Safar Ali Akanda, Ph.D. born at Netrokona was educated at Dhaka and Denver (USA). An activist during the language movement 1948-52 he attended the Grand National Convention at Dhaka in November 1950. Dr. Akanda took up teaching as a career at Dhaka University in 1954 and moved to Rajshahi University in 1955. He was a participant in the Liberation War of Bangladesh, in 1971. During the war, he was the appointed Director, of Bangladesh Volunteer Service Corps under Mujibnagar Government during May-October, 1971. He was a Professor of History, at Rajshahi University and Joint/Acting Director, at the Institute of Bangladesh Studies, Rajshahi University till 1976. He was a Commonwealth Academic Staff Fellow at SOAS and Director, the Institute of Bangladesh Studies. Among the important publications are: The Journal of the Institute of Bangladesh Studies, Vols. I-VI; 1976-83; Studies in Modern Bengal (edited), 1981; The District of Rajshahi: Its Past and Present (edited), 1983; Bangalir Atmaparichay (The Self-Identity of the Bengalis), edited, 1991.