(By Sayed Mohamed, Retd. Principal, Urdu College, Hyderabad.)
Dakhni Language and Literature comprises of three
special research papers (1: THE VALUE OF DAKHNI LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 2: A
SURVEY OF RESERCH WORK DONE ON THE DAKHNI LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 3: SUFISM IN
DAKHNI LITERATURE) presented by the author
during 1968, under the auspices of University of Mysore
1: THE VALUE OF DAKHNI LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
At the very outset let
me thank the authorities of the University of Mysore for having invited me to
deliver these extension lectures in your beautiful city which can be aptly
called the City of gardens. It is very gratifying to note that there is such a
large gathering interested in Dakhni Language and Literature. This is yet one more proof of the popularity
of this language which, if I am correctly informed, is the second largely
spoken language in Mysore.
It has been a custom to
give the name of the region to the language which is spoken there. The language spoken in England is called the
English that which is spoken in France is called the French. Thus it was quite
appropriate to call the language spoken in the Deccan as ‘Dakhni’. But the
Medieval period was an age when even languages were named after the people who
spoke them. That is the reason why the language which was spoken in the Deccan
called Dakhni, being also spoken in different other parts of India was called
sometimes by the name of the place where it was spoken and some times by the
name of the people who spoke it.
Dakhni is not a
separate language by itself but is in origin the form of Urdu that prevailed in
the Deccan in the (14th to 17th) centuries A.D. Some
scholars go to the extreme of saying that Dakhni is a separate language from
Urdu and some say that it is only a distorted form of Urdu. Some say that it is
only a distorting to the south go to the extent of saying that Dakhni is the
origin of Urdu and Urdu is only a refined form of Dakhni. If all the theories are reconciled and the
bed-rock of truth is reached it will be found that Urdu in its undeveloped form
spreading in different parts of India was called by different regions. However it remains an undeniable truth that
Urdu the Caption of Dakhni developed in the Deccan to greater heights and the
literature that was produced in a period of about 350 years was and is a
literature of great value and importance.
The very word Urdu is
of Turkish origin and means Army or Military barracks or shopping Centre of
bazaar in military barracks. This helps
us in tracing the place and the time of birth of this language though it would
be rather presumptuous to say anything definitely or with any certainty
regarding the location of any place or any time. However the base of the language, the grammer
and at the same time the presence of foreign words show that this language must
be the result of the meeting of people speaking Khadi-Boli of Haryanvi and
Persian and Arabic.
All foreigners accepted
the Europeans came to India from the North West and the people they must have
met first either on the battle-field or in cities and towns must have been the
people speaking Khadi- Boli and Haryanvi.
Thus Urdu is not a language which the Muslims who spoke Arabic, Persian,
Turkish brought with them but is a
language which was born in India in the North western areas where first the
invaders and the local people met. This now began to develop as the two peoples
mainly Hindus and Muslims met in all fields of human activity in times of war
and in times of peace. Delhi is situated
between the two lingual district of Meerut and Rohtak. In Shahidra, a part of Delhi on the eastern
side of the Jamuna, Khadi Boli is spoken and in Tuglaqabad situated on the
western side of Jamuna, Hyryanvi is spoken.
Thus Delhi which is the
Confluence of Khadi Boli and Haryanvi become the first centre of Urdu. This language of the Hindus and the Muslims
did not receive any patronage of any sort from the nobles or the Kings in its
earlier stages. The Muslim Kings and
Nobles spoke Persian even for centuries afterwards; the Hindu Rajas and Nobles
spoke different other local languages or the classical language, Sanskrit. Thus Urdu has been from its inception a
language of the people and has been kept alive by them it developed with leaps
and bounds and literature age have been the people of Indian in the North, in
the West, in the Centre , in the East and in the South.
When Urdu spread from
the Ganges plain towards different directions it was called by different
names. Urdu was not limited to any
region nor was it spoken by any particular sect of people that is the reason
why though for the time being it was named after the region or the people
nothing could stick to it and the first name become its permanent name. When the Muslims heard the Hindus speak this
language they called it Hindi and Hinduvi; when the Hindus saw the Muslims
speaking this language, they called it Musalmani, or Moors, in Telugu even now
some call it Turka – Mata. As Delhi or
Dehlavi , when Gojaras of U.P. and Rajasthan spoke it, it was called Gojri.
