Naseem Hijazi

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Naseem Hijazi
Hussain in 1976
Hussain in 1976
Born
Sharif Hussain

19 May 1914
Gurdaspur district, Punjab, British India
Died2 March 1996(1996-03-02) (aged 81)
Lahore, Pakistan
Occupation
  • Novelist
  • journalist
LanguageUrdu
NationalityPakistani
Notable awardsPride of Performance Award in 1992

Sharif Hussain (Urdu: شریف حسین), who used the pseudonym Nasīm Hijāzī (Urdu: نسیم حجازی, commonly transliterated as Naseem Hijazi or Nasim Hijazi) (19 May 1914 – 2 March 1996), was an Urdu novelist and journalist.[1][2][3][4]

Biography

Early life

Sharif Hussain was born on 19 May 1914 in an Arain family in the village of Sujaanpur, near the town of Dhariwal, in the Gurdaspur district of Punjab, in pre-partition India.[3]

Journalism

He began his career as a journalist with an Urdu-language newspaper, Daily Hayat, went on to work for Daily Zamana in Karachi,[2] and later took a post with Weekly Tanzeem in Quetta. During this time, he was also involved with the Pakistan Movement.[2]

After the partition of India in 1947, he migrated to Rawalpindi, Pakistan, and joined the newspaper Tameer. In 1953, he cofounded the newspaper Kohistan along with another local journalist; the paper later moved to Lahore.[2] On 7 November 1963, under Ayub Khan's federal regime, Kohistan was banned for three months for publishing the views of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, a political party opposed to Khan's regime, and Hussain was arrested.[2] He rejoined the paper in 1969, but a year later, following the 1970 general election, it was permanently shut down.[2]

Writing

Working as a novelist, Hussain wrote under the pseudonym Nasīm Hijāzī. He used historic settings as the background for his novels and based most of his work on Islamic history, demonstrating both the rise and fall of the Islamic Empire.[5] His novels Muhammad Bin Qasim, Aakhri Ma'raka, Qaisar-o Kisra, and Qafla-i Hijaz describe the era of Islam's rise to political, militaristic, economic, and educational power, while Yusuf Bin Tashfain, Shaheen,[6] Kaleesa Aur Aag, and Andheri Raat Ke Musafir describe the period of the Spanish Reconquista.[5]

In Akhri Chataan, he depicts the Central Asian conquests of Genghis Khan and his destruction of the Khwarizm Sultanate.[5][2]

Hussain wrote two sequential novels on the British Raj, and described the shortcomings of many nations within India after the collapse of the Mughal Empire. The novel Mu'azzam Ali starts a little before the Battle of Plassey. The lead character, Muazzam Ali, joins the fight against the British with the army of Siraj-ud-Daula. The story progresses as the character moves from one place in India to another in search of lost glory and freedom. He takes part in the third battle of Panipat and finally settles in Srirangapattana, which is growing in power under the towering personality of Haider Ali. The book ends around the death of Ali. The second book on the battles in the same area, Aur Talwar Toot Gayee (And the Sword Broke), is about Haider's son Sultan Tipu, where the same character is finding his dreams being fulfilled in Tipu's valiant endeavours against the British East India Company. The book culminates in Sultan Tipu's sad and untimely martyrdom.[5]

Hussain also wrote the novel Khaak aur Khoon, which details the violence caused by religious tensions between Muslims, Sikhs, and Hindus at the time of the partition of British India and the Independence of Pakistan in 1947.[5]

Although some historians have accused him of distorting historical facts in his novels,[5] he has influenced many readers inside and outside Pakistan.[4]

According to a major English-language newspaper of Pakistan, Dawn: "Hijazi was the archetypal historical novelist who moulded history according to the needs of the plots of his novels. In the tradition of 19th century European romantics, who created works of historical fiction to reinvigorate nationalist feelings, ..."[1]

Among the notable writers of his time, Ibn-e-Safi, Saadat Hasan Manto, and Shafiq-ur-Rehman were his popular contemporaries.[5]

Death

Hussain died on 2 March 1996, at the age of 81, in Rawalpindi.[7][3]

