Karim Aga Khan
Birth:1936
Death:
Spiritual leader and the 49th hereditary Imam of the Ismaili Muslims.
Prince Karim, son of Prince Ali Khan, became Aga Khan, when he was 20-year old undergraduate at Harvard, on the death of his grandfather, Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan, in 1957. Prince Karim bypassed ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khumar Barabankvi
Birth:1919
Death:1999
Known as Khumar Barabankvi, he was India's ghazal poet par excellence and last of the Dagh Dehlavi and Amir Minai school of Urdu ghazal poetry.
Born Ali Haider Khan he passed away in Lucknow.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan
Kofi Awoornor
Birth:1935
Death:
A Ghanaian poet, novelist and playwright.
After being educated in America and having taught there during 1968-75, he wrote poems in his native language against the nefarious influence of Western education and culture.
He returned to Ghana in 1975; arrested but pardoned in 1976 and become Ambassador ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khalid Baqdash
Birth:1912
Death:1995
The Syrian communist leader who remained the leader of the Communist party of Syria from 1932 to 1958.
He was jailed in 1931 and 1932 by the French. He ousted Fuad ash Shamali from leadership of the Syrian Communist party in 1932. In 1935 he led the Syrian delegation of the ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khawaja Muhammad Baqi Billah
Birth:1564
Death:1603
A saint.
His name was Raziuddin and was born in Kabul.
Hazrat Mujaddid Alif Sani was his disciple.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Kamal Uddin Behzad
Birth:c1455
Death:c1536
The greatest Afghan painter.
Behzad studied under Naqqash and became head of the Herat academy in 1486, a post he held till 1506. In 1506 Ismail Safwi conquered Herat and in 1522, his son Tahmasap brought Behzad to Tabriz, his capital.
Behzad was made in charge of production of ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Kijai Haji Ahmad Dahlan
Birth:1868
Death:1923
The Indonesian founder of the Muhammadiya sect, an Islamic reform movement in Indonesia.
After his Haj to Makkah in 1900, he became an active religious reformer. He founded Muhammadiyah In 1912, rejecting the four traditional schools of interpretation of Islamic law and returning to the precepts of ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khwaja Mir Dard
Birth:1720
Death:1785
An Urdu poet and a saint. He was a disciple of Shah Gulshan, Sa'd ullah.
Besides his Diwans in Urdu and Persian he had written a treatise on Sufism called Risalawaridat.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Ki Hadjar Dewantara
Birth:1889
Death:1959
He was the founder of the Taman Siswa system of education, which promoted modernisation but also encouraged indigenous Indonesian culture.
Dewantoro was also a member of Sarekat Islam (Islamic Association) and a founder of the socialist party.
Dewantoro was exiled to the Netherlands for writing ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khwaja Banda Nawaz Gesudraz
Birth:1320
Death:1422
Sufi saint.
His Miraj-ul-Ashiqin was considered the first Sufi treatise in Urdu prose.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khwaja Shamsuddin Muhammad Hafez
Birth:c1300
Death:1389
A famous Persian poet.
Hafiz was a contemporary of Amir Taimur. Many zealot admirers of Hafiz insisted that by 'wine' he meant devotion, 'sleep' as meditation, `beauty' the perfection of the supreme being, and `mirth' and `inebriety' meant religious ardour. But this may be stretching ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khwaja Hasan Sajzi
Birth:
Death:1337
A contemporary of Amir Khusro and disciple of Khwaja Nizamuddin Aulia, whose Malfuzat he compiled in a book called Fawaed ul Fawad.
Hasan was born in Delhi but was buried in Daulatabad.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Kamal Jumblat
Birth:1917
Death:1977
Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
K'ab Bin Malik
Birth:
Death:673
A poet of Islam along with Hasan bin Sabit and Abdullah bin Rawaha who glorified the victories of Islam. He accepted Islam before the Hijra and took part in the battle of Badr and Uhad.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Kabir
Birth:1440
Death:1518
A celebrated Hindi poet.
