We propose the system of coupled Hirota-Maxwell-Bloch equations which gover
ns the propagation of optical pulses in an erbium doped nonlinear fibre wit
h higher order dispersion, self-steepening and self induced transparency (S
IT) effects. The Lax pair is explicitly constructed and the soliton solutio
n is obtained using the Darboux-Backlund transformations. Hence, the system
is found to admit soliton type lossless wave propagation. (C) 2000 Elsevie
r Science Ltd. All rights reserved.