Syed Alaol

Unfortunately, there is very little information available about him. The things we know about him from his literary work. There is no consensus on his birthplace or date of birth. Some people believe he was born in Faridpur, while others believe he was born in Chittagong. Alaol was likely born in 1597 and passed away in 1673.
From his poetic works, we learn that Alaol’s life was not smooth; it contained many ups and downs, twists of joy and sorrow. There was no information found about his childhood. We just know that Alaol’s father was a high-ranking official in the Fatehabad region’s administration. One day, Alaol was travelling by boat with his father somewhere. During that time, they faced an attack by Portuguese pirates. These Portuguese pirates infested the riverine Bangladesh at that time. Anyway, in a brave resistance against the pirates, Alaol’s father died. Alaol was captured and sold to Arakan in Myanmar. Then there was no historical detail found about his life and work. Most probably, he served there as a bodyguard for the court people. When Alaol arrived in Arakan, Thudhamma was the king of Arakan. A prominent official in Thudhamma’s administration was Magan Thakur. He was the prime minister of Arakan. He was also patronised by other elders of the court, such as Chief Minister Sulayman, royal minister Syed Musa, army commander Muhammad Khan, and tax minister Majlis Nabaraj.

Alaol gained Magan Thakur’s affection and found inspiration to write poetry. Under the patronage of Magan Thakur Alaol, he became a court poet. Alaol was influenced by Magan Thakur in his work. He translated many Persian poems upon Magan Thakur’s request, as well as composed many independent verses. Alaol’s contribution extends beyond narrative poems; he wrote devotional poetry as well.

In 1540, Alaol composed the epic poem Padmavati, his most notable work. Alaol was inspired by the Awadhi poem Padmavat, by Malik Muhammad Jayasi, based on a famous historical tale, but it is not a true historical account. Blended with folklore and history, the poem is about the marriage of Ratnasimha and Sinhala and the ever-beautiful princess Padmavati of Chittor. However, Alauddin Khalji of the Delhi Sultanate leads an invasion to win her. The Bengali version of the account focuses more on the topic of secular love and less on Sufism, unlike the original. 

Magan Thakur told Alaol to write Saiful Mulk Badiujjamal after he finished writing Padmavati. Alaol started writing this book, but Magan Thakur died before he could finish it. This meant that the book’s creation was left unfinished. After about ten years, Sayyid Musa, who was the Prime Minister of Roshang, asked Alaol to finish the book, which he did. This is an old story about a man and a fairy who fall in love. The story is in the Arabian Nights. Alaol most likely got it from a Persian book.

In 1659, he finished the work of Daulat Qazi’s Sati Mayna O Lorchandrani. He translated Tohfa at the request of Shrichandra Sudharma or Sanda Thudhamma. He also began writing the Saifulmuluk Badiuzzamal, an adaptation of a Persian work of the same name, during this period. There is a famous poem by Prince Saiful Malook and Badri Jamala by the mystic poet of Punjabi literature, Mian Muhammad Bakhsh. After the death of Magan Thakur, he received patronage from Saiyad Muhammad Musa. He translated the Haft Peykar from Persian as Saptapaykar in Bengali at his request. In the eulogy of Saptapaykar, Alaol mentioned the arrival of Mughal prince Shah Shuja in Arakan. In 1659, Shah Shuja took refuge in the court at Arakan. In 1660, after the killing of Shah Shuja, Alaol was also thrown out of the Arakan court and imprisoned as a suspect in collaboration with Shah Shuja. Later, he took shelter under Sayed Masud Shah, a minister or Qazi of the Arakan king. He patronised Alaol to write Saifulmuluk Badiuzzamal. He spent his last days in the court of Majlis Navaraj, another minister of Arakan, where he wrote his last work, Sikandarnama or Dara-Sikandar , a translation of Eskandernama by the Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi. The great accomplishments of Sikandar or Alexander are written in the Sikandarnama.