On June 13, Urdu novelist Mohsin Khan and translator Saeed Ahmed were announced as the winners of the inaugural Bank of Baroda Rashtrabhasha Samman for the Hindi translation of Khan’s novel Allah Miyan Ka Karkhana. The author was awarded a cash prize of Rs 21 lakh and the translator, Rs 15 lakh.

The award honours an Indian language author and a translator for the book’s Hindi translation. In addition to the cash prizes for the winning author-translator duo, each of the shortlisted authors and translators are also awarded Rs 3,00,000 and Rs 2,00,000 respectively.

Allah Miyan Ka Karkhana portrays the world from the point of view of a nine-year-old boy, Gibran, who is also the protagonist of the novel. Readers empathise with the child’s curiosity, amazement, and displeasure with the world around him. Author Mohsin Khan is known for conveying complex realities through his simple style of writing. He has also written fiction for children.