WillyFdt599330 at 03:56, 30 October 2025

2025-10-30T03:56:20Z

New page

{{Short description|Indian poet (1899–1974)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2025}}
{{Infobox writer
| honorific_prefix = Najm ash-Shu'ara, Shayer-e-Orissa
| name = Amjad Najmi
| image =
| image_size =
| image_upright =
| alt =
| caption =
| pseudonym =
| birth_name = Shaikh Muhammad Amjad
|birth_date = 29 October 1899
| birth_place = Buxi Bazar, [[Cuttack]], [[Bengal Presidency]], British India
|death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1974|02|01|1899|10|29}}
|death_place = Cuttack, [[Orissa]] {{small|(now Odisha)}}, [[India]]
| occupation = poet, [[dramatist]], writer
|genre = [[Poetry]], [[Drama]]
| language = [[Odia language|Odia]], [[Urdu]], [[Persian language|Persian]]
| citizenship = {{flag|British India}} {{flag|India}}
|education = Metriculation
| alma_mater = Peary Mohan Academy, Cuttack
| period = [[Progressive Writers' Movement]], Jadīdiyat
| movement =
| notable_works = ''Tulu-e-Sahar''<br />''Joo-e-Kahkashan''
| awards =
| years_active = 1916–1974<ref name="link">{{cite journal|last=Sanu|first=Ratho|title=Can you mention a few names of 19th- and early-20th-century Urdu poets from Cuttack?|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6DLYEAAAQBAJ&dq=amjad+najmi&pg=PA14|journal=My City Links|volume=11|issue=6|date=September 2023|location=Bhubaneswar|page=14|language=en}}</ref>
}}
'''Amjad Najmi''' (1899–1974) was an Indian poet, dramatist, prose writer, and nationalist. He has contributed to the development of the Urdu language in [[Odisha]] and [[Andhra Pradesh]].

== Early life and education ==
Amjad Najmi was born on 29 October 1899, in Buxi Bazar, [[Cuttack]].{{sfn|Nazish|2018|p=72}}{{sfn|Karamat|2017|p=29}} His father, Muhammad Yousuf Yousuf (d. 1924), was an Urdu poet, and besides Urdu, he also had good skills in Odia, Persian, and English.{{sfn|Karamat|2017|p=29}}

He received his early education at Madrasa Islamia Buxi Bazar, Cuttack, and the Roman Catholic Middle English School. The head of the Roman Catholic school and an Odia poet, Pandit Shyam Ghan Narayan, tutored him in Odia poetry when he was only thirteen to fourteen years old.{{sfn|Karamat|2017|pp=94–95}}

In 1916, he was admitted to the Peary Mohan Academy, Cuttack, for his 10th examination, where he began to study Urdu and Persian regularly and, at the same time, trained for a year in poetry with Habibullah Tasnim Jaipuri, an imam of Paltan Masjid, Buxi Bazar, Cuttack.{{sfn|Karamat|2017|pp=95–95}}{{sfn|Nazish|2018|p=72}}

After Habibullah Tasnim Jaipuri moved to Rangoon, keeping his name hidden, he started taking corrections from his father, Muhammad Yusuf Yusuf, and at the same time, he also benefited a little from [[Rahmat Ali Rahmat]] (d. 1963), father of [[Karamat Ali Karamat]].{{sfn|Karamat|2017|pp=29–30, 96–97}} He was influenced by the poet of the East, [[Muhammad Iqbal]], on the basis of which he wanted to seek reform from Iqbal through correspondence. But Iqbal avoided him as usual and advised him to study the collections of the senior poets. Later, when he developed a passion for poetry in Persian, he consulted Shamsuddin Shams Muneeri, when Muneeri was residing in Cuttack as a law lecturer at [[Ravenshaw College]].{{sfn|Karamat|2017|pp=29–30}}<ref name="malik"></ref>

