Lutfullah Khan (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' collector,

archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist can consi ...

, and

hobbyist A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports, or pursuing oth ...

from

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. He was best known for his rare collection of

voice recording Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording te ...

s of renowned artists, poets, writers and other eminent individuals from

and South Asia.Renowned archivist Lutfullah Khan passes away
Dawn newspaper, Published 3 March 2012, Retrieved 31 August 2019

Early life

Lutfullah Khan was born in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, now called

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

in (

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

) on 25 November 1916.Glowing tributes paid to Lutfullah Khan
The News International newspaper, Published 10 March 2012, Retrieved 5 July 2017 His father worked for the South Indian Railway Company. Lutfullah gained his basic education in

but moved to

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Indi ...

in search of work when he was still a teenager. In 1938, he moved to

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

to work for the rationing department in

. He migrated to

on 17 October 1947, after the

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the stat ...

, and settled in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

where he joined the advertising business and remained in this profession for more than 50 years.

Music career

Lutfullah Khan signed an agreement in 1933 for classical singing with the Indian Broadcasting Service. He performed publicly at the age of 19 in 1935, when he performed in a two-hour radio concert in

and played

Karnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka. It ...

. Known as Madras Radio Artist, he sang

Ghazals The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a p ...

at a function of Muslim Students Association of St. Xaviers College in January 1939 and rendered classical singing in Bombay in December the same year. Between 1963 and 1988, he practised singing with Abdul Shakoor Khan of Kirana gharana, and explored the intricacies of only one raag, the

Darbari Darbari Kanada, or simply Raga Darbari, (pronounced darbāri kānada), is a raga in the Kanada family, which is thought to have originated in Carnatic music and brought into Hindustani classical music by Miyan Tansen, the legendary 16th-ce ...

Voice collection

Luftullah was known for his unique collection of voice recordings. In 1951, when he started his

advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally ...

, one of his clients imported a ''Sound Mirror'' audio tape recorder. Lutfullhah bought the machine and 22 tapes for

Pakistani rupee The Pakistani rupee ( ur, / ALA-LC: ; currency symbol, sign: Re (singular) and Rs (plural); ISO 4217, ISO code: PKR) is the official currency of Pakistan since 1948. The coins and notes are issued and controlled by the central bank, namely St ...

1,146 and 10 annas (the machine and the receipt forms a part of his collection). He performed his first sound recording, which was the voice of his mother, on 29 July 1951. Later, he started recording radio programs for drama, music, poetry, prose, fine arts, religion and education. He went on collecting voices of notable personalities, especially speeches of political leaders and politicians, and narrations of authors' own works. He maintained a minutely detailed catalogue for all the tapes on different subjects. In its obituary, ''

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's ...

'' remarked, "It was a testimony to his zeal for the arts that artists and men of letters loved to visit his studio for recording sessions." In music, his collection is organised into many subcategories: *

Instrumental Music An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instrum ...

that includes

Sarod The sarod is a stringed instrument, used in Hindustani music on the Indian subcontinent. Along with the sitar, it is among the most popular and prominent instruments. It is known for a deep, weighty, introspective sound, in contrast with the swe ...

(notably

Hafiz Ali Khan Hafiz Ali Khan (1888–1972) was an Indian sarod player.Brick, mortar & false notes
Dawn (newspaper), Published 29 Ap ...

and

Ali Akbar Khan Ali Akbar Khan (14 April 192218 June 2009) was a Indian Hindustani classical musician of the Maihar gharana, known for his virtuosity in playing the sarod. Trained as a classical musician and instrumentalist by his father, Allauddin Khan, he a ...

Sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form ...

(notably

Enayat Khan Ustad Enayat Khan ( ur, عنایت خان ; 1894–1938) also known as Nath Singh was one of India's most influential sitar and surbahar players in the first decades of the 20th century. He was the father of Vilayat Khan, one of the topmost s ...

, Vilayat Khan,

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North In ...

and Sharif Khan Poonchwaley),

Shehnai The ''shehnai'' is a musical instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is made of wood, with a double reed at one end and a metal or wooden flared bell at the other end.Bismillah Khan Bismillah Khan (born Amaruddin Khan, 21 March 1916 – 21 August 2006), often referred to by the title ''Ustad'', was an Indian musician credited with popularizing the shehnai, a reeded woodwind instrument. While the shehnai had long held imp ...

Flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedles ...

