| Urdu literature اُرْدُو اَدَبْ | |
|---|---|
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| Urdu literature | |
| By category Urdu language Rekhta | |
| Major figures | |
| Amir Khusrau -Wali Dakhani -Mir Taqi Mir -Ghalib -Abdul Haq -Muhammad Iqbal | |
| Urdu writers | |
| Writers –Novelists –Poets | |
| Forms | |
| Ghazal -Dastangoi -Nazm –Fiction | |
| Institutions | |
| Anjuman-i Taraqqi-i Urdu Urdu movement Literary Prizes | |
| Related Portals Literature Portal Pakistan Portal | |
TheUrdu propagation movement was a sociopolitical and linguistic movement aimed at the propagation of theUrdu language as thelingua franca and symbol of the cultural identity of theMuslim communities of theIndian subcontinent during theBritish Raj.
The movement began with the fall of theMughal Empire in the mid-19th century, fuelled by theAligarh movement ofSir Syed Ahmed Khan. It strongly influenced theAll India Muslim League and thePakistan movement.
TheHindi-Urdu controversy arose in 1867 when the British government prepared to accept the demand of theHindu communities of theUnited Provinces (nowUttar Pradesh) andBihar to change thePerso-Arabic script of the official language toDevanagari and adoptHindi as the second official language on demand ofHindi activists. Muslim politicianSir Syed Ahmed Khan became the most vocal opponent of this change.[1] He viewed Urdu as thelingua franca of Muslims. Having been developed by the rulingMughal Empire, what became known as Urdu was used as a secondary language toPersian, theofficial language of the Mughal court.[1] Since the decline of the Mughal dynasty, Sir Syed promoted the use of Urdu through his writings. Under Sir Syed, theScientific Society of Aligarh translated Western works only into Urdu.[1] Sir Syed considered Urdu "a common legacy of Hindus and Muslims."[2] The schools established by Sir Syed imparted education in the Urdu-medium.
The demand for Hindi, led largely byHindus, was to Sir Syed an erosion of the centuries-old Muslim cultural domination of India.[3][4]Testifying before the British-appointed education commission, Sir Syed controversially exclaimed that "Urdu was the language ofgentry and people of high social standing, whereas Hindi was to be vulgar."[1] His remarks provoked a hostile response from Hindu leaders and advocates of Hindi."[5] The Hindus unified across the region to demand the recognition of Hindi. The Hindi movement's success led Sir Syed to advocate Urdu further as the symbol of Muslim heritage and as the language of the Muslim intellectual and political class.[1] His educational and political work grew increasingly centred on and exclusively for Muslim interests. He also sought to persuade the British to give it extensive official use and patronage.
Sir Syed's call for Indian Muslims to adopt Urdu won extensive support from theAligarh Movement and Muslim religious activists. Muslim religious and political leadersMohsin-ul-Mulk andMaulvi Abdul Haq developed organisations such as theUrdu Defence Association and theAnjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu, committed to perpetuating Urdu.[1] Sir Syed's protege,Shibli Nomani, led efforts to adopt Urdu as theofficial language of theHyderabad State and as the medium of instruction atOsmania University. This political campaign was criticised for making the use of Urdu a political issue that served as a wedge between Muslims and Hindus, who saw Sir Syed's advocacy as an effort to re-establish Muslim hegemony.[1][6] To Muslims in northern and western India, Urdu became an integral part of political identity and communal separatism. The division over the use of Hindi or Urdu would further fuel communal conflict between Muslims and Hindus in India.[1] TheAll India Muslim League and theJamaat-e-Islami projected Urdu as essential for the political and cultural survival ofIslamic society in India. Muslim politicians likeMuhammad Ali Jinnah,Sir Muhammad Iqbal,and Liaquat Ali Khan emphasised Urdu as the symbol of Muslim heritage and political identity. The political cause of Urdu became a core issue at the heart of theTwo-Nation Theory, which advocated that Muslims and Hindus were irreconcilably separate nations. Advocates of thePakistan movement sought to make Urdu a key argument in drawing distinctions with India's Hindu-majority population. Muslim religious leaders such asMaulana Mohammad Ali,Maulana Shaukat Ali, andMaulana Maududi emphasised the knowledge of Urdu as essential for ordinary and religious Muslims.
In Pakistan, Urdu is theNational language and theLingua franca, while English is one of the state'sofficial languages of the state. However, this policy caused considerable political turmoil inEast Bengal, which was home to theBengali-speaking population, which constituted the majority of Pakistan's population. Jinnah, most West Pakistani politicians emphasised that only Urdu would be recognised officially. This intensified the cultural and political gulf betweenWest Pakistan andEast Pakistan. TheEast Pakistan Awami Muslim League (the predecessor of theAwami League), established byA. K. Fazlul Huq,Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, andSheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1949, would lead the demand for the recognition of Bengali. Intensifying protests and strikes led by political groups, unions, and student groups would lead to the imposition ofmartial law. The killing of protesting students by police in 1952 triggered a massive wave of protests in the province, which would come to be known as theBengali language movement. Although politicians likeKhawaja Nazimuddin supported the cause of Urdu, a vast majority of Bengali nationalists saw the government policy as a symbol of racial discrimination. This wedge in Pakistani society would ultimately lead to theBangladesh Liberation War and the establishment ofBangladesh in 1971.
Independent India adopted Urdu as one of its 22 scheduled languages, although its counterpart, Hindi, enjoys official language status. Urdu is also officially recognised by the states ofJammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh,Telangana, Bihar, andDelhi. Indian Muslims across the country widely use Urdu, and there are a large number of Urdu-medium schools, colleges, and universities, including madrassahs, theJamia Millia Islamia, and theAligarh Muslim University. Urdu is also a part of popular culture, media, and publications. Numerous Urdu language films have been produced, which includeUmrao Jaan,Shatranj Ke Khiladi, andPakeezah.
Despite being given the status of a scheduled language, there have been concerns that the Urdu language has largely declined in India. This decline has been attributed to reasons such as lack of promotional policies by central language regulation boards, the promulgation and preference of Urdu's counterpartHindi as the Indian Union's official language since 1950, the higher number of Hindi-speakers in India leading to the suppression of Urdu, the partition of India and Urdu's national language status in Pakistan overshadowing the language's prospects in India, as well as the lack of many schools in India teaching Urdu as a medium of instruction.[7]
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