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Urdu literature

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Urdu literature (Urdu: ا اردو ادب"Urdu Adab") 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 North 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.

Dastaan/ (داستان)

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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 Dastaan (داستان) often originally written in Persian. These long-epic stories would deal with magical and otherwise fantastic creatures and events in a very complicated plot.

Dastan, as a genre, originated in Iran and was disseminated by folk storytellers. It was assimilated by individual authors. Dastan's plots are based both on folklore and classical literary subjects. Dastan was particularly popular in *Urdu literature, typologically close to other narrative genres in Eastern literatures, such as Persian masnawi, Punjabi qissa, Sindhi waqayati bait, etc, and also reminiscent of the European novel. The oldest known Urdu dastans are Dastan-i-Amir Hamra, recorded in the early seventeenth century, and the extinct Bustan-iKhayal ('The Garden of Imagination' or 'The Garden of Khayal') by Mir Taqi Khayal (d. 1760). Most of the narrative dastans were recorded in the early nineteenth century, representing contaminations of 'wandering', motifs borrowed from the folklore of the Middle East, central Asia and northern India. These include Bagh-oBahar ('The Garden and Spring') by Mir Amman, Mazhab-i-Lshq (The Religion of Love) by Nihalchand Lahori, Araish-i-Mahfil ('The Adornment of the Assembly') by Hyderbakhsh Hyderi, Gulzar-i-Chin ('The Flower Bed of Chin') by Khalil Ali Khan Ashq, and the smaller dastans. [1]


Examples of famous dastans in Urdu include:

  • Nau tarz-i murassa‘ - Husain ‘Atā Khān Tahsīn
  • Nau ā'īn-i hindī (Qissa-i Malik Mahmūd Gīti-Afroz) - Mihr Chand Khatrī
  • Jazb-i ‘ishq - Shāh Husain Haqīqat
  • Nau tarz-i murassa‘ - Muhammad Hādī a.k.a. Mirzā Mughal Ghāfil
  • Ārā'ish-i mahfil (Qissa-i Hātim Tā'ī) - Haidar Bakhsh Haidarī
  • Bāgh o bahār (Qissa-i chahār darwesh) - Mīr Amman
  • Dāstān-i Amīr Hamza - Khalīl ‘Alī Khān Ashk

Urdu Poetry/ (شاعری)

Urdu poetry

Urdu poetry reached is peak in the 19th century. 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.


13th century Urdu Poets:

16th century:

17th century Urdu Poets:

18th Century Urdu Poets:

19th Century Urdu Poets:

20th Century Urdu Poets:

Novels

  • Mirat-al-Urus (The Bride's Mirror)-1868–1869-is regarded as the first novel of Urdu. After its release in 1869, within twenty years it was reprinted in editions totalling over 100,000 copies; and was also translated into Bengali, Braj, Kashmiri, Punjabi, and Gujarati.It has never been out of print in Urdu from that day of its first publication. In 1903 an English translation was published in London by G. E. Ward.
  • Bina-tul-Nash- (The Daughters of the Bier, a name for the constellation Ursa Major),is another great Novel by Deputy Nazeer Ahmed. It was his 2nd novel after Mirat-tul-uroos. Like Mira-tul-Uroos, this novel is also on education of women and their character building.
  • Taubat-un-Nasuh (Repentance of Nasuh)1873-1874- Deputy Nazeer Ahmed earned a good name in writing novels for developing moral values and guidance of young generation. His entire work is full of teachings of moral values.
  • Fasaana-e-Mubtalaa(1885)- another novel for developing moral values and guidance of young generation

19th Century Urdu Novelists:

20th Century Urdu Novelists:

