Ahmed Ali

Ahmed Ali Biography

Ahmed Ali was an Indian novelist, poet, critic, translator, diplomat and scholar, born in Delhi. After Indian independence, he moved to Karachi in 1948. He was responsible for writing Twilight in Delhi. During the 1950s Ahmed Ali worked for the Pakistan Foreign Service, establishing embassies in Morocco and China. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of the modem Urdu short story. His most noted works are "Angare" (1934), Hamari Gali (1940), Qaid Khana (1942) and Maut Se Pehle (1945). He was a co-founder of All-India Progressive Writers' Movement.

Ali was born in Delhi in the year 1910. He started his literary career at a young age. He was educated at Aligarh and Lucknow universities. He graduated with first-class and first in the order of merit in both B.A. (Honours) and M.A. English (1931). The following year he started his career as a lecturer and has worked in several Indian universities including Lucknow and Allahabad, till 1946. He joined the Bengal Senior Educational Service as professor and later became the head of the English Department at Presidency College, Kolkata.  Ali was the BBC's Representative and Director in India during 1942–44. He was the British Council Visiting Professor to the University of China, appointed by British government during partition. In 1948 he returned to India, but was forced to stay in Pakistan. K.P.S. Menon, then India's Ambassador to China did not let him and unwillingly Ali moved to Karachi. He was never fond of the city. He joined the Pakistan Foreign Service in 1950.

While in India, he was one among the co-founders of All-India Progressive Writers' Movement. With the help of his friends, he published Angare in 1932 which was banned by British. Ali, along with Mahmud-uz-Zaffar formed League of Progressive Authors which was later expanded as All-India Progressive Writers' Association.

Published: N/A

Updated: March 20, 2014