Salim Moizuddin Abdul Ali He is a famous ornithologist in India. He earned the nickname “Indian Birdman” due to his passion for birds and their conservation. He was one of the first Indians to conduct systematic surveys of birds. Apart from being an ornithologist, he also authored several books that made ornithology very popular in India and abroad. Salim devoted his life to the study of birds, conducted many types of research and discovered many things about birds. For his hard work and love for nature, the Indian government awarded him several awards and titles.
Biography/Wikipedia, Caste
Salim Ali was born on November 12, 1896 in Bombay (now Mumbai), British India, into a Sulaimani Bohra family. He was the ninth and youngest child of his parents. His father died when he was one year old, and his mother died when he was three. Ali was raised along with his siblings by his uncle Amiruddin Tyabji and his childless aunt Hamida Begum. He has been very interested in books since he was a child and spent most of his time reading. Along with his two sisters, he attended Zenana Bible and Medical Mission Girls High School in Girgaum, Mumbai, Maharashtra.
For higher education, he enrolled in St. Xavier’s College, Bombay. Initially, he was interested in hunting books, but at the suggestion of his uncle, he became interested in sport shooting, as shooting competitions were held regularly in his community. Once, he shot a sparrow with a toy air gun and showed it to his uncle Amirudin, who took the bird to the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). Rudin is a member of the Society. At BNHS, Salim was introduced to BNHS Secretary WS Millard. WS Millard inspired him to study ornithology.
family
Ali was born to Moizuddin and Zeenat-un-Nissa. He has eight brothers and sisters. He married Tehmina in December 1918. Information about his children is unknown.
Profession
He dropped out of St. Xavier’s College and went to Burma (now Burma) to work on his family’s tungsten mining business. While in Myanmar, he met JC Hopwood and Berthold Ribbentrop, who were serving in the Myanmar Forestry Department.
Salim Ali in Myanmar
In 1917, he returned to India and entered Dharwar College in Bombay to study business law and accounting. However, he was not interested in this, and Father Ethelbert Bratt gave him a lot of help and encouraged him to study zoology. He finally finished his zoology course.
Lacking a formal university degree, Ali was unable to secure a position as an ornithologist with the Zoological Survey of India. However, in 1926, he was hired as a tour guide lecturer in the newly opened natural history section of the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay, with a monthly salary of 350 rupees. Soon he grew tired of his work and in 1928 he went to Germany to further his studies under the famous ornithologist and professor Erwin Stresemann, whom Ali regarded as a role model. When he returned to India in 1930, he again failed to find work. Due to a lack of work, he and his wife moved to Chishim, a coastal village near Mumbai, where he came into close contact with birds. He studied the breeding of the Baya weavers and discovered their serial polygamy. system of mating.
Ali helped a lot in the survival of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and successfully saved the 100-year-old institution. He wrote to the then Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, requesting financial support for BNHS. Ali was the first to introduce systematic ornithological surveys at a time when no one knew the distribution pattern of birds in India. He helped save many sanctuaries and national parks across the country, including the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary in Rajasthan and the Silent Valley National Park in Kerala, India.
Awards/Honors
- 1958: Padma Bhushan received honorary doctorate from Aligarh Muslim University
Salim Ali was awarded the Padma Shri in 1958
- 1969: John C. Phillips Memorial Medal
- 1973: PhD from Delhi University and Pavlovsky Centennial Medal of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences
- 1975: J. Paul Getty Conservation Leadership Award, $100,000.
- 1978: PhD from Andhra University
masterpiece
- 1941: The Book of Birds of India
- 1964: Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (co-authored by American ornithologist Dillon Ripley)
- 1967: Common Birds (co-written by his niece Laeeq Futehally)
- 1985: The Fall of the Sparrow (Autobiography)
cause of death
Ali died on June 20, 1987, at the age of 90, after a long battle with prostate cancer.
fact
- As a child, Ali was a playmate of Iskander Mirza, his distant cousin. After the partition of India, Iskander Mirza became the first president of Pakistan.
- Another of his uncles was Abbas Tyabji, a freedom fighter and associate of Mahatma Gandhi.
- At 13, he dropped out of school because he suffered from chronic headaches.
- Ali likes riding motorcycles very much. He started cycling in Myanmar with a 3.5 HP NSU. Later, he owned Harley-Davidsons (three models), a Sunbeam, a Scott, a New Hudson, a Douglas and a Zenith.
- After his wife died in 1939, he became deeply depressed. After a few days of depression, his brother-in-law took Ali with him.
- In the 1960s, when the Indian Parliament was considering selecting India’s national bird, Ali hoped to select the great bustard as the national bird, but ultimately chose the Indian peacock.
Great Indian Bustard
- In 1967, Ali became the first non-British citizen to receive the British Ornithologists’ Union Gold Medal.
- In 1985, Indian President Zair Singh nominated him to the Upper House of Parliament in recognition of his contribution to ornithology.
- In 1990, the Government of India established the Salim Ali Center for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) in his name.
- The Indian government issued a stamp in 1996 to commemorate the occasion.
Salim Ali on a stamp
- In 2018, Indian filmmaker S. Shankar directed Movie 2.0, starring famous actors Akshay Kumar and Rajinikanth. In that film, Akshay Kumar played the character of Pakshi Rajan, who was inspired by Salim Ali.
Akshay Kumar as Pakshi Rajan
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education