Early life and upbringing
Nazir Ahmad was born in 1831 to a family of scholars inLife after Delhi College
Upon completion of his education, in 1853, Ahmad joined the British colonial administration. He began his life as a school teacher, teaching Arabic in a small school at Kunjah, in Gujarat district, in Punjab. After serving two years in Kunjah, he was appointed as deputy inspector of schools in Cawnpore, but his work there was affected by the mutiny of 1857. At the outbreak of the mutiny he rejoined his family back in Delhi. There, he witnessed the ugly experience of the year of the war. Over time his English improved enough that he could translate English text into Urdu. The first time his acumen at translation was put to test when upon the desire of Lieutenant Governor Sir William Muir of North Western Provinces, Ahmad translated the Income Tax Act from English to Urdu. Later a board was convened to carry out the translation of the Indian penal code to Urdu. Ahmad was an important member of board and carried out a chunk of the translation himself. In recognition for his hard work and ability, the colonial government decided to give him an appointment in the revenue department, in which he first worked as a Tehsildar, and then in 1863, as a Deputy Collector. Ahmad garnered more acclaim from his story books. As his daughters were growing up, he realized that there were no good Urdu books focused on the education of girls. He began writing a story for his daughters. The way he in ‘true to life’ manner described the ‘house of the family’ and the ‘talks between the members of the family’ captured the fascination of his girls. The girls kept pressing him to write more and more of the story. The fame of his stories spread in the neighborhood, and copies of the manuscripts were made and other girls read own their own. Initially, Ahmad wrote without any thought of publication. His writings were initially limited to a small social circle. It was the chance discovery of these stories by Mathew Kempson, the British Director of Public Instruction, on his visit to Jhansi where Ahmad was serving, that led to book being published. It was published under the name ''Mirat-ul-Urus'', “Bride’s Mirror”, in 1869. ''Mirat ul Urus'' won huge acclaim upon being published. When Sir William Muir, who knew Ahmad from before, saw the book, he was quite impressed by it. Two months after Kempson's visit to Jhansi, where he came across Ahmad's writing, he sent Ahmad a letter telling how his book was ‘first of its kind’ and was awarded a cash prize of 1000 rupees. At a Darbar held in Agra in 1869, Sir Williams publicly praised the book. He also gave the author a clock as personal present with the author's name inscribed on it.Life after retirement
On his return to Delhi, Ahmad undertook the task of translating the Quran to Urdu. He devoted three years to this task. Assisted by four hired Maulvis, he completely absorbed himself in this task. He translated it into idiomatic Urdu, to enable Urdu speaking people to understand the content better. He also included parenthetical phrases in the translation to make the meaning of the text more clear. This translation brought more fame to Ahmad than any of his earlier publications. Towards the later part of his stay in the city, Ahmad ceased to write fiction and got more involved in Sir Syed's political activities. In these political campaigns he explored his gift at oratory. He made his first public speech at the annual meeting of Tibbia College in Delhi. This is probably when he realized that ‘his tongue could wield a greater influence than his pen’, in stirring the masses. The demand of his eloquent speeches made him to travel to Calcutta, Madras and Bombay. Aligarh and Lahore were also his frequent stops. He made the most speeches at the annual meetings of Mohammadan Educational Conferences. The Anjuman-i-Himayat Islam, Lahore invited him for their annual anniversary meetings and his lecture of sideline of the gathering attracted throngs of crowds. With his commendable sense of humor and eloquent recitation of verses, he could hold his audience ‘spell bound for two to three hours in a stretch’.Last days
Despite holding a post in the British government, Ahmad still preferred the traditional Indian lifestyle, rather than living life in the more anglicized modern British lifestyle.Abdul Qadir, Sheikh. ''Famous Urdu Poets and Writers.'' p.128-129List of works
Novels
Translations
Some of the translated titles include: *''Tarjuma-i Qur’an'', 1896 - Urdu translation of theReferences