Muhammad Husain Azad

Muhammad Husain Azad (1830–1910), known as Ehsan Azad, was an Urdu writer, who is regarded as the best Urdu prose writer. He wrote prose as well as poetry but he is mostly remembered for his prose. He contribution and impact is immense to Urdu literature and prose in particular. He is famous for his masterpiece Aab-e-Hayat (meaning elixir of life). It is regarded as the most often printed and most widely read book of Urdu because of its numerous qualities, which makes it a constant companion or a book of reference for an ardent Urdu lover.^[1]

Early life and family

He was born in Delhi in a highly educated Persian immigrant family. His mother died when he was four years old. His father was Maulvi Muhammad Baqir (c.1810-1857), was a man of versatile talents, and was educated at the newly founded Delhi College. Besides his many other activities he worked in the British administration. In early 1837 Maulvi Muhammad Baqir bought a press and launched the Dihli Urdu Akhbaar (Delhi Urdu Newspaper), which was probably the first Urdu newspaper in north India. Maulvi Muhammad Baqir was executed for siding with Mughals and joining the rebellion in 1857.

Muhammad Husain Azad was the only son of Maulvi Baqir and was married to Aghai Begum daughter of another Persian immigrant family. Following his father's death and a period of turmoil in Delhi, Azad migrated to Lahore in 1861.

Education

Around 1845 he was enrolled at Delhi College in Urdu-medium 'Oriental' section, which offered Arabic and Persian rather than English. He keenly pursued his studies for about eight years before graduating in 1854.

Career

After struggling for years he gradually settled down in Lahore and started teaching at newly founded (1864) Government College, Lahore,and later at Oriental College, Lahore, found under the auspices of Anjuman-e-Punjab (Punjab Society). In Lahore he came in contact of Dr. G. W. Leitner who was the Principal and founder of Anjuman-e-Punjab. Anjuman-ePunjab's mission was solely cultural and academic, Anjuman arranged public lectures, set up a free library and reading room, compiled educational texts and translations in Indian languages, and established Lahore's famous Oriental College. The Anjuman was actively supported by leading British officials of the time and was considered a great success. In 1866 Azad became a regularly paid lecturer on behalf of the Anjuman; in 1867 he became its secretary.In 1887 he managed to set up the 'Azad Library', which earned him praise and earned the title of 'Shams ul-ulamā' (Sun among the Learned). After undergoing great personal, health and mental loses, Azad died in Lahore in 1910, at the age of eighty.

Works

• Qisas ul-hind (Stories of India)-1869

• Nairang-e Khiyāl (The Wonder-World of Thought)-1880-worked on a volume of thirteen allegorical essays, mostly by Samuel Johnson and Joseph Addison, that he transcribed into Urdu.

• Āb-e Hayāt (Water of Life/Elixir)-1880-Book about the life of Urdu poets and linguistic development of Urdu.

• Sukhandān-e fārs (On Iranian Poets)- completed in 1887, published in 1907.

• Darbār-e akbarī (The Court of Akbar)-1898

See also

• Revolt of 1857
• Ibrahim Zauq
• Altaf Hussain Hali
• Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner
• Sir Syed Ahmad Khan
• Anjuman-e-Punjab
• Aslam Farrukhi

References

1. ^ 'Everybody Knows This Much ...' by Frances W. Pritchett, Columbia University

External links

• Table of Contents -- Digital South Asia Library at dsal.uchicago.edu Aab-eHayat link to 1907 edition printed Naval Kishore Press, Lahore.
• [1] at dsal.uchicago.edu Aab-eHayat link to English Translation, Translated and edited by Frances W. Pritchett, in association with Shamsur Rahman Faruqi
• [2] NIC, India link history of Urdu of Urdu Literature
• [3] NIC, India link history of Urdu of Urdu Literature
• [4]
• Ghalib and the revolution of 1857 at www.interface.edu.pk

Persondata
Name	Muhammad Husain Azad
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1830
Place of birth
Date of death	1910
Place of death