Enaith Habibullah was born in
Lucknow, India, into the Muslim feudal aristocracy of
Oudh. They were the
Taluqdars of
Saidanpur estate in
Barabanki district, which they had received for services rendered to the
Nawab of Awadh, and which they continued to enjoy under the
British Raj. Enaith's father, Sheikh Mohammad Habibullah, himself taluqdar of Saidanpur, also served for many years as regent or governor of the (much larger) estate of
Mahmudabad. Enaith's mother was Inam Habibullah, she came from an educated and affluent Muslim family belonging to
Kakori near
Lucknow. Enaith was one of four children both to Sheikh Mohammad Habibullah and Begum Inam Habibullah. He had two brothers, Isha'at and Ali Bahadur, and a sister, Tazeen. • Isha'at settled in Karachi and took up a corporate career there. In 1942, he had become the husband of Jehanara (or Jahan Ara) of
Najibabad. Jehanara was a sister of Rafa'at-uz-zamani Begum, wife of Mohammad Raza Ali Khan, last ruling
Nawab of Rampur. Isha'at and Jehanara had two daughters, Muneeza and Naushaba. Muneeza is married to Saleem Shamsie and is the mother of two daughters, Saman Shamsie (an educationist) and Kamila Shamsie (a writer). Naushaba lives with her two children, son Sa'ad and daughter Samirah, in
Montreal,
Canada. • Ali Bahadur Habibullah entered the colonial government service and happened to be posted in London when the partition of India happened. He chose India over Pakistan but remained posted in London for several years. When he was transferred eventually to India, his wife and children did not move with him, but remained in the UK. Much before partition, he had married
Attia Hosain, his first cousin (his mother's sister's daughter). Attia is recognized as a gifted and empathetic writer, both of whose books deal with change being visited upon the settled and genteel land-owning families of Awadh. Her semi-autobiographical
Sunlight on a broken column is prescribed reading, as a textbook, for degree courses in several universities in India and abroad. Her other work is a collection of short stories. Ali Bahadur and Attia grew estranged after the former moved to India and the latter, finding it impossible to let go of her memories and associations, chose to divide her time between India and England. They had two children, a son,
Waris Habibullah, and a daughter, the scriptwriter Shama Habibullah. • Tazeen Faridi was Enaith's only sister. Her daughter, Shahla, is married to Enaith's only son,
Wajahat Habibullah. ==Education and career==