Umar Bin Muhammad Daudpota

Umar Bin Mohammad Daudpota (25 March 1896 – 22 November 1958) (Sindhi: عمر بن محمد داؤد پوٽو) was a Sindhi researcher, historian, linguist and scholar of the Indus Valley. Daudpota was born on 25 March 1896 at Talti, Dadu District. His family was poor. His father, Mohammad Daudpota, was a farmer and Carpenter. His primary education was in his hometown. For secondary education, he went to Larkana in 1914 and later to the Madressah School of Naushahro Feroze. Eventually, he matriculated from Sindh-Madrasa-tul-Islam in Karachi. He got the first position in 1917. After passing his Matriculation, he went to D. J. Science College, Sindh at Karachi, where he received his BA and MA degrees. Government of India awarded him a scholarship for higher studies at Cambridge University where he received his Ph.D. degree. In 1927, he wrote his doctoral thesis entitled "The Effect of Arabic Poetry on Persian Poetry" and received the degree of Ph.D. After completion of his doctoral degree, he returned to his homeland in 1927 and was appointed as Principal of Sindh-Madrasa-tul-Islam. Later on, he joined Ismail Yusuf College, Bombay as professor of Arabic. He worked there for nine years. He was appointed Director of Public Instruction in Sindh in 1939 taking over from Khan Bahadur Ghulam Nabi Kazi. He was given the honorary title of Shams-ul-Ulama ("Sun of the Scholars") by the British Government in 1940.