When it reached Gujrat and people began to speak it commonly it began to be called
Gujri or Gorjari. When it crossed the
Marmada and was commonly spoken in the South whether the present Maharashtra,
Andhra Pradeh or Mysore and Madras it was called Dakhni. When later it be came the language or the
Court and the Nobles in Delhi it began to be called Urdu-e-Mualla, Zaban-e-Urdu-e-Shahi,
Muhavera-e-Shahjahan Abad, Reekhta and Urdu.
When the English and other foreigners referred to this language
considering its popularity through out India called it Hindustani or Hindi in
the sense of the language of Hind or India by different other non-European
foreigners and some of the Indian
Writers also. Even as late as Ghalib’s
Sir Syed’s period some times it was called Hindi as against Perrsian.
Thus now it can be said
beyond any shadow of doubt that it was Urdu that had travelied down with its
speakers to the Deccan and here also it was accepted by the Common people
speaking Aryan based. Marathi or Telugu
and Kannada with teir Dravidian origin. It became equally popular here as it
has become with those who originally spoke Khadi Boli and Haryanvi. The Muslims preferred this language now
called Dakhni in the Deccan to their mother tougue. Persian and the Hindus showed preference to
it over the local languages.
Urdu, like English, has
an axtra ordinary quality of absorbing and assimilating into it wor4ds of
different other languages whether Aryan, Dravidian or even Tutonic and Indo
Germanic. It was this quality of the
Dakhni which made it popular in Ahmednagar, in Bijapur, in popular in Ahmednagar,
in Bijapur, in Behar and Khandes, in Bidar, in Gulburga,in Golconda, in Madras
and in Mysore.
Even a cursory study of
the History of Urdu Literature now reveals the fact that the Deccan has played
an important role in the development of Urdu in the form of Dakhni Language and
Literature in the past and also in modern times. It was here that the first prose book was
written. It was in the Deccan that
different genres of literature reached a height of decency and refinement. It was here that it decency and refinement.
It was here that it become the language of the King’s court and the Nobles’
palaces besides being the language of transaction of business in the market and
conversation in the drawing rooms of the common people. It was in the Deccan at Hyderabad in later
years that this language in Governmental administration, courts of law and
medium of instruction from the primary to the university levels in faculties of
arts, science, technology, medicine and engineering.
The study of Dakhni
Literature will reveal to us that this language had been a great source and means of national
integration and communal harmony. In 1350 A.D. the Bahmani Kings had given to
the people of the Deccan political unity and the Dakhni language helped them in
coming together socially and culturally.
They believed in
different faiths and spoke different languages but the Dakhni bound them
together in many ways. The Kings
maintained peace and the people speaking one language endeavored to produce one
culture and one civilization. The language had provided them a common platform
where from they shot up to greater heights producing masterpieces in
literature.
The patronage of the
King and Nobles on one side and the adoption of this language by great
religious leaders as the medium of instruction and preaching on the other side
tended to produce great literature. The
Sufis and the leaders of the Bhati movement used this language as the main
vehicle of their preaching and the propagation of their ideas. The adoption of
this language by them shows how popular it had been even then among the common
people went in their needs for guidance and sympathy whether in wordily matters
or in matters of religion and faith. The
part played by Sufis in the development of this language and literature is
dealt with separately in the next lecture.
Now I will make an attempt to acquaint you with some of the illustrious
names who have earned great renown because of their works and whose works have
done grate service towards the development this language and literature.
Under the patronage of
the Bahmini Kings of Gulbarga the Dakhni spread from the Arabian sea to the Bay
of Bengal and chain of great centers of learning had been formed the prominent
among them being Gulbarga, Bidar , Gogi, Golkonda in the centre, Ahamednagar and Bijapur in the West and Bodhan , Chanpatan, Mysore, Cuddappa and
Kurnool in the South, Vellore and Madras in the East and Aurangabad and Burhanpur in the North.