Kabir's poems which are still cherished in India, inculcated the purest morality, goodwill and hospitality towards all mankind and breathed so fine a spirit of toleration that both Hindus and Muslims contend for the honour of his being born in their ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Kamal El-din Hussein
Birth:1921
Death:1999
Soldier and politician.
Kamal was one of the five-strong nucleus of the Free Officers' Movement in Egypt (1949-50). It was 'at a 1952 meeting in Kamal's house that the Free Officers re-elected Nasser as leader'. Kamal played the crucial role on the day of the coup ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan
Kamil Pasha
Birth:1823
Death:1913
Ottoman Grand Vizier for four times. He was also governor of Smyrna for twelve years.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Kara Mustafa Pasha
Birth:1634
Death:1683
Ottoman grand Vizier in 1676-83.
Kara succeeded his brother-in-law as grand Vizier. He led campaigns against Russia, Poland and Austria, laid siege of Vienna in 1683 but was repulsed by the combined army of Austria and Poland.
Kara was beheaded by Sultan's order in Belgrade.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Kara Osman Oglu Yaqub Qadri
Birth:1889
Death:1974
A Turkish modern writer.
Kara was educated at Cairo and he came to Istanbul in 1908. He was active as a journalist during the Turkish war of independence in 1919-22.
Kara's first collection of short stories was published in 1913, Hukum Gacesi in 1927 and Sodam Ve Gomor ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Karim Khan Zand
Birth:c1700
Death:1779
The history of Iran from the death of Nadir Shah till the elevation of Aqa Muhammad Qachar, presented no striking event except the adventures of Karim Khan Zand.
The Taziyah (passion play) commemorating the tragedy of Karbala, evolved during his reign.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Karim Rashid
Birth:1960
Death:
Products designer.
Karim is known as 'a sparkling, fully fledged industrial designer blessed with an indomitable passion for design and an inexhaustible curiosity for people, materials, shapes and techniques.'
One time 'darling of New York design circles,' Karim was born in Cairo, raised ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan
Karamat Ali
Birth:
Death:1873
An Indian reformer.
Karamat studied theology under Shah Abudl Aziz, and he became one of the most devoted followers of Syed Ahmad Brelvi who died in 1831. Karamat organised the Muslims of Bihar and Bengal for the revival of Islam.
Karamat fought against the Hindu customs ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Kasir Ibn Imaduddin Ismail Ibn Umar
Birth:c1300
Death:1373
Arab historian.
Ibn Kathir (also known as) studied Fiqh - Islamic jurisprudence, when he was only five year old. He is recognised as 'the Imam, scholar of jurisprudence, skilful scholar of Hadith, renowned Faqh and scholar of Tafsir who wrote several beneficial books.'
Ibn ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin / Syed Basheeruddin
Kemal Ozturk
Birth:1969
Death:
Journalist.
Kemal was given one year suspended imprisonment in Turkey for insulting Turkey's president in his satirical book, Bir Garip Oglanin Hikayesi (The story of a lonely boy) in 1994. He left Turkey, in November 1999, perhaps to escape imprisonment, after his highly successful and popular four-part ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan
Kemal Sunal
Birth:1944
Death:2000
Comic actor
Kemal Sunal was Turkey's most popular comic actor who spoke for the dreams of his people. He gave significant messages as maligned or oppressed person to the society through humour and was adored by the Turkish people.
Sunal starred in some long-running situation ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan
Keshaf Al Din Tirjumani
Birth:
Death:1938
A Qazi.
Keshaf was sent as his country's spokesman of the mission, which visited Makkah and Istanbul in 1926, to gain the sympathy of the Islamic World for Soviet Union.
Mufti Tirjumani was accused of acting as a spy for the Japanese and the Germans and, ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khaki
Birth:
Death:1953
Author.
Khaki wrote Munaqib ul Arifin, containing the memories of three celebrated Sufi Shaikhs, namely Khawaja Bahauddin, Burhanuddin and Jalaluddin.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khalaf Salah Abu Iyad
Birth:1933
Death:1991
Founding member of the al Fatah faction of PLO and a Palestinian political activist. He was close to Yasser Arafat.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khalid Ibn Abdullah Al Qasri
Birth:
Death:743
The Governor of Iraq in 724 during the Ummaiyyad, caliphate and governor of Makkah in 710-715.