(notably Pannalal Ghosh), Tabla (notably

Ahmed Jan Thirakwa Ustad Ahmed Jan Khan "Thirakwa" was an Indian tabla player, commonly considered the pre-eminent soloist among tabla players of the 20th century, and among the most influential percussionists in the history of Indian Classical Music. He was kn ...

, Alla Rakha) and

Sarangi The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked string instrument played in traditional music from South Asia – Punjabi folk music, Rajasthani folk music, and Boro folk music (there known as the ''serja'') – in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. It is ...

(notably

Bundu Khan Bundu Khan (1880 – 1955) was an Indian sarangi player. Early life and career Bundu Khan was born in Delhi in a family of musicians. He received his early training in sarangi from his father Ali Jan Khan starting at 8 years of age, and late ...

) * Classical Music that includes notably

Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (2 April 1902 – 23 April 1968) was an Indian Hindustani classical vocalist, from the Patiala gharana.Semi-classical music that includes

Thumri Thumri () is a vocal genre or style of Indian music. The term "thumri" is derived from the Hindi verb ''thumuknaa'', which means "to walk with a dancing gait in such a way that the ankle-bells tinkle." The form is, thus, connected with dance, dr ...

, Pahari, Dadra, Kafi,

Bhajan Bhajan refers to any devotional song with a religious theme or spiritual ideas, specifically among Indian religions, in any language. The term bhajanam ( Sanskrit: भजनम्) means ''reverence'' and originates from the root word ''bhaj'' ...

etc. *

including notably

Begum Akhtar Akhtari Bai Faizabadi (7 October 1914 – 30 October 1974), also known as Begum Akhtar, was an Indian singer and actress. Dubbed "Mallika-e-Ghazal" (Queen of Ghazals), she is regarded as one of the greatest singers of ghazal, dadra, and thu ...

, Sehgal,

Shamshad Begum Shamshad Begum (Hindi: शमशाद बेगम, IAST: ''Śamśād Bēgam''; 14 April 1919 – 23 April 2013) was an Indian singer who was one of the first playback singers in the Hindi film industry. Notable for her distinctive voice and r ...

, Rauf Dakkani, Mukhtar Begum, Mushtri Bai, Salamat Ali Khan,

Amanat Ali Khan Ustad Amanat Ali Khan ( ur, ; ; 1922 – 18 September 1974) was a Pakistani classical vocalist from the Patiala gharana tradition of music and is widely regarded as one of the finest classical and ''ghazal'' singers of all time. Togethe ...

, and

Roshan Ara Begum Roshan Ara Begum ( ur, ) (1917 – 6 December 1982) was a vocalist belonging to the Kirana gharana (singing style) of Hindustani classical music. She is also known by her honorific title ''Malika-e-Mauseeqi'' (The Queen of Music) and ''T ...

etc. It also includes 318 ghazals of

Mehdi Hassan Mehdi Hassan Khan ( ur, مہدی حسن خاں , translit=) 18 July 1927 – 13 June 2012) was a Pakistani ghazal singer and playback singer for Lollywood. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential figures in the history of gh ...

. *

Folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

* Qawali * songs from other genres The

Urdu literature Urdu literature ( ur, , ) is literature in the Urdu language. While it tends to be dominated by poetry, especially the verse forms of the ''ghazal '' غزل and '' nazm '' نظم, it has expanded into other styles of writing, including that of ...

section is divided into poetry and prose. Poetry contains the work of 800 poets.

Faiz Ahmad Faiz Faiz Ahmad ''Faiz'' (13 February 1911 – 20 November 1984; Urdu, Punjabi: فیض احمد فیض) was a Pakistani poet, and author of Urdu and Punjabi literature. Faiz was one of the most celebrated Pakistani Urdu writers of his time. Out ...

and Akhtar ul Iman recorded their entire work for his library. Some of the other names are

Jagan Nath Azad Jagan Nath Azad (5 December 1918 – 24 July 2004), List.No.380 was an Indian Urdu poet, writer and academician. He wrote over 70 books, including poetry collections, poems, biographies, and travelogues. He was an authority on the life, ...

, Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum,

Parveen Shakir Parveen Shakir ( ur, ; 24 November 1952 – 26 December 1994) was a Pakistani poet, teacher and a civil servant of the government of Pakistan. She is best known for her poems, which brought a distinctive feminine voice to Urdu ...