== Career ==
When he was [[Matriculation|matriculating]], the movements of [[Khilafat movement|Khilafat]] and [[Non-cooperation movement (1919–1922)|non-cooperation]] spread all over India; students were saying goodbye to the school and college, and he also joined the same movement. He used to recite his poems and others' poems in programs.{{sfn|Karamat|2017|pp=29–30, 98}}<ref name="Nazish">{{cite book|last=Nazish|first=Motiullah|title=Odisha Ke Mujaahideen e Aazadi|edition=1st|date=2023|pages=170–176|publisher=Odisha Urdu Academy|location=Sanskruti Bhawan, BJB Nagar, [[Bhubaneswar]]|language=ur}}</ref>{{sfn|Nazish|2018|p=85}}

He also met [[Mahatma Gandhi]] at the time,{{sfn|Karamat|2017|pp=29–30, 98}}<ref name="Nazish"></ref>{{sfn|Nazish|2018|p=85}} when Gandhi first visited [[Bihar and Orissa Province|Orissa]] (now [[Odisha]]) in March 1921.<ref>{{cite web|title=Gandhi visited Odisha 8 times from 1921 to 1946|url=https://www.dailypioneer.com/2021/state-editions/gandhi-visited-odisha-8-times-from-1921-to-1946.html|date=3 October 2021|access-date=9 December 2023|work=[[The Pioneer (India)]]|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Gandhi's First Visit to Odisha, 1921|url=https://indianculture.gov.in/node/2837617|publisher=Indian Culture Portal|access-date=9 December 2023|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Pradhan|first=Hemanta|title=Mahatma Gandhi Visited Odisha Eight Times|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhubaneswar/mahatma-gandhi-visited-odisha-eight-times/articleshow/71408753.cms|work=[[The Times of India]]|date=2 October 2019|access-date=9 December 2023|language=en}}</ref> At the same time, Najmi was jailed, and when he was released, his father sent him to his uncle in [[Ranchi]]. After a year, when he returned to Cuttack, he got a job on the railways there, and then he worked in 1922. In the same year, he founded ''Bazm-e-Adab'' in Cuttack with some regional and non-regional poets, whose first Mushaira was held on 1 July 1923, in Madrasa Sultania, Cuttack.{{sfn|Karamat|2017|pp=29–30, 98–99}}<ref name="Behera">{{cite book |last1=Behera |first1=Karuna Sagar |last2=Paṭṭanāẏaka |first2=Jagannātha | last3=Das|first3=H. C. |title=Cuttack, One Thousand Years |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JRVuAAAAMAAJ&q=amjad+najmi|date=1990|publisher=Cuttack City Millennium Celebrations Committee, The Universe |location=[[Cuttack]] |page=83 |access-date= 8 December 2023|language=en}}</ref>

In 1924, he was stationed at Guru Jatia (now [[Radhakishorepur railway station|Gurudijhatia]]), Cuttack, and in 1926, at [[Rajathgarh Junction railway station|Rajathgarh]], Cuttack. At that time, in 1928, he founded the ''Young Muslim Club'' in Jatni, Khorda, under which plays were performed. In 1938, he moved to [[Waltair railway division|Waltair]], [[Visakhapatnam]], so he established ''Bazm-e-Adab'' there with the support of some friends, of which he was also president from 1941 to 1954 and which was named later the ''All-Andhra Urdu Majlis'', which still continues the sense for poetry and literature among the Urdu-speaking classes there.{{sfn|Karamat|2017|pp=30, 38, 100}}<ref name="Behera"></ref>

After retiring from his work, Najmi returned to Cuttack in October 1954. He was asked to take on the role of president of Bazm-e-Adab, Cuttack, which he did, serving in that capacity until he fell out with the Majlis administration. He gave up his position as president.{{sfn|Newalpuri|2001|p=423}} He was a follower of [[Muhammad Iqbal]] in poetry and [[Agha Hashar Kashmiri]] in drama.{{sfn|Karamat|2017|p=100}}

In 1954, he retired from service on a pension; the pension was meager. Therefore, the [[government of Odisha]] issued him a literary stipend of Rs. 50 per month. At the same time, he also established a school named ''City Commercial School'' to teach [[typing]] and [[stenography]], earned some income from this, and also earned a living by stone carving.{{sfn|Karamat|2017|pp=30–31}}

