Choudhary Rahmat Ali

Choudhary Rahmat Ali (1932)

Chaudhary Rahmat Ali or Rehmat Ali Khan (November 16, 1897 - February 12, 1951) was a Muslim nationalist activist. He is known for coining the name, "Pakistan" on January 28, 1933.

In Pakistan he has considerable importance. His articles are taught in the course books of Pakistani schools.

Acronym of Pakistan

Main page: Etymology of Pakistan

PAKISTAN Map.

The Sovereign Nation of Pakistan was created in 1947 as a Muslim nation carved out of former British Raj (Dissolution). But where did the name come from? It was coined by a Muslim nationalist named Choudhary Rehmat Ali Khan, in a 1933 pamphlet entitled “Now or Never”.

The Nomenclator of PAKISTAN.

Rehmat Ali, who was based in the UK as an academic working at Cambridge University (He himself is buried at the campus), simply took the names of the Five Major-provinces of British India that were to be incorporated as the new country. The initial letters of four of them, plus the end of the Fifth, could be read as the new name. These were:

The

• P

• A (Afghan province)

• K

• S

• BaluchesTAN

Put together, this made Pakstan, so adding a “ī” made sense in terms of producing something more pronounceable.

Rehmat Ali later claimed that a slightly different amended derivation was what he had in mind, namely:

• P/PUNJAB - The Cultural Heart of the Country

• A/Afghania (North-West Frontier Province) - Frontier Region

• K/KASHMIR - The Jugular Vein of the Country (Muslim-Majority)

• I/IRAN - Persianate heritage

• S/SINDHU - Civilisational heritage

• T/TURKESTAN - Central Turkic States

• A/AFGHANISTAN - Muslim Brethren

• N/BalochisTAN - Gateway to South Asia

Thus the Very Word Pakistan means “A Land Bounding in the Pure” or “A Land in which the Pure Abound,” in Urdu and Persian.

Choudhary Rahmat Ali Media

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  The house in Humberstone Road, Cambridge where Ali lived and wrote "Pakistan" for the first time.

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  Choudhry Rehmat Ali (seated first from left) with Muhammad Iqbal (center), Khawaja Abdul Rahim (right) and a group of other young activists during Iqbal visit to England in 1932..jpg#/media/

• Choudhry Rehmat Ali (seated first from left) with Muhammad Iqbal (center), Khawaja Abdul Rahim (right) and a group of other young activists during Iqbal visit to England in 1932.
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  Headstone of Ali's Grave