Kaukub Quder Sajjad Ali Meerza

DR KAUKUB QUDER SAJJAD ALI MEERZA was the great-grandson of Wajid Ali Shah and Begum Hazrat Mahal, and a noted scholar of Urdu literature and cultural history. A graduate of St. Xavier's College and Calcutta University, he earned his PhD from Aligarh Muslim University for his pioneering research on Wajid Ali Shah's literary and cultural contributions. His thesis, later published as a textbook, received top honours from the governments of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. He served as a research consultant to Satyajit Ray for Shatranj Ke Khiladi and wrote for NCERT on Begum Hazrat Mahal. An avid sportsman and billiards champion, he also published a magazine on the sport. Dr Meerza passed away in 2020 due to COVID–19 complications.