From 1965 to 1973, he was the editor-in-chief of the monthly [[Shakhsar]].{{sfn|Newalpuri|2001|pp=281–284}}<ref name="Farooqi">{{cite journal|editor1-last=Faruqi|editor1-first=Shamsur Rahman|editor2-last=Shaheen|editor2-first=Aqeela|editor1-link=Shamsur Rahman Faruqi|title=Akhbār o Azkār|url=https://www.rekhta.org/ebooks/detail/shab-khoon-shumara-number-089-shamsur-rahman-faruqi-magazines|journal=[[Shabkhoon]]|volume=8|issue=89|date=March–April 1974|publisher=Asrar Karimi Press|location=[[Allahabad]]|page=80|language=ur}}</ref><ref name="Sheereen">{{cite journal|last=Faruqi|first=Ziyaul Hasan|title=Amjad Najmi's artistic consciousness: Sheereen Basit|url=https://www.rekhta.org/ebooks/jamia-delhi-shumara-number-012-ziyaul-hasan-faruqi-magazines-2|journal=Jamia|volume=82|issue=12|date=December 1985|publisher=Abdul Latif Azmi|location=Delhi|page=51|language=ur}}</ref> Also, he compiled his father Muhammad Yousuf Yousuf's poetry collection, ''Nakhat-i-Bagh-i-Yousuf'', which is still unpublished.{{sfn|Newalpuri|2001|p=119}}

=== Poetry and drama ===
Najmi first started writing poetry in Odiya during her school days, inspired by [[Radhanath Ray]] and [[Madhusudan Rao]].{{sfn|Karamat|2017|pp=94–95}} In 1916, he started formal ghazal poetry, and by 1920, he had mastered Urdu, Odia, Persian, and English. He had a strong grasp of these four languages and mastered poetry in Persian. However, according to Karamat Ali Karamat, the ghazals written from 1916 to 1920 were excluded from Najmi's collection, so don't be safe.{{sfn|Karamat|2017|p=42}}

In 1961 and 1969, his two poetry collections were published under the names Tulu-e-Sahar and Joo-e-Kahkashan, respectively, which were compiled by Karamat Ali Karamat.{{sfn|Newalpuri|2001|p=447}}{{sfn|Karamat|2017|p=31}}<ref name="Nigar">{{cite journal|editor-last=Fatehpuri|editor-first=Niyaz|editor-link=Niaz Fatehpuri|title=Tulu'-e-Seher|url=https://www.rekhta.org/ebooks/nigar-lucknow-shumara-number-004-niyaz-fatehpuri-magazines-56|journal=Nigar|volume=40|issue=4|date=April 1961|publisher=United India Press|location=[[Lucknow]]|pages=52–53|language=ur}}</ref><ref name="Tahreek">{{cite journal|editor-last=Mittal|editor-first=Gopal|editor-link=Gopal Mittal|title=Joy-e-Kahkashan|url=https://www.rekhta.org/ebooks/tahreek-shumara-number-007-gopal-mittal-magazines-25lang=ur|journal=Tahreek|volume=19|issue=7|date=October 1971|publisher=Daftar-e-Tahreek|location=[[Delhi]]|page=47|language=ur}}</ref> In 2017, Karamat published Najmi's published and unpublished poetry under the name ''Kulliyat-i-Amjad Najmi''.{{sfn|ar-Rahman|Jami|2022|p=42}}{{sfn|Karamat|2017|p=41}}

In 1916–17, Najmi turned to acting and playwriting inspired by [[Agha Hashar Kashmiri|Agha Hashar]]'s style,{{sfn|Karamat|1963|p=168}}{{sfn|Karamat|2017|p=68}}{{sfn|Newalpuri|2001|p=238}} appeared on the formal stage in 1921, and by 1928 began directing [[Play (theatre)|plays]].{{sfn|Karamat|2017|p=68}}

