Syed Murtaza Ali
{{short description|Bangladeshi writer and historian (1902–1981)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Syed Murtaza Ali
|native_name = সৈয়দ মুর্তাজা আলী
|office = President of Bangla Academy
|term_start = 8 March 1975
|term_end = 7 March 1977
|predecessor = Zainul Abedin
|successor = Syed Ali Ahsan
|term_start1 = 9 August 1969
|term_end1 = 8 August 1971
|predecessor1 = Muhammad Qudrat-i-Khuda
|nationality = Bangladeshi
|birth_date = {{birth date|1902|7|1|df=y}}
|birth_place = Karimganj, Assam Province, British India
|death_date = {{death date and age|1981|8|9|1902|7|1|df=y}}
|death_place = Dhaka, Bangladesh
|occupation = Civil servant
|alma_mater = {{ubl|Murari Chand College|Presidency College, Calcutta}}
|relatives = {{ubl|Syed Mujtaba Ali (brother)|Syed Mohammad Ali (nephew)|Syed Muazzem Ali (nephew)|{{nowrap|Shegufta Bakht Chaudhuri (nephew)}}}}
}}
Syed Murtaza Ali (1 July 1902 – 9 August 1981) was a Bangladeshi writer.{{cite Banglapedia |author=Islam, Sirajul |article=Ali, Syed Murtaza}} He was the elder brother of writer and linguist Syed Mujtaba Ali. He is noted for his works relating to the histories of Chittagong, Sylhet and Jaintia.
Background and education
Syed Murtaza Ali Khandakar was born into a Bengali Muslim Syed family of Khandakars on 1 July 1902 in Karimganj, Sylhet District. His father, Khan Bahadur Syed Sikandar Ali, was a Sub-Registrar. He traced his paternal descent from Shah Syed Ahmed Mutawakkil, a Sufi Peer and a Syed of Taraf, though apparently unrelated to the region's ruling Syed dynasty.{{cite book |first=Nurur Rahman |last=Khan |editor=Sharif Uddin Ahmed |chapter=Syed Mujtaba Ali |title=Sylhet: History and Heritage |pages=824–25 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M_BtAAAAMAAJ |year=1999 |publisher=Bangladesh Itihas Samiti |location=Sylhet |isbn=978-984-31-0478-6}} Ali's mother, Amatul Mannan Khatun, belonged to the Chowdhuries of Kala and Bahadurpur, an Islamised branch of the Pal family of Panchakhanda.{{cite book |last=Ali |first=Syed Murtaza |authorlink=Syed Murtaza Ali |title=Amadera kalera katha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ExFXAAAAMAAJ |year=1968 |publisher=Baighara |page=27 |language=bn}} His paternal family's ancestral home is Khandakar Bari in Uttarsur Village of Bahubal Upazila of Habiganj District.{{Cite web |date=2019-12-30 |title=Syed Moazzem Ali passes away |url=https://en.barta24.com/details/national-en/70139/syed-moazzem-ali-passes-away |access-date=2024-08-19 |website=Barta24 |language=en}}
Ali passed his matriculation examination from Sylhet Government School in 1921 and passed his ISc from Murari Chand College in 1923. He earned his bachelor's in physics from Presidency College, Calcutta.
Career
In 1926, Ali became the magistrate of Maulvi Bazar subdivision. He was sub-divisional officer in 1940. Later he became the under secretary in the Education Department. He retired from civil service positions in 1959.
Ali served as the president of the Bangla Academy during 1969-1971 and 1975-1977 and Asiatic Society of Bangladesh in 1974.{{Cite web |title=বাংলা একাডেমি |url=https://banglaacademy.gov.bd/site/page/de4a3207-26ec-483a-9d28-1514bada57e2/- |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240323213910/https://banglaacademy.gov.bd/site/page/de4a3207-26ec-483a-9d28-1514bada57e2/- |archive-date=2024-03-23 |access-date=2025-02-01 |website=banglaacademy.gov.bd |language=bn}}
Works
- Pashchim Pakistan (1952)
- The History of Jaintia (1954)
- History of Chittagong (1964)
- Hazrat Shah Jalal O Sylheter Itihas (1965).
- Amader Kaler Katha (1968),
- Muztaba-Katha O Anyanya Prasanga (1976)
- Prabandha Bichitra (1967)
Awards
- Bangla Academy Literary Award (1973){{cite web|url=https://banglaacademy.gov.bd/site/page/4b4922ae-d2be-4478-b9bf-08b5dbf50cf2/-|script-title=bn:বাংলা একাডেমি সাহিত্য পুরস্কার|trans-title=Bangla Academy Literary Award|publisher=Bangla Academy|language=bn|accessdate=2025-01-31}}
- Independence Day Award (1982){{Cite web |title=প্রতিষ্ঠানেরতালিকা|url=https://cabinet.gov.bd/site/view/independence_awardees/1982 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20171210233604/http://www.cabinet.gov.bd/site/view/independence_awardees/1982 |archive-date=2017-12-10 |access-date=2025-02-01 |website=cabinet.gov.bd |language=en}}
References
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Category:People from Habiganj District
Category:People from Karimganj district
Category:Presidency University, Kolkata alumni
Category:Bangladeshi male writers
Category:Recipients of the Independence Award