Niaz Zaman’s History of the Family is a unique book in the field of history and biography. The full title of the book is: History of the Family of Sheikh Gul Mohammad (formerly Ghumman Mal of Bhera). It is written by his humble descendant Niaz Zaman. Niaz Zaman, for several decades, has been a prolific writer in English from Bangladesh.
In the beginning of the book Napoleon Immortal by Kemble and John Murray we will get a clear picture of Napoleon’s mother returning from field while the baby Napoleon is yet to be born. What masterful and unique descriptions by them of the birth of the baby Napoleon! Over all the pages following this is a beautiful mixture of history and fiction.
History of the Family is very similar. As we know the writer herself to be one of the leading fiction writers, this book carries all the marks of her craft, yet it never appears embellished or created out of nothing. This book on family history contains all the qualities of great fiction.
Another noticeable aspect of the book is that it is full of allusions from great classics like Homer and Shakespeare. The great honesty the writer maintained in this book is that the writer not only talked about the glories of her family but also of the ignominies!
Generally, we have a notion that history books are boring, the prose is mechanical and the flow is slow. But there is no chance of that in this book. Another book of that dimension is Freedom at Midnight, which was jointly written by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre.
One of the chief characteristics of the book is its high sense of humor. It is quite refreshing that a person can make light of his own family and ancestors; mediocre writers would write a big book on the glories of his family with lavish praises and extravagant sentences.
Here, the writer wrote the glories in a journalistic manner. Sometimes we get the picture of the family conflicts, family struggles, failures at the same time of the successes.
The polygamy in the family and the famous heritage of the beautiful girls of that region are a few sides which will attract the attention of the reader. We will see that the writer made upon her own suggestions and judgments on the events that had taken place in the remote past. It becomes possible for the writers’ good command over history.
What attracts me to this book is my preconceived notion that Bengalis are famous for not having historical sense. They don’t study history well; even in their own family they can’t trace more than three or four generations, more often less than that. Here the writer is telling the stories of her family, which encompasses more than four centuries! How many family here in Bangladesh can trace their family tree to four hundred years? It will of course be very few.
If we start from the beginning we will find that it reads like a novel. Like a great storyteller, she tells the story of her family. The history begins with the acceptance of Islam by her ancestor. After accepting Islam, Ghumman Mal became Sheikh Gul Mohammad. Then the acquiring of the sword of Hussain came into the narration.
We will get an interesting information from her on the difference between Christian and Muslim swords! She says, “there is a slight difference between the sword of Islam and Christianity: The swords of Christianity were straight, and, with the transverse hilts, became crucifixes that a soldier could kiss his vows on ... the swords of Islam were curved, like the crescent which ushered in Ramazan.” We find a clear show of integrity which is quite a mark of her personality by her statement, “We were Sheikhs, not Sayyads, Indian converts to Islam, not descendants of the Prophet.”
Mirza Rasul Beg introduced Ghumman Mal to “the beauties of Islam ... not the beauty of its women.” Ghuman Mal served Akbar’s military campaigns. Rasulpura was the name of the village that was given to him. On describing Rasulpura she says, “the area of what was Rasulpura still boasts of the most beautiful girls for miles around. Their aquiline noses and green or blue eyes are a throwback and a living testimony to the Greek armies of Alexander that marched across India and only came to a halt at the banks of the Bias.” Rasulpura is now Mohammadpura, only 12km from Attari Sham Singh in the district of Amritsar, 16 miles from Lahore.
One will find recurrent allusions to the different episodes of world history, especially the Muslim civilisation and references from world literature in the book. To knowledgeable readers it might seem the writer is a bit showy of her command over world history and world literature, but readers like us will find a treasure in this book.
Reading this book is not merely a journey into the world of a single family, but a journey into a continent, a civilisation, and a brief introduction to world civilisations and world literature. The lover of history will find enough to treasure in this book and the lover of literature will find enough windows to see things in different lights.
