Qudrat Ullah Shahab

Qudrat Ullah Shahab (or Qudratullah Shahab; 1917– July 24, 1986) was an eminent Urdu writer and civil servant from Pakistan. He is best known for his autobiography Shahabnama.

He was born in Gilgit in 1917, where his father Abdullah Sahib was Governor during Dogra rule. He started writing in his early days both in Urdu and English languages. At aged 16, he won an international essay competition organized by the Readers Digest, London. He graduated from Prince of Whales College, Jammu, and later from Government College Lahore.

He was selected for Indian Civil Service in 1940 and later volunteered to serve in Bengal during the famine of 1943 where he served as magistrate at Nandigram. He came under heavy fire from the authorities when he distributed part of the strategic rice reserves to starving local community.