SadieHagelthorn at 17:14, 16 October 2025

2025-10-16T17:14:40Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Gulam Rabbani Taban
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_date = 14 February 1914
| birth_place = [[Kaimganj]], [[Farrukhabad]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], India
| death_date = 7 February 1993
| death_place = [[Jamia Nagar]], [[New Delhi]], India
| restingplace =
| restingplacecoordinates =
| othername =
| occupation = Urdu poet
| yearsactive =
| known for =
| spouse =
| domesticpartner =
| children =
| parents =
| website =
| awards = [[Padma Shri]]<br>[[Sahitya Akademi Award]]
}}
'''Gulam Rabbani''' was an Indian lawyer and poet of [[Urdu literature]] who wrote under the nom de plume ''''Taban''''.<ref name="A song to Delhi's unsung poet...">{{cite web | url=http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mp/2002/09/30/stories/2002093000550200.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030914020927/http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mp/2002/09/30/stories/2002093000550200.htm | url-status=dead | archive-date=14 September 2003 | title=A song to Delhi's unsung poet... | date=30 September 2002 | newspaper=[[The Hindu]] | accessdate=28 May 2015}}</ref> He wrote several poems in Urdu, especially [[ghazals]],<ref name="Ghazals of Taban Ghulam Rabbani">{{cite web | url=https://rekhta.org/poets/taban-ghulam-rabbani | title=Ghazals of Taban Ghulam Rabbani | publisher=Rekhta | date=2015 | accessdate=28 May 2015}}</ref> and was known for his works, ''Zauq-i safar'',<ref name="Zauq-i safar">{{cite book | asin=B0000CRMIC | url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0000CRMIC | title=Zauq-i safar | publisher=Habbah Taban | author=Ghulam Rabbani Taban | year=1970 | pages=192}}</ref> ''Nava-e-avara'',<ref name="Nava-e-avara">{{cite book | url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0000CR9TR | title=Nava-e-avara | publisher=Rajapala enda Sanza | author=Ghulam Rabbani Taban | year=1980 | pages=79 | asin=B0000CR9TR}}</ref> ''Poetics to politics''<ref name="Poetics to politics">{{cite book | title=Poetics to politics | publisher=Peoples Publishing House | author=Ghulam Rabbani Taban | year=1987 | pages=97 | isbn=978-8170070603}}</ref> and ''Saz-i larzan''.<ref name="Saz-i larzan">{{cite book | url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0000CRPAQ | title=Saz-i larzan | publisher=Indian Literary Society | author=Ghulam Rabbani Taban | pages=140 | asin=B0000CRPAQ}}</ref> He received the [[Sahitya Akademi award]] in 1979 for his work, ''Nava-e-avara''.<ref name="Sahitya Akademi Award winners">{{cite web | url=http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/awards/akademi%20samman_suchi.jsp | title=Sahitya Akademi Award winners | publisher=Sahitya Akademi Award | date=2015 | accessdate=28 May 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304084937/http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/awards/akademi%20samman_suchi.jsp | archive-date=4 March 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref> He was honoured by the [[Government of India]] in 1971 with [[Padma Shri]], the fourth highest Indian civilian award.<ref name="Padma Shri">{{cite web | url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf | title=Padma Shri | publisher=Padma Shri | date=2015 | accessdate=11 November 2014 | archive-date=15 October 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Biography==
Gulam Rabbani was born at [[Kaimganj]], a small hamlet in [[Farrukhabad district]] in the Indian state of [[Uttar Pradesh]] on 15 February 1914 in a rich family of [[Zamindar]]s.<ref name="A song to Delhi's unsung poet..." /> He did his early schooling at the local village school and passed the intermediate examination from [[Aligarh]]. He graduated from [[St. John's College, Agra]] where he mixed with students most of whom were attracted to leftist ideology and took a degree in law.<ref name="A song to Delhi's unsung poet..." />

Rabbani started writing during the college days under the pseudonym, ''Farchat'' but later, changed it to ''Taban''.<ref name="A song to Delhi's unsung poet..." /> His leftist leanings got him into trouble with the British authorities and post independence, with the Indian law and order and he had to suffer incarceration on two occasions. Around this time, he joined ''Maktaba-e-Jamia'', a Delhi-based publishing group<ref name="Maktaba-e-Jamia">{{cite web | url=https://openlibrary.org/publishers/Maktaba_Jamia_Ltd | title=Maktaba-e-Jamia | publisher=Open Library | date=2015 | accessdate=28 May 2015}}</ref> and took to serious writing.<ref name="A song to Delhi's unsung poet..." /> He stayed with the organization for a number of years as its general manager till his retirement in 1975.<ref name="A song to Delhi's unsung poet..." />

