Sheikh Fazlul Karim (1882–1936; ), also known by his

daak naam Personal names in Bengali-speaking countries consist of one or several given names and a surname. The given is usually gender-specific. A name is usually cited in the " Western order" of "given name, surname", though the practise is neither a ...

Mona (), was a Bengali poet and writer. He was born in

Lalmonirhat Lalmonirhat () is a town and district headquarters of Lalmonirhat District in the Rangpur Division, division of Rangpur, Bangladesh. Demographics According to the 2022 Bangladeshi census, 2022 Bangladesh census, Lalmonirhat city had a populat ...

Early life and education

Fazlul Karim was born on 30

Choitro Choitro () is the last month of the Bengali calendar. It falls from mid-March to mid-April and is the last month of Spring ( ''Bôsôntô''). The name of the month is derived from the star Chitra ( ''Chitra''). Culture Traditionally this mon ...

1289 BS (1882) to the

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims (; ) 'Mussalman'' also used in this work./ref> are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising over 70% of the global Bengali population, they are the second-largest ...

Sardar Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar (, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royal family, royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other Aristocracy (class), aristocrats. It ha ...

s in the village of Kakina Bazar which was then located in

Rangpur district Rangpur District () is a district in northern Bengal, It is a part of Rangpur Division, Bangladesh. Geography Under the Rangpur Division (one of eight divisions) composed of eight districts of northern Bangladesh, the District of Rangpur is bo ...

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 ...

. He was the second of the five sons and three daughters of Amirullah Sardar and Kokila Bibi.

Prothom Alo ''Prothom Alo'' () is a Bengali language, Bengali-language daily newspaper in Bangladesh, published from Dhaka. It is one of the largest circulated newspaper in Bangladesh. According to the National Media Survey of 2018, conducted by Kantar MRB ...

, pp. 11, "খোলা পাতা", জন্মদিন, 13 April 2008 Fazlul Karim was interested in poetry from a young age, and it has been said that there were times when he would escape to go to school whilst only three to four years of age. When he turned five, he joined the Kakina School. At the age of eleven, he published his first handwritten book of poetry, ''Shorol Poddo Bikash''. He then went on to enroll at the

Rangpur Zilla School Rangpur Zilla School (Rangpur District School) is a school in Rangpur City, Bangladesh. It is one of the earliest schools established in Bengal. History The school was established in 1832 as Rangpur Zamindar School, by the local Zaminders or l ...

for class six but returned to Kakina School instead where he completed his minor. He was then sent to Rangpur again, but returned home once again.

Personal life

Fazlul Karim married Basirunnesa Khatun when he was 13 years old.

Career

Karim wrote his first book at the age of eleven, entitled ''Sarol Paddo Bikash''. From this point on, the remainder of his life was devoted to literature. He was famous for both his prose and poetry. He edited the monthly BASANA. Karim's writing is marked by a profound simplicity. He worked for

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

friendship. His literary works have been included in school curriculum, in both secondary and higher secondary

Bengali literature Bengali literature () denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language and which covers Old Bengali, Middle Bengali and Modern Bengali with the changes through the passage of time and dynastic patronization or non-patronization. Bengali h ...

in Bangladesh.

Works

* ''Sarol Paddo Bikash'' * ''Poritran Kabbo'' * ''Chintar Chash'' * ''Path o Patheyo'' * ''Gatha'' * ''Voktipushpanjoli''

References

* Helal M. Abu Taher: ''Muslim Sahitya Prativa'' published by Islamic Foundation, Dhaka, 1980. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fazlul Karim, Sheikh 1882 births 1936 deaths 19th-century Bengali poets Bengali-language poets Bengali male poets 20th-century Bengali poets 19th-century Indian male writers 20th-century Indian male writers People from Lalmonirhat District Bengali Muslims