Professor Mian Namdar Khan (1915 - 2002)

Professor Mian Namdar Khan (Jan 19, 1915 - Dec 17, 2002); Secretary of Education, West Pakistan and Punjab; Chief of Education Division, National Planning Commission, Pakistan. Tamgha Pakistan (1968), Sitara Khidmat (1971); MS in Education, Indiana University (1963), BA in History with Honors, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London (1938); BA and MA in History, Government College Lahore (1933 and 1936); Principal Govt. College Shahpur (1941-1943); Principal Govt. College Montgomery (1943-1947); First Head of History and Political Science Departments, Govt. College Lahore (1947-1954); Principal Govt. College Lyallpur (1954-1958); Principal Central Training College Lahore (1958-1963); Planning Commission of Pakistan (1963-1965); Director Education, Deputy Secretary, Joint Secretary, and Secretary of Education of Punjab and West Pakistan (1965-1972); Visiting Scholar (in Education), University of California, Berkeley (1972-1977)

Namdar's Ancestors: Namdar Khan was born in in the Princely State of Kapurthala. He is the son of Khan Bahadur Altaf Hussain Khan (1874-1946), and descended of the famous Rajput Prince of Kapurthala, Rai Ram Dev, who founded the town of Batala in 1472 AD. His mother, Mehndi Begum, is descendent from a famous Rajput family of Kapurthala, and great-granddaughter of Colonel Mohammed Ali Khan, Chief of the Imperial Troops of Kapurthala State, and granddaughter of Colonel Ali Altaf Khan, Chief of the Artillery forces of the State. The family often visited Kapurthala from Batala, and Namdar was born at his mothers home.

Education: Namdar grew up in Batala, and was educated in different places. He did his Matriculation from Municipal Board (MB) High School in Batala (1929); Intermediate from Government Intermediate College in Lyallpur (1931); Bachelors of Arts in History from Government College, Lahore (1933); and Masters of Arts in History from Government College, Lahore (1936). After which he went to England and obtained his Bachelors of Arts (with honors) in History from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London (1938). He later completed his Master of Science in Education from Indiana University (1963), under Chancellor Herman B Wells (1902 - 2000).

Career: Namdar started his career at the Government College Shahpur (1938-1940), and then became Principal at Government College Montgomery (1940-1947). In 1945 he was introduced to Saeeda Ghani, granddaughter of Sir Rahim Bakhsh, when she was studying at the Kinaird College in Lahore. They were married in 1946 in the Princely State of Nabha. Namdar excelled in teaching, and taught at Government College Lahore (1947-1954) as Head of History and Political Science Departments. He soon became Principal of Government College Lyallpur (1954-1958) and then Principal of the Central Training College Lahore (1958-1964).

Namdar became involved in the Planning Commission in Karachi (1964-1965) and prepared one of the most comprehensive documents for the educational development of West Pakistan. He was to became Director of Education (1965), then Deputy Secretary (1966), Joint Secretary (1967), and then Secretary of Education (1968-1972) in Sind, Punjab, and later West Pakistan. Namdar loved poetry and was friends with several prominent poets of that era, including Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Hafeez Jalundhary, and Ghulam Mustafa (Sufi) Tabasum.

In 1968 Namdar published his first book, Some Aspects of Planning for Primary Education in Pakistan, Lahore. Namdar retired from a distinguished career in 1972. At this time, he was invited by Professor Charles Benson to teach as a Visiting Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley. Namdar and family migrated to the United States, and he taught Comparative Education at University of California's School of Education (Tollman Hall) from 1972 to 1976. He retired from teaching in 1976 to complete his book, Poverty of Nations, 1989; which addresses the challenges faced by developing nations in poverty, education, and development. He continued to live and enjoy his retirement in the San Francisco Bay Area, where great weather and clean air is abundant. Raja Rai Ram Dev should be proud of this son. He passed away in 2002 after a short illness.

Namdar has four siblings: General Aftab Ahmad Khan, Air Marshal Iftakhar Ahmad Khan, Ismat Akhtar, Najma Chaudhry; six children: Fareeda, Anjum, Farkhanda, Jamshed, Shaheen, and Humayun; nine grandchildren: Murad, Aliya, Ayesha, Mehryar, Mehreen, Aliya G., Sonja, Soraiya, Faiza; and nine great grand children: Nabeel, Shayan, Hira, Sam, Isfandyar, Mahnoor, Umayr, Maddux, & Anya.