About

Lutfullah Khan

1916 - 2012

Mr. Lutfullah Khan was a renowned collector, archivist, photographer, patron of the arts, and a classically trained and accomplished musician.

Throughout his lifetime, he dedicated himself to assembling an unparalleled assortment of audio recordings. His extraordinary collection includes oral recitations and conversations with more than 3000 poets, writers, intellectuals, critics and other prominent personalities from Pakistan and the wider region. From Bade Ghulam Ali Khan to Suraiya Multanikar, the Lutfullah Khan Archive also holds a remarkable and exceptionally rare archive of classical, semi-classical, instrumental, and folk music. The typed catalogue of this collection alone is close to forty volumes.

In recognition of his services to preserving cultural heritage, Mr. Khan was awarded the Pride of Performance in 2012. LUMS is proud to have acquired the Lutfullah Khan Sound Archive - the premier repository for the literary, cultural, musical, and intellectual heritage of Pakistan and the wider region.

In his own words

My audio-library of magnetic tapes is peculiar in many respects.

Tape recording is a relatively new medium. It has been in use for less than three decades and is still undergoing rapid changes. Any effort to collect recorded material on tapes to form a full fledged library seemed until recently to be a far fetched proposition.

The library as it stands today is purely a one-man show - representing a single individual's contribution, his selection, his fancy, his recording and his labour.

My tape recorder was the first ever machine to be imported in Pakistan and I was indeed the first privileged one to buy it. This happened on 16th June 1951. One of the precious recordings that I have retained in my library is the historic speech delivered by the first Prime Minister of Pakistan in August 1951 - nearly two months before his assassination.

I know it is a lengthy process and a laborious procedure. But looking back I am neither tired nor do I feel fed up. On the contrary a deep sense of happiness and satisfaction fills me.

- from a letter dated 28th May 1976, written from 358 Sen Gupta Road, Karachi.

A documentarian's instinct

He documented not only the sounds and voices of his time, but his own life too, including the films he watched, the wiring of his flat, and the catalogue of every tape on his shelves.

A meticulous record of every film he watched across a decade, complete with title, cinema, date, time, cast, and a column of remarks. The reviews are often dry and unsparing: Bogus. Third rate. Hopeless. Left before interval.

Red leather cover of the journal Movies seen during 1955-1964 — The cover of Lutfullah Khan's movie journal.

Typed foreword from the movies journal — The foreword: on a craze for cinema in 1930s Bombay.

Typed list of films with reviews — A page of films, each with its verdict.

A bound booklet diagramming every plug, switch, and wired appliance in his Karachi flat, which he drew by hand, rendering his own home as an inventory.

Title page of the electrical installations booklet — The title page.

Hand-drawn diagram of the bedroom electrical installation — Bedroom - wall-stand with automatic on/off clock, 100v and 220v sockets.

A printed catalogue for the tapes of Faiz alone; one volume of many. Each recording timed, located, and indexed for replay.

Typed preface to the Faiz audio catalogue, signed by Lutfullah Khan — Preface signed by Lutfullah Khan, 1st June 1986.

A book of voices

Tamasha-e-Ahl-e-Qalam

His published volume, a portrait of the poets, writers, and intellectuals whose voices he had spent a lifetime committing to tape. Faiz, Josh, Hafeez Jalandhari, Akhtar Hussain Raipuri, Ismat Chughtai, N. M. Rashid, Jigar Moradabadi, Qamar Jalalvi, Hafeez Hoshiarpuri and others.

This digital initiative hopes to honor and further Mr. Lutfullah Khan's civic mission of historical preservation.

It is a space to gather with great minds. A digital intellectual commons that seeks to bring together communities across Pakistan and the diaspora to listen, learn and continue the conversation.

I strongly believe that founding and shaping of an audio-library that preserves the worthy voices of to-day will prove to be a priceless treasure of tomorrow.

M. Lutfullah Khan