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{{short description|Indian geographer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = 
| image = E Ahmad.jpeg
| caption = [[London]], 1946
| alt = 
| birth_name = Enayat Ahmad
| birth_date = 1 August 1923
| birth_place = Harpur, [[Bihar]], [[British Raj|India]]
| death_date = 10 December 1999
| death_place = [[Ranchi]], [[Jharkhand]], [[India]]
| occupation = Professor of [[Geography]]
| known_for = 'Ahmad's Theory' of the evolution of Himalayan drainage systems; Indian coastal geomorphology
| education = [[Aligarh Muslim University]]; [[London School of Economics]]
| relatives = Grand daughter [https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=293021c43ebdc58d&sxsrf=ADLYWIJZ9UtPCfkEeKE0OlEj8kn82uBDIw%3A1733321085638&q=Sameen+Husain&si=ACC90nwW1AbREAiB4CC-gLW9uX_3VkLyCqvMyw7Y6wGbZsgRMBJY5eAzo8xX5MciS-atkD9AbcERt63MvPmivj7NeRbe7vYwyxnt_Q5-DDemayBW7I-X44J7u3gQ Sameen Husain], [https://www.google.com/search?q=darakhshan+husain+glam+studio&sca_esv=293021c43ebdc58d&sxsrf=ADLYWIIpIOMFdBndm_8gMyD9hQnjqu2_gA%3A1733321116444&ei=nGFQZ6LsGpuNnesPo_CLkAI&oq=darakhshan+husain+glam+&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiF2RhcmFraHNoYW4gaHVzYWluIGdsYW0 Darakhshan Husain]
| awards = Bhoogol Ratna Award, 2016
| notable_works = ''Geography of the Himalayas'', 1992; ''Geomorphology'', 1985; ''Coastal Geomorphology of India'', 1972.
}}
'''Enayat Ahmad''' (1 August 1923 – 10 December 1999) was an Indian geographer known for his contribution to the study of the [[geography of India]], especially his interpretation of the evolution of drainage systems in the [[Himalayas]] and his writings on tropical coastal geomorphology.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Himalayan Drainage |url=https://www.drishtiias.org.in/the-himalayan-drainage.html|website=Drishti IAS |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716015835/https://www.drishtiias.org.in/the-himalayan-drainage.html|access-date=15 July 2020|archive-date=2020-07-16}}</ref><ref name="auto3">{{cite web |title=Enayat Ahmad |url=http://nagi.org.in/bhoogol-ratna.html|publisher=National Association of Geographers, India (NAGI) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220135938/http://nagi.org.in/bhoogol-ratna.html|access-date=13 July 2020|archive-date=2020-02-20}}</ref> He wrote books on [[geomorphology]], [[geology]], and the [[Himalayas]] in addition to papers in academic journals.<ref>{{cite web |title=Enayat Ahmad |url=http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n84102691/ |website=World Cat Identities |publisher=OCLC|location=Dublin OH USA |access-date=13 July 2020}}</ref>

== Early life and education==

Born in the village of Harpur near [[Siwan, Bihar|Siwan]] in [[Bihar]], Ahmad received his education in Basti, [[Uttar Pradesh]], and later at [[Aligarh Muslim University]].<ref name="auto3" /> While still a boy, he was fascinated by nature and rivers.<ref name=":0" /> He had an innate love for geography, and while playing on the white sandbanks of the [[Gandaki River]] in his village, he would spend hours drawing the map of [[India]] on the sands. He took a keen interest in gardening, sketching and was adept in the [[Persian language]].{{Citation needed|date= July 2022}}

After completing his Master of Science degree from AMU, he was chosen as a state scholar to pursue his [[doctorate]] from the [[London School of Economics and Political Science]] and received a scholarship for the same {{Citation needed|date= July 2022}} His thesis was titled [http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/3577/ Settlements in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh (1949)]<ref>{{cite thesis|last=Ahmad|first=Enayat|date=1949|title=Settlements in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh|type=PhD|publisher=London School of Economics and Political Science|url=http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/3577/|access-date=5 May 2021}}</ref> and described by [[Oskar Spate]] as "the best and most detailed" dissertation on settlements.{{Citation needed|date= July 2022}}

== Career ==
{{unreferenced section|date= July 2022}}
* 1945–1946: Lecturer at the [[Aligarh Muslim University]]
* 1946–1949: PhD from the [[London School of Economics and Political Science]]
* 1949–1955: Lecturer at [[Patna University]]
* 1955–1983: Head of the Department of Geography, [[Ranchi University]]
* 1983–1985: Professor Emeritus, [[Ranchi University]]
* 1985–1987: Vice-Chancellor, [[Magadh University]]
* 1987–1999: Professor [[Emeritus]], Ranchi University

