Samuel Martin Burke

Samuel Burke was born in a Punjabi Christian family of twelve brothers and sisters in Martinpur, a village in the Punjab Province of British India (now in Pakistan). His grandfather Chaudhry Allah Ditta was a convert to Christianity, while his father Janab Khairuddin, the first graduate from his village, was a school headmaster who wrote Urdu poetry under the pen name Burq (lightning), which later would be Anglicized as Burke. His sister was the Indian Hindi and Punjabi film actress Chand Burke, who appeared in several films in the 50s and 60s, including Raj Kapoor's award winning film Boot Polish (1954), thus making him the grand uncle of Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh. Having passed his matriculation in the first division and secured a government scholarship, Samuel Burke studied at the Government College, Lahore specializing in subjects such as History, Philosophy, Persian and Urdu, earning an BA (Hons) and later his MA in History. == Career ==

Civil servant He was a member of the Indian Civil Service until 15 August 1947, when he became the only Asian to retire. After Pakistan's independence, he joined the Foreign Service of Pakistan and was appointed as a counselor at the Pakistani High Commission in London. Diplomat Martin Burke served as a minister in the Pakistani embassy in Washington, D.C. in 1952. In 1953, he became the first Pakistani Christian head of a diplomatic mission when he was appointed Minister to Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark. He also served as chargé d’ affaires in Rio de Janeiro, deputy high commissioner in London, followed by being appointed as Pakistan's ambassador to Thailand, and finally as the High Commissioner to Canada between 1959 and 1961, following which he retired. Academic Upon retirement he became professor at the University of Minnesota from 1961 to 1975. Burke has authored a number of books covering Pakistan's history and foreign policy. ==Awards==

• Sitara-e-Pakistan by President Ayub Khan ==Books==

• Pakistan's Foreign Policy: An Historical Analysis (1973) • Mainsprings of Indian and Pakistani Foreign Policy (1974) • Akbar, the Greatest Mogul (1989) • Bahadur Shah, the Last Mogul Emperor of India (1995) • The British Raj in India: An Historical Review (1995). Co-written with Salim al-Din Quraishi. • Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah: His Personality and his Politics (1997) ==References==