From 1928 to 1938, he was so busy with dramas that he started neglecting poetry to some extent. He has played a major role in beautifying, refining, and popularizing the Urdu stage in Odisha.{{sfn|Karamat|2017|p=68}} He wrote four plays: Badnaseeb Badshah, Kaamyaab Talwar, Kishore Kanta, and Insaf Ka Koda. These plays are still unpublished.{{sfn|Karamat|2017|p=30}}{{sfn|Nazish|2018|p=237}}

=== Correspondence ===
According to Hafizullah Nawalpuri's statement, another aspect of Najmi's [[Prose|prose writing]] and literary importance is his correspondence. His letters written on various topics were compiled by him in 1966 under the name Sarir-e-Qalam and have not been published until now. However, many of his letters have been published in the monthly [[Shakhsar]], Cuttack, and in Rahnuma-e-Taleem, Delhi.{{sfn|Newalpuri|2001|p=209}}{{sfn|Nazish|2018|p=84}}

== Honors and positions ==
In his memory, the ''Najmi Academy'', a literary and welfare-registered institution in Odisha, has been founded, through which the ''Najmi Award'' is given to poets and writers of various languages besides Urdu each year. In his honor, a library is also named ''Najmi Library''.{{sfn|Newalpuri|2001|pp=181, 440}}{{sfn|Karamat|2017|p=40}}

In 1988, Nuruddin Ahmed wrote a book in English called ''The Brightest Heaven'' on Najmi's thought and art,{{sfn|Karamat|2017|p=41}}<ref name="Heritage">{{cite book|last=Mohanty|first=Gopinath|author-link=Gopinath Mohanty|title=Cultural Heritage of [Orissa] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e7ZKAQAAIAAJ&q=Amjad+Najmi|date=2002 |edition=|publisher=State Level Vyasakabi Fakir Mohan Smruti Samsad|location=[[Bhubaneswar]] |page=31|isbn=9788190276153 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="LOC">{{cite book|last=|first=|title=Accessions List, South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E0VMAQAAIAAJ&q=Amjad+Najmi|publisher=[[Library of Congress]]|location=New Delhi|date=1992|volume=12|page=551|language=en}}</ref> and in addition, Ahmed, under the supervision of Muhammad Qamaruddin Khan, wrote a thesis in English on Western influence on the poetry of Iqbal and Najmi and obtained a doctorate degree from [[Utkal University]]. Similarly, Masihullah Masih completed his doctorate by writing a thesis titled ''The Life and Work of Amjad Najmi'' in 1980, under the supervision of Prof. Samiul Haq.<ref name="Heritage"></ref>{{sfn|Karamat|2017|p=41}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Shanker|first1=Laxmi|last2=Ḥusain|first2=Sayyid Ḥāmid|title=National Register of Doctoral Dissertations Accepted & in Progress in Social Sciences and Humanities in Indian Universities, Humanities: Urdu, Persian & Arabic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lOg4AAAAIAAJ&q=amjad+najmi|date=1981|publisher=Publications Division, Council of Oriental Research|location=[[Bhopal]]|page=52|language=en}}</ref>

Shaikh Quraish had published a special issue of his journal, Sada-e-Orissa, Najmi Number.{{sfn|Karamat|2017|p=41}}<ref>{{cite journal|last=Anjum|first=Khaliq|title=Urdu journalism in Orissa|url=https://archive.org/details/orissa-mein-urdu-sahafat-by-hafeezullah-newalpuri|journal=Urdu Adab Quarterly|year=1986|issue=3–4|publisher=[[Anjuman-i Taraqqi-i Urdu#India|Anjuman-i Taraqqi-i Urdu Hind]]|location=New Delhi|pages=126–127|language=}}</ref> Also, Najmi's poetry collection Joo-e-Kahkashan is included in the syllabus of MA (Urdu) at the Universities of Odisha and Fazil-e-Urdu at the Odisha State Board of Madrasa Education (OSBME).{{sfn|Karamat|2017|p=41}}