From among Bhamani
rulers Firoz Sha was a great lover of learning and a patron of literature. He gained fame in integrating the two big
communities the Hindus and the Musilims and producing a common Dakhni culture
for which later Akbar the great has become so famous in the history of our
country. This mixed culture which
professor Waheed – Uddin Saleem called
‘Hindulmani’ culture becames so popular in his kind that later Ibrahim Adil
Shah of Bijapur and Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah of Golkunda followed his footsteps
and made considerable progress in this field .
Dakhni Poetry and prose
both flourished in the reign of this King. Gulbarka was his capital and here
lived in his time the famous religious saint Hazrat Khaja Banda Nawaz who has
written the first book in Prose and in Poetry.
According to the information available up till
now Nizami of Bidar was the first great
poet of the court of sultan Ahmed Shah ahas
Nizam shah Bamini. It was he who for the first time note on religious
topic but on romantic and literary topics. His long narrative (Masnavi) Kapam Rao Padam Rao is a
literary piece of high Caliber but its manuscripts are rare . It is learn that
Anjuman Tarraqqi- e-Urdu is going to edit and publish it from Pakistan . Other
famous writers this period whose worse have been traced and found are Mushtaq ,
Lutfi , Feroz and Ashraf.
Mushataq lived in the
reign of Sultan Mohammed Shah Bahmani (i.e.1482 A.D.) Hea had written many
lyrics ( Gazals) and culogies ( Qasida).
One of his eulogies written in praise of Hazrat Syed Burhanuddin Shah
Khaleelullah is available in the manuscript form.
Lutfi was his contemporary
and has left his credit a number of Gazals and Qasidas. One of his Qasidas is
in the same metre and with the same rhyme scheme as those of the famous Persian
eulogy writer Khaja Kirmani.
Feroz also belonged to
Bidar and a contemporary of Mushtak and Lutfi.
He wasw a favorite disciple of the famous saint of Bidar Hazrat
Maqdoomji Shaik Mohammed Ibrahim, son of Hazart Shaik Mohammed as great
Saint. Feroz went from Bidar to Golkonda
and there is story told about his immigration.
It seems that Ibrahim Qutub Shah of Golkonda requested Hazrat Maqdoomji to go over to his capital
Golkonda but the Saint declained on the basis of his old age. When the King of Golkonda requested him to
send to Golkonda at least his disciple Feroz, at Golkonda Feroz gained great
fame as a poet. The great poets of
Golkonda Wahji and Ibn-e-Nashati have accepted his as their guide and
teacher. Ibn-e-Nashati referes to his in
one of his works. From the works of Feroz one narrative ( Masnavi( has been
tracet out. It is called ‘Peerat Nama’ or Touseef Nama Meeran Mohiuddin. In this poem he has paid a great tribute to
Hazrat Shaik Abdul Qadar Jeelani and his leader Hazrat Maqdoomji Shaik Mohammed
Ibrahim.
Asharaf is yet another
poet of that period. He wrote a long
narrative ‘Nousas Har’ in 1503. It is a
very valuable book of the period. The
language is Dakhni but he calls it ‘Hinduvi!’
The last in the time of
great poets of the Bahmani period is Hazrat Shah Meeranji Shamsul Ushshaq. Heo had left the Deccan in the earlier period
of his life and gone over to Arabia and when he returned, the Bahmani rule was
in its last phase and the importance of Bidar has been shifted to Bijapur
and Golkonda. He went to Bijapur and settled down there
only. His son Hazrat Burhanuddin Janam and his grand son Hazrat Ameenududdin
Ala lived and died at Bijapur. There are
also illustrious names in the history of Dakhni Literaure.
Hazrat Shah Meeranji
belongs to the chain of Sufis descending from Hazrat Khaja Banda Nawaz and is
very famous for his prose and poetic works.
Some of his famous works are ‘Kush Nama’, Kush Nagz’ ‘ Shahadatul
Haqeeqat, Sharhe – Margoobul Quloob’.
Since the scene of literary activity and shifted
from Gulbarga and Bidar, now to Bijapur and Golkonda, we shall make a cursory
survery of this activitgy and mention here only some very familiar names.
The Adil Shahs of
Bijapur also proved to be great patrons of Dakhni Langugage and
Literature. Ibrahim Adil Shah II was
himself a poet. His ‘Nauras Nama’ is a
poem on music . Due to his patronage many poets came down to Bijapur from
Gujarat.
