Umrao Tariq (born ''Syed Tariq Ali'': 1932 in Fatehpur, Haswa,

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

– 8 December 2011) was an acclaimed

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

writer based in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

, Pakistan. He normally wrote short stories (Afsanay), but wrote a novel and other works of prose as well.

Biography

Umrao Tariq was born in 1932 in a landed family in Fatehpur, near

Kanpur Kanpur (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), originally named Kanhapur and formerly anglicized as Cawnpore, is the second largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow. It was the primary ...

but spent most of his childhood in Shahpur. After the independence of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, Umrao Tariq moved to

Hyderabad Deccan Hyderabad State () was a princely state in the Deccan region of south-central India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and the ...

, then an independent state surrounded by

. After Hyderabad was attacked by the Indian Army in 1948 and annexed in the Union of India, Umrao Tariq moved to

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

/Dacca (presently in

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

). It was in

that Umrao Tariq started writing

screenplays for theater. In 1952 Umrao Tariq moved to

and came under the tutelage of Baba-e-Urdu Maulvi Abdul-Haq and noted critic

Farman Fatehpuri Farman Fatehpuri () (born Syed Dildar Ali (), 26 January 1926 – 3 August 2013) was an Urdu linguist, researcher, writer, critic and scholar of Pakistan. He is widely regarded as a leading authority on the life and work of Ghalib. He w ...

(ex-Chairman of Urdu Department of the

University of Karachi The University of Karachi (; informally Karachi University, KU, or UoK) is a public research university located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Established in June 1951 by an act of Parliament and as a successor to the University of Sindh (which is ...

). Umrao Tariq worked for the

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

Police and retired in 1992, after reaching the post of Deputy Inspector General (DIG) in the Sindh Police. After his retirement from the Sindh Police Umrao Tariq practiced law for a short time. He also worked as Deputy Secretary of

Anjuman Taraqqi-e-Urdu Anjuman-i Taraqqi-i Urdu (; ''Organisation for the Progress of Urdu'') was an organisation working for the promotion and dissemination of Urdu language, literature and culture in British India. After the partition of India, the separated orga ...

(founded by

Maulvi Abdul Haq Maulvi Abdul Haq () (20 April 1870 – 16 August 1961) was a scholar and a linguist of the Urdu language, who some call ''Baba-e-Urdu'' (, ''Father of Urdu''). The main credit for the development and promotion of Urdu language in 20th centu ...

) in

. Umrao Tariq died of hematologic cancer on 8 December 2011—he left behind a wife and six children.

Writing career

Umrao Tariq started writing at an early age, but first got published in 1954. His first collection of short stories published in 1979 under the title of ''Badan ka Tawa''f won the Adamjee Literary Award. Following are his publications:
(collection of short stories)
(collection of short stories)
] (collection of short stories)
(novel)
(sketches and impressions of contemporary Urdu writers)
(sketches and impressions of contemporary Urdu writers)
(a three volume anthology of contemporary Urdu writers' essays on Farman Fatehpur's work, compiled by Umrao Tariq) An M.Phil. thesis on Umrao Tariq, titled ''Umrao Tariq, shakhsiyat wa funn wa'' was published in 1997.

References

External links

Umrao Tariq's interview in the Daily Dawn
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tariq, Umrao 1932 births Pakistani writers 2011 deaths Muhajir people Recipients of the Adamjee Literary Award