During the reign of Walid ibn Yazid, Khalid was executed.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khalid Ibn Barmak
Birth:705
Death:782
First of the famous Barmacides, who was the Wazir of Saffah. He was the grandfather of Jafar, the Wazir of Hurun Rashid.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khalid Ibn Walid
Birth:592
Death:642
One of the greatest Muslim Generals, called The Sword of God.
Khalid was largely responsible for the defeat of the Muslim at the battle of Uhad, but after accepting Islam in 629, he led the Muslims on many battles against the Kufars. He was the chief ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khalid Muhammad Khalid
Birth:1920
Death:1996
An Egyptian writer.
Khalid was educated at Al-Azhar and authored about thirty books such as Muwatinum la ra'aya, Muhammad wa-al Masih, Aldawlah fi al-Islam etc.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khalid Bin Abdul Aziz
Birth:1913
Death:1982
Saudi monarch
The reigning monarch of Saudi Arabia from 1975 to 1982 King Khalid deployed the country's massive oil profits in a momentous building spree.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khalid Ziya
Birth:1866
Death:
Writer.
Khalid Ziya was a leading writer of prose and fiction in modern Turkish literature. With poets Tewfiq, Fikret and Shahabuddiin, he was the principal founder of the modern Turkish literature.
Khalid Ziya was born in Constantinople.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khaleda Zia
Birth:1944
Death:
Bangladesh's first woman prime minister.
Until the assassination of her husband, the military dictator President Ziaur Rahman, in an abortive coup in 1981, Begum Khaleda Zia had taken little interest in either politics or public life. In 1983, when limited political activity was allowed under the rule ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khalil Bin Ishaq Bin Musa
Birth:
Death:1374
A great Maliki jurist of Egypt.
Khalil's Mukhtasar, the manual of law, printed in Paris in 1855, is still studied in Algeria.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khalil Sultan
Birth:1384
Death:1411
Grandson of Timur.
Khalil was the Sultan of Samarqand from 807 to 812. He had to fight the rebellions continuously during his short reign. In a treaty with Shah Rukh he renounced his sovereignty over Mawra-ul-Nahr and received Rayy in exchange, where he lived till his death.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khalil Ullah Khan
Birth:
Death:1662
A proverbial name in Urdu language
He was the Khalil Khan of Urdu language after whose name the proverb Who Din Hawa Hoie jab Khalil Khan Fakhta urate the was coined and still widely used.
Khalil was Governor of Delhi, during Shah Jahan's reign and ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khaliq Ahmad Nizami
Birth:1925
Death:1998
Modern India's foremost medievalist.
Kahliq's career started in Aligarh Muslim University where he rose up to vice-chancellor in 1974 and where he died. He authored many books in Urdu and English and contributed to The Encyclopaedia of Islam, new edition.
Khaliq was one of the founder ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan
Khansa Al Tumadir Bint Amr
Birth:
Death:642
Poetess.
Khansa was one of the greatest Arab poetesses famous for her elegies. Her Diwan was edited and published with a French translation in 1889. She wrote elegies on the death of her two brothers.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khaqani Afzal Ud Din
Birth:c1106
Death:1190
A Persian poet famous for his Qaisdas.
Afzal wrote poems under the name of Haqaiqi but changed it to Khaqani after entering the service of the ruler of Shirvan, the Khaqan Manuchehr, from whom he took his pen name.
Afzal authored Masnawi (Tuhfat al Iraqayn, ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khardazba Ubaid Ullah Abul Qasim
Birth:826
Death:912
Author.
Khardazba authored Al Masalik wa al Mamalik, a book of geography in Arabic that was translated by Degoeje, and published from Lyden in 1889.
Khardazba was a native of Khurasan, but he lived in Baghdad.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khizr Khan
Birth:
Death:1421
A king of Delhi
Khizr was the founder of Sayyad dynasty.
