Syed Emdad Ali (1875–1956), 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 ...

poet and writer. He was born in

Munshiganj District Munshiganj ( bn, মুন্সীগঞ্জ), also historically known as Bikrampur, is a district in central Bangladesh. It is a part of the Dhaka Division and borders Dhaka District. Geography Total land area is 235974 acres (954 km2), ...

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 ...

, now in Bangladesh. He was against the use of highly Sanskritised vocabulary in Bangla as well as the unnecessary use of Persian and Arabic words. A liberal humanist, Emdad Ali believed in communal harmony.

Early life

Ali was born in 1875 in Bikrampur, Bengal Presidency, British India. He graduated from Munshiganj High School and Jagannath College (which is

Jagannath University Jagannath University (JnU) ( bn, জগন্নাথ বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় ''Jagannātha biśbabidyālaẏa'', University Acrostic : জবি or JnU) is a state-funded public university at 9–10, Chittaranjan Avenue in Sa ...

today). He did not pursue further studies due to financial issues.

Career

Ali taught at a school in

Netrokona District Netrokona ( bn, নেত্রকোণা) is a district of the Mymensingh Division in northern Bangladesh. Etymology The headquarters of Netrokona District was located at the end of the Mogra River and was called Natorkona. Many people believe ...

after college. He joined the British

Indian Imperial Police The Indian Imperial Police, referred to variously as the Imperial Police or simply the Indian Police or, by 1905, Imperial Police, was part of the Indian Police Services, the uniform system of police administration in British Raj, as established by ...

as a Sub-Inspector. He was awarded the title Khan Shahib for by British Indian government for his service. He was against the inclusion of Arabic, Persian, and Sanskrit words in the Bengali language. In 1903, he joined Nandoor, a Bengali monthly journal as an editor. In one of his editorials, he wrote, 'The development of the downtrodden Muslim community will be achieved only through literary activities. We invite all Muslim writers in Bangla to join in our endeavour to awaken the Muslims of this country'. Ali worked for many departments. He is a descendant of Bangal poet Kaykobad (1857). He was the chief editor of monthly ‘Nabanoor’(1903–06) with collaborations from M. Asad Ali,M.Hedayetullah and

Qazi Imdadul Haq Qazi Imdadul Haq (1882–1926) was a Bengali writer. Teaching Haq joined the Calcutta Madrasa (now Aliah University) as a temporary teacher in 1904. In 1906, he worked briefly in the Education Department in Shillong, Assam. The next year he jo ...

Works

His literary works were included in the curriculum of school level, secondary and higher secondary

Bengali Literature Bengali literature ( bn, বাংলা সাহিত্য, Bangla Sahityô) denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language and which covers Old Bengali, Middle- Bengali and Modern Bengali with the changes through the passage of time ...

in Bangladesh. Main Books *''Dali'' *''Taposhi Rabeya'' (Rabeya the Pious)

Death

Ali died in 1956.

Early life

Career

Works

Death

References

Further reading