Saadat Hasan Manto

Saadat Hasan Manto (/mn, -t/; Urdu:

, pronounced [sa'dat 'hasan 'ma]; 11 May 1912

18 January 1955) was a Pakistani writer, playwright and
author considered among the greatest writers of short stories in South Asian history. He produced 22 collections
of short stories, 1 novel, 5 series of radio plays, 3 collections of essays, 2 collections of personal sketches[1] and
his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers
and critics.

issues, from local to global are revealed in his series, Letters to Uncle Sam, and those to Pandit Nehru.[3] On his
writing he often commented, If you nd my stories dirty,
the society you are living in is dirty. With my stories, I
only expose the truth.[12]

2 Biography

Manto was tried for obscenity six times; thrice before

1947 in British India, and thrice after independence in 2.1 Early life and education
1947 in Pakistan, but never convicted.[2]
Saadat Hassan Manto was born in Paproudi village of
Samrala, in the Ludhiana district of the Punjab in a Muslim family of barristers on 11 May 1912.[13][14]

Writings

The big turning point in his life came in 1933, at age

21,[15] when he met Abdul Bari Alig, a scholar and
Manto chronicled the chaos that prevailed, during and polemic writer, in Amritsar.Abdul Bari Alig encouraged
after the Partition of India in 1947.[3][4] He started his him to nd his true talents and read Russian and French
literary career translating work of literary giants, such authors.[16]
as Victor Hugo, Oscar Wilde and Russian writers such
as Chekhov and Gorky. His rst story was Tamasha,
based on the Jallianwala Bagh massacre at Amritsar.[5]
2.2 Early career
Though his earlier works, inuenced by the progressive
[4][6]
writers of his times,
showed a marked leftist and socialist leanings, his later work progressively became stark Within a matter of months Manto produced an Urdu
in portraying the darkness of the human psyche, as hu- translation of Victor Hugos The Last Day of a Conmanist values progressively declined around the Parti- demned Man, which was published by Urdu Book Stall,
[17]
tion. His nal works, which grew from the social climate Lahore as Sarguzasht-e-Aseer (A Prisoners Story).
Soon afterwards he joined the editorial sta of Masawat,
and his own nancial struggles, reected an innate sense
[18]
of human impotency towards darkness and contained a a daily published from Ludhiana
satirism that verged on dark comedy, as seen in his nal This heightened enthusiasm pushed Manto to pursue
work, Toba Tek Singh.[7] It not only showed the inuence graduation at Aligarh Muslim University, which he
of his own demons, but also that of the collective madness joined in February 1934, and soon got associated with
that he saw in the ensuing decade of his life. To add to it, Indian Progressive Writers Association (IPWA). It was
his numerous court cases and societal rebukes deepened here that he met writer Ali Sardar Jafri and found a new
his cynical view of society, from which he felt isolated.[8] spurt in his writing. His second story, Inqlaab Pasand,
No part of human existence remained untouched or taboo was published in Aligarh magazine in March 1935.[5]
for him, he sincerely brought out stories of prostitutes and Saadat Hasan Manto had accepted the job of writing for
pimps alike, just as he highlighted the subversive sexual Urdu Service of All India Radio in 1941. This proved
slavery of the women of his times.[9] To many contem- to be his most productive period as in the next eighteen
porary women writers, his language portrayed reality and months he published over four collections of radio plays,
provided them with the dignity they long deserved.[10] Aao (Come), Manto ke Drame (Mantos Dramas), Janaze
He is still known for his scathing insight into human be- (Funerals) and Teen Auraten (Three women). He continhaviour as well as revelation of the macabre animalistic ued to write short stories and his next short story collecnature of an enraged people, that stands out amidst the tion Dhuan (Smoke) was soon out followed by Manto ke
brevity of his prose.[3]
Afsane and his rst collection of topical essays, Manto
Saadat Hasan Manto is often compared with D. H. ke Mazamin. This period culminated with the publicaLawrence, partly because he wrote about taboos of Indo- tion of his mixed collection Afsane aur Dramey in 1943.
Pakistani Society.[11] His concerns on the socio-political Meanwhile, due to a quarrel with the director of the All
1

