Ismat Chughtai (1911–1991) is the boldest name in modern Urdu prose — and the hardest to shelve in one word. She was not, first of all, a novelist. She was a short-story writer whose stories changed what Urdu fiction was allowed to say, and then she wrote novels, novellas, plays, essays, a memoir and film scripts as well. This Ismat Chughtai books guide takes her shelf as it actually is: the stories first, the one great novel, the later novels and novellas, and the films. One date needs a flag before anything else: her birth year is given as 1911 by the current Wikipedia article and 1915 by Rekhta and several other sources, so this guide uses 1911 and records the disagreement rather than hiding it.
Her Life in Brief
Chughtai was born in Badayun, in Uttar Pradesh, the ninth of ten children — six brothers and four sisters — to Mirza Qaseem Baig Chughtai, a civil servant whose postings moved the family through Jodhpur, Agra and Aligarh. Her elder brother Mirza Azim Beg Chughtai was also a novelist, and she counted him as a mentor. She studied at the Women's College of Aligarh Muslim University, took her B.A. from Isabella Thoburn College in 1940, and then a B.Ed. from Aligarh in 1941, against strong resistance from her family.
Aligarh is where she became a writer. She attended her first Progressive Writers' Association meeting in 1936, met Rashid Jahan there, and read Angarey, the controversial story collection that showed her what Urdu prose could dare. Her first published work was a drama, Fasadi (The Troublemaker), in the Urdu magazine Saqi in 1939 — and readers assumed it was her brother's work under a pseudonym. In 1942 she moved to Bombay as an Inspectress of schools, and married the filmmaker Shaheed Latif the same year. Latif drew her into Hindi cinema, where she wrote scripts, dialogue and stories for three decades. She died in Mumbai on 24 October 1991, after Alzheimer's disease in her late eighties, and was cremated at the Chandanwadi crematorium, as she had wished.
The Books, One by One
Tedhi Lakeer (1943) — the one great novel
Start here, because this is the book her reputation rests on. Tedhi Lakeer (The Crooked Line) appeared in 1943, written during the war while she was pregnant with her daughter. It is quasi-autobiographical: it follows Shamman, a rebellious young woman, through the lives of Muslim women — in the family, in marriage, in purdah and outside it — as British rule waned. Critics have called it one of the best novels in Urdu. It is the magnum opus, and the book every reading order for Chughtai opens with.
Ziddi (1941) — the first novella
Ziddi came first, in 1941, written when she was in her early twenties. It tells of a love affair between a woman who works as domestic help in an affluent household and her employer's son, and it was praised for showing women trying to break out of shackles made by other women rather than by men. It was translated into English as Wild at Heart, and filmed in 1948, with Dev Anand in his first major role.
The story collections — where her fame really lives
The collections are the heart of her shelf. Kaliyan (Buds) came in 1941 and Choten (Wounds) in 1942 — her earliest books. Chhui Mui (Touch-Me-Not), from 1952, gave Urdu one of its most discussed stories: a sharp dissection of society's equation of womanhood with motherhood. Later collections include Ek Baat, Do Haath, Dhani Bankein and Thori Si Pagal. Early stories Wikipedia names as successes include Gainda and Khidmatgaar.
The later novels and novellas — Masooma, Saudai, Dil Ki Duniya, Ajeeb Aadmi, Jangli Kabootar
From the 1960s onward she returned to longer fiction. Masooma (1962) follows Nilofar, a young actress in 1950s Bombay forced to work as a call girl to support her family after her father abandons them. Saudai (Obsession, 1966) is a novella built from her screenplay for the 1951 film Buzdil. Dil Ki Duniya (The Heart Breaks Free) follows a group of women in a conservative Muslim household in Uttar Pradesh, drawing on her own childhood; critics place it second only to Tedhi Lakeer, and she herself considered it her best novel. Ajeeb Aadmi (A Very Strange Man), from the early 1970s, narrates the life of Dharam Dev, a popular film star, and the damage his affair with a fellow actress does to everyone around them; it was said to be based on the Guru Dutt–Waheeda Rehman affair, though neither is named. Jangli Kabootar (Wild Pigeons, 1970) follows an actress's life and was one of the first of her novels to take up infidelity. One caution: sources disagree on the labels — Wikipedia calls Masooma a novel and Saudai a novella, while Dareechah reverses them — so this guide uses Wikipedia's labels and notes the disagreement. Her historical novel Ek Qatra-e-Khoon, on Karbala, has no reliably pinned year, so none is given.
The memoir and the non-fiction — Kaghazi Hai Pairahan
Her unfinished memoir, Kaghazi Hai Pairahan (The Paper-Thin Garment), was published after her death. Alongside it sit the essay collections Ham Log and Yahan Se Vahan Tak, and the plays collected as Shaitan.