Khizr, the son of Alauddin Khilji, fell in love with Dewal Devi, the daughter of the King of Gujarat, India. The history of their love was immortalised in a Persian Masnawi written by Amir ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khurdadbih Abul Qasim Ubaidullah Bin Ahmad
Birth:
Death:912
Author
Qasim authored Kitab Adab us Sama, Kitab Jamhur Ansab ul Faras, containing the most celebrated genealogies of the Persians. Kitab al Masalik wal Mumalik, a book of geography and many others on different subjects.
`The Geography book of Ibn Khurdaziba' is the only extant ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khushhal Khan Khatak
Birth:1613
Death:1688
The greatest Pashtu poet who gave Pashtu language its script.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khwaja Jahan Malik Sarwar
Birth:
Death:1400
The founder of the Sharqi dynasty of Jaunpur.
Sultan Muhammad Shah, son of Firuz Shah Thuglaq, appointed him governor of Qanuj, Awodh, Kara and Jaunpur in 1394. He took advantage of the weakness of the Government and founded an independent kingdom at Jaunpur.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khwaja Kamaluddin
Birth:1870
Death:1932
Co-restorer of the Woking Mosque in Surrey outside London.
Northern Europe's first purpose-built mosque, Shah Jahan Mosque, mirrors some of the complexities in the variable relationship that Britain and Muslim world have enjoyed in the same period.
Shah Jahan Mosque in Woking, Surrey, was founded ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khwaja Masud
Birth:
Death:1131
The first poet who wrote in Hindustani of whom we have any account. He left three Diwans, in Persian, Arabic and in Hindustani.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khwaja Nizamuddin Hamad Bakhshi
Birth:1549
Death:1594
Author
Khwaja Nizamuddin wrote Tabqat e Akbari, the book that was a source of information for Badauni and Farishta. His style of writing was objective.
Nizamuddin's father came to India from Herat during Akbar's reign.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khwaju Kamaluddin
Birth:1281
Death:1343
Hafiz said though Saadi was the master of lyrical poetry, my verses were after the style of Khwaju.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Knud Holmboe
Birth:1902
Death:1931
A Danish journalist.
Although there is no indication when he converted to Islam, perhaps it may have been among the gentle and hospitable villagers of Muslim Europe that he made his decision to enter the fold of Islam. In his classic of travel writing first ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan
Koprulu Fazil Ahmad Pasha
Birth:1635
Death:1676
The grand Vizier of Turkey from 1661 to 1676, under the Ottoman Sultan Muhammad IV.
Before being called as the deputy grand Vizier, he was the governor of Damascus in 1660. During his campaigns in Europe he got help of the auxiliary forces of Moldavia, Walachia, Crimea, Transylvania ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Koprulu Muhammad Pasha
Birth:1574
Death:1661
Ottoman grand vizier during 1656-61.
Muhammad Pasha defeated the Venetian Fleet in 1657 and established the supremacy of the Ottoman navy. After serving as Governor in different provinces, he had returned to Kopru, his father-in-law's seat, a small town in Anatolia. Hence his nickname was Koprulu.
...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Korpulu Fazil Mustafa Pasha
Birth:1637
Death:1691
The grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1689 to 1691.
In 1690 Mustafa pasha liberated Belgrade from occupation, but he was killed in a battle in 1691 at Slankamen.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Kurshiah Burhanuddin
Birth:1912
Death:1999
Malaysia's first queen.
Kurshiah was crowned after the nation became independent in 1957. Her prodigious charity work and her struggle to improve women's lives through 'Malaysian Islamic Women's Welfare Board which she established in 1961, to promote equal rights for women, made her more than a royal ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan
Khawaja Moinuddin Chisti
Birth:1141
Death:1236
One of the most outstanding figures in the annals of Islamic mysticism and founder of the Chistiyya order in India.
Khawaja Moinuddin Chisti looms large in the history of Sufism whose dargah has attained pre-imminence in South Asia due to the legend and hagiography that ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khawaja Nizamuddin Ahmad
Birth:1551
Death:1621
Author of Tabqat Akbari, a history of India dedicated to emperor Akbar about the year 1593.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khawaja Nazimuddin
Birth:1894
Death:1964
The politician who gave up everything in favour of Pakistan.
