Afzal, Khwaja Muhammad

Afzal, Khwaja Muhammad (1875-?) poet and writer of Urdu Language belonging to the Khwaja family of dhaka. Son of Khwaja Yusuf, Muhammad Afzal was formally educated in persian and English. He became a disciple of Syed Mahmud Azad, ather ted poet from Dhaka. He adopted the literary name 'Afzal' and wrote poetry in both Persian and urdu. He wrote a Diwan, a collection of poetry in Persian, and a number of ghazals in Urdu. His language is smooth and mellifluous. He was a skilful versifier and was an expert in the use of the abjad system to memorialise dates and historical events in verse. These historical verses were compiled in three volumes. Gam-e-ma-paikar, composed on the occasion of the death of khwaja ahsanullah, uses the abjad system. Khwaja Afzal maintained a diary regularly, and his diaries from 1895 to 1933 are w preserved in the Dhaka University Library. [Abu Musa Mohammad Arif Billah]