Mohammad Kazem Al-Qureshi (; – 21 July 1951), known by his pen-name Kaykobad (), was a Bengali poet. Nikhil Bharat Sahitya Sangha titled him ''"Kavyabhusan"'', ''"Vidyabhusan"'' and ''"Sahityaratna"''.

Early life and education

Mohammad Kazem Al Qureshi was born in to a Bengali family of Iraqi Arab descent, descending from the

Quraysh The Quraysh () are an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founding prophet Muhammad was born. By ...

tribe. He was born in his maternal family home situated in the Purba Para of Agla in Nawabganj, Dacca district,

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

, as in tradition with other old Muslim families of Bengal. He was the son of Shahamatullah Al-Qureshi and Zarifunnesa Khatun. The Al-Qureshi family were based in the village of Gorail in

Faridpur district Faridpur District () is a district in south-central Bangladesh. It is a part of Dhaka Division. It is bounded by the Padma River to the northeast. The district was named for its headquarters, the city of Faridpur, Bangladesh, Faridpur, which its ...

. During the reign of

Shah Jahan Shah Jahan I, (Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram; 5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), also called Shah Jahan the Magnificent, was the Emperor of Hindustan from 1628 until his deposition in 1658. As the fifth Mughal emperor, his reign marked the ...

, his great great grandfather Hafizullah Al-Qureshi migrated from

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

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, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

and was appointed as the

Imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

of the Shahi Juma Masjid. This position passed down hereditarily until Kaykobad's grandfather Muhibbullah left India during the collapse of the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

and settled in the village of Gorail. Kaykobad's father, Shahamatullah Al-Qureshi was a ''

wakil Vekil or Vakil was the term used for the deputies and ''de facto'' prime ministers of the Mughal Emperor in Mughal administration. He was considered the most powerful person after Emperor in the Mughal Empire. ''Vakil'' was one of the highest posi ...

'' at the Dacca District Judge Court. Kaykobad's maternal family were

zamindars A zamindar in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semi-autonomous feudal lord of a ''zamindari'' (feudal estate). The term itself came into use during the Mughal Empire, when Persian was the official language; ''zamindar'' is th ...

, known as the Chowdhuries of Alga. His maternal grandfather Chowdhury Muhammad Daulat was a descendant of Shahbaz Khan Kamboh, a military general of Emperor

Akbar the Great Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor exp ...

. Kaykobad was eldest of his siblings. His younger brothers were civil surgeon Muhammad Abdul Bari Al-Qureshi and deputy magistrate Muhammad Abdul Khaliq Al-Qureshi. His younger sister Azizunnesa Khatun was the wife of a leading ''

mukhtar A mukhtar (; ) is a village chief in the Levant: "an old institution that goes back to the time of the Ottoman rule". According to Amir S. Cheshin, Bill Hutman and Avi Melamed, the mukhtar "for centuries were the central figures". They "were ...

'' of

Bikrampur Bikrampur (lit. City of Courage) was a historic region and a sub-division of Dhaka within the Bengal Presidency during the period of British India. Located along the banks of the Padma River (a major distributary of the Ganges), it was a sign ...

. Kaykobad attended

Pogose School Pogose Laboratory School and College, IER, Jagannath University () was established in Dhaka on June 12, 1848, as the first private school of the country by Armenians, Armenian merchant Nicholas Pogose, who was an ex-student of Dhaka Collegiate Sch ...

and St Gregory's School. He then went to Dhaka Madrasah and left the madrasah before the Entrance Examination without attending the examination.

Career

Kaykobad's poem ''"Birahabilap"'' was published in 1870, when he was about 13. He is most notable for the long narrative poem Mahashmashan. The poem narrates the story of the

Third Battle of Panipat The Third Battle of Panipat took place on 14 January 1761 between the Maratha Empire and the invading army of the Durrani Empire. The battle took place in and around the city of Panipat, approximately north of Delhi. The Afghan (ethnonym), Af ...

of 1761 and the defeat of the

Maratha The Marathi people (; Marathi: , ''Marāṭhī lōk'') or Marathis (Marathi: मराठी, ''Marāṭhī'') are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are native to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-A ...

s to

Ahmed Shah Abdali Ahmad Shāh Durrānī (; ; – 4 June 1772), also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī (), was the first ruler and founder of the Durrani Empire. He is often regarded as the founder of modern Afghanistan. Throughout his reign, Ahmad Shah fought ov ...

. The poem was inspired by poet Nabinchandra Sen's ''"Palashir Juddha"''. His other notable works are ''"Kusumkanan"'', ''"Asrumala"'', ''"Shibmandir"'', ''"Maharram Sharif"'', ''"Gitikavya" and "Azan"''

Personal life

Kaykobad married Taherunnesa Khatun, the eldest daughter of his maternal uncle Chowdhury Hedayet Ali.

Death

Kaykobad died of

bronchopneumonia Bronchopneumonia is a subtype of pneumonia. It is the acute inflammation of the Bronchus, bronchi, accompanied by inflamed patches in the nearby lobules of the lungs. citing: Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2014 ...

at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on 21 July 1951.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaykobad 1850s births 1951 deaths Bengali male poets Burials at Azimpur Graveyard St. Gregory's High School and College alumni Pogose School alumni People from Nagarkanda Upazila Poets from British India People from the Bengal Presidency Quraysh Bangladeshi people of Iraqi descent Bangladeshi people of Arab descent