Salim Moizuddin Abdul Ali was the pre-eminent ornithologist of India who was born today, November 12, in 1896, Mumbai, Maharashtra. His father passed away when the little Ali was a year Old. After two years his mother also died. The ninth and youngest child of his parent, Ali became orphan at the age of 3.
Salim’s journey as ‘The Birdman of India’
Ali, who was then raised by his maternal uncle, Amiruddin Tyabji got interest in wildlife after observing his uncle hunting. Uncle Amiruddin was a keen hunter and nature-lover. Under his guidance young Ali learnt his first lessons in hunting and became aware of the nature around him.
At the age of 10, Salim was playing in the garden and suddenly he saw a bird. He shot it down. With curiosity he ran towards the bird and picked it up. The bird looked like house sparrow but it had some strange yellow shade on the throat. Salim took the bird to his uncle and asked about the bird. His uncle didn’t have any knowledge about the bird. Then he took Salim to WS Millard, the honorary secretary of the Bombay natural History society. It was then that Millard introduced the young Ali to the serious study of birds and also showed him the BNHS’s collection of stuffed birds and provided other valuable help and encouragement.
Also read: Drunken youth ate chicken alive in Telangana
Salim Ali desperately wanted the ornithologist’s position which was open at the Zoological Survey. Holding a degree in Zoology from St’ Xaviers college, he was hired as guide lecturer at the newly opened natural history section in the Prince of Wales Museum in Bombay in 1926.
Salim used to travel a lot to conduct several researches on different kind of birds. He even received an opportunity to conduct systematic bird surveys of the princely states that included Hyderabad, Cochin, Travancore, Gwalior, Indore and Bhopal with the sponsorship of the rulers of those states. He was aided in his surveys by Hugh Whistler.
Post-independence, he took over the charge of Bombay natural history society and successfully managed it. Bombay natural history society often used to face financial crunches but Salim used to collect the funds and saved the society every time. For his extraordinary efforts, he was given an international award of INR 5 lacs, but he donated all the money to BNHS.
Salim Ali’s Books, Awards and Achievements
A prolific writer, Slim authored several books on birds. In 1941, he published the ‘The Book of Indian Birds’, which became a landmark book that popularised ornithology among the common man. The book sparked much interest in the birds of India and was a popular bird-guide in a low-cost edition. His magnum opus is considered to be the ‘Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan’, which he wrote along with S. Dillon Ripley. The ten volume work took ten years to be completed. The comprehensive work covered the birds of the subcontinent, their appearance, habitat, breeding habits, migration, and much more.
Also read: Renaming of cities: Politics of distorting History?
Salim Ali received numerous awards and medals for his contribution towards the wildlife and nature conservation. The Indian government awarded him Padma Bhushan in 1958 and the Padma Vibhushan in 1976, India’s third and second highest civilian honours, respectively. In 1967 he was awarded both the Gold Medal of the British Ornithologists’ Union and a J. Paul Getty Wildlife Conservation Prize. In 1970 he received the Sunder Lal Hora Medal of the Indian National Science Academy.
He suffered from prostate cancer during his later years and died on 20 June 1987, at the age of 90.
After his death, buildings like the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary were established along with the Salim Ali School of Ecology and more.
The lesser known Maulana who sought ‘United India’ to the bitter end
