Ilyas Sitapuri (30 October 1934 – 1 October 2003) was a Pakistani historical fiction writer. He is known for writing historical stories for

Sabrang Digest ''Sabrang Digest'' ( ur, ) was a Pakistani Urdu digest which was in circulation between 1970 and 2007 History and profile ''Sabrang Digest'' was founded on January 1, 1970 by ''Shakeel Adilzada''. The earliest editorial team included ''Shafique ...

and

Suspense Digest ''Suspense Digest'' is the largest circulated monthly Urdu language suspense magazine in Pakistan. The approximately 290 to 320 pages magazine is published by JDP ( Jasoosi Digest Publications). The first issue was launched in January 1972. The pub ...

. His popular stories and novels include, ''Kashmir Ki Kali'', ''Daastan-e-Hoor'', ''Bala Khanay Ki Dulhan'', and ''Sikandar-e-Azam''.

Early life

Sitapuri was born as ''Muhammad Ilyas Khan'' on 30 October 1934, in

Sitapur Sitapur is a city and a municipal board in Sitapur district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located 90 kilometres north of state capital, Lucknow. The traditional origin for the name is said to be by the King Vikramāditya from Lord ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. His family belonged to the

Yusufzai The Yusufzai or Yousafzai ( ps, یوسفزی, ), also referred to as the Esapzai (, ) are one of the largest tribes of ethnic Pashtuns. They are natively based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, to which they migrated to from Suliman mountains dur ...

tribe who had migrated to ''Sitapur'' during the era of

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

emperor

Shah Jahan Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram (5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan I (; ), was the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire, reigning from January 1628 until July 1658. Under his emperorship, the Mugh ...

. In 1952, he migrated to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and settled in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former ...

Writing career

''Sitapuri'' started his writing career with children stories in the late 1940s. At the age of 16, he penned his first novel, "''Shakar''". After coming to Pakistan, he struggled as a writer and worked for different publishing institutions. In 1970, he was introduced to ''Shakeel Adilzada'', the editor of Sabrang Digest. Then, he wrote his first historical story for the digest, ''Khan-e-Azam Ka Tohfa'' that was published in January 1971. He continued writing for Sabrang Digest until 1974. Then, in January 1975, he joined

and continuously wrote for it until his death. Sitapuri's stories and novels have also been published in

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

by the Shama Book Depot, (

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders wi ...

Writing style

''Sitapuri'' makes historical facts live with fictional characters and vivid scripts, so that the readers find themselves actually walking in the remote era. He intelligently portrays human instincts and psychology while writing about historical events.

Personal life

Sitapuri was married to

Zia Tasneem Bilgrami Zia or ZIA (also spelled Ziya, Ḍiya , Dia or Diya) may refer to: People * Zia (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** A romanization of the Wu (Shanghainese) pronunciation of the Chinese surname Xie (謝) * ...

who also used to write Islamic biographies in

. Both had 5 daughters and 3 sons. One of their daughters ''Zanobia'' is a performing artist and a journalist.

Death

Sitpuri died on 1 October 2003, in

References