Khursheed Kamal Aziz Urdu pronunciation: [xʊɾˈʃiːd̪ kəmaːl ˈəziːz] (Urdu: خُورشِید کمال عزِیز; 1927–2009)^[1] better known as K. K. Aziz, was a Pakistani historian, admired for his books written in the English language. However, he also wrote Urdu prose and was a staunch believer in the importance of the Persian language to enhance one's knowledge about the world.^[1]

Early life and career

Khursheed Kamal Aziz was born on 11 December 1927 to Abdul Aziz, a barrister and a historian in his own right. He was born in a town called Ballamabad, Chiniot, Punjab, British India.^[1][2] He received his early education from M.B. High School in Batala, Punjab and then went to first Forman Christian College and finally to Government College Lahore for further studies where one of his professors was the famed Patras Bokhari.^[1] Later he completed his studies at Victoria University in Manchester, UK.

Aziz taught at various reputed institutions such as the University of Cambridge and University of Oxford, UK, and at universities in Heidelberg, Germany as well as in Khartoum, Sudan and the Punjab University in Lahore, Pakistan.^[1] He also delivered occasional lectures at universities in Pakistan: Karachi, Peshawar, Islamabad; Bangladesh: Dacca; United Kingdom: Hull, New Castle upon Tyne and Oxford; Switzerland: Geneva and Bergen.

He worked briefly, in the early 1970s, as an advisor to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and was the chairman of the 'National Commission on Historical and Cultural Research' but he later fell out with Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and his regime and left that position.^[3] Some years later, he returned his "Sitara-i-Imtiaz" Award awarded by the President of Pakistan in protest of his treatment by the Martial Law authorities after General Zia-ul-Haq took over power in 1977 and was forced to leave the country. He lived many years abroad as an exile and taught at many universities abroad.^[1] He began to collect his research material for his many famous books while he was teaching in Germany.^[3] His research material was enriched by the experiences he had while living in many different countries abroad.^[1]

Death and legacy

He died in Lahore, Pakistan at the age of 81, on 15 July 2009.^[1] K. K. Aziz had returned from abroad to Lahore, Pakistan only in 2008, a year before his death.^[3] His wife, Zarina Aziz, said in an interview to a Pakistani newspaper, after his death, that he had been somewhat sick for about last 5 years but had continued to work for 10 hours daily to write and finish his books. He had written over 50 history books in his lifetime and used to say to her that his books were his children and would keep his name alive.^[1] In 2014, per a major Pakistani newspaper columnist, some young Pakistanis are starting to give K. K. Aziz credit for helping them have a balanced view of Pakistan's history. Now, at least, they got a chance to look at the history of Pakistan from a point of view other than the 'only slanted view laced with extreme ideological narratives' in the text books they studied at school and college. Pakistani people themselves and also the world at large, have the ability to sort out the truth, on individual basis, after reading many and different points of view on the history of Pakistan. Since the mid 1990s, some historians and intellectuals in Pakistan have slowly and surely tried to develop a more rational and balanced view of Pakistani history.^[3]

Literary works

Aziz had a profound love for words and writing. He authored 44 valuable books on the modern history of the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent. He had a unique style of writing that stimulated readers' thought process. He wrote on many significant issues related to Pakistan and also came up with volumes of significant details on important dignitaries who helped in shaping the history of the Indian subcontinent.