== Books ==

* ''Coastal Geomorphology of India'', 1972, [[New Delhi]], Orient Longman<ref>{{cite book |author1=Enayat Ahmad |title=Coastal Geomorphology of India |date=1972 |publisher=Orient Longman |page=222 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=23U1cgAACAAJ}}</ref>
* ''Soil Erosion in India'', 1973, New Delhi, Asia Publishing House<ref>{{cite book |title=Soil Erosion in India |date=1973 |publisher=Asia Publishing House |isbn=0-210-22247-6 |page=99 |edition=Illustrated |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S_dHAAAAYAAJ}}</ref>
* ''Bihar: A Physical, Economic and Regional Geography'', 1965, [[Ranchi University]]<ref>{{cite book |author1=Enayat Ahmad |title=Bihar: A Physical, Economic and Regional Geography |date=1965 |publisher=Ranchi University |page=420 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NCPC8uH7KOsC}}</ref>
* ''Social and Geographical Aspects of Human Settlements'', 1979, New Delhi, Classical Publications<ref>{{cite book |author1=Enayat Ahmad |title=Social and Geographical Aspects of Human Settlements |date=1979 |publisher=Classical Publications, 1979 |page=298 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ylYiAAAAMAAJ}}</ref>
* ''Geography of the Himalaya'', 1992, New Delhi, Kalyani Publishers<ref>{{cite book |author1=Enayat Ahmad |title=Geography of the Himalaya: Enayat Ahmad |date=1992 |publisher=Kalyani Publishers |isbn=8170963141 |page=224 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0_zrAAAAMAAJ}}</ref>
* ''Regional Planning with Particular Reference to India'', 1980, New Delhi, Oriental Publishers, and Distributors<ref>{{cite book |author1=Enayat Ahmad, Devendra Kumar Singh |title=Regional Planning, with Particular Reference to India |date=1980 |publisher=Oriental Publishers & Distributors |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZP0hAAAAMAAJ}}</ref>
* ''Some aspects of Indian geography'', 1976, Allahabad, Central Book Depot<ref>{{cite book |author1=Enayat Ahmad |title=Some Aspects of Indian Geography |date=1976 |publisher=Central Book Depot |page=439 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GXZDAAAAYAAJ&q=Some+aspects+of+Indian+geography}}</ref>
* ''Settlements in the [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh]]'' (Ph.D. thesis)<ref>{{cite web |author1=Enayat Ahmad |title=Settlements in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh |url=http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/3577/ |website=LSE Theses Online |publisher=The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). |access-date=13 July 2020}}</ref>
* ''Physical Geography'', 1982, New Delhi, Kalyani Publishers<ref>{{cite book |author1=Enayat Ahmad |title=Physical Geography |date=2002 |publisher=Kalyani Publishers |isbn=9788127205096 |url=https://www.sapnaonline.com/books/physical-geography-enayat-ahmad-8127205095-9788127205096 |language=English}}</ref>
* ''Geomorphology'', 1985, New Delhi, Kalyani Publishers<ref>{{cite book |author1=Enayat Ahmad |title=Geomorphology |date=1999 |publisher=Kalyani Publishers |isbn=8176634468 |page=403 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VfshwQEACAAJ}}</ref>

He translated into [[Urdu]] two geography textbooks - F J Monkhouse's ''The Principles of Physical Geography'' and Paul Vidal de La Blache's ''The Principles of Human Geography''.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Paul Vidal de La Blache |title=Principles of Human Geography |date=1952 |publisher=H. Holt |pages=511 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qoA3AAAAIAAJ}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Francis John Monkhouse |title=Principles of Physical Geography |date=1966 |publisher=University of London Press |page=511 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nno6mQEACAAJ |language=English}}</ref>