In respect of themes the Urdu novel initially undertook social life, followed by widening its scope with rural social life. It also covered the changing times under progressive writing movement under inspiration by Sajjad Zaheer.However the horror of partition had great impact and the novel remained under serious grip of questions of identity and migration as can be seen in the major works of Abdullah Hussain & Quratul Ain Haider. towards the end of the last century the novel took a serious turn towards the contemporary life and realities and the aspiring young generations of India.The most significant novels of the current generation of Indian novelists in Urdu demonstrating a new confidence in contemporary life are MAKAAN by Paigham Afaqui, Do Gaz Zameen by Abdus Samad, PANI by Ghazanfer. These Urdu novels, specially Makaan brought the Urdu novel out of the prevailing themes of partition and identity issues and took it into the realm of modern day realities and issues of life in India. In fact the impact of Makaan was so much roaring that many writers in English like Vikram Seth turned to novel writing. These Urdu novels impacted the writing of Urdu novels in such a way that a large number of novels have been written ever since some of which like Andhere Pag by Sarwat Khan, Numberdar Ka Neela by S M Ashraf and Fire Area by Ilyas Ahmed Gaddi have come to significantly contribute to urdu fiction. MAKAAN translated in English is a widely known novel for pre-eminence of a female character in novel and considered to be the best feminist novel in Urdu and probably the first one.

Short Story / Afsanah

Urdu literature has included the short story form for slightly more than one hundred years. During this period it has passed through some major phases like early romantic period, progressive writings, modernist writings and current phase. Although a number of writers, both men and women, contributed to the Urdu short story literature in the first phase (including both romantic stories and social criticisms), the short story crystallized as a regular part of Urdu literature in the growth of writings of Munshi Premchand. His notable short stories are, among many others, "Kafan" and "Poos Ki Raat". The Urdu short story gained momentum with the phenomenal publication of Angare, a collection of many writers towards the end of the life of Premchand. Writers like Ghulam Abbas, Manto, Rajinder Singh Bedi, Krishan Chander, and Ismat Chughtai, to name but a few, turned the short story into a major genre of Urdu literature.

The next generation was Urdu short story writers included Qurratulain Hyder, Qazi Abdul Sattar, and Joginder Paul. The short story tradition continues with younger generation writers like Zahida Hina ("Rah mein ajal Hai") and Paigham Afaqui (Mafia), Syed Mohd Ashraf, Ghazanfer and Khalid Javed.

Urdu short stories have dealt with a wide range of the dimensions of life though the most famous stories belong are about the trauma of the partition of the sub-continent and violence generated out of it. Towards the end of the last century, short stories became grounded in the complexity of daily life which can be seen in the unique collection of short stories in Paigham Afaqui's Mafia. Entirely different in approach is the collection of short stories Taus Chaman Ka Maina by Nayyer Masood.

Other notable Urdu Short Fiction (Afsana) writers of 20th century include:

Dr. Rafiq Hussain
Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi
Ashfaq Ahmed
Bano Qudsia
Bhupendra nath Kaushik"fikr"
Mumtaz Mufti
Masaud Mufti
Syed Qasim Mahmood
Mansha Yaad
Rasheed Amjad
Musharaf Alam Zauqi
Asif Farrukhi
Muhammad Ilyas
Khakan Sajid
Hamid Saraj
Khan Shein Kunwar
Baig Ehsas
Omer Farooq Dogar
Qudrat Ullah Shahab
Patras Bokhari
Intizar Hussain
Ibn-e-Insha
Ibne Safi
Shaukat Siddiqui
Wasif Ali Wasif

Urdu Literary Criticism

Progressive Writers Movement/ ( ترقی پسند تحریک)

* Progressive Writers Movement

According to The Dawn, "Progressive Writers Movement in Urdu literature was the strongest movement after Sir Syed's education movement. The progressives contributed to Urdu literature some of the finest pieces of fiction and poetry. Undoubtedly, they were the trend-setters for the coming generation of writers, and their role cannot be denigrated or denied." [1]

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 in India 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 a weekly-Aalmi Sahara.

In Pakistan the Daily Jang is one of the most widely circulated newspapers in the country. Other popular news papers are Daily Imroze, Daily Mashriq, Khabrain, Millat and Nawa-i-Waqt.

References

  1. ^ http://www.forumpakistan.net/dastan-t144.html
  • 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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