FASANA-I-AJAAIB, one of the Urdu’s most acclaimed specimens of ornate and embellished prose, was written in 1240 Hijri/1825 AD, though it was not until some 19 years later when it appeared in print. First published in 1259 Hijri/ 1843 AD, Fasana-i-Ajaaib is still going strong and turned 200 in 2025.

No doubt, Fasana-i-Ajaaib is Rajab Ali Baig Suroor’s (1785/86-1869) magnum opus giving him a lasting recognition, but Suroor’s contribution towards Urdu literature is somewhat outshone by popularity of Fasana-i-Ajaaib and his other works, including letter-writing, are often ignored.

Most students believe that it was Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib (1797-1869) who pioneered letter-writing in Urdu. Ghalib indeed revolutionised Urdu letter-writing with his bubbling wit and simple yet flowing style, turning his letters into literary pieces. But it would be incorrect to assume that Ghalib was the first to have written letters in Urdu as Ghalib’s earliest Urdu letters were written in 1840s, according to Khaliq Anjum (1935-2016), and letter-writing in Urdu had begun earlier.

In Mughal era, Persian was the official and literary language and writing letters in Urdu was not a favoured mode of communication. So, until the beginning of the 19th century no Urdu letters are known to be written, or, at least, not yet discovered. According to Mukhtaruddin Ahmed Aarzoo (1924-2010), it was Faqeera Begum, a royal Mughal woman, who wrote the earliest Urdu letter, and it was in the year 1803, as quoted by Shadab Tabassum in her dissertation Urdu Maktoob Nigari (Delhi, 2012).

Other early Urdu letters discovered and discussed by other researchers include an Urdu letter that French scholar of Urdu Garcin de Tassy (1794-1878) reproduced in his book. Iftikharuddin Ali Khan Shohrat had written it in January 1810. Mirza Jan Tapish wrote a letter in Urdu to Rasikh Azeemabadi (1749-1823), probably in or before 1814 (as Tapish died that year). Rasikh had replied in Urdu. A collection of Persian letters written by Persian poet Mirza Qateel (died 1818), published in 1817, includes five letters in Urdu. Nawab Hussamul Mulk, Nawab Karnataka’s son, wrote a letter in Urdu to his sister-in-law in 1822. Others who are known to have written letters in Urdu before Ghalib include Ghulam Imam Shaheed (1804-1879), Ghulam Ghaus Bekhabar (1825-1905) and Rajab Ali Baig Suroor.

A collection of Rajab Ali Baig Suroor’s epistolary prose in Urdu, titled Insha-i-Suroor, was first published in 1879. It included, in addition to letters to Suroor’s son, friends and acquaintances, letters penned to Oudh’s exiled king Wajid Ali Shah (1822-1887) on request of his wives (they were illiterate and ‘munshis’, or scribes, would write on their behalf). It also has some congratulatory notes, a few appeals to rulers and nawabs and a few letters in Persian. Several editions followed. The last and fifth one, published by Lucknow’s Naval Kishor, had appeared in 1916. Now with Dr Sajid Siddiq Nizami’s editing and annotations, Lahore’s Collage Publications has published its new edition.

Dr Nizami has not only divided the portions of the book according the nature of prose pieces but has also tried to trace the addressees these letters were written to, as well as to ascertain the dates on which these pieces were written. In his opinion, some of the letters were written in 1850s, others in 1860s and an appeal to Oudh’s king Naseeruddin Hyder (1803-1837) was written between 1827 and 1837. This must have required a lot of hard work since many pieces in the earlier editions were devoid of such important information. A glossary at the end has added much value to the book as Suroor’s prose at times gets too flowery and metaphor-laden. In Nizami’s preface the critique of Suroor’s prose brings forth some significant aspects, such as Suroor’s use of tropes and figures of speech, for instance, rhyming words, homonymy and play on words, for rhetorical effects. It also shows that Suroor was able to write simple, plain Urdu prose as well as the floral and decorated prose that he is known for.

Misconceptions about Rajab Ali Baig Suroor’s date of birth and date of death are common. It is a fact that Suroor’s exact date of birth is not known, but Dr Nayyar Masood, in his foreword to Fasana-i-Ajaaib, has deduced from Suroor’s statement that Suroor was most probably born in Lucknow in 1200 Hijri, which corresponds to 1785-86. As for the date on which Suroor died, Nayyar Masood discussed different dates and premised that Suroor might have died between April 14, 1869 and May 14, 1869. But Dr Hanif Naqvi has proved that Suroor died between March 15, 1869 and April 12, 1869. Rasheed Hasan Khan wrote that Naqvi had got it right.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2026