Mirza Hadi Ruswa

Who was Mirza Hadi Ruswa?

Mirza Muhammad Hadi Ruswa was an Urdu poet and writer of fiction, plays, and treatises. He remained on the Nizam of Awadh's advisory board on language matters for years. He was well-versed in Urdu, Persian, Arabic, Hebrew, English, Latin, and Greek.

His famed Urdu novel, Umrao Jan Ada, published in 1905, is considered by many as the first Urdu novel. It is based on the life of a renowned Lucknow courtesan and poet of the same name and later became the basis for Umrao Jan Ada, a Pakistani film, and two Indian films, Umrao Jaan and Umrao Jaan. The novel was also the basis of a Pakistani television serial, Umrao Jan Ada, which aired in 2003.