Mohammad Mozammel Huq (1860–1933) was an Indian
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
-language poet, novelist, magistrate and educationist.
His writings were said to have been inspired by a "
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
".
Early life and education
Mohammad Mozammel Huq was born in 1860, to a
Bengali Muslim
Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the sec ...
family from the village of Baweegachi, not far from the town of
Shantipur
Santipur is a city and a municipality in the Ranaghat subdivision of Nadia district in the Indian state of West Bengal. The fort area of this city, also known as Daak-Garh (calling or gathering room) is thought to have been built by Raja Krish ...
, located in the
Nadia district
Nadia () is a district in the state of West Bengal, India. It borders Bangladesh to the east, North 24 Parganas and Hooghly districts to the south, Purba Bardhaman to the west, and Murshidabad to the north.
Nadia district is highly influentia ...
of the erstwhile
Bengal Presidency
The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...
. His father, Nasiruddin Ahmad, died during his childhood, and Huq was raised by his maternal grandfather in Shantipur. His talent at the vernacular examinations led to him receiving a scholarship. After completing his studies at the Tamachika Bari English School in 1285
BS (1878 CE), he enrolled at the Shantipur Municipal High School.
[
]
Career
He started his career as a teacher at the Ramnagar Vernacular School in Shantipur, before transferring to the Shantipur Junior Jubilee Madrasah (later Shantipur Muslim High School) in 1887. Huq has also worked as a teaching assistant at the Tamachika Bengal School. In 1919, Ashutosh Mukherjee
Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee (anglicised, originally Asutosh Mukhopadhyay, also anglicised to Asutosh Mookerjee) (29 June 1864 – 25 May 1924) was a prolific Bengali educator, jurist, barrister and mathematician. He was the first student to be awar ...
appointed Huq to be the examiner of Bengali language for matriculation examinations, after noticing his literary talent. He was the examiner until 1933. Huq served as the commissioner of Shantipur Municipality for 40 years, and was its vice-chairman for three years. For 30 years, he was a member of the Nadia District Board's Education Committee and was an honorary magistrate of the district for 20 years.
Journalism and writings
Huq's poetic talent was evident from his childhood days, though he excelled more in prose. He translated the Persian epic '' Shahnama'' into Bengali in 1901. Among his novels are ''Zohra'' and ''Daraf Khan Gazi''. His career in writing officially began as a journalist for the ''Calcutta Weekly Samay''. He published and edited for several magazines throughout his lifetime such as the ''Lahari'' (1899), ''Mudgal'', ''Shantipur Deepika'', ''Bishwadoot'', ''Jubak'', ''Naoroz'' and the ''Monthly Shantipur''. However, the most notable magazine was the '' The Moslem Bharat'' (1920). Huq was also the vice-president of the Bengal Muslim Literary Society, from where he developed a friendship with Qazi Nazrul Islam
, pseudonym = bn, ধূমকেতু, Dhūmketu
, image = Nazrul.jpg
, image_size =
, caption = Nazrul in Chittagong, 1926
, birth_date = 11 ''Joiṣṭhyô'', 1306 '' Bônggabdô ...
and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...
, both of whom wrote articles for the society. The Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
-based Bangiya Sahitya Parishat
Bangiya Sahitya Parishat is a literary society in Maniktala of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Established during the time of the British Raj, its goal is to promote Bengali literature, both by translating works in other languages to Bengali and ...
later conferred the title of ''Kavyakantha'' upon Huq.
Some of his works include:[
]
Poetry
* (1881)
* (1885)
* (1898)
* (1903)
* (1912)
* (1923)
Prose
* (1896)
* (1898, dedicated to Mearajuddin Ahmad
Mearajuddin Ahmad ( bn, মেয়রাজউদ্দীন আহমদ) was a 19th-century Bengali academic, writer, and Islamic scholar.
Early life
Ahmad was born in Satkhira District, Khulna Division, Bengal Presidency, British Raj. He wa ...
)
* (1909)
* (1914, 2nd ed)
* (1918)
* (1919)
* (1931)
*
Novels
* (1917)
* (1919)
Family and death
He died on 30 November 1933 in Shantipur
Santipur is a city and a municipality in the Ranaghat subdivision of Nadia district in the Indian state of West Bengal. The fort area of this city, also known as Daak-Garh (calling or gathering room) is thought to have been built by Raja Krish ...
. Sir Azizul Haque
Sir Muhammad Azizul Haque, KCSI, CIE (27 November 1892 – 23 March 1947), also known as Muhammad Azizul Huq or Mohammad Azizul Huque, was a Bengali lawyer, writer and public servant. He studied at Presidency College and University Law Colle ...
was his eldest son.
See also
* Ismail Hossain Siraji
Syed Ismail Hossain Siraji ( bn, সৈয়দ ইসমাইল হোসেন সিরাজী; 1880–1931) was a Bengali author and poet from Sirajganj in present-day Bangladesh. He is considered to be one of the key authors of period of ...
* Kaykobad
Kazem Ali Quereshi ( – 21 July 1951), known by his pen-name Kaykobad, was a Bengali poet. Nikhil Bharat Sahitya Sangha titled him ''"Kavyabhusan"'', ''"Vidyabhusan"'' and ''"Sahityaratna"''.
Early life and education
Kaykobad was born in Agla ...
References
* Kalyani Nag, ''Santipur Prasanga: Vol-2'' ( Santipur,1998 )
* Kalikrishna Bhattacharya, ''Santipur Parichoy:-Vol 1 & 2'' (Santipur Municipality, 1952)
* Letter written by Rabindranath Tagore to Mohammed Mozammel Haque (Page No.6
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huq, Mohammad Mozammel
1860 births
1933 deaths
Bengali male poets
19th-century Bengali poets
20th-century Bengali poets
Indian male poets
Bengali-language writers
Muslim poets
Bengali Muslims
Shantipur
People from Nadia district
19th-century Indian poets
20th-century Indian poets
Poets from West Bengal
19th-century Indian male writers
20th-century Indian male writers
Scholars from West Bengal