Abdul is the first
great poet of this period in the Chronological order. His important work is ‘Ibrahim Nama’. It was
he who called Dakhni ‘ Hinduvi’ and the language spoken in and around Delhi
‘Dehlavi;
Malik Khushnood was
sent to Bijapur along with Khadija Sultana, the Qutub Shahi Princess of Golkonda married to
Mohammed Adil Shah of Bijapur. He become the poet laureate of the Court of
Mohammed Adil Shah. Two of his famous Masnavis
are ‘ Hasht Bihisht’ and ‘Bazar-e-Husn’
Rustumi is the best
known of all the poets of the Adil Shahi period. His name was Kamal Khan and
the title conferred upon him was Khattal Khau.
His long narrative ‘Khaner Nama’ the comprising of about 24000 couplets
is one of the Masterpieces of the period.
Hasan Shouki is a
typical Dakhni poet. He was in one way or the other connected with three States
of the Deccan. He had come from Ahmed
Nagar where he was in the Court of Nizam Shah and had writtern Fateh Nama of
Nizam Sbah. He remained at Bijapur for a
considerable period and then went to Golkonda.
At Bijapur he wrote ‘ Mezbani Nama’ Shahi ….This was the poetic name of
Ali Adil Shah II. He was also a great
poet as well as a patron of literature.
An anthology of his poetic works has been published.
Mulla Nusrati was the
poet laureate of Ali Adil Shah II’s Court. Two of his long Narrative (Masnavis)
Gulshan-e-Ishq and Ali Nama have been published. There are two more books of his
‘Guldasta-e-Ishq’ and ‘Tareeq-e-Ishkandari’.
He was the most respected of all the poets of the Adil Shahi period.
Hashimi was a blind
poet. He has written elegies, narratives and is well known as one who for the
first time in the Dakhni wrote the language of women later known as Rekhta or
Reekhti. He has rewritten the story of
Yousuf Zulaiqa in Urdu.
There are many more
names which are being left out fearing it would be lengthy and because we have
still one more centre and some illustrious names to deal with.
Golkonda
It was here at Golkonda that the Dakhni language and
literature reached their zenith. This period is often compared with the
Elizabethan period in English literature for its versatility, fertility and
production. The reason why we have Dakhni went on flourishing here not only
contemporaneously with other centers but
also long after other centers ceased to be so, due to political reason. If we
allot the period between 1350 and 1590 to Gulbarga and Bidar, Bijapur and
Golkonda can be allotted the period
between 1590 and 1730 A.D.Famous among the writers of Golkonda of earlier
period are Mulla Khiayali, Syed Mahmood and Shaik Ahmed and these three have
been grouped together irrespective of their periods because their works are not
available though they have been referred
to in other’s works. Only in case of
Shaik Ahamed an incompleter copy of his ‘Laila Majnu’ has been traced.
The next important poet
of Golkonda is Wajihuddin Wajhi whose famous bocks are ‘Kutub Mushtari’ and
‘Subras’ Qutab Shah who is famous for his patronage of learning Arts and
Carfts, his grand son Mohamed Quli Qutub Shah was also a great patron and
himself a poet of a very high order. It
was in his time that Vajhi lived and wrote and reaped the benefit of his
patronage. He had become poet laureate
of the Court.
Quli or Mohamed Quli
was the pen name of Mohamed Quli Qutub Shah of Golkonda. His period was the golden age for Golkonda.
It was he who founded Hyderabad. He is
the first Urdu poet whose complete Diwan or anthology of poetical works was
published. He was the emblem of the common culture that developed at Hyderabadi
Culture so famous for its broadmindedness, toleration, hospitality and decency.
He wrote poetry in Telugu also, dressed like a Telanga, loved and
married a Telangan and gave to the Deccan valuable traditions and heritage. His complete works have been edited and
published under the caption Kulyat-e-Mohamed Quli by Dr.Zore.
