Nayyar Agha was born in Lahore and raised in Srinagar, where her father served in the Indian Forest Service. She studied at Presentation Convent Srinagar and Baramula and later joined Lady Irwin College, Delhi. She also obtained a certificate in Munshi Fazil from Lahore.

The Partition in 1947 reshaped lives. Nayyar Agha got married to Agha Asghar Ali, a Captain in the British Indian Army. Agha Asghar Ali opted for the Scouts (Civil Armed Forces) in mid-career and served extensively in Chitral Scouts, Khyber Rifles in Landikotal and Makran Militia in Baluchistan. Officers, often as a practice, would leave behind their families when ordered to outposts.   Nayyar Agha, however, chose to accompany her husband to the remote areas of Pakistan. She had a flair for regional languages and picked up Khowar, (Chitrali)  Balochi and Sindhi.

The articles that follow, stem from the treks (gashts) Nayyar Agha undertook with her husband. She recorded her recollections in the 1970s which were published in The Morning News and Herald, Karachi. Sadly, a large volume of her writings in English and Urdu were mislaid during relocation from Karachi to Lahore.