3 BIBLIOGRAPHY

India Radio, poet N. M. Rashid, he left his job and re- 2015, lm director Sarmad Sultan Khoosat has made and
turned to Bombay in July 1942 and again started working released a movie titled 'Manto' about his life.[25]
with lm industry. He entered his best phase in screenwriting giving lms like Aatth Din, Chal Chal Re Naujawan and Mirza Ghalib, which was nally released in 3 Bibliography
1954.[2] Some of his short stories also came from this
phase including Kaali Shalwar (1941), Dhuan (1941) and
Atish Paray (Nuggets of Fire) 1936
Bu (1945), which was published in Qaumi Jang (Bombay) in February 1945. Another highlight of his second
Chugad
phase in Bombay was the publication of a collection of
his stories, Chugad, which also included the story 'Babu
Manto Ke Afsanay (Stories of Manto) 1940
Gopinath'.[5] He stayed in Bombay until he moved to Pak Dhuan (Smoke) 1941
istan in January 1948 after the partition of India in 1947.

2.3

Migration to Pakistan

Afsane Aur Dramay (Fiction and Drama) 1943

Lazzat-e-Sang-1948 (The Taste of Rock)

Manto and his family were among the millions of Muslims who left present-day India for the Muslim-majority
nation of Pakistan .[19]

Siyah Hashiye-1948 (Black Borders)

2.4

Khali Botlein (Empty Bottles) 1950

Life in Lahore

When Manto arrived in Lahore from Bombay, he lived

near and associated with several prominent intellectuals
including Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Nasir Kazmi, Ahmad Rahi
and Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi among others.They all used
to gather at Lahores iconic Pak Tea House,witness to
some of the most ery literary debates and passionate political arguments back in 1948-49. Pak Tea House holds
a special place in the memories of those who know about
Lahores vibrant literary and cultural past. There was
absolutely no external inuence and people would share
their opinions on any subject without fear even during the
military dictators regimes.[20]

Badshahat Ka Khatimah (The End of Kingship)

1950

Loud Speaker (Sketches)

Ganjey Farishtey (Sketches)
Manto ke Mazameen
Nimrud Ki Khudai (Nimrod The God) 1950
Thanda Gosht (Cold Meat) 1950
Yazid 1951
Pardey Ke Peechhey (Behind The Curtains) 1953
Sarak Ke Kinarey (By the Roadside) 1953

2.5

Legacy

Baghair Unwan Ke (Without a Title) 1954

On 18 January 2005, the ftieth anniversary of his

death, Manto was commemorated on a Pakistani postage
stamp.[21]

Baghair Ijazit (Without Permission) 1955

On August 14, 2012 which is Pakistans Independence

Day, Saadat Hasan Manto was posthumously awarded
Nishan-e-Imtiaz award (Distinguished Service to Pakistan Award) by the Government of Pakistan.[22]

Phunduney (Tassles) 1955

On January 18, 2005,Government of Pakistan issued a

postage stamp honoring him.This postage stamp reads
Saadat Hasan Manto(1912-1955) Men of Letters.[23]
Manto must be the only Short Story writer whose
life story became a subject of intense discussion and
introspection.[24] During the past two decades many stage
productions were done to present his character in conict with the harsh socio-economic realities of post partition era. Danish Iqbals stage Play 'Ek Kutte Ki Kahani'
is one such production which presented Manto in a new
perspective on occasion of his birth centenary. Now in

Burquey 1955

Sarkandon Ke Peechhey (Behind The Reeds)

1955
Shaiytan (Satan) 1955
Shikari Auratein (Women of Prey) 1955
Ratti, Masha, Tolah-1956
Kaali Shalwar (Black Pants) 1961
Manto Ki Behtareen Kahanian (Best Stories of
Manto) 1963
Tahira Se Tahir (From Tahira to Tahir) 1971

Further reading
Manto Naama, by Jagdish
hawan.1998, Roli Books.