Josh Malihabadi Josh Malihabadi (born Shabbir Hasan Khan; 5 December 1898 – 22 February 1982) popularly known as Shayar-e-Inqalab (poet of revolution) was a Pakistani poet and is regarded as one of the finest Urdu poets of the era of British India. Kno ...

Jigar Moradabadi Ali Sikandar (6 April 1890 – 9 September 1960), known by his pen name as Jigar Moradabadi, was an Indian Urdu poet and ''ghazal'' writer. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1958 for his poetry collection "Atish-e-Gul", and was the secon ...

, Khatir Ghaznavi, Ali Sardar Jafri,

Kaifi Azmi Kaifi Azmi (born Athar Husain Rizvi; 14 January 1919 – 10 May 2002) was an Indian Urdu poet. He is remembered as the one who brought Urdu literature to Indian motion pictures. Together with Pirzada Qasim, Jaun Elia and others he participat ...

Ahmad Faraz Syed Ahmad Shah (), better known by his pen name Ahmed Faraz, ( 12 January 1931 – 25 August 2008) was a Pakistani Urdu poet, scriptwriter and became the founding Director General (later Chairman) of Pakistan Academy of Letters. He wrote h ...

Ismat Chughtai Ismat Chughtai (21 August 1915 – 24 October 1991) was an Indian Urdu novelist, short story writer, liberal humanist and filmmaker. Beginning in the 1930s, she wrote extensively on themes including female sexuality and femininity, middle-class ...

, Noon Meem Rashid, Z.A. Bukhari and others. Prose contains such items as

Ale Ahmad Suroor Ale Ahmad Suroor (1911-2002) was an Urdu poet, critic and professor from India. He is best known for his literary criticism. In 1974 he was honoured with the Sahitya Akademi Award by the Government of India for his literary critic work, ''N ...

, Ibrahim Jalees,

Patras Bokhari Syed Ahmed Shah (Urdu: ), commonly known as Patras Bokhari (October 1, 1898–December 5, 1958), was a Pakistani humorist, writer, broadcaster and diplomat who served as a Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations. Born in Pes ...

Imtiaz Ali Taj Syed Imtiaz Ali Taj ( ur, ; ; 1900–1970) was an Pakistani dramatist who wrote in the Urdu language. He is remembered above all for his 1922 play ''Anarkali'', based on the life of Anarkali, that was staged hundreds of times and was adapted ...

, Hayatullah Ansari,

Rajinder Singh Bedi Rajinder Singh Bedi (1 September 1915 – 1984) was an Indian Urdu writer of the Progressive Writers' Movement, progressive writers' movement and a playwright, who later worked in Hindi cinema as a film director, screenwriter and dialogue writer ...

, Joginder Paal,

Chiragh Hasan Hasrat Chiragh Hasan Hasrat ( ur, Born 1904, Poonch, Kashmir ) was a Poet and Journalist. He began composing poetry when he was still a student at school. He was born in Kashmir but after matriculation he migrated to Pakistan. Early in his career Ch ...

, Anwar Sadid,

Khadija Mastoor Khadija Mastoor ( ur, , translit=K͟hadījah Mastūr; 11 December 192725 July 1982) was a Pakistani short story writer and novelist who worked in Urdu literature. Her novel '' Aangan'' is widely considered a literary masterpiece in Urd ...

Rasheed Ahmad Siddiqi Rasheed Ahmad Siddiqui (1892–1977) was a noted Urdu writer and a professor at Aligarh Muslim University in India. Literary life and style Rasheed Ahmad Siddiqui was born in 1892 in Mariyahu, Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh. He was one of the most d ...

, Zakir Hussain and many more. The scholars and speeches sections include names like

Muhammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...

, Liaqat Ali Khan,

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

, A. K. Brohi, Sir

Muhammad Zafarullah Khan Chaudhry Sir Muhammad Zafarullah Khan ( ur, ‎; 6 February 1893 – 1 September 1985) was a Pakistani jurist and diplomat who served as the first Foreign Minister of Pakistan. After serving as foreign minister he continued his internation ...

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy ( bn, হোসেন শহীদ সোহ্‌রাওয়ার্দী; ur, ; 8 September 18925 December 1963) was a Bengali barrister and politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1956 ...

, Dr.

Salimuzzaman Siddiqui Salimuzzaman Siddiqui, ( ur, ; 19 October 1897 – 14 April 1994) was a Pakistani Muhajir organic chemist specialising in natural products, and a professor of chemistry at the University of Karachi. Siddiqui studied philosophy at Aligarh Mus ...

