Nationality Pakistani Name Aquila Kiani | Role Writer | |
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Full Name Aquila Barlas or Aqila Begum Born 1921 India Known for Academic work in sociology and education in social work | ||
Aquila Berlas Kiani (1921 – 30 March 2012), also known as Aquila Kiani (née Aquila Barlas or Aqila Begum) was a Professor of Sociology and an educator in social work. Born in undivided India, she worked in Pakistan, UK and USA. She served as Chairman of the Department of Sociology at the University of Karachi.
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Kiani had a number of notable academic research papers published, presided over several organizations and was awarded a fellowship by the London-based Institute for Cultural Research, founded by the writer and thinker, Idries Shah.
Family background
Aquila Kiani was born into a distinguished Indian family. Her father, Mirza Shakir Hussain Barlas, a barrister, was descended from Nawab Qasim Jan, a courtier in the royal courts of Mughal Delhi. Her mother, Bibi Mehmooda Begum was the daughter of Nawab Amjad Ali Shah, last Nawab (noble) of Sardhana.
Bibi Mehmooda Begum was also the sister of the Sirdar Ikbal Ali Shah, an Indian-Afghan author and diplomat descended from the Afghan warlord and noble, Jan-Fishan Khan and the Sadaat (descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad) of Paghman near Kabul, Afghanistan.
Kiani and her husband, Abdul Hameed Kiani had a son and two daughters: Khalid Kiani, Sohail Kiani and Lina Kiani. In later life, she went into retirement in Vancouver, Canada, where she subsequently died on 30 March 2012.
Education
Aquila Kiani received degrees in sociology and education in India, the UK, the United States and Canada:
Professional career
In the 1960s and 1970s, Kiani worked in Pakistan. She became a specialist in Rural Sociology and Anthropology in Peshawar; was made Head of the Department of Social Work, and later served as Chairman of the Department of Sociology at the University of Karachi.
As well as carrying out and publishing academic research on a wide range of subjects, and public speaking, Kiani held several notable positions as President of the Pakistan Federation of University Women, President of the Pakistan Sociological Association, and founding President of the Soroptimist Club of Karachi. She was also made a Fellow of the London-based Institute for Cultural Research.
Kiani later worked in the USA and Canada. She was made Associate Professor of Sociology and Social Work at the University of Alaska, and worked for the Ontario Administration of Settlement & Integration Services.
In 1996, she was invited by the Women's Federation for World Peace in Seattle, Washington to make a guest speech at their conference.