Hyderabad: The vicissitudes of years of existence of Deccani have indeed brought about a change in the nature of the language. Hindi and Urdu share a common ancestor in Deccani and are the same language written in different scripts. Hyderabad: Sitting comfortably amidst racks of books in Farsi, Urdu and English in almost every discipline of art, historian and consultant to Christie's in London, Ziauddin Ahmed Shakeb talks of the evolution of languages and the symbolism and nuances of Indo-Islamic art. A former professor of Urdu and the history of Indo-Islamic art and culture at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, Shakeb describes India as the land of cultural euphony because of the confluence of the rich Indian and Persian cultures, and Deccani, as the first Indian language rich in secular literature.
"I realised quite early that India has a rich culture and that every sentence spoken here is indicative of an Indo-Islamic blend," says Shakeb. "Being a historian, the study of history necessitates the examination of art, cultures and religion. Therefore, it is only natural that my studies are of my own history, culture, language, and religion."
Shakeb, 75, says that Deccani was used as the language of mass literacy. "Deccani adopted the Persian script and introduced a number of Indian vowels and consonants to accommodate speakers of various languages. Sufis and the rulers of the Deccan, especially the Qutub Shahis, have made an invaluable contribution to the Deccani idiom. A collection of poems entitled Kulliyaat-e-Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah is Sultan Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah's testament to his patronage of the Deccani language. Deccani later reached the "There is no decadence of these languages at the spoken level, only an evolution. Urdu serves as the link language for immigrants from all over India and even Nepal. It is spoken by millions in Europe because of which it has been recognised as a modern European language at a par with French, German, Italian and Spanish." According to Shakeb, there is no limit of Persianising and Arabicising Urdu as there are no boundaries of Sanskritising Hindi. He maintains that the two languages are the same.
The Deccani style of painting too is a result of the merging of rich and distinct cultures. The palette mixes the characteristics of Islamic paintings with that of Hindu paintings; the product of which is a painting with a perfect sense of visual equilibrium. This style also combines the elements of action and movement. "Indo-Islamic paintings are found in the form of miniatures and illustrations for books," says Shakeb. "The Deccani style also combines the infinite depth of Islamic paintings which, more often than not, is exposed to an aerial view. The aerial view is symbolic of the concept of the infinite and the painter's awareness of cosmology. The presence of the grotesque instead of clouds is indicative of celestial spheres; all pointing towards the painter's belief in metaphysics and God." The art evaluator says that due to the absence of recession (the farther the object, the smaller its depiction in size) and the liberties it takes with geometry and proportion make it difficult to understand by many. However, the emphasis of these paintings is on cultural and natural details.
Just like there has been reconciliation in the world of art and imagery with religion and culture by the Deccan style of painting, language too has been going through such a process. "The speakers of Hindi and Urdu can be brought closer by reasonable and practical blending. Theatre and cinema have always been trying to create harmony between speakers of Hindi and Urdu and people of different cultures. These efforts mustn't stop," he says.
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-Courtesy: TOI, Siasat Daily
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