Amir Khusrau Hindavi Kalam

Amir Khusrau Hindavi Kalam
Padma Bhushan Prof. GopichandNarang, Professor Emeritus of Delhi
University based on my book in 1987 published by AKSA.
It has been said in earlier articles how deep Amir Khusrau was in his
knowledge of courts as well as the knowledge of general masses.
Obviously, this knowledge didn‘t due to distribution of charity in money
gold, and silver or any other help for them which the normal course of
helping them to fight hunger. But his ordeal goes far beyond to deep
involvement and genuine interest in the life of India. It has been also
said in other places that his mother and his maternal grandfather were
Indians and he began genuinely interested in the life of common people
despite his profession that gave him insight of the courtly life.
He had become a true lover of India, spoke and developed genuine
Indian languages at home and in the community surrounding him.
Whenever he spoke of them and described their life in his poetry his
deep emotions and deep aspirations showed in his poetry and prose
alike. As became obvious in his famous MathnaviNu Sephr. The third
chapter of Nu Sephr, although written in Persian language, contains
many passages in the local languages, such as BrajBhasha, Khariboli,
etc. is a long description of life of common people. Where there are as
many as four to five hundred couplets. In these long poems he describes
the intelligence and the capacity of knowledge of Indian people and their
religious convictions, social ceremonies and their surroundings. He talks
of birds and animals, trees, flowers, fruits, rivers and reservoirs of water
that are passionately expressed as part of his life. His fluency in these
Indian languages, society, and cultures is indicative of his deep
expressions that are not to be found in other poets of the time.We thus
need some time on various languages and cultures of India to fully
aspire the qualities of this great poet. We are getting most of this
information from Internet (Wikepedia):
BrajBhasha (Devanagari:
), also called BrijBhasha
(
), BrajBhakha (
), or DehaatiZabaan
(
, 'country tongue'), is a Western Hindi language
closely related to Hindustani. In fact it is usually considered to be a
dialect of Western Hindi, and along with Awadhi (a variety of Eastern
Hindi) was one of the two predominant literary languages of NorthCentral India before the switch to Hindustani (Khariboli) in the 19th
century.
BrajBhasha is spoken by people in the nebulously defined region of
VrajaBhoomi, which was a political state in the era of the Mahabharata
wars. According to ancient Hindu texts such as the BhagavataPurana,
the kingdom of King Kamsa is described as spreading through the Braj
(also known as Vrija or Vraja), where the incarnation of Krishna was
born and spent his childhood days. This region lies in the Agra-Mathura
area, and stretches as far as the environs of Delhi. In modern India, this
area lies mostly in northwestern Uttar Pradesh, the eastern extremities of
Rajasthan i.e. Bharatpur&Dholpur and the southern extremities of
Haryana. Today BrajBhoomi can be seen as a cultural-geographical
entity rather than a proper state. It is the vernacular of the region and
boasts a rich culture and literature by famous poets like Surdas, Bhai
Gurdas and Amir Khusrau. BrijBhasha is very close to Avadhi, spoken
in neighbouringAvadh region.
Much of the Hindi literature was developed in Brij in the medieval
period. However, today Khariboli dialect has taken its place as the
predominant standard dialect of Hindi.
In modern India, BrajBhasha exists as an unofficial dialect spoken
colloquially by natives of the region of BrajBhoomi, with great cultural
and religious significance. Much of Hindi poetry, especially that of
'Bhakti' or devotional poetry is in this language. Some devotional poems
for Krishna are also composed in BrajBhasha. Rabindranath Tagore
wrote his first substantial poems titled BhanusimhaThakurerPadabali in
BrajBhasha under the pseudonym Bhānusiṃha ("Sun Lion") at age
sixteen. The pioneering Hindi poet AamirKhusro, also spoke and
composed poetry in this language. Famous BrajBhasha folk songs or
poems include ChhaapTilak Sab Chheeni by Amir Khusrau, and the
popular devotional song, Main NaahinMaakhanKhaayo by Surdas.
BrajBhasha is also the main language of Hindustani classical music
compositions.
Areas (red) where Khariboli/Kauravi is
the native language
Khariboli,[2] also known as Dehlavi, Kauravi, and Vernacular
Hindustani, is a Western Hindidialect spoken mainly in the rural
surroundings of Delhi, the areas of Western Uttar Pradesh and the
southern areas of Uttarakhand in India.[3][4]
It is also known as Khari Boli, Khadiboli, KhadiBoli, or simply Khari.
Khariboli is the prestige dialect of Hindustani, of which Standard Hindi
and Standard Urdu are standardregisters and literary styles.[5]Standard
Hindi and Urdu are the principal official languages of India and Pakistan
respectively.[3][6] However, the term has been used for any literary
dialect, including BrajBhasa and Awadhi.
In academic literature, the term Kauravi (
) is sometimes
applied to the specific Khari dialect spoken in the western parts of the
Khari-speaking zone. Although Khariboli and Standard Hindustani
differ dialectically, Standard Hindustani is sometimes also referred to as
Khariboli and regarded as the literary form of that dialect.[7]
Khariboli is believed to have initially developed contemporaneously
with the neighboring Awadhi and Braj dialects in the 900–1200 CE
period. Khari contains some features, such as gemination, which give it
a distinctive sound and differentiates it from standard Hindustani, Braj
and Awadhi.
