Unvan Chishti was a renowned poet and a literary critic. He was born on february 5, 1937 at Manglaur, District Haridwar in Uttarakhand. He completed his early education in Manglaur and Muzaffarnagar. After his graduation he got degrees in M.A. (Geography) in 1961, M.A. (Urdu) in 1963 , M.Litt in 1968, and finally Ph.D. in 1973. He worked as a lecturerfor sometime in Shoaib Mohammadia College in Agra before joining Jamia Millia Islamia on 15 September 1964. Unwan taught Urdu and rose to be the Head of Urdu Department, Jamia Millia Islamia University, Delhi. His literary career started in 1950 with the composition of his first ghazal. His first collection of poems titled Zauq-e-jamaal was published in 1966 followed by Nimbaaz and Aks-o-shakhs in 1968. A comprehensive appraisal on the works of Unwan Chishti conducted by Sughra Alam was published in 2003 titled – Unwan Chishti Muhaqqiq, Shair and Naqid. Earlier, Paimana-e-Sifat dealing with his life and works had been published in 1995. He died on 1st Feb 2004 after prolonged illness.