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{{Short description|Pakistani historian (born 1956)}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=June 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Ayesha Jalal
| image = AyeshaJalal.jpg
| caption = Jalal at [[Lahore University]] in May 2010
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1956}}
| birth_place = [[Lahore]], [[West Punjab]], Pakistan
| death_date =
| death_place =
| field = [[History]] and [[Sociology]]
| work_institution = {{ubl|[[University of Wisconsin–Madison]]|[[Columbia University]]|[[Lahore University of Management Sciences]]|[[Tufts University]]|[[Harvard University]]}}
| alma_mater = {{ubl|[[Wellesley College]] |[[Trinity College, Cambridge]]}}
| known_for =
| prizes = {{ubl|[[MacArthur Fellows Program]]|[[Sitara-i-Imtiaz]] (Star of Excellence) Award by the [[President of Pakistan]]}}
| spouse = [[Sugata Bose]]
}}

'''Ayesha Jalal''' ([[Punjabi language|Punjabi]], {{langx|ur|{{Nastaliq|عائشہ جلال}}}}) is a [[Pakistani-American]] [[historian]] known for her work documenting the biography and career of [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]], the founder and first [[Governor-General of Pakistan|Governor-General of]] [[Pakistan]]. She is currently the Mary Richardson Professor of History at [[Tufts University]]. Earlier in her career, Jalal taught at [[Harvard University]] and [[Columbia University]].<ref name=":0" /> She was the recipient of the 1998 [[MacArthur Fellows Program|MacArthur Foundation Fellowship]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2 June 1998 |title=29 Are Chosen for Fellowships From the MacArthur Foundation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/02/us/29-are-chosen-for-fellowships-from-the-macarthur-foundation.html |access-date=25 April 2025 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

== Family and early life ==
Jalal was born in [[Lahore]], Pakistan in 1956, to Hamid Jalal, a senior Pakistani civil servant, and his wife Zakia Jalal. She is related in two ways to the Urdu writer [[Saadat Hasan Manto]]. Her paternal grandmother was the sister of Manto. Secondly, Manto's wife Safia was the sister of Ayesha's mother Zakia Jalal. In other words, the uncle-nephew pair of Manto and Hamid Jalal were married to the sisters Safia and Zakia.<ref name=MF/><ref name=TheHindu/>

Jalal is married to the distinguished Indian historian [[Sugata Bose]], who is a professor of history at Harvard. He is a grand-nephew of the Indian Bengali freedom fighter [[Subhash Chandra Bose]].

== Education ==
Ayesha Jalal moved to [[New York City]] at the age of 14, when her father was posted at Pakistan's [[Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations|Mission to the United Nations]].<ref name=MF/> She obtained her BA in History and Political Science, from [[Wellesley College]], USA, and her doctorate in history from [[Trinity College, Cambridge|Trinity College]] at [[University of Cambridge]], where she wrote her Ph.D. dissertation: '' 'Jinnah, the Muslim League and the Demand for Pakistan'''.<ref name=MF/>

She stayed at Cambridge until 1987, working as a fellow of Trinity College and later as a [[Leverhulme Fellow]]. She moved to [[Washington, D.C.]] in 1985, to work as a fellow at the [[Woodrow Wilson Center]] and later as Academy Scholar at Harvard's Academy for International and Area Studies. She was hired by [[Columbia University]] as an associate professor in 1991 but her tenureship was declined after review in 1995.<ref name="Justia">{{Cite web|title=Jalal v. Columbia University in City of New York, 4 F. Supp. 2d 224 (S.D.N.Y. 1998)|url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/4/224/2349910/|access-date=24 August 2021|website=Justia Law|language=en}}</ref> In 1999, she joined [[Tufts University]] as a tenured professor.<ref name=tufts>{{Cite web|url=https://ase.tufts.edu/history/faculty/jalal.asp|title=Department of History - Tufts University|website=ase.tufts.edu website|access-date=8 August 2019}}</ref><ref name=AtlanticCouncil>{{Cite news|url=http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/about/experts/list/ayesha-jalal|title=Ayesha Jalal - Nonresident Senior Fellow, South Asia Center|newspaper=Atlantic Council website|access-date=9 August 2019|archive-date=22 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122072053/http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/about/experts/list/ayesha-jalal|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Dawn>{{Cite news|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1160651|title=COVER STORY: The Struggle for Pakistan by Ayesha Jalal|last=Chishty-Mujahid|first=Nadya|date=1 February 2015|newspaper=Dawn (newspaper)|access-date=9 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/book-review-the-struggle-for-pakistan-by-ayesha-jalal-1419614523|title=Pakistan: The Land of the Pure|last=Chotiner|first=Isaac|date=26 December 2014|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|issn=0099-9660|access-date=9 August 2019}}</ref>