Khariboli in Hindustani popular culture
Khariboli is often seen as rustic by speakers of Standard Hindustani, and
elements of it were used in Hum Log, India's first television soap opera,
where the main family was depicted as having roots in Western Uttar
Pradesh.[8][9]
As the two main Hindustani dialects of Western Uttar Pradesh and the
areas surrounding Delhi, Khariboli and BrajBhasha are often compared.
One hypothesis of how Khariboli came to be described as khari
(standing) asserts that it refers to the "stiff and rustic uncouthness" of the
dialect compared to the "mellifluousness and soft fluency" of
BrajBhasha.[10] On the other hand, Khariboli supporters sometimes
pejoratively referred to BrajBhasha and other dialects as "Pariboli"
(
, ‫یلوبیڑپ‬, fallen/supine dialects).[10]
Kauravi and Sankrityayan'sproposal
Although most linguists acknowledge that Modern Standard Hindustani
descended from Khariboli, the precise mechanism of dialectical changes
from Khari to the prestige dialect (such as the loss of gemination which
is so prevalent in Khari) lacks consensus. There are also variations
within Khari itself across the area in which it is spoken. In the midtwentieth century, Indian scholar and nationalist, Rahul Sankrityayan,
proposed a redrawing of the liguistic map of the Hindustani zone.[11]
Drawing a distinction between the Khari of Delhi and the Khari of the
extreme western parts of Western Uttar Pradesh, he advocated that the
former retain the name Khariboli while the latter be renamed to Kauravi,
after the Kuru Kingdom of ancient India.[11] Although the term Khariboli
continues to be applied as it traditionally was, some linguists have
accepted the term Kauravi as well, applying to the language spoken in
the linguistic arc running from Saharanpur to Agra (i.e. the close east
and north east of Delhi).[6]Sankrityayan postulated that this Kaurvi
dialect was the parent of Delhi's specific Khari dialect.[11]Sankrityayan
had also advocated that all Hindustani be standardised on the
Devanagari script and Perso-Arabic entirely be abandoned.[11]
Other dialects of Hindustani
Khariboli is related to four standardised registers of Hindustani:
Standard Hindi, Urdu, Dakhini and Rekhta. Standard Hindi (also High
Hindi, Nagari Hindi) is used as the lingua franca of Northern India (the
Hindi belt), Urdu is the lingua franca of Pakistan, Dakhini is the
historical literary dialect of the Deccan region, and Rekhta the court
register of Urdu used in medieval poetry. These standard registers
together with Sansiboli form the Hindustani dialect group. This group
together with Haryanvi, Kauravi, BrajBhasha, Kanauji and Bundeli
forms the Western Hindi dialect group.
Early influences
The area around Delhi has long been the center of power in northern
India, and naturally, the Khari-boli dialect came to be regarded as
urbane and of a higher standard than the other dialects of Hindi. This
view gradually gained ground over the 19th century; before that period,
other dialects such as Avadhi, BrajBhasha and Sadhukaddi were the
dialects preferred by littérateurs. Standard Hindi was first developed by
the Turkish speakers of Khari boli who migrated from Delhi to the
Awadh region—most notably Amir Khusrau, and mixed the roughness
of the Khari boli with the relative softness of Awadhi to form a new
language which they called "Hindvi." Hindvi later developed into
Hindustani—which further diverged as Hindi and Urdu.
Although, as a dialect Khari boli belongs to upper Doab, however,
Allahabad in lower Doab and Varanasi have been the literary centres of
Khari boli in the form of standard Hindi.
Rise as the basis for Standard Hindustani
The earliest examples of Khariboli can be seen in the compositions of
Amir Khusro (1253-1355).[12]
Before the rise of Khari boli, the literary dialects of Hindi were the ones
adopted by the Bhakti saints: BrajBhasha (Krishna devotees), Awadhi
(adopted by the Rama devotees) and Maithili (Vaishnavites of Bihar).[12]
However, after the Bhakti movement degenerated into ritualistic cults,
these languages came to be regarded as rural and unrefined.[13]Khariboli,
on the other hand, was spoken in the urban area surrounding the Mughal
courts, where Persian was the official language. The Persian-influenced
Khariboli thus gradually came to be regarded as a prestige dialect,
although hardly any literary works had been written in Khariboli before
the British period in India.[13]
The British administrators of India and the Christian missionaries played
an important role in creation and promotion of the Khariboli-based
Modern Standard Hindustani.[6] In 1800, the British East India Company
established a college of higher education at Calcutta named the Fort
William College. John Borthwick Gilchrist, a president of that college,
encouraged his professors to write in their native tongue; some of the
works thus produced were in the literary form of the Khariboli dialect.
