Syed Abdul Malik

Syed Abdul Malik (, ; 16 January 1919 – 20 December 2000) was an Indian writer and politician. He was a prominent short story writer, novelist, poet, playwright, biographer, essayist and travelogue writer. He is widely recognized for his vast contributions to modern Assamese literature, having authored numerous novels, short stories, poems, and plays. In addition to his literary career, Malik served as a member of the Rajya Sabha and was the president of the Asam Sahitya Sabha in 1977.

He wrote more than 2,000 stories for nearly sixty-five years. He is considered the pioneer of modern Assamese short story literature. He has written more than 25 collections of short stories. He also wrote about 60 novels, five collections of poems, three children's literature and 20 stage radio plays, translations, satirical essays and numerous articles. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1972 for his novel Oghori Atmar Kahini. In addition to Assamese, Malik had etymologies in Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, Persian, and English. He was also fluent in Odia, Nepali, Arabic, Sanskrit and Russian.

Early life and education Malik was born on 16 January 1919 in Naharni, located in the Sibsagar district of East Assam. He received his primary education in Naharni and later moved to Gauhati for his higher education, attending Cotton College. After completing his Master of Arts (M.A.) degree, he began working as a professor of Assamese language and literature at J.B. College in Jorhat in 1951. Sahitya Akademi Award, Sankar Dev Award, Xahityacharyya, etc. Malik won Sahitya Akademi Award in 1972 for his novel Aghari Atmar Kahini (Tale of a Nomadic Soul). He also received Soviet Land Nehru Award in 1965, leading to his travels in Russia.