Research Supervision Capacity
About Me
I, Dr Khola Iftikhar Cheema, am currently serving at the Department of Pakistan Studies, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, and am placed in Bahawalnagar Campus as an Assistant Professor. I have been previously attached to the University of British Columbia (UBC) as Grant Researcher and with De Montfort University in Leicester, UK as Research Assistant. I obtained my PhD in History at Quaid-I-Azam University Islamabad (2021), with a particular focus on the History of Punjab and Sikh Studies. I worked on the Identity construction of religious communities in Colonial Punjab with a particular focus on the Sikhs. I worked during my MPhil for two years in the field of Cultural History (explored Maharaja Ranjit Singh as a Punjabi statesman) resulting in 3 journal publications (as the first author). I won a Fellowship in the International Research Support Initiative Program of the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan and moved in my second year of PhD to the SOAS University of London UK for six months to do field research and data collection. In these six months in SOAS, I worked on my project resulting in one journal publication in “Emergence” (University of Southampton) as the first author and six international conference paper presentations at prestigious universities including Oxford, Bath Spa University, and the University of Southampton. I also joined Karamsar Gurdwara School Ilford, London to learn the Gurmukhi script of Punjabi, which enabled me to work on cross-border literature. I was also engaged with the diasporic Punjabi community of the UK and was invited to the Sikh Missionary Society Southall to present my work on the cultural aspects of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. My PhD study offers the first research conducted in Pakistan on Sikh Identity construction in Colonial Punjab. I explored the lesser-known history of religious identity politics within the Sikh community in the region. The research had an interdisciplinary focus, bringing together debates on identity and exploring the historical process of Sikh identity construction. To enrich Shahmukhi literature and enhance understanding of the anti-colonial Ghadar (revolutionary) Movement of the early twentieth century in Punjab, I have initiated the work of transliteration (from Gurmukhi into Shahmukhi) of “Kirti” magazine, which was the first international magazine of Punjabi and was globally circulated; this has so far resulted in one Journal publication. This is the first time the material from this magazine has been transliterated to reach the Pakistani public. I am deeply involved in the transnational movement supporting the Punjabi language, across borders. I co-founded the Lyallpur Young Historians Club-LYHC and am president of LYHC. The LYHC is working to make a digital archive of the History of Punjab in Punjabi language and create awareness of Punjabi in Pakistan and beyond by inviting scholars, researchers, and social scientists from around the world to share their research in Punjabi through online talks. Dr Mahajan (Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi) described in an online talk how the LYHC serves to establish shared space for Punjabis across borders, providing a safe and congenial environment that facilitates sharing. “Being Punjabi in the Pandemic: Convivial Gatherings in the Digital Sphere”. I am also co-organizer of the first-ever Punjabi literary festivals conducted annually in Lyallpur (Faisalabad, Pakistan), to promote the Punjabi language and literature in Pakistan. I am the first Pakistani and first woman ever to Chair the Central Jury of the prestigious Dhahan Prize for Punjabi Literature 2021. I have been featured by BBC in a story on the coronation day of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
Contact Info
Research Publication
1. Khola Iftikhar Cheema and Tohid Ahmad. 2025. “Identity Politics and Decolonising the Construct of ‘South Asia’.” Progressive Research Journal of Arts & Humanities, Hyderabad 7. http://dx.doi.org/10.51872/prjah.vol7.Iss1.376
2. Khola Iftikhar Cheema. 2025. “Modernising Governance: Insights from Maharaja Ranjeet Singh’s Administration.” Pakistan Perspectives 0. https://journal.psc.edu.pk/index.php/pp/article/view/555/468
3. Khola Cheema. 2022. “Understanding Gender in “Sikhism”.” Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan 0. https://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/history/PDF-FILES/17_59_1_22.pdf
4. Khola Cheema, Tohid Ahmad. 2021. “Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Court, And Cuture of Lahore Darbar.” Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan 58.
5. Tohid Ahmad, Khola Cheema. 2021. “Reorientation of Peasant Politics in Colonial Punjab & Formation of Kirti Kissan Party (KKP).” Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan 0. https://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/history/PDF-FILES/23_58_4_21.pdf
6. Khola Cheema. 2018. “Survival Of Fittest: From Khalsa Identity To Military Establishment Of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh.” Journal of Pakistan Vision 19.
7. Khola Cheema. 2018. “'Making 'Kaur' in Twentieth Century Colonial Punjab'.” Emergence 0.
Research and Development Projects
1. Making Local History: A partnership for new pasts and futures in Faisalabad/Lyallpur Pakistan
With: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (2024-12 - 2028-12)
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Partnership Engage Grant to explore the regional and local history of Faisalabad, formerly known as Lyallpur. It unites international academic expertise with local institutions to study the area's past and future cultural identity.
The Islamia University of Bahawalpur was established in the year 1975 by upgrading historical institute of the Jamia Abbasia.
