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Urdu Poets and Poetry MCQs

Urdu Poets and Poetry MCQs are multiple-choice questions on the major Urdu poets, their real names, pen names (تخلص), titles, poetry collections and literary movements. Every question on MCQs360 shows its correct answer instantly, so you can match poets with their works quickly before an exam.

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About Urdu Poets and Poetry MCQs

Questions cover classical poets such as Mir Taqi Mir, Khawaja Mir Dard, Mirza Ghalib, Momin Khan Momin and Bahadur Shah Zafar, the marsiya poets Mir Anees and Mirza Dabeer, and Akbar Allahabadi and Allama Iqbal. Typical questions ask for a poet's real name, birthplace or year of death, the collection a famous poem belongs to, or works such as Ghalib's letters and Iqbal's Persian masnavis.

Modern poets include Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Josh Malihabadi, N. M. Rashid, Nasir Kazmi, Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi, Habib Jalib, Saghar Siddiqui and Parveen Shakir. Other questions cover the Progressive Writers' Movement (انجمن ترقی پسند مصنفین), Halqa-e-Arbab-e-Zauq and early Urdu criticism such as Hali's Muqaddama-e-Sher-o-Shairi. You will also meet questions on literary journals, such as the one Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi founded, on the newspapers Faiz edited, and on the careers and autobiographies of modern poets, so revise their lives as well as their verse.

Key facts to remember

  • Mirza Ghalib died in Delhi in 1869; his Urdu letters are collected in Ud-e-Hindi and Urdu-e-Mualla.
  • Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal emperor, wrote poetry under the pen name Zafar.
  • Allama Iqbal's first Persian masnavi was Asrar-e-Khudi, published in 1915.
  • Mir Babar Ali Anees is best known for his marsiyas (elegies).
  • The first conference of the Progressive Writers' Association, held in Lucknow in 1936, was presided over by Munshi Premchand.
  • Josh Malihabadi is known by the title Shair-e-Inqilab (Poet of the Revolution).

Exams that include Urdu Poets and Poetry MCQs

Pakistan

  • CSS
  • PMS
  • PPSC
  • FPSC
  • SPSC
  • KPPSC
  • NTS
  • PPSC Educators

India

  • UPSC

How to prepare for Urdu Poets and Poetry MCQs

  1. Build a table for each poet with real name, pen name, birthplace, title and two or three main collections.
  2. Learn poets in historical order, from Mir and Ghalib to Iqbal and then the Progressive and modern poets, so the dates fall into place.
  3. Memorise the opening lines of famous poems and which collection they come from, as examiners often quote a misra.
  4. Revise literary movements and journals, such as the Progressive Writers' Association and Halqa-e-Arbab-e-Zauq, alongside the poets linked to them.

Frequently asked questions

What was Allama Iqbal's first Urdu poetry collection?

Allama Iqbal's first Urdu poetry collection was Bang-e-Dra (بانگ درا), published in 1924. It includes well-known poems such as Tarana-e-Hind, Khizr-e-Rah and Tulu-e-Islam. His later Urdu collections include Bal-e-Jibril and Zarb-e-Kalim.

Which exams ask questions on Urdu poets?

Questions on Urdu poets appear in the Urdu papers of PPSC, FPSC, SPSC, KPPSC and NTS tests, and in Urdu lecturer and subject specialist tests. Urdu Literature is also one of the optional subjects in the CSS examination.

Last reviewed October 2026