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{{Short description|Indian poet (1846–1921)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox writer 
| name = Akbar Allahabadi
| image = Akbar Allahabadi.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Akbar Allahabadi
| pseudonym =
| birth_name = Syed Akbar Hussain<ref name=urdupoetry/>
| birth_date = {{birth date|1846|11|16|df=y}}<ref name=urdupoetry>{{cite web|url=http://www.urdupoetry.com/akbar.html|date=22 November 2001 |title= Akbar Allahabadi|website=urdupoetry.com|access-date=15 April 2018}}</ref>
| birth_place = [[Bara, Allahabad|Bara]], [[North-Western Provinces]], [[Company rule in India|British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1921|9|9|1846|11|16|df=y}}<ref name=urdupoetry/>
| death_place = [[Allahabad]], [[United Provinces of British India|United Provinces]], [[British Raj|British India]]
| occupation = [[Judge]]
| nationality = [[British Raj|British Indian]]
| period =
| genre = [[Ghazal]], [[Masnavi]], Qita, [[Rubaʿi]] Nazam
| subject = Love, philosophy, religion, social reform, satire, British rule
| movement =
| signature =
| website =
| native_name = اکبر الہ آبادی
}}
'''Syed Akbar Hussain''' (16 November, 1846–9 September, 1921), popularly known as '''Akbar Allahabadi''' was an Indian poet, regarded as one of the greatest [[satire|satirist]]s in [[Urdu literature]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Nationalism, democracy and development : state and politics in India|editor=Bose, Sugata|editor2=Jalal, Ayesha|date=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0195644425|oclc=38764810}}</ref> The most popular of Akbar's verse poked fun at the cultural dilemma posed by the onslaught of [[Western culture]]. His ire was mostly directed towards the natives he considered to be outlandishly pseudo-western. In the Indian community he became known as 'Lisanu'l-Asr' ({{lit|Poet of the age}}).<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Dihalvi |first=Muhammad Rahim |title=Hazrat-i-Akbar ke Shab-o-Roz |pages=36}}</ref>

==Life and career==

=== Early life ===
Akbar Allahabadi was born in the town of [[Bara, Allahabad|Bara]], in the district of [[Allahabad]], to a family of [[Sayyid]]s who originally came to [[India]] from [[Persia]] as soldiers.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Akbar Allahabadi|last=Allahabadi|first=Talib|location=Allahabad|pages=17–394}}</ref> His grandfather, Sayyid Fazl-i-Mohmmad, had [[Shia]] leanings but his three sons, Wasil 'Ali, Waris 'Ali and Tafazzul Husain were all [[Sunni]]s. Akbar's father, Moulvi Tafazzul Hussain served as a [[Naib Tehsildar]] to his brother Waris 'Ali, who was the Tehsildar, and his mother belonged to a [[zamindar]] family of [[Jagdishpur]] village from the [[Gaya district]] in [[Bihar]].<ref name=":0" />

Akbar received his early education in Arabic, Persian and Mathematics from his father at home. In 1855, his mother moved to [[Allahabad]] and settled in Mohalla Chowk. Akbar was admitted to the Jamuna Mission School for an English education in 1856, but he abandoned his school education in 1859. However, he continued to study English and read widely.<ref name=":0" />

=== Career ===
On leaving school, Akbar joined the Railway Engineering Department as a clerk. While in service, he passed the exam qualifying him as a [[barrister]] and subsequently worked as a [[tehsildar]] and a munsif, and ultimately, as a [[Sessions Court|sessions court]] [[judge]]. To commemorate his work in judicial services, he was bestowed with the title, Khan Bahadur.<ref name=":0" />

=== Marriage ===
Akbar's first marriage was at the age of 15 and arranged by his parents. His wife's name was Khadija Khatun, who was four years older than him. This was not a successful marriage and Akbar took no pleasure in it despite having two sons with Khadija named Nazir Husain and Abid Husain. After divorcing their mother, Akbar did not pay attention to his sons and they had to make do with a sum of forty rupees a month, which he gave as alimony. Both of these sons due to lack of support from their father, did not fare well in life and not much is known about them.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Badayuni |first=Qamru'd-Din Ahmad |title=Bazm-i-Akbar |publisher=Anjuman-i-Taraqqi-i-Urdu, Delhi |year=1944 |edition=23-24}}</ref>

