Syed Sultan

Syed Sultan ( – 1648) was a medieval Bengali Muslim poet and writer. He is best known for his magnum opus Nabibangsha (1584 AD), one of the earliest Bengali translations of the Qisas Al-Anbiya. His works are included in the curriculum for school and higher secondary Bengali literature in Bangladesh.

Early life Syed Sultan was born in Habiganj, in the Bengal Sultanate (now Bangladesh). He hailed from the Taraf region of Greater Sylhet and was a descendant of Syed Habibullah of the Taraf Kingdom. He lived in the Sultanshi household in Habigonj.

Career and contributions Sultan was a prolific poet who primarily focused on Islamic religious themes. His Nabibangsha recounts the lives of prophets in Bengali verse, and he helped establish a Bengali Muslim literary tradition during the medieval period. He showed his patriotism and love for his mother tongue Bengali language in Nabibangsha (1584 AD). He criticised the local Bengali Maulavis for their disdainful thinking towards their own mother tongue.