Jamal Ara Collection

Jamal Ara (1923-1995) was a noted ornithologist known for her extensive field and scientific observations of birds in in the Chota Nagpur plateau (Jharkhand) of India. She was called India's first "birdwoman" by Salim Ali.

She was born in 1923, and raised in Bihar in the family of a police officer, and studied formally up to the 10th standard. She was married off young to a journalist, Hamdi Bey, who was based in Calcutta. Their marriage is said to have broken down, and she and her daughter, Madhuca, were taken care of by Sami Ahmad, a cousin and an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer (1940 Bihar cadre). Ara and her daughter would live at his official residence in Ranchi. She would continue to be based in Doranda, Ranchi, for the rest of her life.

Through Ahmed's work and field trips, Ara is said to have gained an appreciation for nature and the forests. And her education continued through the support of Mrs Augier, the wife of PW Augier, who was also an IFS officer. With their encouragement, Ara went on to keep detailed notes from her birding observations, and also started to write down articles. (Sami Ahmed died in 1966, which is said to have had a deep impact on Ara and her work). Eventually, she started publishing in 1949, and after that would continue to write and publish over 60 articles in the journals of the Bombay Natural History Society, Bengal Natural History Society, as well as the Newsletter for Birdwatchers. She also wrote a children's book, "Watching Birds", published by the National Book Trust, which continues to be in print as of 2024. Besides her writings on birds, she also did programmes on All India Radio, and translated stories of KS Duggal. Her papers at the Archives at NCBS indicate other draft writings in Urdu and English on a variety of topics, including archaeology and the intersection of nature and indigenous communities in the Chota Nagpur plateau. Her archival papers indicate other unpublished articles: a manuscript on birds of Bihar, along with her own hand-drawn illustrations. She was also working on a two-volume book on the birds of Bihar (the state split into Bihar and Jharkhand later), for which she developed a detailed outline, and sample writing for some of the chapters.

Ara brought her semi-paralytic sister to live with her at her residence in 1988. After her sister recovered and start walking again, she left Ara's residence, which is said to have deeply affected Ara. She had numerous psychotic breakdowns in the years after, and had stopped writing as well, including burning much of herwritings, notes and photographs. Jamal Ara passed away in 1995 at the age of 71.

Her history and work have been largely unknown and uncited as of 2024, except in the bibliographic collections of Aasheesh Pittie, and in a biographical profile written by Raza Kazmi. This article, "The First Lady of Indian Ornithology" was published in an anthology of the stories of India's women wildlife biologists, "Women in the Wild" (ed. Anita Mani, Juggernaut Books, 2023). Kazmi's story also documents how he traced Madhuca Singh, Jamal Ara's daughter, in Doranda. He eventually worked with her, found some archival material at their residence, and donated the papers to the Archives at NCBS for public access.

Collection is in process.