The bulk of her work deals with the creation of [[Muslim]] identities in modern [[South Asia]].<ref name="TheHindu">{{cite news |author=Book Review |date=18 October 2016 |title=Pakistan needs to breed more historians: Ayesha Jalal |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |url=http://www.thehindu.com/books/Pakistan-needs-to-breed-more-historians-Ayesha-Jalal/article13377953.ece |access-date=8 August 2019}}</ref>

== Career ==
Ayesha Jalal has been Fellow of [[Trinity College, Cambridge]] (1980–1984), Leverhulme Fellow at the Center of South Asian Studies, Cambridge (1984–1987), Fellow of the [[Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars]] in Washington, DC (1985–1986), Academy Scholar at [[Harvard University]]'s Academy for International and Area Studies (1988–1990), associate professor at [[Columbia University]]'s Department of History (1991–1995). She has taught at the [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]], [[Tufts University]], [[Columbia University]], [[Harvard University]] and [[Lahore University of Management Sciences]].<ref name=tufts/>

Jalal sued [[Columbia University]] alleging bias after her tenure review for a professorship was declined in 1995.<ref name="Justia"/> In her lawsuit, Jalal accused the university of discrimination on the basis of religious and ethnic background.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Mahler |first=Jonathan |date=26 December 1998 |title=Taking On Pakistan's Hero, Then Taking the Heat |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/26/arts/taking-on-pakistan-s-hero-then-taking-the-heat.html |access-date=24 April 2025 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Ayesha Jalal is among the most prominent American academics who write on the history of South Asia.<ref name=TheHindu/> In her book, ''The Sole Spokesman'' (Cambridge University Press, 1985 and 1994), Jalal gives her perspective of what happened in the years between the 1937 elections in [[British India]] and the [[Partition of India|Partition of the Indian subcontinent]], identifying the factors which led to the creation of Pakistan and provides new insights into the nature of the British transfer of power in India. In particular, she focuses on the role of [[Mohammad Ali Jinnah]], the leader of [[All-India Muslim League]], and the main proponent of the [[Two Nation Theory]] on which the demand for Pakistan was based. Jinnah claimed to be the sole spokesman of all the Indian Muslims, not only in provinces where they were in a majority but also in the provinces where they were in a minority. Yet given the political geography of the subcontinent, it was clear that there would always be as many Muslims outside a specifically Muslim state as inside it. This book investigates how Jinnah proposed to resolve the contradiction between assertions of a "separate Muslim nation" and the need for a strategy which could safeguard the interests of all Indian Muslims. It does so by identifying Jinnah's real political aims, the reasons why he was reluctant to bring them into the open, and his success or failure in achieving them.<ref name=TheHindu/>

== Awards ==
As a leading historian of Pakistan and South Asia, Ayesha Jalal has received numerous awards and recognitions:

*[[Trinity College, Cambridge]] Fellowship (1980–84)
* [[MacArthur Foundation Fellowship]] (1998–2003)<ref name=Tribune/><ref name=MF>{{Cite web|url=https://www.macfound.org/fellows/583/|title=Ayesha Jalal — MacArthur Foundation|website=MacArthur Foundation website|date=1 July 1998|access-date=9 August 2019}}</ref>
*[[Sitara-i-Imtiaz]] (Star of Distinction) by the [[President of Pakistan]] in 2009.<ref name="Tribune">{{Cite news |author=Faiza Rahman |date=20 April 2014 |title=Ayesha Jalal: Borderline politics |language=en-US |newspaper=[[The Express Tribune]] |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/696410/ayesha-jalal-borderline-politics/ |access-date=8 August 2019}}</ref>

== Recognition ==
[[The Hindu]], a [[newspaper of record]] in India, calls her, "...one of Pakistan's most acclaimed historians..."<ref name=TheHindu/> [[The Express Tribune]], a Pakistani newspaper states, "...Jalal is revered globally as a historian of meticulous methods."<ref name=Tribune/>

On 16 April 2016, [[Maleeha Lodhi]], Pakistan's [[Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations|ambassador to the United Nations]], said that she was “the greatest historian Pakistan has produced.”

