Based in the erstwhile Bengali capital Hazrat Pandua, he was the son and successor of Alaul Haq, a senior scholar of the Bengal Sultanate.
He is noted for his efforts in preserving the Muslim rule of Bengal against Raja Ganesha and pioneering the Dobhashi tradition of Bengali literature.
[1] Nur Qutb Alam was born in the city of Hazrat Pandua to a Bengali Muslim family descended from Khalid ibn al-Walid, an Arab commander and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, who belonged to the Banu Makhzum clan of Quraysh.
[2] Alam's cousins, uncles and grandfathers were all employed by the Sultanate of Bengal, with his brother, Azam Khan, serving as the Wazir (Prime Minister).
[3][6] Alam preferred busying himself with spirituality, which is evident from his rejection to his brother Wazir Azam Khan's request to be employed by the government.
[8] With the persecution of Bengali Muslims following Raja Ganesha's coup d'état, Nur Qutb Alam wrote a letter to Sultan Ibrahim Sharqi of Jaunpur to liberate Bengal.
Later sultans such as Alauddin Husain Shah (r. 1494–1519) used to make yearly visits to the shrine and was noted for granting a number of villages for maintaining the alms-house and madrasah attached to the Shash Hazari Dargah.