After retirement, he continued writing while engaging in journalism as well. The [[Government of India]] awarded him the civilian honour of [[Padma Shri]] in 1971.<ref name="Padma Shri" /> He received the [[Sahitya Akademi award]] in 1979 for his anthology, ''Nava-e-avara''.<ref name="Sahitya Akademi Award winners" />

Rabbani had three sons and three daughters.<ref name="Ghulam Rabbani Taban">{{cite web | url=https://urduyouthforum.wordpress.com/2012/12/05/ghulam-rabbani-taban-3/ | title=Ghulam Rabbani Taban | publisher=Urdu Youth Forum | date=2015 | accessdate=28 May 2015}}</ref> Azra Rizvi, one of his daughters, was among the trio of writers, the others being Ajmal Ajmali and Sughra Mehdi, who wrote Rabbani's biography published by Mahnamah Kitab Numa, New Delhi in 1993 under the name, ''Ghulam Rabbani Taban : shakhsiyat aur adabi khidmat''.<ref name="Ghulam Rabbani Taban: shakhsiyat aur adabi khidmat">{{cite book | url=http://www.abebooks.com/Ghulam-Rabbani-Taban-shakhsiyat-aur-adabi/196273703/bd | title=Ghulam Rabbani Taban: shakhsiyat aur adabi khidmat | publisher=Mahnamah Kitab Numa | author=Ajaml Ajmali, Sughra Mehdi and Azra Rizvi | year=1993 | pages=160}}</ref> He died in 1992.<ref name="Ghulam Rabbani Taban" />

==See also==
{{Div col}}
* [[Ghazal]]
{{div col end}}
{{Portal|India|Literature}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book | title=Gulam Rabbani Taban: shakhsiyat aur adabi khidmat | publisher=Mahnamah Kitab Numa | author=Ajaml Ajmali, Sughra Mehdi and Azra Rizvi | year=1993 | pages=160}}
* {{cite book | title=Gulam Rabbani Taban: Hayat aur sha°iri | publisher=Na®i Avaz | author=Shafiqunnisa Quraishi | year=1980 | pages=148 | asin=B0000E7EFW}}
* {{cite book | asin=B0000CRMIC | title=Zauq-i safar | publisher=Habbah Taban | author=Gulam Rabbani Taban | year=1970 | pages=192}}
* {{cite book | title=Nava-e-avara | publisher=Rajapala enda Sanza | author=Gulam Rabbani Taban | year=1980 | pages=79 | asin=B0000CR9TR}}
* {{cite book | title=Poetics to politics | publisher=Peoples Publishing House | author=Gulam Rabbani Taban | year=1987 | pages=97 | isbn=978-8170070603}}
* {{cite book | title=Saz-i larzan | publisher=Indian Literary Society | author=Gulam Rabbani Taban | pages=140 | asin=B0000CRPAQ}}

==External links==
* {{cite AV media | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiXGmWqeH60 | title=Urdu Poet: Ghulam Rabbani Taban - Interview | publisher=Urdu Academy, Delhi | date=12 July 2012 | interviewer1=Sharib Rudaulvi |interviewer2=Syeda Sayidain | interviewer-link2=Syeda Saiyidain Hameed | interviewer3=Hameed Ajmal Ajmali | medium=Humayun Zafar Zaidi}}
* {{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8M52sYrHz0 | title=Ghulam Rabbani Taban - Ghazal | publisher=Mahakavi | work=[[YouTube]] video | date=6 October 2009 | accessdate=28 May 2015}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taban, Gulam Rabbani}}
[[Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu]]
[[Category:1914 births]]
[[Category:1992 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian people of Pashtun descent]]
[[Category:People from Farrukhabad district]]
[[Category:Poets from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian lawyers]]
[[Category:Urdu-language Indian poets]]
[[Category:Indian male poets]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male writers]]

Gulam Rabbani Taban - Revision history

SadieHagelthorn at 17:14, 16 October 2025