Hassam-ud-Din Rashidi


Pir Hassam-ud-Din Rashidi was a Pakistani historian and scholar.
Born in 1911 near Nusrat Station, Ratodero Taluka, Larkana District, he was the son of Muhammad Hamid Shah Rashidi and the younger brother of Pir Ali Muhammad Rashidi. He was an internationally acclaimed scholar of Sindhi literature as well as a historian, journalist and biographer.

Biography

Rashidi was born at the house of Mohammad Hamid Shah Rashidi, village Behman, near Nusrat Station, Ratodero Taluka, Larkana District. He took his primary education from Molvi Muhammad Soomar and Muhammad Elyas. Then he went to Syed Ali Shah Lakyari. He passed class 4th and Sikander Nama from those teachers. Rashidi got English education from the station master of Nusrat Station. He was very found of studying books and newspapers, that's why he got more and more information and was able to understand Persian, English, and Urdu languages.
Rashidi began working in journalism at the age of 18. First, he joined the newspaper Jagan. He became the editor of Al-Manar Newspaper at Sukkur in 1930. At last he started his own newspaper, Sitar-e-Sindh in collaboration with his elder brother.
He visited many countries with delegations of scholars. He was awarded Nishan-e-Spas by the Iranian government in 1963, and Tamgh-e-Imtiaz from the government of Pakistan the next year.
He published more than 40 books on topics ranging from history and archeology to biography, and collections of essays and lectures.
Rashidi died on April 1, 1982. He is buried at Allama Makhdoom Muhammad Hashim Thattvi's shrine in Makli Thatta.

Selected publications