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Urdu literature

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Urdu literature has a long and colorful history that is inextricably tied to the development of that very language, Urdu, in which it is written. While it tends to be heavily dominated by poetry, the range of expression achieved in the voluminous library of a few major verse forms, especially the ghazal and nazm, has led to its continued development and expansion into other styles of writing, including that of the short story, or afsana. Being the national language, Urdu literature is mostly popular in Pakistan. Additionally, it enjoys substantial popularity in India and is finding interest in foreign countries primarily through South Asians.

The beginnings

Modern Asian literature

Urdu literature may be said to find its provenance some time around the 14th century in India amongst the sophisticated gentry of Persian courts. The presence of the Muslim gentry in a largely Hindu India, while clearly acknowledged, did not so nearly dominate the consciousness of the Urdu poet as much as did the continuing traditions of Islam and Persia. The very color of the Urdu language, with a vocabulary almost evenly split between Sanskrit-derived Prakrit and Arabo-Persian words, was a reflection of the newness of cultural amalgamation and yet the insistence on retaining what was best and most beautiful about the lands of Afghanistan and Persia.

A man who exercised great influence on the initial growth of not only Urdu literature, but the language itself (which only truly took shape as distinguished from both Persian and proto-Hindi around the 14th century) was the famous Amir Khusro. Credited, indeed, with the very systematization of northern Indian classical music, known as Hindustani, he wrote works in both Persian and Hindavi, frequently engaging in ingenious mixes of the two. While the couplets that come down from him in are representative of a latter-Prakrit Hindi bereft of Arabo-Persian vocabulary, his influence on court viziers and writers must have been mighty, for but a century after his passing Quli Qutub Shah was seen to take to a language that may be safely said to be Urdu.

Poetry and prose

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Urdu literature was generally composed more of poetry than of prose. The prose component of Urdu literature was mainly restricted to the ancient form of long-epic stories called Daastaan (داستان). These long-epic stories would deal with magical and otherwise fantastic creatures and events in a very complicated plot.

Urdu poetry started after the period mentioned earlier in the Deccan (South India). With time the usage of Urdu for poetry spread to Northern India. The most well developed vessel of poetry has turned out to be the Ghazal which has by far exceeded all other forms of Urdu poetry by its quality and quantity within the cosmos of Urdu.

18th-century literature

Well known Urdu poets from this era include:

Later writers have come to identify this period as one of comparative political instability, economic depression and social devolution. Hence the literature of this period is either generally in keeping with the epicurian attitude of people trying to find solace in the arms of literature; or of those horrified by the inertia of the changes, and their inability to effect change

Short Fiction

Some notable Urdu Short Fiction (Afsana) writers of 20th century are:

Munshi Premchand
Dr. Rafiq Hussain
Rajinder Singh Bedi
Saadat Hassan Manto
Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi
Ashfaq Ahmed
Bano Qudsia
Bhupendra nath Kaushik"fikr"
Ghulam Abbas
Mumtaz Mufti
Masaud Mufti
Syed Qasim Mahmood
Mansha Yaad
Rasheed Amjad
M.Hameed Shahid
Qisar Tamkeen
Sajid Rasheed
Musharaf Alam Zauqi
Khalid Javed
Asif Farrukhi
Mubeen Mirza
A. Khayam
Tahira Iqbal
Nelofer Iqbal
Muhammad Ilyas
Khakan Sajid
Hamid Saraj
Khan Shein Kunwar
Baig Ehsas
Omer Farooq Dogar
Qudrat Ullah Shahab
Patras Bokhari
Krishan Chander
Ismat Chughtai
Intizar Hussain
Qurratulain Hyder
Ibn-e-Insha
Ibne Safi
Shaukat Siddiqui
Wasif Ali Wasif

Urdu Journalism

The Persian newspapers of West Bengal were fore-runners of the Urdu press. Two prominent periodicals were Jam-i-Jahan-Numa, founded by Lal Sadasukh Lal in 1822 and Mirat-ul-Akhbar (Mirror of News) by Raja Rammohan Roy. After the decline of Persian as an official language, Urdu gained prominence. There was extensive growth in Urdu journalism from the 1850s till Independence in 1947.

