Sobhan, Sheikh Abdus

Sobhan, Sheikh Abdus (c 1845-1920) writer, was born at Bikrampur in dhaka. After finishing his primary education in his native village he moved to Dhaka, where he lived in Rajar Deuri. He brought out a monthly magazine called Islam Suhrid (Friend of Islam, 1906) and started writing for it. The magazine survived for a year. He then started writing books, and published eight of them. Notable among them are Kalir Nari Charitra (Women's character in the Kali yuga, 1880), Hindu-Mosalman (Hindu-Muslim, 3 vols, 1888, 1891) and Arya Dharma (Aryan religion, 2 vols, 1904, second edition). He became famous for his Hindu-Mosalman. He wrote mainly on the poverty and backwardness of the Muslim community for which he was attacked by some critics. [Wakil Ahmed]