Tajuddin Zareen was born in Lahore on October 11, 1906. After the death of his mother during his young age, his maternal uncle Haji Noor Ahmed brought him up. Haji sahib was the student of a famous calligrapher Munshi Fazal Ilahi Marghoob Lahori, and a disciple of sufi saint Hazrat Maulana Ahmed Ali Qadri Lahori. He had taken part in the Tehreek-i-Khilafat. In 1920, he went to Afghanistan and Russia for the sake of jihad, and after two years, in 1922, when he came back to India, he took young Tajuddin under his tutelage. Besides, because his nature was inclined more towards wrestling, Tajuddin took part in many wrestling matches during his teenage years.
In 1929, Tajuddin sahib wrote his first wasli of Huroof-i-Abjad that got published. An annual convention of All India National Congress was held in Lahore in 1930 under the presidency of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Tajuddin Zareen created a huge poster for that event. That poster was so beautiful that the public took it away with them. In 1931, he presented the Eid greetings to the fellow Muslim brethren in the shape of a magnificently huge signboard sponsored by the weekly ‘Naunehaal’. Its size was around 75 feet by 25 feet, on which ‘Eid Mubarik’ was inscribed alongside the poetic verse by Akhtar Sheerani: “Hasil Khuda ke Ghar Azeezon ki Deed Hai; Rehmat Pukarti hai Idher aa keh Eid hai”. This board was hung at the main gate of the Badshahi Mosque on the Eid day, and was later placed near the Lohari Gate. This spectacular work of art received great appreciation from people of Lahore. In 1930, he adopted ‘Zareen Raqam’ as an epithet.
In the year 1936, he wrote ‘Muraqqa Zareen’ that holds importance as the first booklet which explains rules of the modern style Nastaleeq calligraphy. It was widely respected and encouraged by the artists’ community. He brought out two editions of the booklet during his lifetime.
On October 15, 1939, Tajuddin sahib became the chairman of ‘Tanzeem-e-Khushnaweesaan’ or the calligraphers’ union that he had created. All calligraphers and scribes came under its flag, and a new chapter began in the history of Urdu calligraphers of India. Under his chairmanship, he travelled across the whole country to establish the union’s branches, to meet calligraphers and implement aims and objectives of the union. He organized scores of events to rejuvenate the union.
He was blessed with a spirit of forbearance and endurance. During the Second World War, due to constant inflation and artificially created famine, the calligraphers’ community demanded an increase in salaries. But the owner of daily Pratap, Lahore, Mahashay Krishan, would not accept the demands. In protest, Tajuddin sahib went on a hunger strike, and soon Krishan had to yield to the demands and increased the salaries four times.
In the year 1936, he wrote ‘Muraqqa Zareen’ that holds importance as the first booklet which explains rules of the modern style Nastaleeq calligraphy. It was widely respected and encouraged by the artists’ community. He brought out two editions of the booklet during his lifetime.
Later, the owner of daily Parbhaat developed difference with the union. The union and the newspaper owners tried to resolve the dispute through the help of Nawab Iftikhar Hussain Khan Mamdot, Raja Ghazanfar Ali and Mian Mumtaz Daultana but of no use. Finally, Tajuddin sahib was able to resolve problems between the two parties.
Tajuddin sahib left the chairmanship of union in 1948 due to personal reasons. But, the very next year, he was elected as the president. In 1949, an afternoon party was arranged by the Pakistan Calligraphers’ Union in honour of Zareen Raqam sahib, where he was gifted a gold ring and a gold watch, in recognition of his services to the union.
By 1949-1950, Mian Muhammad Shafi, former secretary Journalist Association, suggested to merge the Calligraphers’ Union, Journalists’ Association and Newspaper Hawkers’ Union into a single Federal Council. The stakeholders agreed, and the Federal Council was formed. Tajuddin sahib was appointed the head of the council.
When the editor of The Sind Observer newspaper, Ali Muhammad Rashidi, made his press staff the target of his oppression, Tajuddin sahib led a protest in Punjab. He led a huge procession of scribes, journalists and newspaper hawkers at the Gol Bagh, Lahore. The sudden closing down of newspapers caused panic all over Pakistan. The news about these protests was broadcast in many countries, and photographs were published in newspapers. To further strengthen the movement, Tajuddin sahib; Mr. Louis, President Calligraphers’ Union; Mian Muhammad Sadiq, President Journalists Union along with representatives of the Newspaper Hawkers’ Union devised a plan for a tour of Karachi. Finally, Rashidi had to give up and accept the staff’s demands.
Tajuddin sahib was extremely courteous, sociable and sympathetic. He was well-dressed and advised his students to do the same. He wanted to see the calligraphers’ community in a better position. In those post-partition days, katibs were struggling to find employment. Tajuddin sahib tried to provide sources of livelihood to them, and despite odds, he was able to get their wages increased significantly.
He learnt the art of Nastaleeq Calligraphy with a lot of hard work. He rendered Khat-i-Jali of Nastaleeq with absolute skill. No matter how big the size of the poster, he would finish writing it in not more than two hours. He had written thousands of posters during his lifetime that are considered as milestones in the art of calligraphy.
Tajuddin sahib composed advertisements for wrestling matches or dangals. He designed covers of books and magazines as well. He had written calligraphic content on the front pages of a number of newspapers, including ‘Zamindar’, ‘Ihsan’, ‘Inquilab’, ‘Nawa-i-Waqt’, ‘Azad’, ‘Ahraar’, ‘Insaf’, ‘Chattaan’, ‘Kohistan’ and ‘Safeena’. He brilliantly did the cover of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s ‘Tarjumaan al Quran’. He designed magazine covers for ‘Adab-e-Lateef’, ‘Alamgir’, ‘Humayun’, ‘Adabi Duniya’, ‘Punjabi’ and ‘Naunehaal’.
Some famous Urdu poets, like Allama Iqbal, Hafeez Jullandhari, Akhtar Sheerani and Josh Maleehabadi, had their poetry inscribed by him. His art also adorned the walls of a number of mosques and buildings as well as numerous epitaphs. The Nawan Bazar Mosque, Dar-ul-Furqan, Baghbanpura and the porch inside the shrine of Data Ganj Bakhsh Hazrat Ali Hajveri are some examples.
In those post-partition days, katibs were struggling to find employment. Tajuddin sahib tried to provide sources of livelihood to them, and despite odds, he was able to get their wages increased significantly.
Tajuddin sahib wanted to publish his artworks in a single book, but that desire remained unfulfilled. The calligraphers’ community of India and Pakistan gave him the title of ‘Khataat-e-Mashriq’. During his lifetime, he took part in an international exhibition of arts held in Rawalpindi. The Pakistan Army under the Chief of General Staff, Major General Mian Hayauddin, organised it. His artworks received lots of respects and appreciation from the audience. He was given a medal for his artistic services.
On June 13, 1955, at 9.30am, this great master calligrapher breathed his last. He was buried at Miani Sahib graveyard in Lahore.
The number of students of Tajuddin Zareen Raqam is in hundreds, among them are Hafiz Muhammad Yusuf Sadeedi (chief calligrapher daily ‘Imroz’), Sufi Khursheed Alam Khursheed Raqam (chief calligrapher daily ‘Musawaat’), Faiz Mujaddid Artist (Bombay), Syed Anwar Hussain Nafees Raqam, Khalifa Muhammad Tufail, Naseer-ud-din Naseer Lahori, Abdur Rasheed Amritsari, Iqbal Ashraf and Muhammad Tufail (editor ‘Naqoosh’).