Publications

Title (Roman)Title (English)Title (Urdu)GenreHistorical Period/Events Number of Editions
Khaak aur Khoon[2]Dirt and Blood خاک اور خون NovelBritish Indian Empire, Partition of India in 1947, Creation of Pakistan 5
Yousuf bin TashfinYousuf Son of Tashfinیوسف بن تاشفینNovelAl-Andalus, First Taifas period, Almoravid Empire, Spanish Reconquista 7
Akhari Chattan[1][4][2]The Last Rockآخری چٹانNovelSiege of Jerusalem (1187) – Saladin captures Jerusalem from the Crusaders, Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia and Eastern Iran, Fall of Baghdad (End of Abbasid Caliphate) 7
Aakhari Maarka[4]The Last Battleآخری معرکہNovelInvasions of India by Mahmud of Ghazni, 3
Andheri Raat Ke Musafir[4][3]Travelers of the Dark Nightاندھیری رات کے مسافرNovelSpanish Reconquista, Fall of Granada[5] published in 1988 7
Kaleesa Aur Aag[4]Church and Fireکلیسا اور آگNovelSpanish Reconquista, Spanish Inquisition, expulsion of the Moriscos – (continued from the end of Andheri Raat Ke Musafir),[5] published in 1996 5
Muazzam AliMuazzam Aliمعظم علیNovelBritish Indian Empire, Battle of Plassey, Third Battle of Panipat, Anglo-Mysore Wars (Hyder Ali's Era), published in 1982 6
Aur Talwar Toot Gai[4][3]And the Sword Brokeاور تلوار ٹوٹ گئیNovelAnglo-Mysore Wars (Tipu Sultan's Era – continued from the end of 'Muazzam Ali'), published in 1964 4
Daastaan-e-Mujahid (1944)[5][4][3][2]A Soldier's Taleداستان مجاہدNovelArab Umayyad Caliphate – Muslim Conquest of Al-Andalus, Sindh, Central Asia, and Maghreb, published in 1964 5
Insaan Aur Devta[3]Man and Godانسان اور دیوتاNovelAncient India – brutality of upper castes towards lower castes in the Hindu religion 3
Muhammad Bin Qasim[3]Muhammad Bin Qasimمحمد بن قاسمNovelMuslim Conquest of Sindh,[5] published in 1950 6
Pakistan Se Diyare Haram Tak[3]From Pakistan to Sacred Landپاکستان سے دیار حرم تکTravelogue
Pardesi DarakhtThe Foreign Treeپردیسی درختNovelBritish Indian Empire, a few years before the partition of British India 2
Gumshuda Qaafley[4]The Lost Caravansگمشدہ قافلےNovelBritish Indian Empire, Partition of India, Creation of Pakistan – (continued from the end of Pardesi Darakht)
Pouras Ke Hathi [4][3]Poras's Elephants پورس کے ہاتھیDramaIndo-Pakistani War of 1965[5]
Qafla-e-Hijaz[3]The Caravan of Hijazقافلئہ حجازNovelRashidun Caliphate, Muslim conquest of Persia 2
Qaisar-o-Kisra[3]Caesar and Cyrusقیصر و کسر'یNovelByzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, Rise of Islam on the Arabian Peninsula, published in 1988 4
Saqafat Ki Talaash[3]In Search of Cultureثقافت کی تلاشDrama, humor 3
Shaheen[1][6][3][2]The FalconشاہینNovelSpanish Reconquista, Fall of Granada[5]

(English translation of Shaheen), published in 1987

 8
Sau Saal Baad[3]100 Years Laterسو سال بعدNovel, humor 3
Sufaid Jazeera[4][3]The White Islandسفید جزیرہNovel, humor 3

Selected adaptations

Awards and recognition

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Nadeem F. Paracha (31 May 2020). "SMOKERS' CORNER: SHAHEEN AND ERTUGRUL: REVISIONIST HISTORIES". Dawn newspaper. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Daud Malik (16 November 2013). "How a paper was shut down 50 years ago (Daily Kohistan)". Journalism Pakistan website. Archived from the original on 23 June 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 "Birth of Naseem Hijazi". Tareekh-e-Pakistan website. Archived from the original on 24 June 2025. Retrieved 16 October 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "URDU ADAB: Complete List of Novels Written by Naseem Hijazi (includes his profile)". urduadab4u.com website. 6 September 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Haroon Ashraf (13 June 2016). "Naseem Hijazi: the master of historic fiction". The Nation newspaper. Archived from the original on 27 July 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
  6. 1 2 "Shaheen (Volume-1)". Iqbal Cyber Library website. 12 March 2007. Archived from the original on 3 May 2007. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
  7. 1 2 Shahid Irfan (1 February 2017). "Naseem Hijazi: Historic and Islamic Novel Writer". theurduwriters.com website. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
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