The first historical novelist of Urdu, Abdul Halim Sharar (1860-1926) began publishing this monthly literary journal in the year 1887. He published it throughout his life and it continued to be published even after his death until 1934.
Abdul Halim Sharar was a prolific Indian Urdu language author, playwright, essayist and historian from Lucknow. He left behind, in all, hundred and two books. He often wrote about the Islamic past and extolled virtues like courage, bravery, magnanimity and religious fervour. Malikul Azia Varjina (1889), Firdaus-e-Bareen (1899), Zawal-e-Baghdad (1912), Husn ka Daku (1913–1914), Darbar-e-Harampur (1914) and Fateh Maftuh (1916) are some of his famous novels.
His book Guzishta Lucknow is still considered as one of the best narrative describing the genesis of the city and its culture of Lucknow.