Abu Ishaque

Abu Bashar Mohammad Ishaque (Bengali: আবু ইসহাক; 1 November 1926 – 1 November 2003) was a Bangladeshi novelist. Ishaque was born in the village of Shirangal in Naria, Faridpur District (now in Shariatpur District) on 1 November 1926. He studied at the Upsi Bijari Taraprasanna English High School from which he passed his matriculation exam with scholarship in 1942. In 1944, he completed his IA from Government Rajendra College in Faridpur. His first story, "Abhishap", was published in 1940 in the Nabajug magazine which was edited by the activist Kazi Nazrul Islam. This was when Abu Ishaque was still in high school. The story was later featured in the Saogat and The Azad magazines of Calcutta. His first job was as an inspector for a private institution. Ishaque's first big literary effort, Sūrja-Dīghal Baṛī, was completed in August 1948 though waited some seven years for a publisher. It was based on four main historical themes; World War, famine, communal riots and division.