In 1954, Najmi was honored with the title of ''Najm ash-Shu'ara'' ({{translation|Star of Poets}}) by the All Andhra Urdu Majlis at the annual conference held at [[Machilipatnam]] in recognition of his poetic excellence and his literary services.{{sfn|Karamat|1963|p=168}} Shamsuddin Shams Muneeri, in his poetry collection Gulbang, vouched for a stanza of Najmi and mentioned him as ''Shayer-e-Orissa'' ({{translation|the poet of Orissa}}) in the margin.{{sfn|Karamat|2017|p=42}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Imam|first=Mazhar|author-link=Mazhar Imam|title=Tnqīd Numa|url=https://www.rekhta.org/ebooks/detail/tanqeed-numa-mazhar-imam-ebooks|date=2004|publisher=Urdu Akademi|location=Delhi|page=141|language=ur}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Muneeri|first=Shams|title=Gulbang|url=https://www.rekhta.org/ebooks/gulbang-shams-muneeri-ebooks|publisher=Azad Press|location=[[Patna]]|date=|page=79|language=ur}}</ref>

== Death ==
Amjad Najmi died on 1 February 1974, and was buried at Qadam-e-Rasool Graveyard in Dargah Bazar, Cuttack.{{sfn|Karamat|2017|p=31}}{{sfn|Nazish|2018|p=72}}<ref name="malik">{{cite journal|last=Ram|first=Malik|author-link=Malik Ram|title=Deaths: Amjad Najmi, Muhammad Amjad, Shaikh|url=https://www.rekhta.org/ebooks/tahreer-delhi-shumara-number-004-malik-ram-magazines-16|journal=Tahreer|volume=8|issue=4|date=October–December 1974|publisher=Daftar-e-Ilmi Majlis|location=Delhi|pages=58–62|language=ur}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Karamat Ali Karamat]]
== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}
=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Karamat |first=Karamat Ali |author-link=Karamat Ali Karamat |title=Kulliyat-e-Amjad Najmi |url=https://www.rekhta.org/ebooks/detail/kulliyat-e-amjad-najmi-karamat-ali-karamat-ebooks |edition=1st |date=2017 |location=[[Bhubaneswar]] |publisher=Odisha Urdu Academy |lang=ur}}
* {{cite book |last1=Newalpuri |first1=Hafizullah|author-link=Hafizullah Newalpuri|title=Odisha Mein Urdu |url=https://www.rekhta.org/ebooks/odisha-mein-urdu-hafeezullah-newalpuri-ebooks |edition=1st |date=2001 |location=[[Delhi]] |publisher=[[National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language]] |lang=ur}}
* {{cite book |last1=ar-Rahman |first1=Azīz |last2=Jami |first2=Abdul Matin|author-link2=Abdul Mateen Jami|title=Urdu Adab Ka Koh-e-Noor: Karamat Ali Karamat |url=https://www.rekhta.org/ebooks/detail/urdu-adab-ka-koh-e-noor-karamat-ali-karamat-abdul-matin-jami-ebooks |date=2022 |publisher=Odisha Urdu Academy |location=Bhubaneswar}}
* {{cite book |last=Karamat |first=Karamat Ali |title=Aab-e-Khizr (Shu'ara-e-Odisa Ka Intikhab-e-Kalam Ma' Tazkira) |url=https://www.rekhta.org/ebooks/aab-e-khizr-shora-e-odisa-ka-intikhab-e-kalam-ma-tazkira-ebooks |edition=1st |date=August 1963 |location=Dewan Bazar, [[Cuttack]] |publisher=Orissa Urdu Publishers |lang=ur}}
* {{cite book |last=Nazish |first=Motiullah |author-link=Motiullah Nazish |title=Odisha Mein Urdu Nasrnigari |edition=1st |date=2018 |publisher=Odisha Urdu Academy |location=Sanskruti Bhawan, BJB Nagar, [[Bhubaneswar]] |language=ur}}
{{refend}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Najmi, Amjad}}
[[Category:1899 births]]
[[Category:1974 deaths]]
[[Category:Urdu-language Indian poets]]
[[Category:Poets from Odisha]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian essayists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:People from Cuttack]]
[[Category:People from Odisha]]

Amjad Najmi - Revision history

WillyFdt599330 at 03:56, 30 October 2025