Mir Sher Ali was born around 1746 and wrote under the pen name ‘Afsos’. He is one of the famous writers of Fort William College. Even before his arrival in Calcutta, he had gained considerable fame as a poet and writer.

He was the son of Mir Muzaffar Ali Khan.It was his residence in Lucknow which made him inclined towards poetry. Afsos sought correction from Mir Haidar Hairan. He was a frequent at several Mushairas which hosted the best poets of that time like Sauda, Mir, Mushafi, Insha, Jurat, and other greats of Lucknow’s poetry scene.

At a meeting held with Colonel Scott through Nawab Raza Khan, a Lucknow chief and Nawab Asif Ud-Dawla's deputy, realized Afsos’s academic ability and sent him to Fort William College, Calcutta for five hundred rupees and enrolled among the writers over there.

Afsos translated Saadi’s Gulistan into Urdu under the title Bagh-e-Urdu.This book could not be very successful because it is quite Persian-dominated. His second important work is ‘Khulaasat-ul-Tawaariikh’ which is a translation of Munshi Subha Rai's Persian book. Afsos passed away in 1809.