Niaz Fatehpuri (1884–1966) was the pen name of Niyaz Muhammed Khan, a Pakistani

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

by the

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Mur ...

for "Literature and Education."

Early life

Niaz Fatehpuri was born in 1884 at Nayi Ghat,

Barabanki district Barabanki district is one of the five districts of Faizabad division (officially ''Ayodhya division''), in the central Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh, India. Barabanki city is the administrative headquarters of Barabanki district. Total area of Ba ...

, in what is now

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

during the

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 him ...

. He died in 1966 in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. Niaz Fatehpuri’s real name was

Mawlānā Mawlānā (; from Arabic ( ar, مولانا), also spelled as maulana or molana (Urdu, from Arabic mawlānā), is a title, mostly in Central Asia and in the Indian subcontinent, preceding the name of respected Muslim religious leaders, in partic ...

Niyaz Muhammad Khan. He was educated at Madrasa Islamia in Fatehpur, Madrasa Alia in Rampur, and

Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama (translated as, House of Knowledge and Assembly of Scholars University) is an Islamic seminary in Lucknow, India. It was established by the Nadwatul Ulama, a council of Muslim scholars, on 26 September 1898. This edu ...

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 ...

. He resigned his post in 1902 as a Police Sub-Inspector after working in this capacity for a couple of years. Thereafter, he worked in different posts until 1921, when he started editing and publishing his famous monthly journal, ''Nigar'', which served as a mirror to the literary scene in Uttar Pradesh till his migration to Pakistan in the early sixties. His publications include: * ''Man-o-Yazdan'' (on religion) * ''Shahvaniyat'' (on sociology) * ''Maktubat'' (his letters) * ''Intiqadiyat'' (criticism) * ''Jamalistan'' and ''Nigaristan'' (both short-stories) in 1939 * ''Shaair ka Anjam'' ("Fate of the Poet") in 1913 * ''Jazhabat-e-Bhasha'' (an appreciation of Hindi poetry), 2nd edn., in 1926 * ''Gahvara-e-Tamaddun'' (account of the role of women in the development of culture) in 1932 * ''Hindi Shaeri'' (on Hindi poetry) in 1936 * ''Targhibat-e-Jinsiya Sahvaniyat'' (on the development of sex knowledge) in 1941 * ''Husn ki Aiyariyan aur Dusre Afsane'' (short stories) in 1943 * ''Jhansi ki Rani'' in 1946 * ''Mukhtarat-i-Niyazi'' in 1947 * ''Naqab Uth Jane ke Bad'' in 1942 * ''Chand ghante hukmae qadim ki ruhon ke sath aur mazamin'' (three essays) * ''Muttaleat-e-Niyaz'' (literary and historical essays) in 1947 * ''Taammulat-e-Niyaz'' (collection of articles), edited and published 1951; * 3 volumes of his letters from 1948 to 1951 * ''Muzakirat-e-Niyaz'' (some pages of diary) in 1932 * ''Majmuah Istifsar va Javab'' (a collection of questions and answers on different topics) in 1938 * ''Sahabiyat'' (on some female followers of the

Prophet Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...

) in 1932

Literary activities

Niaz Fatehpuri was a fiction-writer of repute, whose

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Premchand and find a prominent place in

Urdu literature Urdu literature ( ur, , ) is literature in the Urdu language. While it tends to be dominated by poetry, especially the verse forms of the ''ghazal '' غزل and '' nazm '' نظم, it has expanded into other styles of writing, including that of ...

. He was also an Urdu poet and critic, and a

polemicist Polemic () is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called ''polemics'', which are seen in arguments on controversial topic ...

who dared to raise his voice against

Fundamentalism Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that is characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguish ...

. Until he migrated to

in 1962, he had continued to publish and edit ''Nigar'' the

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra i ...

, then from

Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...

and subsequently from

. It is still published from

Farman Fatehpuri Farman Fatehpuri ( ur, ) (born Syed Dildar Ali ( ur, ), 26 January 1926 – 3 August 2013) was an Urdu linguist, researcher, writer, critic and scholar of Pakistan. He is widely regarded as a leading authority on the life and work of ...

. Niaz Fatehpuri wrote on

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' 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 ...

in his time. He has more than two dozen major works to his credit. He was awarded the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

in 1962 for his services to

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' He died in

, Pakistan on 24 May 1966.

Analysis

In 1974,

Malik Ram Malik Ram was the pen name of Malik Ram Baveja (1906–1993), a renowned Urdu, Persian and Arabic scholar from India. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1983 for his monumental work ''Tazkirah-e-Muasireen''. An internationally acclaime ...

included him in his award-winning book of essays ''Woh Surten Ilahi'' (''The Immortals'') on nine unforgettable giants in the Urdu literary world. In 1986, the Urdu Academy in Karachi published the book "Niaz Fatehpuri: ''Shakhsiyat aur Fikr–o–Fan''" by

on the life and literary works of Niaz Fatehpuri.

Personal

He is the father of Sarfaraz Niazi, who has translated Ghalib's poetry into English in two books titled ''Love Sonnets of Ghalib'' and ''The Wine of Passion'', both published by Ferozsons, Lahore, Pakistan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fatehpuri, Niaz Pakistani poets Pakistani scholars Urdu-language short story writers Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education 1884 births 1966 deaths Muhajir people Writers from Karachi Date of birth missing Indian emigrants to Pakistan