On 14 January 1850, Munshi Harsukh Rai started the weekly Kohinoor, which had a remarkably high (for those times) circulation of 350 copies. In 1858, Manbir Kabiruddin started the Urdu Guide, the first Urdu daily, from Calcutta. Another important paper founded that year was Roznamha-e-Punjab from Lahore. Oudh Akhbar by Munshi Nawal Kishore was the first Urdu newspaper from Lucknow, also begun in 1858.

The first Urdu newspapers of Delhi were Fawaid-ul-Nazarin and Kiran-us-Sadai, founded by Rama Chandra in 1852. The Urdu press in Delhi became highly critical of the British government. The best example of them is the Urdu Akhbar, edited by Syed Hasan, which highlighted many civic issues like drainage, sanitation, adulteration of food, and corruption.

In 1877, Maulvi Nasir Ali, one of the founders of Anjuman Islamia- the Islamic intellectual and political movement- founded 3 newspapers- Nusrat-ul-Akhbar, Nusrat-ul-Islam and Mihir-e-Darakhshan. All three focused on current civil and political affairs and were valuable aids of Muslim empowerment. In 1877, Oudh Punch, the first humour magazine in Urdu was started by Sajjid Hussain. The first women’s journal in Urdu was Akhbar-un-Nisa.

Urdu journalism took on a strongly nationalistic note towards the turn of the 20th century. Zameendar, was started in Lahore in 1903. It was the first Urdu newspaper to subscribe to news agencies. Zameendar was intensely nationalistic, which boosted its circulation to over 30,000 copies. In 1902, Maulvi Sanaullah Khan started the weekly Watan, meaning motherland. Watan was intensely nationalistic and continued for 33 years. Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar started Naqeeb-e-Hamdard in 1912. Another powerful political periodical was the Madina, edited by Hamidul Ansari.

The greatest Urdu periodical that time was Al Hilal, started by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. (refer notes).

In 1919, the Pratap was started in Lahore by Mahshe Krishnan. It vigorously supported Gandhi’s policies and the Indian National Congress. It was a victim of government harassment and suspended publication several times. It had great influence among the Urdu reading Hindus of Punjab and Delhi. In 1923, Swami Shraddhanand founded the Tej with Lala Deshbandhu Gupta as editor. It had a wide circulation in Rajasthan, U.P. and Delhi. It was confiscated several times by the government and banned in a number of princely states. In the same year, 1923, the Arya Samaj started the Milap, a daily in Lahore. It was known for its powerful nationalistic editorials. Jawaharlal Nehru founded Qaumi Awaaz in 1945.

Urdu journalism suffered heavily, during and after Partition. Riots in Lahore lead to mobs raiding the office of Milap and burning machines and newsprint. Its Managing Editor, Ranbir was stabbed and the paper was closed for six weeks. It then shifted to Delhi. Due to the unrest, the Pratap also shifted to Delhi.

Some of the Urdu newspapers after partition are Dawat, now a bi-weekly, started by the Jamat-e-Islami Hind. Maulana Abdul Waheed Siddiqui started Nai Duniya, a popular Urdu weekly, now run by his son Shaheed Siddiqui. The Sahara Group started Rashtriya Sahara, a daily, and a weekly-Aalmi Sahara.

References

  • Muhammad Husain Azad: Ab-e hayat (Lahore: Naval Kishor Gais Printing Wrks) 1907 [in Urdu]; (Delhi: Oxford University Press) 2001 [In English translation]
  • Shamsur Rahman Faruqi: Early Urdu Literary Culture and History (Delhi: Oxford University Press) 2001
  • M.A.R. Habib: An Anthology of Modern Urdu Poetry in English translation with Urdu text. Modern Language Association (2003). ISBN 0873527976
  • Alamgir Hashmi, The Worlds of Muslim Imagination (1986) ISBN 0-00-500407-1.
  • Muhammad Sadiq, A History of Urdu Literature (1984).
  • The Annual of Urdu Studies, 1981-.
  • “Urdu Afsana : Soorat o Ma'na” (Urdu) by M. Hameed Shahid National Book Foundation Islamabad Pakistan 2006-1.an eminent poet of moder age akhlaque bandvi.

See also

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Urdu


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