Ismail Hossain Siraji

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Syed Ismail Hossain Siraji

Ghazi-e-Balqan
Native name
সৈয়দ ইসমাইল হোসেন সিরাজী
Born13 July 1880
Sirajganj, Pabna District, Bengal Presidency
DiedJuly 17, 1931(1931-07-17) (aged 51)
Bengal Presidency
LanguageBengali language
EducationJnanadayini Minor English School.
Islam in Bangladesh
History
Culture
Architecture
Literature
Music
Major figures
Communities
Ideology/schools of thought
Educational organizations
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Syed Ismail Hossain Siraji (

Section 144 against him 82 times in his lifetime.[4]

Early life

Syed Ismail Hossain was born on 13 July 1880 to a

Pashtun ancestry.[5] The suffix Siraji was added to the end of his pen name in honour of his home district.[1]

As a young boy, Ismail Hossain Siraji learnt Arabic and Persian in the local primary school, before going on to study at the Jnanadayini Minor English School. As his family was not well-off, Siraji could not afford to go to college. Nevertheless, Siraji studied Sanskrit grammar, literature and dictionaries at home.[6] He also read the works of Indian Muslim writers like Shibli Nomani and Muhammad Iqbal, whom he was greatly influenced by.[1]

Career

Siraji was a royal by day and writer by profession, who later immersed himself in the politics of Bengal and reawakening Bengali Muslim society, which had fallen behind as a result of colonial rule. Gaining a renowned reputation as an orator, Siraji advocated for Hindu–Muslim unity in addition to Muslim interests.[1] At the age of nineteen, he published Anal-Prabaha (1899), his first book of poetry. During the Partition of Bengal in 1905, he called on Muslims to join the anti-Partition agitation.[7] A second edition of his first book was published in 1908, and allegations of rebellion were charged against him. The book was banned by the government and he was subsequently imprisoned in March 1910 as the first South Asian poet to allegedly for independence against the British Raj.[4]

In 1912, Siraji joined a delegation providing medical aid to the

Civil Disobedience Movement.[9]

He was also active in many parties and organisations like the

Swarajya Party and Krishak Samiti. Siraji mobilised peasants of Sirajganj against the local zamindars (feudal lords).[1]

Works

Siraji was a regularly writer for The Kohinoor.[1] He also wrote for the pro-Ottoman monthly Islam Pracharak as well as Al-Eslam, Nabajug, Prabasi, Nabanoor, Saogat, Soltan and The Mohammadi. His works focused on awakening the disadvantaged Bengali Muslim society by glorifying the Islamic tradition, culture and heritage and advocating for both modern education and traditional Islamic learning.[citation needed]

Poems

  • Anal Prabaha (1899, then 1908)
  • Akangkha (1906)
  • Uchchhas (1907)
  • Udbodhan (1907)
  • Naba Uddipana (1907)
  • Spain Bijoy Kabya (1914)
  • Sangit Sanjibani (1916)
  • Premanjali (1916)
  • Mahashikhkha Mahakabya (vol-1 1969, vol-2 1971)

Novels

  • Ray Nandini (1915)
  • Tara Bai (1916)
  • Feroza Begum (1918)
  • Nooruddin (1919)
  • Ami Je Tomar (1917)

Travelogue

  • Turoshko Bhromon (1913)

Essays

  • Stri Shikkha (1907) - advocating for Muslim women's education
  • Sajati Prem (1916)

Death and legacy

Siraji died on 17 July 1931, in the Bengal Presidency, sixteen years before independence. On 5 March 1948, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy said:

He single-handedly set out on the hardest path of not allowing a dormant nation to be tarnished and awakening the sleeping nation to [its] past glory. When we were young, his Anal-Prabaha electrified [our]

bloodstream.[4]

He left behind a wife, five sons and two daughters. His

janaza was performed by Qazi Moulvi Matiur Rahman.[5] He influenced the next generation of Bengali Muslim writers such as Muhammad Enamul Haq and Sahityaratna Mohammad Najibar Rahman.[10] In 1967, Abdul Quadir edited Sirajir Rachanabali (Essays of Siraji).[11] Dr Kazi Abdul Mannan also did research on Siraji, publishing "Syed Ismail Hossen Siraji" in 1970.[12]

References

  1. ^
    OL 30677644M
    . Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  2. OL 30677644M
    . Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  3. ^ a b Shah, Mohammad (April–June 2003). "Terrorism in Colonial Bengal: The Muslim Response". Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society. 51 (2): 24.
  4. ^ a b c Mahal Anjana, Naznin. "ইসমাইল হোসেন সিরাজী জাতীয় জাগরণের অগ্নিমন্ত্রদাতা" [Ismail Hossain Siraji, the firebrand of national awakening] (in Bengali). Risingbd.com. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  5. ^ a b Ahmed, Hasnain (14 January 2021). ইসমাঈল হোসেন সিরাজী’র সাহিত্যে আরবী শব্দের প্রয়োগ ও ইসলামী ভাবধারা. Dhaka University International Repository (Thesis) (in Bengali). University of Dhaka. p. 16.
  6. ^ Kabir, Nurul (27 October 2013). "Colonialism, politics of language and partition of Bengal PART XXVII". New Age. Archived from the original on 15 February 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  7. OL 30677644M
    . Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  8. ^ Anwarul Karim (15 Sep 2018). "Syed Ismail Hossain Siraji: A Tribute". The Daily Star (Bangladesh).
  9. OL 30677644M
    . Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  10. OL 30677644M
    . Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  11. OL 30677644M
    . Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  12. OL 30677644M
    . Retrieved 14 April 2025.
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