Mirza Muhammad Hadi Ruswa (1857 – 21 October 1931) was an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

). He served on the

Nawab of Awadh The Nawab of Awadh or the Nawab of Oudh was the title of the rulers who governed the state of Awadh (anglicised as Oudh) in north India during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Nawabs of Awadh belonged to a dynasty of Persian origin from Nishap ...

's advisory board on language matters for many years. He spoke many languages including

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, and English. His famed Urdu novel, '' Umrao Jan Ada'', published in 1905, is considered by many as the first Urdu novel. It is based on the life of a renowned

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

courtesan and poet of the same name.

Life

In 1857, Ruswa was born at

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. After completing his education at Thomson Engineering School, Ruswa spent the majority of his career in education. Apart from his teaching positions, Ruswa worked as a civil servant and as a railroad worker. On October 21, 1931, Ruswa died in

Osmania Osmania University is a collegiate university, collegiate Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Mir Osman Ali Khan, the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad in 1918 , He released a farma ...

Writing career

In 1887, Ruswa began his literary career with a poetry adaption of ''

Laila-Majnu ''Layla & Majnun'' ( ar, مجنون ليلى ; Layla's Mad Lover) is an old story of Arab origin, about the 7th-century Bedouin poet Qays ibn al-Mulawwah and his ladylove Layla bint Mahdi (later known as Layla al-Aamiriya). "The Layla ...

''. During the early 1900s, Ruswa released '' Afshai Raz'' and '' Umrao Jan Ada''. Following '' Zat-e-Shareef'' and '' Shareef Zada'', Ruswa also released '' Akhtari Begum''. Apart from poems, Ruswa wrote penny dreadfuls and religious works about

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mo ...

Bibliography

* Umrao Jaan Ada, 2003, Publisher:

Sang-e-Meel Sang-e-Meel Publications is a Lahore-based publishing house that was established in 1962 in Pakistan. It has to its credit of being the foremost publisher of Urdu books after the partition of India in 1947. Apart from publishing numerous new titl ...

. .

References

External links

Urdu text of Mirza Hadi Ruswa's Umrao Jaan Ada, 1899
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruswa, Mirza Hadi Urdu-language poets Indian Muslims Urdu-language novelists 1857 births 1931 deaths Indian dramatists and playwrights Writers from Lucknow Urdu-language fiction writers

Life

Writing career

Bibliography

Further reading

References

External links