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{{Short description|19th-century Bengali Urdu and Persian poet from the Sovabazar royal family}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2025}}
{{Infobox writer
| honorific_prefix= ''[[Maharaja Bahadur]]''
| name = Apurbo Krishna Kunwar
| native_name = اپورب کشن دَیب بہادر کنورؔ
| native_name_lang = ur
| image =
| image_caption =
| birth_date = 1815
| birth_place = [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{death year and age|1867|1815}}
| death_place = [[Calcutta]], Bengal Presidency, British India
| occupation = Poet, writer
| language = Urdu, Persian
| nationality = British Indian
| notable_works =
* ''Dīvān''
* ''Shahnamah''
| genre = Ghazal, epic, biography
| parents = Raja Rajkrishna Deb (father)
| relatives = [[Nabakrishna Deb]] (grandfather)<br />[[Gopi Mohun Deb]] (step-uncle)<br />[[Narendra Krishna Deb]] (younger brother)
}}

'''Apurbo Krishna Deb Bahadur "Kunvar"'''{{efn|{{langx|bn|অপূর্ব কৃষ্ণ দেব বাহাদুর}}, {{langx|ur|{{Nastaliq|اپورب کشن دَیب بہادر کنورؔ}}}}}} (1815 – 1867) was a poet and writer in [[Urdu]] and [[Persian language|Persian]] from [[Bengal Presidency|Bengal]]. He belonged to the royal [[Sovabazar Raj]]. His name is mentioned in ''Tazkira Nuskha-e-Dilkashā'' by [[Janamejaya Mitra Arman]], and in ''Tazkira-i-Shu'ara-yi-Urdu'' by [[Garcin de Tassy]]. Apurbo Krishna was the author of a full ''[[Diwan (poetry)|Dīvān]]'', and his most distinguished literary work was a multi-volume ''Shahnamah'' dedicated to the Muslim monarchs of India. According to Harit Krishna Deb (his descendant), around 1848, he presented a four-volume manuscript of this ''Shahnamah'' to the [[American Oriental Society]], and became the first Indian to be made an honorary member of the society. This contribution is noted in the Society's 1849 annual report.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.rekhta.org/ebooks/bangali-hinduwon-ki-urdu-khidmat-shanti-ranjan-bhatta-charya-ebooks?lang=ur#114 |title=بنگالی ہندوؤں کی اردو خدمات |trans-title=The Urdu Contributions of Bengali Hindus |last=Bhattaacharya |first=Shanti Ranjan |author-link=Shanti Ranjan Bhattacharya |publisher=Hindustan Art Press |year=1963 |location=Calcutta |page=115}}</ref>

== Biography ==
Apurbo Krishna was born in 1815 into the royal family of [[Sovabazar Raj]], located in present-day [[West Bengal]].<ref name="Jilani1989">{{cite book |last=Jilani |first=Abu Bakar |title=کنور (اپنی دو مثنویوں کی روشنی میں) |trans-title=Kunvar (In the Light of His Two Masnavis) |publisher=Calligraph Offset Printers |location=Calcutta |year=1989 |page=69 |language=ur |url=https://www.rekhta.org/ebooks/kunwar-apni-do-masnaviyon-ki-roshni-mein-abu-bakar-jilani-ebooks?lang=ur#67}}</ref> He received his early education at Dharmatala Academy School in [[Calcutta]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Bhattacharya|first=Shanti Ranjan|title=بنگالی ہندوؤں کی اردو خدمات|trans-title=The Urdu Contributions of Bengali Hindus|publisher=Hindustan Art Press|location=Calcutta|year=1963|page=117|language=ur|url=https://www.rekhta.org/ebooks/bangali-hinduwon-ki-urdu-khidmat-shanti-ranjan-bhatta-charya-ebooks?lang=ur#117}}</ref> From a young age, he showed a inclination towards [[Urdu poetry|poetry]] and adopted the pen name "Kunvar". He was admired for his melodious voice and was known to sing [[ghazal]]s accompanied by musical instruments every morning. Kunvar served as a court-poet at the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] [[Bahadur Shah Zafar|imperial court]] in [[Delhi]].<ref name="Jilani1989"/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hnzaid&seq=8|title=Lives of Maha Raja Apurva Krishna Bahadur, poet laureat to His Imperial Majesty of Delhi, and member of the Hamburg Academy, &c. &c. &c., his father and grandfather ...|year=1846|language=en|access-date=13 July 2025|via=[[HathiTrust]]|page=8}}</ref> In the ''Masnavi-e-Kunvar'', there is a second [[panegyric]] that honors [[Bahadur Shah Zafar]], the final Mughal ruler of Delhi.{{sfn|Jilani|2007|p=22}} Some of his verses indicate that he was a devotee of [[Vaishnavism|Vishnu]]; notably, the first [[qasida]] of his [[masnavi]] opens with praise of [[Krishna]].{{sfn|Jilani|2007|p=21}}