, Karrah Hussain, Bahadur Yar Jung,

Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani (12 December 1880 – 17 November 1976), often shortened as Maulana Bhashani, was a Bengali politician. His political tenure spanned the British colonial India, Pakistan and Bangladesh periods. Maulana Bhashani was po ...

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourt ...

Rajendra Prasad Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was an Indian politician, lawyer, Indian independence activist, journalist & scholar who served as the first president of Republic of India from 1950 to 1962. He joined the Indian Nationa ...

. The religion section includes notably Syed Mohammad Razi, Zaheen Shah Taji, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, Allamah Rasheed Turabi etc. This also includes an

exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Biblical works. In modern usage, exegesis can involve critical interpretation ...

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , ...

in the voice of

Ehtisham ul Haq Thanvi ) , native_name_lang = ur , image = Ehtisham ul Haq Thanvi.jpg , alt = , caption = , religion = Islam , denomination = Sunni , ordained = , school = , lineage = ...

. The smaller but a unique section consists of interviews of artists like Jimmy Engineer, Iqbal Geoffrey, Iqbal Mehdi,

Bashir Mirza Bashir Mirza (1941 – 19 January 2000), also known as BM, was a Pakistani painter artist. Early life and education Born in Amritsar, British India in 1941, Mirza joined the Mayo School of Arts (now National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore ...

Sadequain Syed Sadequain Ahmed Naqvi ( ur, ) (30 June 1930 10 February 1987), often referred to as Sadequain Naqqash, was a Pakistani artist, best known for his skills as a calligrapher and a painter. He is considered one of the finest painters and cal ...

, Shakir Mirza etc. The story of this journey is penned in ''Tamashay-e-Ahal-e-Zauq'' that provides insights in efforts that were put to record them. Especially the struggle to record

Faiz ''Fāʾiz'' () is a male Arabic name meaning "successful" and "victorious" overflowing, plenty. It is derived from its root word ''Faʾz'' ( which means "successful". People with the name * Faiz Mohammad Katib Hazara (1862/63–1929), a Haza ...

that is spread over time period of 20 years. In his last years, he was digitising his audio library by transferring tapes on DVDs and computerising the catalogue.

Photography and filming

Luftullah was also an avid photographer. While in

, he used to borrow a

16mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, edu ...

Kodak movie camera from a friend to make movies at different locations. While in

, he used to borrow a

Rolleiflex Rolleiflex is the name of a long-running and diverse line of high-end cameras originally made by the German company Franke & Heidecke, and later Rollei-Werke. History The "Rolleiflex" name is most commonly used to refer to Rollei's premier ...

camera from a friend who owned the Thackersons photography shop. He created albums of the city's old buildings and new build-ups that were taking shape to absorb the new country

and its administration. He made an album about ''Business on footpath'' covering portable shops on Karachi's footpaths, right from small businesses to

snake charmers Snake charming is the practice of appearing to hypnotize a snake (often a cobra) by playing and waving around an instrument called a pungi. A typical performance may also include handling the snakes or performing other seemingly dangerou ...

, palmists, lizard show, ear cleaner etc. There was another album called ''Business on wheels'' which shows fruit, vegetable, cloth, shoe etc. merchants of Karachi on four wheel carts. In 1951, he bought a Swiss made Bolex Paillard

camera and started making documentaries. One memorable documentary was about a cricket match between the Pakistani Prime minister, his cabinet and the parliament members at the

Karachi Gymkhana The Karachi Gymkhana (KG) ( sd, ڪراچي جمخانه, Urdu: کراچی جِمخانہ) is a premier gymkhana (sports club) in the city of Karachi. It is located on Club Road in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Formerly, it was a first class cri ...

. One side was led by

Mohammad Ali Bogra Sahibzada Syed Mohammad Ali Chowdhury ( bn, সৈয়দ মোহাম্মদ আলী চৌধুরী; Urdu: سید محمد علی چوہدری), more commonly known as Mohammad Ali Bogra ( bn, মোহাম্মদ আলী ...

and the other by Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan. The minister Mr. Chittophadia was bowling in his

dhoti The dhoti, also known as veshti, vetti, dhuti, mardani, chaadra, dhotar, jaiñboh, panchey, is a type of sarong, tied in a manner that outwardly resembles "loose trousers". It is a lower garment forming part of the ethnic costume for men in the ...

and Tamizuddin was batting in his

sherwani Sherwani is a long-sleeved outer coat worn by men in South Asia. Like the Western frock coat it is fitted, with some waist suppression; it falls to below the knees and is buttoned down the front. It can be collarless, have a shirt-style collar, ...