== Bibliography ==

=== Books ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book | last = Jalal | first = Ayesha | title = The state of martial rule: the origins of Pakistan's political economy of defence | publisher = Cambridge University Press | location = Cambridge England New York | year = 1990 | isbn = 9780521051842 }}<ref name=MF/>
* {{cite book | last = Jalal | first = Ayesha | title = The sole spokesman: Jinnah, the Muslim League, and the demand for Pakistan | publisher = Cambridge University Press | location = Cambridge Cambridgeshire New York | year = 1994 | isbn = 9780521458504 }} First published 1985.<ref name=Tribune/><ref name=TheHindu/><ref name=MF/>
* {{cite book | last = Jalal | first = Ayesha | title = Democracy and authoritarianism in South Asia: a comparative and historical perspective | publisher = Sang-e-Meel Publications | location = Lahore, Pakistan | year = 1995 | isbn = 9789693506297 }}<ref name=TheHindu/><ref name=MF/>
* {{cite book | last1 = Jalal | first1 = Ayesha | last2 = Bose | first2 = Sugata | author-link2 = Sugata Bose | title = Nationalism, democracy, and development: state and politics in India | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = Delhi New York | year = 1997 | isbn = 9780195639445 }}
* {{cite book | last = Jalal | first = Ayesha | title = Self and sovereignty individual and community in South Asian Islam since 1850 | publisher = Routledge | location = New York | year = 2000 | isbn = 9780415220774 }}
* {{cite book | last = Jalal | first = Ayesha | title = Partisans of Allah: Jihad in South Asia | url = https://archive.org/details/partisansofallah00ayes | url-access = registration | publisher = Harvard University Press | location = Cambridge, Massachusetts | year =2008| isbn = 9780674047365 }}<ref name=TheHindu/><ref name=AtlanticCouncil/>
* {{cite book | last1 = Jalal | first1 = Ayesha | last2 = Bose | first2 = Sugata | author-link2 = Sugata Bose | title = Modern South Asia: history, culture, political economy | publisher = Routledge | location = London New York | year = 2011 | edition = 3rd | isbn = 9780415779432 }}<ref name=TheHindu/><ref name=MF/>
* {{cite book | last = Jalal | first = Ayesha | title =The pity of partition: Manto's life, times, and work across the India-Pakistan divide | publisher = Princeton University Press | location = Princeton | year = 2013 | isbn = 9780691153629 }}<ref name=Tribune/>
* {{cite book | last = Jalal | first = Ayesha | title = The struggle for Pakistan: a Muslim homeland and global politics | publisher = The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press | location = Cambridge, Massachusetts | year = 2014 | isbn = 9780674052895}}<ref name=Dawn/>

=== Chapters in books ===
* {{Citation | last = Jalal | first = Ayesha | contribution = Exploding Communalism : The Politics of Muslim Identity in South Asia | editor-last1 = Bose | editor-first1 = Sugata | editor-last2 = Jalal | editor-first2 = Ayesha | editor-link1= Sugata Bose | editor-link2 = Ayesha Jalal | title = Nationalism, Democracy and Development: State and Politics in India|chapter-url= http://emerald.tufts.edu/~ajalal01/Articles/communalism.pdf| access-date =15 April 2018 | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = Delhi | year = 1997 | isbn = 9780195644425 | postscript = .}}
* {{Citation | last = Jalal | first = Ayesha | contribution = Freedom and equality: from Iqbal's philosophy to Sen's ethical concerns | editor-last1 = Kanbur | editor-first1 = Ravi | editor-last2 = Basu | editor-first2 = Kaushik | editor-link1= Ravi Kanbur | editor-link2 = Kaushik Basu | title = Arguments for a better world: essays in honor of Amartya Sen | Volume II: Society, institutions and development | pages = 452–469 | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = Oxford New York | year = 2009 | isbn = 9780199239979 | postscript = .}}
{{refend}}

== See also ==
* [[Jaswant Singh]], an Indian Army officer and politician, who expressed similar views on Jinnah as Jalal in his book '' '[[Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence]]'''.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.tufts.edu/~ajalal01 Ayesha Jalal profile on Tufts University website]
* {{cite web|url=http://www.mssu.edu/international/India/jalal.htm |title=Profile of Ayesha Jalal (Archived)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050216065435/http://www.mssu.edu/international/India/jalal.htm |date=12 January 2004|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 February 2005|access-date=9 August 2019}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jalal, Ayesha}}
[[Category:1956 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Columbia University faculty]]
[[Category:Historians of South Asia]]
[[Category:MacArthur Fellows]]
[[Category:Harvard University alumni]]
[[Category:Recipients of Sitara-i-Imtiaz]]
[[Category:Pakistani emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Historians of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Tufts University faculty]]
[[Category:Stuyvesant High School alumni]]
[[Category:Wellesley College alumni]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Lahore University of Management Sciences]]
[[Category:Punjabi women]]
[[Category:American people of Punjabi descent]]
[[Category:American academics of Pakistani descent]]
[[Category:20th-century American historians]]
[[Category:21st-century American historians]]
[[Category:Academics from Lahore]]
[[Category:Muslims from New York (state)]]
[[Category:American women of Asian descent]]

Ayesha Jalal - Revision history

MaximilianGreenb at 20:22, 28 February 2026