Ilyas Sitapuri
Ilyas Sitapuri (October 30, 1934 – October 1, 2003) was a Pakistani historical fiction writer. He is known for writing historical stories for Sabrang Digest and Suspense Digest. His popular stories and novels include, "Kashmir Ki Kali", "Daastan-e-Hoor", "Bala Khanay Ki Dulhan", and "Sikandar-e-Azam". Early life. Sitapuri was born as "Muhammad Ilyas Khan" on October 30, 1934 in Sitapur, British India. His family belonged to the Yusufzai tribe who had migrated to "Sitapur" during the era of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. In 1952, he migrated to Pakistan and settled in Karachi. Writing career. "Sitapuri" started  his writing career with children stories in the late 1940s. At the age of 16, he penned his first novel, ""Shakar"". After coming to Pakistan, he struggled as a writer and worked for different publishing institutions. In 1970, he was introduced to "Shakeel Adilzada", the editor of Sabrang Digest. Then, he wrote his first historical story for the digest, "Khan-e-Azam Ka Tohfa" that was published on January 1971. He continued writing for Sabrang Digest till 1974. Then, in January 1975, he joined Suspense Digest and continuously wrote for it till his death. Ilyas Sitapuri's stories and novels  have also been published in India by the Shama Book Depot, (Delhi). Writing style. "Sitapuri" makes historical facts live with fictional characters and vivid scripts, so that the readers find themselves actually walking in the remote era. He intelligently portrays human instincts and psychology while writing about historical events. Personal life. Sitapuri was married to Zia Tasneem Bilgrami who also used to write Islamic biographies in Suspense Digest. Both had 5 daughters and 3 sons. One of their daughters "Zanobia" is a performing artist and a journalist. Popular stories/novels. Some famous historical stories and novels of Ilyas Sitapuri include : Death. Sitpuri died on October 1, 2003 in Karachi.