Nowsher Ali Khan Yusufzai ( bn, নওশের আলী খাঁন ইউসুফজয়ী; – 9 May 1924) was a

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 ...

writer and philanthropist.

Early life and education

Yusufzai was born in 1864 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 Charan in

Kalihati Kalihati ( bn, কালিহাতী) is a town of Kalihati Upazila, Tangail, Bangladesh. The town is situated 22 km northeast of Tangail city and 102 km northwest of Dhaka city, the capital of Bangladesh. Demographics According t ...

Tangail Tangail ( bn, টাঙ্গাইল, ), is a major city within the Dhaka Division in central Bangladesh. It sits on the bank of the Louhajang River, north-west of Dhaka, the nation's capital. It is considered to be the main urban area of ...

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 ...

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

. His family traced their ancestry to

Pashtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

of the

Yusufzai The Yusufzai or Yousafzai ( ps, یوسفزی, ), also referred to as the Esapzai (, ) are one of the largest Pashtun tribes, tribes of ethnic Pashtuns. They are natively based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, to which they migrated to from Sulim ...

tribe, who had migrated from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

and become culturally assimilated. Yusufzai passed the Entrance examination in 1881 from

Pogose School Pogose Laboratory School and College, IER, Jagannath University ( bn, পোগোজ ল্যাবরেটরি স্কুল এন্ড কলেজ ,আ.ই.আর,জগন্নাথ বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়) was es ...

in Dhaka and FA in 1887 from

Dhaka College Dhaka College ( bn, ঢাকা কলেজ also known as DC) is the oldest secular educational institution of Bangladesh located in Dhaka. It offers higher secondary education ( HSC). It has Honours and Masters programs as well which are aff ...

. He studied for the BA examination but unsuccessfully. Nevertheless, it can be said that he was the first Muslim to qualify for FA in Tangail district. While studying for his BA he married Rahimunnesa, a daughter of the

zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...

of Pakulla.

Career

Yusufzai was appointed to the post of Sub-Registrar of Pakulla in 1889 and was upgraded to Sub-Deputy Registrar in 1891. He was the first Muslim in this post in Tangail. He retired from his job in 1919. Yusufzai was associated with different social and educational institutions of his locality and of Calcutta. He wrote books in prose and verse. Some of notable works are Bangiya Mussalman (1891), Shaishab Kusum (Poem, 1895), Dalil Registrari Shiksa (1897), Uchcha Bangala Shiksabidhi (1901), Notes on Mohammedan Education in Bengal (1903), Mussalman Jatiya Sangit (1909), Sahitya Pratibha (1914), Sahitya Shiksa (1915). Bangiya Mussalman and Notes on Mohammedan Education in Bengal reflect his social consciousness, national feeling, humanity, educational interests, economic and political sense, and earned his a place in society.

Death

Yusufzai died on 9 May 1924.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yusufzai, Nowsher Ali Khan 1864 births 1924 deaths Bengali writers Dhaka College alumni People from Tangail District 19th-century Bengalis 20th-century Bengalis Bangladeshi people of Afghan descent Pogose School alumni