He had two sons: Kumar Krishna and Upendra Krishna. He died in 1867 at the age of 52.{{sfn|Jilani|2007|p=21}}

== Works ==
* A four-volume Persian chronicle titled ''Shahnama-ye Hind''{{efn|شاهنامهٔ هند<ref>{{cite book|last=Naushahi|first=Arif|title=کتاب‌شناسى آثار فارسى چاپ شده در شبه قاره (هند، پاکستان، بنگلادش)|trans-title=Bibliography of Persian Works Published in the Indian Subcontinent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh)|volume=4 |page=2488|url=https://noorlib.ir/book/view/34857/%DA%A9%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D8%B4%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B3%DB%8C-%D8%A2%D8%AB%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%B3%DB%8C-%DA%86%D8%A7%D9%BE-%D8%B4%D8%AF%D9%87-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%B4%D8%A8%D9%87-%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%87-(%D9%87%D9%86%D8%AF-%D9%BE%D8%A7%DA%A9%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A8%D9%86%DA%AF%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%B4)-%D8%A7%D8%B2-1160-1386%D8%B4.-%7C-1195-1428%D9%87%D9%80-%7C-1781-2007%D9%85.?volumeNumber=4&sectionNumber=2&pageNumber=2488&viewType=pdf|publisher=Miras Maktoob|language=fa|date=2012|isbn=9789004406087|doi=10.1163/9789004406087|oclc=1266752246}}</ref>}} was presented to [[Queen Victoria]] in 1848. A copy of the same was also gifted to the [[American Oriental Society]].
* Two Urdu [[Diwan (poetry)|divān]]s (collections of poetry). The first was reportedly published in 1843 ([[Bengali year]] 1250), and is referenced in the Awadh Catalogue. The second, published in 1844 (Bengali year 1251), is preserved at the [[Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library]], Patna.
* Two Urdu [[masnavi]]s (narrative poems) titled ''Masnavi-e-Kunvar'' are housed in the [[Asiatic Society of Bengal]]. One carries a publication date of 1848, while the other is dated 1846.
* He also wrote a scholarly treatise on the [[Vedanta|Vedantic]] era of [[Hindu civilization]], though this work is now considered rare.
* According to Wafa Rashidi, Kunvar also launched a weekly journal titled ''Nizām-e-Shamsī'' in 1830.<ref>{{cite book|title=کنور ایک عظیم بنگالی شاعر|trans-title=Kunvar: A Great Bengali Poet|last=Jilani|first=Abu Bakar|publisher=Iqdar Kitab Ghar|year=1978|location=Calcutta|page=11|language=ur|url=https://www.rekhta.org/ebooks/kunwar-aik-azim-bengali-shayer-abu-bakar-jilani-ebooks?lang=ur#13}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

=== Work cited ===
* {{cite book| last = Jilani| first = Abu Bakar| title = مثنویٔ کنور جہاندار شاہ و شہزادی حور|trans-title = The Masnavi of Kunvar: Jahandar Shah and Princess Hoor| publisher = Abu Bakar Jilani | location = Calcutta| page = 19-22|year=2007|language =ur|url=https://www.rekhta.org/ebooks/masnawi-e-kunwar-abu-bakar-jilani-ebooks}}

[[Category:1815 births]]
[[Category:1867 deaths]]
[[Category:Urdu-language poets]]
[[Category:Poets from West Bengal]]
[[Category:People from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Bengali zamindars]]
[[Category:Bengali Hindus]]
[[Category:19th-century Urdu-language writers]]

Apurbo Krishna Kunvar - Revision history

Gyani24: pg