Zakaullah Dehlvi

Maulvi Mohammad Zakaullah or Munshi Zakaullah (1832–1910) was a British Indian Urdu writer and translator. He is widely remembered as the writer of Tarikh-e-Hindustan, the 10 volume compilation of history of India in Urdu.[1]

Maulvi Mohammad Zakaullah
Born	20 April 1832 Delhi, Mughal Empire
Died	7 November 1910 (aged 78) Delhi, British India
Pen name	Munshi Zakaullah Dehlvi
Occupation	Writer Translator professor
Nationality	British Indian
Alma mater	Zakir Husain Delhi College (Delhi College)
Period	Mughal era, British Indian

Early life and education

Zakaullah was born on 20 April 1832 in Delhi. His father Mohammad Sanaullah was the tutor of one of the princes in the Mughal courts.[2] He commended his studies under his grand father Hafiz Mohammad Bakaullah and got his education in the Delhi College under professor Ramchundra, who was a distinct mathematical teacher.[1] His other teachers include Mamluk Ali Nanautawi.[3]

Career

He started his service as a teacher at the Delhi College and continued to serve in the education department till he was 55.[1] At Delhi College he also headed the Vernacular Translation Society in translating texts in western sciences, history and philosophy into Urdu.[4] In 1855 he was appointed Deputy Inspector of Schools of Bulandshahar and Muradabad.[5] In 1866 he was then appointed the head master for the Normal School in Delhi.[6] He was then transferred to the Muir Central College in Allahabad in 1872 to teach western science in the medium of urdu. He retired on pension from Allahabad in 1877. Shortly before his retirement he was awarded the title of Khan Bahadur and Shams-ul-Ulema. After his retirement he spent some time in Aligarh working for the literary movement of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and his friend Maulvi Samiullah.[1] He was an early supporter of the Aligarh Movement and translated works for Scientific Society along with his contemporaries Maulvi Nazir Ahmad and Altaf Hussain Hali.[2][7]

He died at the age of 78 on 7 November 1910 at Delhi. He was survived by his son Inayatullah Delhvi who was also an Urdu writer and translator.[1]

Literary work

The literary work of Maulvi Zakaullah include.[8]

• Aain-e-Qaisari
• Falsafa-e-Imsal aur Mauntakh-ul-Imsal
• Iqbalnama-e-Akabari
• Karzan Nama
• Mabadiul Insha
• Mahasin-ul-Akhlaq
• Makarim-ul-Akhlaq
• Musalman Aur Science
• Risala Majalis-e-Munazira
• Risala Taqvim-ul-Lisan
• Sawaneh Umari
• Taqveem-ul-Lisan
• Tareekh-e-Hindustan
• Tareekh-e-Arooz Ahd-e-Saltanat Englishia Hind

References

1. Qadir, Abdul (1947). Famous Urdu Poets and Writers (PDF). New Book Society. pp. 159–167.
2. C F Andrews (1929). Zaka Ullah Of Delhi.
3. Khan, Syed Ahmad. Shahjahanpuri, Abu Salman (ed.). Tazkirah Khānwāda-e-Wali'ullāhi (in Urdu). Hyderabad, Sindh: University of Sindh. p. 456.
4. Kumar, Anu. "Thomas Macaulay won the debate on how to shape Indian education. So who were the losers?". Scroll.in. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
5. Khan, Javed Ali (2005). Early Urdu Historiography. Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library.
6. Tahseen, Rana (1993). Education and Modernisation of Muslims in India. Deep & Deep Publications. ISBN 978-81-7100-495-9.
7. Saikia, Yasmin; Rahman, M. Raisur (21 March 2019). The Cambridge Companion to Sayyid Ahmad Khan. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-48387-2.
8. "Urdu Books of Mohammad Zakaullah". Rekhta. Retrieved 22 December 2020.

Further reading

• Andrews, Charles Freer (2003). Zaka Ullah of Delhi. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195659092. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
• Famous Urdu Poets and Writers, Abdul Qadir, 1947