Born on Friday, June 1, 1928, in Banshkhali, Chittagong to father Syed Wise Uddin and mother Syeda Rashida Khatun, Prof Dr Abdul Karim was a distinguished person with a professional portfolio highly enriched with the composition of academician, education administrator, and former vice-chancellor of Chittagong University.
He was widely prominent as an international historian, epigraphist, numismatist, and researcher of medieval Bengali literature. His academic brilliance prompted him to move forward to study at Dhaka University, where he obtained a Bachelor's honours degree in history and secured first-class in Master’s degree and later embarked on his teaching career in 1951 as a lecturer in the history department of Dhaka University.
In 1958, the University of Dhaka awarded him a PhD degree for his research-based ground-breaking work on "Social History of the Muslims in Bengal" with the then legendary historian Professor Ahmed Hossain Dani (1920-2009) as supervisor. While studying for a Commonwealth Scholarship at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London from 1960 to 1962, another successful feather embedded in his professional career cap with a second doctorate for the research work, "Murshid Quli Khan and His Times," under the supervision of Professor JB Harrison. This achievement was the reflection of his eagerness for research and indeed a high watermark in his career curve.
He had a strong footprint in diversified positions from 1962-92. Professor Karim was a Life Member, General Secretary, and Honorary Fellow of the Asiatic Society. In recognition of his service to history, he bagged two gallantry awards: The "Akbar Silver Medal" honored by The Indian Numismatic Society and the "Ekushey Padak" by the government of Bangladesh in 1995.
At the outset of his research work, the history of Bengali Muslims was intensely engulfed by darkness. With utmost devotion, he envisaged shedding light on this dark history. In the face of paucity of source material of medieval history, he adopted the methodology of obtaining Sultanat periods coin reading and inscriptions.
The comprehensive outcomes of his relentless work and diligent research along with the endeavour of researchers who followed in his footsteps helped bring about a paradigm shift to unveil the history of heritage, society, and civilization of the Muslim period.
The journey of history was not confined only in the frame of a vibrant picture of politics and monarchies, expansion and toppling of kingdoms. He as a pathfinder also brought "human history" to the light in the context of socio-cultural and economic standards of living across the border.
Accountability and sincerity also drove him to play a pivotal role in the formation of Bangladesh Itihas Samiti with a view to sharpening and shaping history and transform it to a modern form in independent sovereign Bangladesh.
The field of the research subject he opted was quite difficult due to the severe scarcity of data. In lieu of secondary sources, he had taken the challenging options of coinage and engraving as first-hand primary sources.
His devotion to his work exhibited how seriously he took research as he developed and diversified his linguistic portfolio (Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Charyapad, Sanskrit, and even French and Dutch) to carry forward the research.
Professor Abdul Karim’s dynamic approach of hypothecating and diagnosing articles for presenting the research result possessed unique attributes. He served as an honorary member of the editorial board and contributed to Asiatic Society in the publication of the three volumes entitled History of Bangladesh 1804-1971.
Dr Muhammad Abdul Mazid is former secretary to the government of Bangladesh and Chairman, NBR.