Khawaja Nazimuddin was an influential member of the Muslim League and a trusted man of Pakistan's founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He was the minister of Education 1929-34, home minister 1937-41 and Chief Minister 1937-41 in ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Syed Fazl Rab
Kazi Nazrul Islam
Birth:1899
Death:1976
The egalitarian poet of Bengal.
A rare blend of quality poet and musician par excellence Kazi Nazrul Islam believed in gender equality and that 'art is for people'. He launched a vigorous assault on extremism and dogmatism.
After the conquest of Bengal by the Muslims ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Kalim Siddiqui
Birth:1931
Death:1996
Muslim activist.
Dr. Kalim Siddiqui was a Muslim leader in Britain who passionately argued the causes of Muslims living in Britain and abroad. He founded Muslim Institute in 1973 in London and he was also the main founder of the 'Muslim Parliament of Great Britain' in ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Iqbal Sidiqui
Khursheed Kamal Aziz
Birth:1927
Death:2009
Professor K. K. Aziz was a Pakistani historian specialising in the late Raj period and the Freedom Movement. He published over 30 books on the modern history of Muslims of the Indian sub-continent. He also wrote a moving biography of his father Shaikh Abdul Aziz (1884-1970) ...
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Compiled by:M A Sherif
Kaifi Azmi
Birth:1919
Death:2002
Urdu poet
Kaifi Azmi was one of the last pillars of India's progressive Urdu poets. A towering figure of the movement that he represented and whose poetry championed the cause of down-trodden and oppressed, and a great believer of secular values.
In 1943, Kaifi came to ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan
Kareem Abdul Jabbar
Birth:1947
Death:
American athlete known for his stamina and fitness.
In addition to his signature sky hook and a legacy of winning at every level, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was known for his stamina and fitness.
During a 20-year career that included six championships and six Most Valuable Player ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Kemal Sahin
Birth:1955
Death:
The T shirt Turk.
In 1982, Kemal opened the doors to his new gift shop, after having earned a tough engineering degree on full scholarship, on a busy commercial street in Aachen, Germany. The only way he could stay in Germany was to go into his ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan
Kamal Pilavoglu
Birth:
Death:
Leader
During the Second World War (1939-45) the leader of Tijani tariqa became openly active in Ankara. After the triumph of the Democratic party in 1950, the new government allowed the re-opening of Saints tombs. Kamal organised the destruction of the statues of Ataturk and in ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khairuddin
Birth:16th century
Death:
The Turkish architect of Sultan Bayazid II.
Khairuddin best work was the Bayazid mosque in Constantinople built between 1501 and 1507. He was considered the real founder of the Ottoman architecture.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Khub Kamal Uddin Shistani
Birth:
Death:
The author of a mystical Masanwi in Gujrati composed in 1578.
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Kerim Kerimov
Birth:1917
Death:2003
A shadowy scientist whose leading role shaped the Soviet space programme.
Kerim, chairman of the Soviet Aeronautics Commission, had a leading role behind the Soviet space programme over several decades. He was one of the architects of the string of Soviet successes that stunned the ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan
Khaled Hadj Ibrahim
Birth:1960
Death:
Algerian teen-singer and rai star based in Paris.
There have been few better teen-singers than Cheb ('young') Khaled, who made his first record in Algeria, aged 14. By the age of 17 Cheb Khaled had become a national star with five cassette albums to his name. By 1990, ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan
Khurshid Ahmad
Birth:1932
Death:
Academician, Islamic activist and a leading light of Pakistan's Jamaat Islami.
Prof Khurshid Ahmad is unique in following the demanding vocations of politics and academic work and the holistic discipline of Islamic da'wah. A former federal minister of planning and development and deputy chairman of ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan
Kaleem Ajiz
Birth:1920s
Death:2015
A respected and renowned poet of Urdu.