== Research papers ==

Ahmad wrote research papers on various aspects of [[geology]], [[geography]], and [[geomorphology]] of India, many of which were published in the journal that was published from [[Ranchi University]] and some in the journal of [[Aligarh Muslim University]]. His initial publications on what developed into the Ahmad theory were first published in the Geographical Outlook and Geographer. One of his first published papers, based on his thesis work, was on human settlements in [[Uttar Pradesh]].<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Enayat Ahmad |title=Rural settlement types in the Uttar Pradesh (United Provinces of Agra and Oudh) |journal=Annals of the Association of American Geographers |date=1952 |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=223–246 |doi=10.1080/00045605209352092 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00045605209352092 |access-date=13 July 2020|url-access=subscription }}</ref> He wrote Five Cities of the Gangetic Plain: A Cross-Section of Indian Cultural History in 1950 with [[Oskar Spate]],<ref>{{cite web |title=O.H.K Spate |url=https://press.anu.edu.au/publications/authors-editors/ohk-spate |website=press.anu.edu.au |publisher=Australian National University Press |access-date=14 July 2020}}</ref> a geographer,<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |title=Five Cities of the Gangetic Plain: A Cross Section of Indian Cultural History |journal=Geographical Review |date= 1950 |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=260–278 |jstor=211284 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/211284|last1=Spate |first1=O. H. K. |last2=Ahmad |first2=Enayat |doi=10.2307/211284 |bibcode=1950GeoRv..40..260S |url-access=subscription }}</ref> and The Rural Population of Bihar in 1961,<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Enayat Ahmad |title=The Rural Population of Bihar |journal=Geographical Review |date= 1961 |volume=51 |issue=2 |pages=253–276 |doi=10.2307/212907 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/212907 |publisher=Taylor & Francis, Ltd.|jstor=212907 |bibcode=1961GeoRv..51..253A |url-access=subscription }}</ref> both of which were published in the [[Geographical Review]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Spate |first=O. H. K. |last2=Ahmad |first2=Enayat |date=April 1950 |title=Five Cities of the Gangetic Plain: A Cross Section of Indian Cultural History |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/211284 |journal=Geographical Review |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=260 |doi=10.2307/211284 |issn=0016-7428|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ahmad |first=Enayat |date=April 1961 |title=The Rural Population of Bihar |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/212907 |journal=Geographical Review |volume=51 |issue=2 |pages=253 |doi=10.2307/212907 |issn=0016-7428|url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}

== Contributions ==
'''The Ahmad theory of Evolution of Himalayan Drainage System'''<ref>{{cite web |title=The Himalayan Drainage |url=https://www.gurukulkendra.com/the-himalayan-drainage/ |website=gurukulkengra.com |publisher=Gurukul Kendra |access-date=15 July 2020 |archive-date=30 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130075221/https://www.gurukulkendra.com/the-himalayan-drainage/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The fact that the Himalayan rivers seem to have a longer history as compared to the mountains themselves has been a subject of enduring curiosity. Himalayan rivers like the [[Indus]], [[Sutlej]], and the [[Brahmaputra]] have created deep gorges across the mountain range to reach the plains of northern India. They have first flowed parallel to the main axis of the mountain in longitudinal troughs, then they have taken sudden bends towards the south, carving the deep gorges. The gorges created by rivers such as the [[Indus]], [[Sutlej]], [[Alaknanda]], [[Sarju]] (Kali), [[Gandaki River]], [[Koshi River]], [[Teesta]], and the Brahmaputra suggest that they predate the Himalayan mountain range. The first known theory to explain the Himalayan drainage system came from Pascoe<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Edwin Hall Pascoe |title=The Early History of the Indus, Brahmaputra, and Ganges |journal=Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society |date=1919 |volume=75 |issue=1–4 |pages=138–157 |doi=10.1144/GSL.JGS.1919.075.01-04.11 |s2cid=129518905 |url=https://jgs.lyellcollection.org/content/75/1-4/138.short|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and also Pilgrim.<ref name="auto1">{{cite journal |author1=G.E Pilgrim |title=The Siwalik River |journal=Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal |series=New Series |date=1919 |volume=15 |pages=81–99 |isbn=978-3-11-081069-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ejsyIZMsC9oC&q=Pilgrim%2C+G.E.%281919%29.+The+Siwalik+River%2C+Journal+of+the+Asiatic+Society%2C+Bengal.+XV+%28New+Series%29+81-99&pg=PA57}}</ref> According to their theory the [[Tibetan Plateau]] was drained to the west by the mighty Tsangpo-Indus-Oxus combined. Ahmad, on the contrary, had the view that the [[Tethys Ocean]] continued as a basin of sedimentation from the [[Cambrian]] to the [[Eocene]] Periods, while most of the Himalayan region was filled by the [[Gondwana]] landmass. During the Himalayan upheaval in the [[Oligocene]] period, part of the Tethysian [[geosyncline]] and probably, part of the Gondwana Land, were uplifted. Most probably this marked the initiation of the Himalayan drainage.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Husain |title=Geography Of India |date=2012 |publisher=McGraw-Hill Education (India) Pvt Limited |isbn=978-1-259-00089-8 |pages=250 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iEPFd-SBVUEC}}</ref>
It had earlier been proposed that the Himalayan waters reached the plains through the agency of a single river called Indo- Brahma (Pascoe, 1919),<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Edwin Hall Pascoe |title=The Early History of the Indus, Brahmaputra, and Ganges |journal=Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society |date=1 March 1919 |volume=75 |issue=1–4 |pages=138–157 |doi=10.1144/GSL.JGS.1919.075.01-04.11 |s2cid=129518905 |url=https://jgs.lyellcollection.org/content/75/1-4/138|url-access=subscription }}</ref> or Siwalik (Pilgrim, 1919)<ref name="auto1" /> and finally drained into the [[Arabian Sea]]. Ahmad (1971) argued that this explanation related only to a part of the period in which the evolution of the Himalayan drainage occurred and fails to explain the drainage within the Himalayas themselves.<ref name="auto2">{{cite journal |author1=Enayat Ahmad |title=The Ganga—a study in river geography |journal=Geographer |date=1971 |volume=XVIII |pages=39–89 |url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=6763887425447021041&hl=en&as_sdt=2005&sciodt=0,5}}</ref> He writes that "the evolution of the Gangetic drainage, as seen at present, really starts with the Himalayan movement, which brought into existence the successive mountain ranges- the [[Great Himalayas]], [[Lower Himalayan Range]], and the [[Sivalik]] ranges- into their present shape and altitude. It is these movements and associated thrusts that caused the formation of the Indo-Gangetic depression which is the playground of the Gangetic streams. Again, it was these movements which caused block uplifts along the northern edge of the Central Indian Foreland (Dunn, 1942) sharpening the gradient of the southern tributaries of the Ganga and creating waterfalls along with their courses and gorges as they descend the northern edge of the Central Indian Foreland" (Ahmad, 1971).<ref name="auto2" /> He, therefore, traced the evolution of the Himalayan drainage commensurate with the geological and tectonic history of the region relating to the upheavals and movements during the Oligocene, Miocene, and Pleistocene period. For this reason, his theory has become the more accepted theory of the Himalayan drainage system.{{citation needed|date= September 2022}}