'Mera Sahib' - Mantos writing about Muhammad

Ali Jinnah
Chander Wad-

Manto Naama: The Life of Saadat Hasan Manto,

English translation of the above by Jai Ratan,
1998,Roli Books.
Life and Works of Saadat Hasan Manto, by Alok
Bhalla. 1997, Indian Institute of Advanced Study.
ISBN 81-85952-48-5.
The Life and Works of Saadat Hasan Manto. Introduction by Leslie Flemming; trans. by Tahira Naqvi.
Lahore, Pakistan: Vanguard Books Ltd., 1985.
Another Lonely Voice: The Urdu Short Stories
of Saadat Hasan Manto, by Leslie A. Flemming,
Berkeley: Centre for South and South east Asian
Studies. University of California. 1979.
Madness and Partition: The Short Stories of Saadat
Hasan Manto, Stephen Alter, Journal of Comparative Poetics, No. 14, Madness and Civilization/ alJunun wa al-Hadarah (1994), pp. 91100.
Bitter Fruit: The Very Best of Saadat Hassan Manto,
edited and tr. by Khalid Hassan, Penguin, 2008.
Naked Voices: Stories and Sketches by Manto, Ed.
and tr. by Rakhshanda Jalil. Indian Ink & Roli
Books, 2008.
Stars from Another Sky: The Bombay Film World
of the 1940s, tr. by Khalid Hasan. Penguin India,
2000.
Manto: Selected Stories, tr. by Aatish Taseer. Vintage/Random House India, 2008. ISBN 81-8400144-4.
The Pity of Partition:Mantos Life, Times, and
Work across the India-Pakistan Divide. Ayesha
Jalal.
Pinglay-Plumber, Prachi (January 12, 2015).
Manto Bridge : to Manto, Bombay was about
its people. Outlook 55 (1): 7273. Retrieved
2016-01-06.

'First Letter to Uncle Sam'

'Second Letter to Uncle Sam'
'Third Letter to Uncle Sam'

6 References
[1] Saadat Hassan Manto Author detail at penguinbooksindia.
[2] Author Prole Saadat Hasan Manto Books at indiaclub.
[3] Social and Political World-View of Saadat Hasan Manto
kashmirsentinel, February 2003 Issue.
[4] Saadat Hassan Manto Author Prole at boloji, Retrieved
12 August 2015
[5] Early Years Biography Sharad Dutt, BBC Hindi, Retrieved 12 August 2015
[6] ,Digital South Asia Library Mahl. v 1, V. 1 ( 1963) p.
12., Retrieved 12 August 2015
[7] GREAT MINDS The Tribune, 19 March 2000.
[8] Memories of Manto, Friday Times Khalid Hassan, 2002.
[9] Seminar papers The Annual of Urdu Studies, Vol. 11,
1996.
[10] He presented women as humans Nasira Sharma, BBC
Hindi, 2005, 12 August 2015
[11] Rajendra Yadav quote BBC Hindi, 2005.
[12] Manto on his writing BBC Hindi, 2005.
[13] Leslie A. Flemming, Another Lonely Voice: The Urdu
Short Stories of Saadat Hasan Manto, Center for South and
Southeast Asia Studies, University of California (1979), p.
2
[14] Abida Samiuddin, Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Urdu Literature, Global Vision Publishing House (2007), p. 391
[15] The Quintessential Storyteller Khurram Ali Shaque.
ZAMEEN, JunJul 1999.
[16] Pakistan Post, 2005, Retrieved 12 August 2015
[17] Manto, Saadat Hasan Author Prole at bookrags.

Mantos works online

'Toba Tek Singh' in Urdu and English, plus essays
with translation
'Toba Tek Singh' in Hindi or
'Thanda Gosht' (Cold Meat) in English
A collection of short stories in Hindi

[18] Author Prole Lekhal at abhivyakti-hindi.

[19] Manto, Saadat Hasan. Ganjay Farishtay. p. 190., Retrieved 4 September 2015
[20] http://herald.dawn.com/news/1152781,
Pak
Tea
House,19 March 2015, Herald-Dawn newspaper article,
Retrieved 6 September 2015
[21] Bio details, Saadat Hassan Manto (19121955) Men of
Letters, PakPost, Retrieved 12 August 2015

[22] http://www.dawn.com/news/742068/
abida-parveen-aleem-dar-among-winners-posthumous-awards-for-manto-mehdi-hassan,
Retrieved 12 August 2015
[23] http://www.pakpost.gov.pk/philately/stamps2005/
saadat_manto.html,Pakistan Post Oce, Retrieved 12
August 2015
[24] http://www.dawn.com/news/717682/
tributes-paid-to-manto, Tributes paid to Manto,
Dawn newspaper, Karachi, published 11 May 2012,
Retrieved 19 Jan 2016
[25] http://www.dawn.com/news/1205621, 'How Manto,the
movie,came about', Dawn, Karachi newspaper- published
8 Sep 2015, Retrieved 19 Jan 2016

External links
Saadat Hasan Manto at the Internet Movie Database,
Retrieved 12 August 2015
Remembering Manto on his 101st birth anniversary
Manto, After Fifty years; A tribute at BBC Hindi
Watch Video Play of Saadat Hasan Manto

EXTERNAL LINKS

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