Lihaaf and the Trial
No Chughtai guide can skip Lihaaf (The Quilt). The story appeared in 1942 in the Lahore journal Adab-i-Latif — Rekhta dates it 1941 — and tells of Begum Jan, a neglected wife in a feudal household, and her relationship with her masseuse. It suggested female homosexuality, and the uproar was immediate: Chughtai was summoned by the Lahore High Court in 1945 to answer obscenity charges. Saadat Hasan Manto, charged at the same time for his story "Bu" (Odour), travelled to Lahore with her, and both were exonerated. The trial made her famous and, in her own words, became "the proverbial stick to beat me with" — everything she wrote afterwards was measured against it. The story itself has outlived the scandal: it is now widely anthologised and counted among the landmarks of modern Indian literature.
The Films
Chughtai's cinema career is a second shelf of its own. She wrote the screenplay for Ziddi (1948) and the dialogue and screenplay for Arzoo (1950), co-directed Fareb (1953), and wrote and co-produced Sone Ki Chidiya (1958), a film about a child actor exploited by the industry. She wrote twelve scripts with her husband Shaheed Latif, and Garam Hawa (1973) — the Partition film, for which she won the Filmfare Best Story Award, shared with Kaifi Azmi — is the most famous of them. For the Partition-era novels written in the same decade as her early work, see our guide to how four Urdu novels treat Partition differently.
The Awards
She received the Ghalib Award in 1974 for Tedhi Lakeer, and the Padma Shri — Wikipedia gives 1976, Rekhta gives 1975, and this guide records both. The Makhdoom Literary Award followed in 1979, the Soviet Land Nehru Award in 1982, and the Iqbal Samman in 1990. For Garam Hawa she won both the Filmfare Best Story Award and the National Film Award for Best Story. In 2018, Google marked her 107th birthday with a Doodle — the date fits the 1911 birth year, not 1915.
In English
For readers who do not read Urdu, the verified English shelf is small but real. Tedhi Lakeer is available as The Crooked Line, translated by Tahira Naqvi (Kali for Women, 1995); Ziddi as Wild at Heart; and four of her novellas and novels are collected in English as A Chughtai Quartet (Women Unlimited, 2015). No other English-translation volume was verified, and none is claimed here. For Urdu readers, Rekhta hosts her story collections as e-books, including Ismat Chughtai Ke Anmol Afsane — the practical place to read her.
Where to Start: A Reading Order
First, read "Lihaaf" — one story will tell you whether her bluntness suits you, and it is the story everything else is measured against. Second, Tedhi Lakeer (1943): the great novel, and the fullest statement of what she thought about women's lives. Third, a story collection — Kaliyan or Chhui Mui — for the range of her short fiction. Fourth, Dil Ki Duniya, the novel she herself rated highest. Fifth, for the cinema side, watch Garam Hawa, the Partition film she wrote. For the company she kept, our Rajinder Singh Bedi books guide covers a fellow "four pillar" of the modern Urdu short story. For general advice on approaching older Urdu novels, see our guide to reading classic Urdu novels.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Ismat Chughtai write novels?
Yes — but she was a short-story writer first. Her one great novel is Tedhi Lakeer (1943); the rest of her longer fiction is a mix of novels and novellas, including Masooma, Saudai, Dil Ki Duniya, Ajeeb Aadmi and Jangli Kabootar. The short stories, led by "Lihaaf", are the larger part of her fame.
Which book of Chughtai should I read first?
Tedhi Lakeer (1943), her magnum opus. If you want a shorter first taste, read the story "Lihaaf" first, then the novel.
Why do sources disagree on her birth year?
Because the record itself disagrees. The current Wikipedia article gives 21 August 1911 — and Google's 107th-birthday Doodle in 2018 fits 1911 — while Rekhta, Dareechah and older mirrors give 21 August 1915, and Katha gives 1912. This guide uses 1911 and records the other dates instead of picking one silently.
What is "Lihaaf" about?
It is the story of Begum Jan, a neglected wife in a feudal household, and her relationship with her masseuse. Published in 1942, it led to an obscenity trial in Lahore in 1945, in which Chughtai was exonerated.
Where can I read Chughtai in English?
Tedhi Lakeer as The Crooked Line (translated by Tahira Naqvi, 1995), Ziddi as Wild at Heart, and four of her longer works in A Chughtai Quartet (2015). For Urdu readers, Rekhta hosts her story collections as e-books.
Research date: November 7, 2026. Facts verified against Wikipedia (Ismat Chughtai and List of works by Ismat Chughtai), Rekhta's Ismat Chughtai e-book pages, and the Dareechah profile. Where sources disagree — her birth year is 1911 in the current Wikipedia article and 1915 in Rekhta, Dareechah and older mirrors (Dareechah gives 15 August 1915; Katha gives 1912); "Lihaaf" is dated 1942 by Wikipedia and 1941 by Rekhta; the Padma Shri is dated 1976 by Wikipedia and 1975 by Rekhta; Masooma is called a novel and Saudai a novella by Wikipedia, while Dareechah reverses the labels — this guide records both sides and states no disputed fact as settled. No publication year is given for Ek Qatra-e-Khoon, Ham Log, Yahan Se Vahan Tak or Shaitan, because no reliable source pins one down. Wikipedia states that she wrote eight novels from the 1960s onward; the count is not repeated here because the list behind it was not verified in this session.