Nassakh
{{Short description|Urdu and Persian poet (1834–1889)}}
{{one source|date=November 2016}}
{{Infobox writer
| honorific_prefix = Khan Bahadur
| name = Nassakh
| birth_name = Abū Muḥammad ʿAbdul Ghafūr
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| pseudonym = Nassakh
| birth_date = 1 Shawwal, 1249 AH (11 February, 1834)
| birth_place = Rajapur, Faridpur District, Bengal Presidency
| death_date = 14 June, 1889
| resting_place =
| occupation = Government officer
| alma_mater =
| genre = Poetry
| notableworks = Sukhan-e-Shuara,
Daftar-e-Bemisal,
Tazkiratul Muasirin
| spouse =
| children =
| relatives = Nawab Abdul Latif (brother)
Kazi Salahuddin
Kazi Abul Monsur
Shahidul Alam
| awards =
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}}
Khan Bahadur Abū Muḥammad ʿAbdul Ghafūr (11 February 1834 - 14 June 1889), better known by his pen name Nassakh ({{langx|ur|نساخ}}), was a British Indian officer, writer, literary critic and collector.{{cite Banglapedia|article=Nassakh, Khan Bahadur Abdul Ghafur|author=Kaniz-e-Butool}} He is best known for his magnum opus Sukhan-e-Shuara ({{langx|ur|سخن شعرا}} Speech of Poets) which was a biography of prominent Urdu and Persian poets.{{cite web|title=Abdul Ghafoor Nassakh|website=Rekhta Foundation|url=https://www.rekhta.org/poets/abdul-ghafoor-nassakh/profile}} He organised mushaira in places where he worked; inspiring young Urdu poets in Bengal.
Early life
Abdul Ghafur was born on 11 February 1834 to the Qadi family of Rajapur in Faridpur district. His father, Qazi Faqir Muhammad, was a lawyer at the Calcutta civil court and a Persian author best known for his Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh ({{lang|fa|جامع التواريخ}} Compendium of Chronicles), a history book published in 1836. Reformer Nawab Abdul Latif was his elder brother and Nassakh's two other brothers were Abdul Hamid and Abdul Bari Sayd who were also poets.{{cite Banglapedia|article=Persian|author=Abu Musa Mohammad Arif Billah}} This family was founded by Kazi Abdur Rasool, son of Shah Azimuddin, who was said to have been descended from the Arab Muslim general Khalid ibn al-Walid and have been appointed as Kazi in Mughal Bengal.{{Cite web |last=Islam |first=K. Z. |date=2012-07-11 |title=Nawab Bahadur Abdul Latif |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-241583 |access-date=2023-07-16 |website=The Daily Star |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Khan |first=Muhammad Mojlum |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pp7ikgEACAAJ |title=The Muslim Heritage of Bengal: The Lives, Thoughts and Achievements of Great Muslim Scholars, Writers and Reformers of Bangladesh and West Bengal |date=2013 |publisher=Kube Publishing Limited |isbn=978-1-84774-052-6 |language=en}}
Career
Abdul Ghafur joined as deputy magistrate in the British Indian government. He served as deputy collector in many places in the Bengal Presidency. In particular, he worked as deputy collector of Dacca and Backergunge from 1860 to 1888. In 1868, Elayechiram Talib of Jalalabad, Amritsar migrated to Bakerganj (Barisal) to become a student of Nassakh, who would suggest edits to Talib's poetry. Talib would also write poetry in praise of his teacher Nassakh.{{cite book|title=বাকেরগঞ্জ জেলার ইতিহাস|language=bn|trans-title=History of Bakerganj District|author=Mohammad Saif Uddin|year=1990|page=677|editor=Saikat Asghar|publisher=Bakerganj Zelar Itihash Prokolpo}}
Literary career
Abdul Ghafur mainly wrote poetry in Urdu, but he also wrote in Persian. Apart from Bengali, Urdu and Persian, he also knew English, Arabic and Hindi.
Among his Urdu poetry are Daftar-e-Bemisal (1869), Armugan (1875), Armugani (1884). Daftar-e-Bemisal was praised by Ghalib. In Sukhan-e-Shuara (1874) and Tazkiratul Muasirin he introduced Urdu and Persian poets. He translated Persian poet Fariduddin Attar's Pand Name into Urdu under the title of Chashma-e-Faez in 1874. Ganj-e-Tawarikh (1873) and Kanz-e-Tawarikh (1877) were pieces of poetry which contained biographies of great Islamic personalities. Ashar-e-Nassakh (1866) is also one of his works on poetry. His Intikhab-e-Nakam (1879) was a critique on the marsiya poetry of Mir Anees and Mirza Dabeer. Nassakh also wrote Mazhab-e-Muamma (1888) which contained his own works of Persian poetry.
See also
- Zaigham, his teacher
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{Cite book |last=Khan |first=Mohammad Hamid Ali |url=https://www.rekhta.org/ebooks/detail/abdul-ghafoor-nassakh-hindustani-adab-ke-memar-mohammad-hamid-ali-khan-ebooks |title=Abdul Ghafoor Nassakh |publisher=Sahitya Academy |year=2003 |location=Delhi |language=ur |trans-title=Abdul Ghafoor Nassakh: Makers of Indian Literature}}
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Category:People from Faridpur District
Category:Poets from the Bengal Presidency
Category:19th-century Persian-language poets
Category:Translators from Persian