'''First Research Journal of Geography in Bihar'''

According to the National Association of Geographers, he published "more than 64 articles in reputed international and national journals. Under his editorship, the ''Geographical Outlook'', the first research journal of Geography in Bihar, was started in 1956. He had the honour of being the first geographer of the country whose papers were published in [[Annals of the American Association of Geographers]], and [[Geographical Review]]. This was indeed a great achievement."<ref>{{cite web |title=Enayat Ahmad |url=http://nagi.org.in/bhoogol-ratna.html |publisher=National Association of Geographers, India (NAGI) |access-date=13 July 2020 |archive-date=20 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220135938/http://nagi.org.in/bhoogol-ratna.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

'''Indian Coastal Geomorphology'''

Ahmad’s book ''Coastal Geomorphology of India'', published in 1972, was the first book on the subject.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Enayat Ahmad |title=Coastal Geomorphology of India |date=1972 |publisher=Orient Longman |pages=222 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SHU1AAAAMAAJ |language=English}}</ref> "In 22 concise chapters…Ahmad virtually describes every feature along a vast coastline. For this, students of both Geomorphology and India will be most grateful".<ref name="auto">{{cite journal |author1=Maurice L. Schwartz |title=Coastal Geomorphology of India by Enayat Ahmad |journal=The Journal of Geology |date=January 1975 |volume=83 |issue=1 |pages=142 |doi=10.1086/628076 |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/628076|url-access=subscription }}</ref> This pioneering work was created, in the absence of any previous literature on the subject, from large-scale maps. The author was assisted in this work by coastal geomorphologist E.C.E. Bird and A.T.A. Learmonth.{{citation needed|date= September 2022}} Although this work has also been criticized by Schwartz for not being rigorous, geologically,<ref name="auto" /> the fact remains that all work on Indian coastal geomorphology is subsequent to and follows this original and fundamental work.{{citation needed|date= September 2022}} This work him brought international recognition.{{citation needed|date= September 2022}}

Ahmad also served as the Asian Contributor for [[Encyclopedia Britannica]].{{citation needed|date= September 2022}}

== Awards ==
Ahmad posthumously received the Bhoogol Ratna Award of 2016 from by the National Association of Geographers, India (NAGI), in the 38th Indian Geography Congress, held at the [[University of Mysore]], Mysuru in recognition of his services to the field.<ref>{{cite web |title=भूगोल रत्न डॉ इनायत अहमद' का लोकार्पण |url=https://www.livehindustan.com/jharkhand/ranchi/story-geography-ratna-dr-inayat-ahmad-s-launch-2113228.html |website=LiveHindustan.com |access-date=13 July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Bhoogol Ratna |url=http://nagi.org.in/bhoogol-ratna.html |publisher=National Association of Geographers, India (NAGI) |access-date=13 July 2020 |archive-date=20 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220135938/http://nagi.org.in/bhoogol-ratna.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmad, Enayat}}
[[Category:1923 births]]
[[Category:Indian geographers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian earth scientists]]
[[Category:People from Bihar]]
[[Category:Aligarh Muslim University alumni]]
[[Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics]]
[[Category:1999 deaths]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Ranchi University]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Magadh University]]
[[Category:Indian expatriates in the United Kingdom]]

Enayat Ahmad - Revision history

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