Salim Ali

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Salim Ali : biography

12 November 1896 – 27 July 1987

A two-volume compilation of his shorter letters and writings was published in 2007, edited by Tara Gandhi, one of his last students.

Ornithology

On his return to India in 1930, he discovered that the guide lecturer position had been eliminated due to lack of funds. Unable to find a suitable job, Salim Ali and Tehmina moved to Kihim, a coastal village near Mumbai. Here he had the opportunity to study at close hand, the breeding of the Baya Weaver and discovered their mating system of sequential polygamy. Later commentators have suggested that this study was in the tradition of the Mughal naturalists that Salim Ali admired. A few months were then spent in Kotagiri where he had been invited by K M Anantan, a retired army doctor who had served in Mesopotamia during World War I. He also came in contact with Mrs Kinloch, who lived at Longwood Shola, and her son-in-law R C Morris, who lived in the Biligirirangan Hills.Ali (1985):78–83 He then discovered an opportunity to conduct systematic bird surveys of the princely states that included Hyderabad, Cochin, Travancore, Gwalior, Indore and Bhopal with the sponsorship of the rulers of those states. He was aided and supported in these surveys by Hugh Whistler who had surveyed many parts of India and had kept very careful notes. Interestingly, Whistler had initially been irritated by the unknown Indian. Whistler had in a note on The study of Indian birds mentioned that the long tail feathers of the Greater Racket-tailed Drongo lacked webbing on the inner vane. Salim Ali wrote that such inaccuracies had been carried on from early literature and pointed out that it was incorrect on account of a twist in the rachis. Whistler was initially resentful of an unknown Indian finding fault and wrote "snooty" letters to the editors of the journal S H Prater and Sir Reginald Spence. Subsequently Whistler re-examined his specimens and not only admitted his error but became a close friend.Ali (1985):64–65

Whistler also introduced Salim to Richard Meinertzhagen and the two made an expedition into Afghanistan. Although Meinertzhagen had very critical views of him they became good friends. Salim Ali found nothing amiss in Meinertzhagen’s bird works but later studies have shown many of his studies to be fraudulent. Meinertzhagen made his diary entries from their days in the field available and Salim Ali reproduces them in his autobiography:Ali (1985):248–249

He was accompanied and supported on his early ornithological surveys by his wife, Tehmina, and was shattered when she died in 1939 following a minor surgery. After Tehmina’s death in 1939, Salim Ali stayed with his sister Kamoo and brother-in-law. In the course of his later travels, Ali rediscovered the Kumaon Terai population of the Finn’s Baya but was unsuccessful in his expedition to find the Mountain Quail (Ophrysia superciliosa), the status of which continues to remain unknown.

Ali was not very interested in the details of bird systematics and taxonomy and was more interested in studying birds in the field.Ali (1985):196 Ernst Mayr wrote to Ripley complaining that Ali failed to collect sufficient specimens : "as far as collecting is concerned I don’t think he ever understood the necessity for collecting series. Maybe you can convince him of that." Ali himself wrote to Ripley complaining about bird taxonomy:

Ali later wrote that his interest was in the "living bird in its natural environment."Ali (1985):195

Salim Ali’s associations with Sidney Dillon Ripley led to many bureaucratic problems. Ripley’s past as an OSS agent led to allegations that the CIA had a hand in the bird-ringing operations in India.

Salim Ali took some interest in bird photography along with his friend Loke Wan Tho. Loke had been introduced to Ali by JTM Gibson, a BNHS member and Lieutenant Commander of the Royal Indian Navy, who had taught English to Loke at a school in Switzerland. A wealthy Singapore businessman with a keen interest in birds, Loke helped Ali and the BNHS with financial support.Ali (1985):122 Ali was also interested in the historical aspects of ornithology in India. In a series of articles, among his first publications, he examined the contributions to natural-history of the Mughal emperors. In the 1971 Sunder Lal Hora memorial lecture and the 1978 Azad Memorial Lecture he spoke of the history and importance of bird study in India.