Mirza Hadi Ruswa

Mirza Hadi Ruswa Biography

Mirza Hadi Ruswa was a celebrated writer and Urdu poet, best known for the work Umrao jaan, which has been adapted to many Indian films. His famed Urdu novel, Umrao Jan Ada was published in 1905 and is believed to be the first novel written in Urdu language. He belonged to Lucknow and his ancestors are from Persia, who arrived in India. He was well versed in many Indian and foreign languages including Latin, English and Greek. A writer of fiction, he has also contributed plays and poems to Urdu readers. He remained on the Nizam of Awadh's advisory board on language matters for years.

His father was a cavalry officer Mirza Muhammad Taqi. Mirza was born in Lucknow in 1857. Less is known about the life history of this great writer. After the death of his parents when he was 16, he was later brought up by his uncle. His elder brother Mirza Muhammed Zaki was a scholar. He too died at a young age. Ruswa’s education was completed at home and he did matriculation. Later he took Overseers diploma from Thomas Engineering School in Roorkee. He worked in railways, though he continued with his writings. Later he worked as a teacher at a local mission school and then as a lecturer at Christian College.

His first published work was a poem written on the romantic story of Laila Majnu. The poem published in 1887 received cold response from readers. Critics panned his work as vulgar. He published his first Afshai Raz in 1902. Umrao Jan Ada was published three years later in 1905 which was warmly received by readers. He passed away on 21 October 1931.

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Updated: September 05, 2014