Saadat Hasan Manto

The master of the Urdu short story, famous for his stories of Partition

UrduShort-story writer

Life

Manto was born in Samrala and grew up in Amritsar. He was a poor student but a voracious reader, and early on translated works by Victor Hugo and Russian writers into Urdu.

He worked in Bombay as a writer for magazines, radio and the film industry, and in Delhi for All India Radio. After Partition in 1947 he moved, reluctantly, to Lahore.

His frank stories led to several obscenity trials, both before and after independence. Poverty, ill health and alcoholism marked his last years, and he died in Lahore aged just 42.

Major works

Toba Tek Singh: His most famous story: during the exchange of mental patients between India and Pakistan, a patient who no longer knows which country his village belongs to dies in no man's land, a symbol of Partition's madness.
Khol Do and Thanda Gosht: Short, shocking stories about the violence of Partition, especially against women.
Other stories and sketches: Including Boo, Kali Shalwar and Naya Qanoon, and Ganjay Farishtay, sketches of film personalities.

Themes and style

Partition and its violence, hypocrisy in society, the lives of people on the margins, and human nature without disguise. He insisted that he only showed society as it really was.

Legacy

Manto is regarded as the greatest short-story writer in Urdu. He was awarded the Nishan-e-Imtiaz posthumously in 2012, and films about his life were made in Pakistan (2015) and India (2018).