Biography of Salim Ali, The Birdman of India

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Biography of Salim Ali, The Birdman of India

Salim Ali

Salim Moizuddin Ali, popularly known as Salim Ali was an Indian naturalist and ornithologist. He is the first man in India who conducted a methodological study to survey bird characteristics all over the country and even abroad. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Vibhushan from the Government of India in 1958 and 1976 respectively. Ali is considered the 'Birdman of India'. His autobiography 'The Fall of a Sparrow' is one of the most read autobiographies in India.

Family and Education

Salim Ali was born on 12 November 1896 at Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British India (now in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India). His father was Moizuddin. He lost his parents at an early age and grew up with his maternal uncle Amiruddin Tyabji. His family was a Sulaimani Bohra Family, a branch of Tayibi Islamism.
Salim's schooling was started at Zenana Bible and Medical Mission Girls High School at Girgaum. Then he was moved to St. Xavier's College, Bombay. But it became very difficult for him to continue his study because of his severe illness. After a lot of struggle, he passed the matriculation examination of Bombay University in 1913. During his 2nd year in St. Xavier's College, he went to Burma to look after his family business. In 1917, he returned to India and went to study commercial law and accountancy at Davar's College of Commerce. But his true interest was in natural studies. So he started attending Zoology classes at St. Xavier's College at the same time. He completed the Zoology course at St. Xavier's College. 
In December 1918, after returning India from Burma, he married Tehmina, a distant relative of him.
 

Research Works

Salim was a naturalist by heart. He was a pure animal and nature lover. He was introduced to the serious study of birds by W.S. Millard, secretary of the Bombay Natural History Society. Amiruddin, Salim's maternal uncle was a member there. This opportunity gave him great exposure to the wide world of animals and birds.
Salim's family had a business of wolfram mining and timber interests in Tavoy, Burma. Salim had to go there during his college and look after the business. The green surrounding of that area attracted him a lot. The forests provided him to hone his naturalist skills there.
After returning to India, he continued his formal study at Davor's College and St. Xavier's College. He completed the Zoology course at St. Xavier's College. But the jobs Salim was looking for, required a formal university degree. So, he realised that he must go for higher studies and degree. 
Salim worked as a guide lecturer at the newly opened natural history section in the Prince of Wales Museum in Mumbai in 1926.


In 1928, he decided to travel to Germany to study more and obtain a degree. There he was to work under Professor Erwin Stresemann at the Berlin's Natural History Museum. Salim considered Erwin as his "Guru" in his autobiography.
In Germany, he got an opportunity to meet famous German ornithologists of the time Oskar Heinroth, Bernhard Rensch and Rudolf Drost. In 1959, he was appointed as the assistant of Swiss ornithologist Alfred Schifferli in India. It was his first official and recognised exposure to the ornithology world.
In Kihim, Mumbai, he studied the breeding of the baya weaver and discovered their mating system of sequential polygamy. He also conducted systematic bird surveys in the Princely States of Hyderabad, Cochin, Travancore, Gwalior, Indore and Bhopal. In these surveys, he was supported by Hugh Whistler.
Salim's interest was in the living bird in its natural environment. He was not interested in the details of bird systematics and taxonomy.


Salim Ali was also a successful bird photographer. He was interested in the historical aspects of Ornithology in India. He also made a few documentaries on bird wildlife.
He took an important role to make the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) a success. At that time, this institution was suffering from a financial crisis. So, Salim wrote a letter to the Prime Minister of India, Pandit Nehru for help. Under his proper guidance, BNHS played a major role in the development of bird study throughout the country.
Salim helped to establish an economic ornithology unit in the Indian Council for Agricultural Research. He also worked to reduce bird hits at Indian airfields. In 1963, he attempted a citizen science project to study house sparrows.
Salim Ali influenced the designation of the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, the Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary and in decisions that saved the Silent Valley National Park.
Salim proposed the endangered Great Indian Bustard as the national bird of India. But his proposal was denied and Indian Peacock was selected as the national bird of newly independent India.


He also wrote a lot of journals on various topics of Natural Sciences and bird species. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society published most of his articles. Some of his most popular works are The Book of Indian Birds, Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan, The Birds of Kerala, The Birds of Sikkim, The Birds of Kutch, Indian Hill Birds, Birds of The Eastern Himalayas and Soron.
In 1985, Salim wrote his autobiography "The Fall of a Sparrow". It was not less popular than his other scientific research journals and books.
Salim was lucky enough as he was accompanied and supported on his early surveys by his wife, Tehmina. But he was shattered when Tehmina died in 1939.

Awards and Recognitions

Salim Ali is an institution himself. The research works he had done on Indian birds is tremendous and till now no one can become similar to him. His works are still taught in many universities across the country and even abroad. He received several honorary degrees and many awards as well.
  • Joy Govind Law Gold Medal Award by the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1953.
  • He was the first non-British awardee of the Gold Medal of the British Ornithologists' Union in 1967.
  • J. Paul Getty Wild Life Conservation Prize in 1967.
  • John C. Phillips Memorial Medal of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.
  • Pavlovsky Centenary Memorial Medal in 1973 by the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences.
  • Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands made him Commander in 1973.
  • The Government of India awarded him with a Padma Bhushan in 1958 and the Padma Vibhushan in 1976.
  • Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) was established at Coimbatore by the Government of India in 1990.
  • Salim Ali School of Ecology and Environmental Sciences was established at Pondicherry University.
  • The Government of Goa set up the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary in remember of him.
  • BNHS headquarters area in Mumbai was renamed as "Dr Salim Ali Chowk"
  • Postal Department of Government of India released a set of two postal stamps on his 100th birth anniversary in 1996.
Besides these, many scientific discoveries are also named after him. One of the world's rarest bats' species Latidens salimalii is named after him. The subspecies of the rock bush quali (Perdicula argoondah salimalii) and the eastern population of Finn's weaver (Ploceus megarhynchus salimalii) were named after him.
A subspecies of the black-rumped flameback woodpecker (Dinopium benghalense tehninae) was named after his wife, Tehmina. A population of Apus pacificus, Salim Ali's swift (Apus salimalii) was recognised as a full species in 2011 while Zoothera salimalii was named after him in 2016.
He also received honorary doctorates from various institutions like Aligarh Muslim University, Delhi University, Andhra University etc. He was also nominated to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament in 1985.

Death

Dr Ali died in Bombay at the age of 90 in 1987. He was suffering from prostate cancer.

Salim Ali was fascinated by motorcycles. He had a wonderful collection of bikes. He had NSU, Sunbeam, Harley Davidson, Douglas, Scott, New Hudson and Zenith in his collection. He travelled to Sweden from Bombay by bike in 1950!


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