Alaol

Syed Alaol (Bengali: সৈয়দ আলাওল; 1607 – 1680) was a 17th century poet of Bengal. His most well known work is Padmavati, which depicts the story of Padmavati, the Sinhalese princess. He is considered to be one of the most prolific medieval Bengali poets. Since most of his poems combine emotion with intellect, he is called the Pandit Kabi (Pandit of Poets) of medieval Bengali literature. An important Bangladeshi literary prize, the Alaol Sahitya Puroshkar, is named after him. He was probably born in 1607 in the village of Jalalpur in Fatwabad Pargana, Fatehabad, to a minister in the court of Majlis Qutb, the ruler of Fatehabad. He learnt Bengali, Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit languages. Alaol was kidnapped by Portuguese pirates while travelling on a boat with his father, and was subsequently taken to Arakan. Alaol worked as a bodyguard for a while, but slowly his reputation as a poet spread. His talent was first recognised by Magan Thakur, prime minister of King Sanda Thudhamma of the Mrauk-U dynasty 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. In 1659, he completed Sati Mayna O Lorchandrani, the first part of which was completed earlier by another Bengali court poet of Arakan, Daulat Qazi. He translated Tohfa at the request of Shrichandra Sudharma or Sanda Thudhamma. Later, Prince Magan Thakur, the foster-son of the sister of King Shrichandra Sudharma and co-regent and the prime minister of Arakan, secured him a place in the court of Arakan.