His second marriage to Fatima Sughra (died 1910) was more successful and brought him happiness. Together they had two sons, Ishrat Husain and Hashim Husain. Ishrat was sent to England for 3 years to become a lawyer but did not return even after 6 years. He obtained his [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree from [[Cambridge University]] with difficulty and never sat for the bar examinations. Instead he fancied himself a person of the arts and applied to be a playwright and an actor without any success. He attributed this to the prejudice against Indians in England of that time. He became too Anglicised in his ways of thinking and living for Akbar's liking. Later in life, Ishrat became a collector.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chaghatai |first=Mohammad Ikram |title=Dr. Daud Rahbar - His English Writings |publisher=Pakistan Writers Cooperative Society |year=2015}}</ref>

The younger son Hashim pleased his father and stayed with him until his death in 1921.

=== Death ===
Akbar retired in 1905 and lived on in [[Allahabad]]. He died of a fever on September 9, 1921 and was buried in Himmatganj locality of [[Allahabad]].<ref name=":0" />

==Legacy==
"Hungama Hai Kyon Barpa" is a popular ghazal, written by Akbar Allahabadi and most prominently sung by [[Ghulam Ali (singer)|Ghulam Ali]]. Verses from his poetry also found their way into the famous qawwali “Tum ik Gorakh Dhanda Ho” by [[Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan]]. A number of Akbar Allahabadi's poems were used in the 2015 Hindi film [[Masaan]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lakhani |first1=Somya |title=Secret Love: How Hindi poetry has become 'cool' |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/books/secret-love-hindi-kavita-youtube-channel-hindi-literature-3024758/ |access-date=17 April 2019 |publisher=The Indian Express |date=11 September 2016}}</ref> Explaining this as a conscious tribute, the film's lyrics writer [[Varun Grover (writer)|Varun Grover]] explained that he wanted to show one of the female leads Shaalu (played by Shweta Tripathi) as a person whose hobby is to read Hindi poetry and [[Urdu poetry|Shayri]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Hindi Kavita - Kuch ban jaate hain - Uday Prakash: Varun Grover in Hindi Studio with Manish Gupta |publisher=Hindi Kavita |date=25 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Pal |first1=Sanchari |title=Meet the NRI Who Returned To India To Make Millions Fall in Love with Hindi Poetry |url=https://www.thebetterindia.com/68222/manish-gupta-youtube-hindi-poetry/ |website=www.thebetterindia.com |date=14 September 2016 |publisher=The Better India |access-date=17 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Grover |first1=Varun |title=How the magic of Dushyant Kumar's poetry inspired this Bollywood lyricist |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/how-the-magic-of-dushyant-kumars-poetry-inspired-this-bollywood-lyricist/ |access-date=17 April 2019 |publisher=The Indian Express}}</ref>

==References==

{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.kavitakosh.org/kk/index.php?title=%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%AC%E0%A4%B0_%E0%A4%87%E0%A4%B2%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AC%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%80 Akbar Allahabadi at Kavita Kosh] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120603001003/http://www.kavitakosh.org/kk/index.php?title=%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%AC%E0%A4%B0_%E0%A4%87%E0%A4%B2%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AC%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%80 |date=3 June 2012 }} '''(Hindi)'''
*[http://www.urdupoetry.com/akbar.html A few of Akbar Allahabadi's ghazals]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allahabadi, Akbar}}
[[Category:Indian male poets]]
[[Category:Urdu-language Indian poets]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian Muslims]]
[[Category:Writers from Prayagraj]]
[[Category:1846 births]]
[[Category:1921 deaths]]
[[Category:Urdu-language writers from British India]]
[[Category:20th-century Urdu-language writers]]
[[Category:19th-century Urdu-language writers]]
[[Category:Urdu-language religious writers]]
[[Category:Urdu-language letter writers]]
[[Category:Urdu-language theologians]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:Poets from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male writers]]

Akbar Allahabadi - Revision history

Veirdo at 22:51, 30 March 2026