Ahmad, Ekramuddin

Ahmad, Ekramuddin (1872-1940) writer and critic. He was born in 1872 in Kulia village under Raina thana in the district of Burdwan, the son of Mahtabuddin, a village doctor. He passed the Entrance examination from Burdwan High School in 1892 and the FA examination from Burdwan College in 1894. He also studied for the BA at Hughli College but left without graduating. In 1896 he joined the government as surveyor. He was later promoted to the post of sub-deputy collector, retiring in 1927. Ekramuddin Ahmad prepared a report in 1918 on the exploitation and repression of the santals of Birbhum by the local zamindar.

His report attracted the attention of the government, and he was able to bring justice to the Santals. He started his literary career as a critic. His four books of criticism include Rabindra Pratibha (1914), Meghnadbadh Kavya O Brtrasanghar, Krsnakanter Wille Bankimchandra (1930), Chandrashekhar O Bankimchandra (1932). He also wrote a number of novels, among them, Kach O Mani (1919), Mahimamayi Nari (1920), Mati Manzil (1926), Natun Ma (1926), and Jiban Pan (1927). Many of his novels were serialized in the saogat and the mohammadi.

He also wrote a melodrama, Anadhikar Prabesh (1920). One of his stories, 'Bhikshuk', was prescribed as a text for secondary schools in East Pakistan. He died on 20 November 1940 and was buried in Kaitha village in Birbhum. [Wakil Ahmed]