Dr Kaleem Ajiz who authored several books and classical ghazals has left an indelible mark in the Indian literary field. He did his doctorate from Patna University for his thesis on 'Evolution of Urdu Literature in Bihar' - ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan
Khalid Muhammad Ishaq
Birth:1926
Death:2004
Pakistan's noted jurist and the country's greatest bibliophile.
Khalid resigned from his position as Advocate General, in 1964, after his disagreement with the government brief in a high profile political case, Jama'at-e-Islami Pakistan versus the Government of West Pakistan - the Jama'at had challenged the government ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan
Khuda Baksh Khan
Birth:1842
Death:1908
A notable bibliophile of India
Khuda Baksh Khan was the founder of a 'Public library' at Patna, India, which is better known as Khuda Baksh Oriental Public Library. He acquired a passion of collecting rare Arabic and Persian manuscripts from his father who left him ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan / Ghulam Mohiuddin
Kamila Tyabji
Birth:1918
Death:2004
A pioneering lawyer and campaigner who created jobs for India's poor.
Kamila after practising law in London - a lucrative practice with a focus on insurance issues - for 25 years went home to India to set up the Women's India Trust (WIT), a charity providing ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan
Khalid
Birth:
Death:
He who introduced coffee to the world
While tending his goats in the Kaffa region of southern Ethiopia, Khalid noticed his animals became livelier after eating a certain berry. He boiled the berries to make the first coffee.
Certainly the first record of the drink ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan
Khalique Ibrahim Khalique
Birth:1926
Death:2006
Pakistan's filmmaker
Khalique whose career began in Bombay moved to Karachi in 1953 and excelled as the pioneering documentary filmmaker of Pakistan. His films were exhibited world over including at Cannes, Paris, London, Berlin, Moscow, Leningrad (St Peter's Burg), New York and Beijing during the 1960s ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan
Khawaja Ghulam Ul Syedain
Birth:1904
Death:1971
Acclaimed academician.
In the Indian field of academia Syedain is acclaimed for his contributions to education.
He authored many books including 'Andhi Main Chiragh', 'Rooh-e-Tahzib', 'Osul-e-Taleem', 'Afkar-e-Syedain' and 'Mazameen-e-Syedain' in Urdu and 'Iqbal's Educational Philosophy' and 'Islam the Religion of Peace', in English.
Syedain was ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan
Khaled Hosseini
Birth:1965
Death:
Kabul-born American novelist
In his runaway best-seller Khaled's first novel, The Kite Runner, (2003), about a complex Middle Eastern culture, the book has become one of the publishing industry's greatest success stories. It has been published in 38 countries, translated into 42 languages, turned into an Oscar-nominated movie ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan
Khalil Al Zahawi
Birth:1946
Death:2007
Iraqi calligrapher
Gunned down in front of his home in Baghdad al-Zahawi was widely known calligrapher in the Arab world as a master of the elegant art of writing classical Arabic script.
He trained students from around the globe in the long, fluid lettering he ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan
Khalid Alig
Birth:1925
Death:2007
Pakistan's popular Urdu poet
A committed leftist Khalid in 1960s worked for number Pakistan's newspapers. In 1973 he joined 'Masawaat' in Karachi.
His only collection of poetry, titled 'Ghazaal-e-Dasht-e-Sagan' was published at the turn of the century.
Immensely popular at home his poetry also struck a ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan
Khalid Al Dakhil
Birth:
Death:
Saudi academic
Having spent his academic career focusing on issues of democracy and reform in Saudi Arabian politics, Dr. al-Dakhil's work has been on the need to redefine the history of the nation and, specifically, scritinise the role of Wahhabism as the root of clerical ...
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Compiled by:M Nauman Khan
Khwaja Ahmad Abbas
Birth:1914
Death:1987
Indian film director, novelist, screenwriter and journalist
After completing his graduation and law, in 1934, from Aligarh Muslim University K A Abbas began his career as a journalist. While at the Bombay Chronicle (1935-1947), he started a weekly column called 'Last Page', which he continued when ...
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Compiled by:M. Nauman Khan
Khatir Ghaznavi
Birth:1925
Death:2008
Urdu poet and writer.
Click here for an audio clip of 'Har haqiqat ko' from a mushaira:
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