| Ilyas Sitapuri | |
| Birth Date: | 30 October 1934 |
| Birth Place: | Sitapur, United Provinces, British India |
| Death Date: | 1 October 2003 (aged 68) |
| Death Place: | Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan |
| Nationality: | Pakistani |
| Years Active: | 1950–2003 |
| Genre: | Historical fiction |
| Spouse: | Zia Tasneem Bilgrami |
Ilyas Sitapuri (30 October 1934 – 1 October 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.
Sitapuri was born as Muhammad Ilyas Khan on 30 October 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.[1]
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 in January 1971. He continued writing for Sabrang Digest until 1974. Then, in January 1975, he joined Suspense Digest and continuously wrote for it until his death. Sitapuri's stories and novels have also been published in India by the Shama Book Depot, (Delhi).[2]
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.[3]
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.[4]
Some famous historical stories and novels of Ilyas Sitapuri include:[5]
Sitpuri died on 1 October 2003, in Karachi.[26]