda Bakhshey”, page # 55
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***About Raza Ali Abidi sahib:
Raza Ali Abidi is a Pakistani journalist and broadcaster who is best known for his radio documentaries on the Grand Trunk Road in Pakistan (called Sher Shah Suri Marg in India) and his travelogue along the banks of Indus River. His published works include several collections of cultural essays and short stories. He has worked with the BBC Urdu Service and retired in 1996.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raza_Ali_Abidi
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***Acknowledgments
Heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Shubhneet Kaushik, Assistant Professor, Department of History, Satish Chandra College, (affiliated to Jananayak Chandrashekhar University), Ballia, UP, India for sharing the link of the audio clipping with me earlier today which was later validated by our family members in Switzerland, USA, India and Pakistan. Special thanks to Danish Akhtar Balkhi for sharing the soft pdf copy of Raza Ali Abidi sahib’s book, “Kutub Khana” (April 1985) upon my request for ongoing research activities related to Professor Syed Hasan Askari Historiography Project, Los Angeles, USA.
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