Samuel Martin Burke or S. M. Burke (3 July 1906, Martinpur – 9 October 2010)
The Telegraph 17 November 2010. Retrieved 16 August 2015Samuel Martin Burke Obituary
The Guardian 14 November 2010 Retrieved 16 August 2015 was a Pakistani civil servant, diplomat, writer and professor. He was honoured with

Sitara-e-Pakistan Civil awards and decorations of Pakistan are awards and decorations which are bestowed by the Government of Pakistan for acts of accomplishment benefiting the nation as a whole. It was established after the constitution of Pakistan was passed in ...

by the

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan () (abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia, con ...

Early life and education

Samuel Burke was born in a

Punjabi Christian Punjabi Christians are ethnic Punjabis who adhere to Christianity. They are mainly found in the Pakistani province of Punjab, forming the largest religious minority. They are one of the four main ethnoreligious communities of the Punjab reg ...

family of twelve brothers and sisters in Martinpur, a village in the Punjab Province of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(now in Pakistan). His grandfather Chaudhry Allah Ditta was a

convert to Christianity Conversion to Christianity is the religious conversion of a previously non-Christian person that brings about changes in what sociologists refer to as the convert's "root reality" including their social behaviors, thinking and ethics. The sociol ...

, while his father Janab Khairuddin, the first graduate from his village, was a school headmaster who wrote

Urdu poetry Urdu poetry ( ) is a tradition of poetry and has many different forms. Today, it is an important part of the culture of India and Pakistan. According to Naseer Turabi, there are five major poets of Urdu: Mir Taqi Mir (d. 1810), Mirza Ghalib (d. ...

under the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

''Burq'' (lightning), which later would be

Anglicized Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

as ''Burke''. His sister was the Indian

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

and

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

film actress

Chand Burke Chand Burke (2 February 1932 – 28 December 2008), also known as Chand Burque, was an Indian character actress in Hindi and Punjabi language, Punjabi language films. Career Chand Burke made her debut in Maheshwari Productions’ Kahan Gaye (1 ...

, who appeared in several films in the 50s and 60s, including

Raj Kapoor Raj Kapoor (; born as Shrishti Nath Kapoor; 14 December 1924 2 June 1988; also known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor) was an Indian actor, film director and producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influen ...

's award winning film ''

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'' (1954), thus making him the grand uncle of Bollywood actor

Ranveer Singh Ranveer Singh Bhavnani (; born 6 July 1985) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Ranveer Singh, several awards, including five Filmfare Awards. He is among the highest- ...

. Having passed his matriculation in the first division and secured a government scholarship, Samuel Burke studied at the

Government College, Lahore The Government College University (colloquially known as GCU; Punjabi, Urdu: ) is a public research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded as Government College, Lahore, in 1864 under British administration, it became a university i ...

specializing in subjects such as History, Philosophy, Persian and Urdu, earning an

BA (Hons) A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

and later his MA in History. After completing the Indian Civil Service exam he trained for two years in England in administration and law, tasked with administrative as well judicial positions (including being a high court judge), before becoming a diplomat.

Career

Civil servant

He was a member of the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...

until 15 August 1947, when he became the only Asian to retire.Samuel Martin Burke (1906-2010): Civil Servant, Diplomat, Historian
Pakistaniat 1 December 2010 Retrieved 16 August 2015 After Pakistan's independence, he joined the

Foreign Service of Pakistan The Foreign Service of Pakistan () is part of the Central Superior Services of Pakistan. It was formally created in October 1952, after having been an improvised organization since the creation and independence of Pakistan in 1947. Its old name ...

and was appointed as a counselor at the Pakistani High Commission in London.

Diplomat

Martin Burke served as a minister in the Pakistani embassy in Washington, D.C. in 1952. In 1953, he became the first Pakistani Christian head of a diplomatic mission when he was appointed Minister to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

and

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. He also served as chargé d’ affaires in Rio de Janeiro, deputy high commissioner in London, followed by being appointed as Pakistan's ambassador to

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, and finally as the High Commissioner to Canada between 1959 and 1961, following which he retired.

Academic

Upon retirement he became professor at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

from 1961 to 1975. Burke has authored a number of books covering Pakistan's history and foreign policy.

Awards

by President

Ayub Khan Mohammad Ayub Khan (14 May 1907 – 19 April 1974) was a Pakistani military dictator who served as the second president of Pakistan from 1958 until his resignation on 1969. He was the first native commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army, se ...

Books

# Pakistan's Foreign Policy: An Historical Analysis (1973) # Mainsprings of Indian and Pakistani Foreign Policy (1974) # Akbar, the Greatest Mogul (1989) # Bahadur Shah, the Last Mogul Emperor of India (1995) # The British Raj in India: An Historical Review (1995). Co-written with Salim al-Din Quraishi. # Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah: His Personality and his Politics (1997)

References

1906 births 2010 deaths Ambassadors of Pakistan to Thailand High commissioners of Pakistan to Canada Pakistani men centenarians Pakistani Christians Pakistani emigrants to the United States Pakistani expatriates in Brazil Pakistani expatriates in the United Kingdom 20th-century Pakistani historians University of Minnesota faculty Indian Civil Service (British India) officers People from Punjab Province (British India) {{Pakistan-historian-stub Government College University, Lahore alumni