aaj ik aur baras biit gayā us ke baġhair
jis ke hote hue hote the zamāne mere
Munshi Sajjad Hussain was born in 1856 into a noble family. His father's name was Munshi Musur Ali, who became Deputy Collector and later became a civil judge in Hyderabad State. After his primary education, Sajjad was educated at Canning College, Lucknow. From here he passed the entrance exam. Since then, he worked in various fields, and had also been a journalist. In 1877, he launched "Awadh Panj" from Lucknow, which used to publish humorous and satirical articles. It was considered a very important document in terms of its content. He was instrumental in the publication and promotion of comics. Everyone knows that a magazine called "Punch" also came out of London, which had a lot of satirical and humorous articles. Munshi Sajjad Hussain took the same idea, and succeeded in his goal. "Awadh Panj" paved the way for many new magazines in its time and such magazines started coming out from different places. On this pattern, a magazine "Alpanj" was also published from Patna in opposition to Shad Azimabadi.
But the policy of "Awadh Panj" was a satirical lie against some of the policies of the British government. To the extent that people would have been greatly affected by it and would have formed a mindset against the British government. The magazine also pointed to the unnatural imitation of the Western style and ridiculed the way people in the West followed it. Another purpose of this magazine was to unite Hindus and Muslims. Perhaps the pamphlet succeeded in this endeavor. Munshi Sajjad Hussain has a status as a novelist and is also important. Many of his works are well known such as "Haji Baghlool", "Tarhadar Londi", "Pyari Dunya", "Ahmaq Al-Dhi", "Mithi Chhri", "Kayapalat" and Hayat-e-Sheikh Chilli. All of these books are well-known and well-read. But the purpose of these books is the same and that is to keep an eye on the inequalities of society and to pay attention to the changing economic and social aspects.
Jashn-e-Rekhta | 13-14-15 December 2024 - Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium , Gate No. 1, New Delhi
Get Tickets