The next important poet
of Golkonda is Gavvasi. He was young
when Vajhi was at his height of glory but had shown sings of greatness even
then so much so that Vajhi had been thinking of him as a prospective
rival. Gavvasi was a learned man and was
a disciple of Mir Mohammed Momin. His
famous wrk is the Mohammed Momin. His
famous work is the Masnave ‘Saiful Mulook Va Badiul Jamal’. In the reign of Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah,
Vajhi did not allow him to rise Mohammed Quli’s successor Mohd.Qutub Shah’s
period was rather a dry period.Then came to the throne Abdullah Qutub Shah who
gave him what this great poet and artist required. He become the chief court poet, an ambassador
to Bijapur and also a Noble who enjoyed the confidence of the King. Gavvasi was a prolific writer and has written
many Gazals Qasaid and other poems.
Abdulla
Qutub Shah
Like his grand father (
maternal) Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah, Ibrahim was also a poet and a patron of
literature. He patronized Vajhi, Gavvasi and Malik Khushnood. Hadiqatus Salateen is the history of his
period which gives all the details of what he did for the development and
progress of the Dakhni language and literature and the common culture of the
Deccan.
Ibn-e-Nishati
Ibn-e-Nishati unlike
Vajhi and Gavvasi had nothing to do with the court. He was the first poet of the people and become popular among
the masses. He wrote the famous
narrative ‘Phoolban’ He belong to the galaxy of those writers like Syed
Ballaqu, Shah Raju, Meeranji Kuda Numa, Farooqi and Meeran Yaqoob who wrote for the people not for the
court and nobles.
Taba-ce
He was a disciple of Shah Raju and a friend of
Abul Hasan- Tana Shah the last of Qutub Shahi Kings. In between his and Ibn-e-Nishati there were
hundreds of poets like Ameen, Mirza,
Autbi, Sultan besides Shah Raju and Ballaqi but their names and works are being overlooked for fear of length. Tabace’s Behram VA Gul Audam is a famous
Masnavi. The language of this poem shows a marked progress and reflnement in
the expression.
There are a number of
poets belonging to the period of the first king of the Qutub Shah dynasty. Among them Gulam Ali Qazalbash for his ‘Zafar
Nama Mohammed Haneer’ and Faez for his rizwan Shah and Roch Afza ar worth
mentioning as these two are the last of the important productions of this period.
The Qutab Shahi period
is famous particularly for the development of elegy (Marsia) in Dakhni. Since
most of the Qutub shah kings were Shias, they on religious grounds favoured and
partonised the writers of Marsias.
Thus this particular
genere of Urdu poetry developed to a very great height and provides a great
field for research scholars. This has
been dealt with in a detailed manner in my third lecture.
Since I have already
mentioned earlier that in the Bahmani period Gujrat , Ahmednagar , Gogi and
Chanpatan had also become important centres of the Dakhni language and
literature, it is worth while mentioning a few names from some of these places.
From Gujarat three
important writers rose. They were Shaik Ali Sir Gam Dhani, Shaik Bahuddin Bajan
and Shaik Khoob Mohammad.
Bahri, a famous poet
had come from Gogi to settle down at Bijapur and later went to Golkonda.
Hasan Shouki had alos gone from Ahmed Nagar to
Bijapur but left Bijapur for Golkonda.
Vali Vellori rose from Vellore and wrote on
religious topics.
Mohin from Chanpatan (
Mysore) wrote the life of Hazrat Syed Mohammed of Joanpur in 1682. Since of them wrote on religious topics and
are connected with religious philosophy and Sufism, them they will be dalt with
in the next lecture.
The Dakhni literature
is a very vast field and the poets have tried their hand at all types and kinds
of poems on several topics. There are
Masnavis-long narrative poems, some of them epical in qualities and some
corresponding to Romances and heroic poems. The short ones are almost ballads.
The lyric in Dakhni is
the Gazal . Elegy and eulogy fall under lyric in English but in Urdu they are
two different kinds of poetry which have developed independently particularly
the elegy. The descriptive and didactic elements
form ingredients and are invariably found in Dakhni poetry. Since religious philosophy and Sufism is the
topic of a separate lecture, it is avoided here.
In the end I have just
to recapitulate and state once again that the study of Dakhni literature is a
survey of the record of attempts made by the two major communities of India the
Hindus and the Muslims through their kings and poets and religious leaders to
bring about a harmonious blending of the two cultures by means of a common
language rich and replete with references to the glorious past of each
community, to their religious traditions and to all that was best in them. We require even today the same broadmindedness,
the same vision, the spirit of toleration and the same feeling of fraternity.
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