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 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

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.

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