P. Dawood Shah

{{Short description|Tamil poet}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}

{{Use Indian English|date=August 2020}}

{{Infobox person

| name = P. Dawood Shah

| image = P. Dawood shah.jpg

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1885|03|29|df=y}}

| birth_place = Tanjore district,
Madras Presidency,
British India
(now Thanjavur district,
Tamil Nadu, India)

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1969|02|24|1885|03|29|df=y}}

| death_place = Madras (now Chennai),
Tamil Nadu, India

| nationality =

| other_names =

| occupation = Tamil scholar and activist

| education = Government Arts College, Kumbakonam

| years_active =

| known_for =

| notable_works = translating Quran into Tamil

| awards = gold medal, Madurai Tamil Sangam

}}

P. Dawood Shah (29 March 1885 – 24 February 1969) was a Tamil enthusiast and scholar, activist and a gold medalist from Madurai Tamil Sangam. He also known as "Kamba Ramayana Sahib".{{Cite book|last=Jairath|first=Vinod K.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5sffCgAAQBAJ&dq=Dawood+shah+Ramayana&pg=PA210|title=Frontiers of Embedded Muslim Communities in India|date=2013-04-03|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-19680-5|language=en}}{{Cite book|last=Richman|first=Paula|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7RW6MrAiJ-0C&dq=Dawoodsha+tamil&pg=PA275|title=Questioning Ramayanas: A South Asian Tradition|date=2001|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-22074-4|language=en}}

Early life

Dawood Shah was born to Pappu Rowther and Kulzum Biwi on 29 March 1885,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vSftAAAAMAAJ&q=dawood+shah+paappu|title=Muslim Education Quarterly|date=1993|publisher=Islamic Academy|language=en}} in Tanjore district, Madras Presidency, British India (present day Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, India).{{Cite book|last=Muthiah|first=S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tbR_LLkqdI8C&dq=Dawood+sha&pg=PA132|title=Madras, Chennai: A 400-year Record of the First City of Modern India|date=2008|publisher=Palaniappa Brothers|isbn=978-81-8379-468-8|language=en}}{{Cite book|last=More|first=J. B. Prashant|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IA0RAQAAIAAJ&q=Dawood+sha+|title=Religion and Society in South India: Hindus, Muslims, and Christians|date=2006|publisher=Institute for Research in Social Sciences and Humanities|isbn=978-81-88432-12-7|language=en}} He had his early education in Government Arts College, Kumbakonam. His classmate was a mathematics genius Ramanujan in tanjore and his Tamil teacher was the famous Tamil scholar U.V. Swaminatha Iyer.{{Cite book|last=Muthiah|first=S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tbR_LLkqdI8C&dq=Dawood+sha&pg=PA132|title=Madras, Chennai: A 400-year Record of the First City of Modern India|date=2008|publisher=Palaniappa Brothers|isbn=978-81-8379-468-8|language=en}}

Career

P. Dawood Shah loved the Tamil language and won a gold medal from the Madurai Tamil Sangam. He strongly advocated the replacement of Arabic with Tamil in mosques and led a campaign. He was the first person to translate the Quran into Tamil and served as the editor of the Tamil magazine Darul Islam.{{cite web |url=http://www.darulislamfamily.com/Main/Welcome.html |title=Welcome |accessdate=2009-10-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708233205/http://www.darulislamfamily.com/Main/Welcome.html |archivedate=2011-07-08 }}

Death

He died on 24 February 1969 in Madras (now Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu), just a month before his 84th birthday.

References