New Age Islam New Age Islam (Hindi: न्यू ऐज इस्लाम, Urdu:, Arabic: نيو أج اسلام) is a liberal Muslim institution based in New Delhi, Delhi, India. It encourages progressive thinking among Muslims worldwide by exposing them to ne ...

reported.

Other collections

His personal gallery displays rare photographs, photography equipment, sound recording equipment and accessories, drawing instrument and stationery items used in documenting the collections, International and Pakistani coins, stamps and matchboxes.Lutfullah Khan praised for his collections
Dawn newspaper, published 5 November 2001, Retrieved 31 August 2019 A notable album in the collection of old

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

and

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

movies posters, some of them dating back to twenties. He has also transcribed all the

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Ghazals The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a p ...

Mirza Ghalib ) , birth_date = , birth_place = Kala Mahal, Agra, Maratha Confederacy , death_date = , death_place = Gali Qasim Jaan, Ballimaran, Chandni Chowk, Delhi, British India , occupation = Poet , language ...

into

Latin script The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae, in southern ...

Literary works

Lutfullah authored a number of books in

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Legacy and awards

* Luftullah's biggest legacy is his tremendous collection of audio recordings. It is the biggest personal collection of distinct audios in the country, second biggest collection after

Radio Pakistan Radio Pakistan serves as the national public broadcaster for radio in Pakistan. Although some local stations predate Radio Pakistan's founding, it is the oldest existing broadcasting network in Pakistan. The network was established on 14 Augus ...

archive, and one of the rarest collection of voices of the notable people of South Asia. * His autobiography ''Hijraton Ke Silsile'' won the Prime Minister's award in 1998. * Kamal-e-Fun Award (Lifetime Achievement Award in Literature) from the

Pakistan Academy of Letters The Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) ( ur, ) is a national academy with its main focus on Pakistani literature and related fields. It is the largest and the most prestigious learned society of its kind in Pakistan, with activities throughout t ...

in 2009. * Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi has named its audio-visual library as ''Lutfullah Khan Audio-Visual Library''. *

Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance ( ur, ), officially known as Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sports, an ...

Award from the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces. * He was the 'guest of honor' on one episode of

Geo News Geo News is a Rank Number 1 Pakistani news channel owned by the Jang Media Group. History The Geo Television Network started out with the launch of its flagship channel Geo TV in October 2002 but has since launched several other channels whic ...

TV show ''Junoon-E-Gumgashta'' in 2011 hosted by

Sania Saeed Sania Saeed (born 28 August 1972) is a Pakistani actress and television host. Works mainly in television and theatre, Saeed is the recipient of numerous accolades including two PTV Awards, three Hum Awards and four Lux Style Awards. She first ...

featuring his archival collections and his personal comments about them. * Famous

Pakistani television Television in Pakistan started in 1964 and the first live transmission of Pakistan Television began on 26 November 1964, in Lahore.Anwar Maqsood Hameedi who was reportedly his friend for over 40 years, said after his death in 2012, that Lutfullah Khan protected and guarded his collection very diligently and "did not hand over his stuff to anyone else." Well-known poet

Iftikhar Arif Iftikhar Hussain Arif ( ur, ; born 21 March 1944), is an Urdu poet, scholar and littérateur from Pakistan. His style is romantic Urdu poetry. He has headed the Pakistan Academy of Letters and the National Language Authority. He has received t ...

said, "If this nation is not able to preserve his collection, it will be a huge misfortune, because I’ve seen treasure troves being destroyed at radio and TV offices." * Pakistan Post Office issued a commemorative postage stamp to recognize his services in its 'The Archivist' series in 2012Lutfullah Khan commemorative postage stamp and profile on paknetmag.com website (scroll down to read it)
Published 19 January 2013, Retrieved 31 August 2019

Death

Lutfullah Khan died on 3 March 2012 in

at the age of 95. He is survived by a wife, two sons and three daughters.

External links

Audio Archives - YouTube Playlist

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Lutfullah 1916 births 2012 deaths Pakistani archivists Pakistani collectors Muhajir people Singers from Chennai Pakistani classical singers Pakistani radio personalities Pakistani writers Radio personalities from Karachi Singers from Karachi Recipients of the Pride of Performance