| P. Dawood Shah | |
| Birth Date: | 29 March 1885 |
| Birth Place: | Tanjore district, Madras Presidency, British India (now Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, India) |
| Death Place: | Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India |
| Occupation: | Tamil scholar and activist |
| Education: | Government Arts College, Kumbakonam |
| Notable Works: | translating Quran into Tamil |
| Awards: | gold medal, Madurai Tamil Sangam |
P. Dawood Shah (29 March 1885 – 24 February 1969) was a Tamil enthusiast and scholar, Activist and a gold medalist from Madurai Tamil Sangam. He also known as "Kamba Ramayana Sahib".[1] [2]
Dawood Shah was born to Pappu Rowther and Kulzum Biwi on 29 March 1885,[3] in Tanjore district, Madras Presidency, British India (present day Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, India).[4] [5] He had his early education in Government Arts College, Kumbakonam. His classmate was a mathematics genius Ramanujan in tanjore and his Tamil teacher was the famous Tamil scholar U.V. Swaminatha Iyer.[6]
P. Dawood Shah loved the Tamil language and won a gold medal from the Madurai Tamil Sangam. He strongly advocated the replacement of Arabic with Tamil in mosques and led a campaign. He was the first person to translate the Quran into Tamil and served as the editor of the Tamil magazine Darul Islam.[7]
He died on 24 February 1969 in Madras (now Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu), just a month before his 84th birthday.