These books included Premsagar (PremSagur) by
LalluLal,[14]Naasiketopaakhyan by Sadal Mishra; Sukhsagar by
Sadasukhlal of Delhi and Rani KetakikiKahani by MunshiInshallah
Khan. More developed forms of Khariboli can also be seen in some
mediocre literature produced in early 18th century. Examples are Chand
ChhandVarnan Ki Mahima by Gangabhatt, Yogavashishtha by
RamprasadNiranjani, Gora-Badalkikatha by Jatmal, Mandovarkavarnan
by Anonymous, a translation of Ravishenacharya'sJain Padmapuran by
Daulatram (dated 1761). With the government patronage and the literary
popularity, the Khariboli flourished, even as the use of previously more
literary tongues such as Awadhi, Braj and Maithili declined in the
literary vehicles. The literary works in Khariboli gained momentum
from the second half of the 19th century onwards.[12] Gradually, in the
subsequent years, Khariboli became the basis for the standard
Hindustani, which began to be taught in the schools and used in the
government functions.[15]
Urdu, the heavily Persianised version of Khariboli, had replaced Persian
as the literary language of the North India by the early 20th century.
however, the association of Urdu with the Muslims prompted the Hindus
to develop their own Sanskritised version of the dialect, leading to the
formation of the Modern Standard Hindi.[15] After India became
independent in 1947, the Khariboli-based dialect was officially
recognized as the approved version of the Hindi language, which was
declared as one of the official languages of the central government
functioning.
What I have tried to demonstrate here is that his brought up in his
mother‘s and maternal grandfather‘s (ImadulMulk) home instilled him
the patriotism in India and extensive knowledge in numerous languages
of India. When I moved around among the renowned scholars of our
time I was constantly lead to an authentic collection of AloysSprenger
who had the possession of a manuscript that showed Amir Khusrau‘s
deep commitment to India, The atmosphere in which he was brought up
and the social structure of his existence joined hands in producing in him
a vast love and faith in India. He regarded India as a land as more
splendid than the Kingdom of Solomon, the land in which Adam and
Eve descended and lived, Indian bird peacock descended to India; even
the thorn was deemed better than the fragrant pedals of scented flowers
like narciuss-jasimines. He placed India abovethe rest of the world and
looked upon her rivers and rivulets, hills and mountains, meadows and
pastures, fields and orchards, gardens and valleys, fruits and flowers,
birds and animals, buildings and cottages, men and religion, rites and
customs, dialects and languages of the motherland far better and sacred
than others in the rest of the world. He particularly regard various
beauties of the land of Audh very sacred than the any of the hands he
had known. It is natural to see this dedication in his poems in various
languages of India. This attitude of mind can be found only in a man
who loves the land, whothinks of the betterment of the soil, who wants
to see the land pretty and alluring, who is desirous of finding every
corner of the land developing and progressing, and prosperous and
flourishing. It is natural for us to look upon Amir Khusrau from this
angle and study his life and achievements we see that he was the first
son who sang the blessings of God which He had showered upon India.
Obviously, I was motivated to look for the manuscripts in
AloysSprenger collection and the amounts of effort I invested is given in
the following pages. From Internet (Wikepedia) we find the following
information:
AloysSprenger (born 3 September 1813, in Nassereith, Tyrol; died 19
December 1893 in Heidelberg) was an Austrian orientalist.
Sprenger studied medicine, natural sciences as well as oriental languages
at the University of Vienna. In 1836 he moved to London, where he
worked with the Earl of Munster on the latter's „Geschichte der
Kriegswissenschaftenbei den mohammedanischenVölkern―, ‗History of
Military Science among the Muslim Peoples‘, and thence in 1843 to
Calcutta, where he became principal of Delhi College. In this capacity
he had many textbooks translated into Hindustani from European
languages.
In 1848 he was sent to Lucknow, to prepare a catalogue of the royal
library there, the first volume of which appeared in Calcutta in 1854.
This book, with its lists of Persian poets, its careful description of all the
chief works of Persian poetry and its valuable biographical material,
became a worthy guide for the exploration of Persian literature.
In 1850 Sprenger was named examiner, official government interpreter,
and secretary of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta. He published many
works while holding this latter position, among them ―Dictionary of the
Technical terms used in the sciences of the Musulmans‖ (1854) and ―Ibn
Hajar's biographical dictionary of persons who knew Mohammed‖
(1856).
Sprenger took a position as professor of oriental languages at the
University of Bern in 1857, moving in 1881 to Heidelberg. His
voluminous collection of Arabic, Persian, Hindustani and other
manuscripts and printed material was eventually acquired by the Royal
Library in Berlin.
Discovery of the Berlin manuscript containing 150 Hindavipahelis
scribed to Amir Khusro is very interesting. I was on the look out of the
manuscript which Dr. Springer had mentioned in the catalogue of
Oriental Manuscript preserved in the library of the Kings of Awadh. The
catalogue was published by Dr. Springer from Calcutta in 1852 when he
was the Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society there. I have suspected
that he must have taken some manuscripts of Amir Khusro along with
the treasure of other manuscript to Germany. I had been travelling to
Europe extensively since stint at Wisconsin. It was during in 1982 that
fortunately I discovered this manuscript for which I was looking for
years. This was edited and published at the suggestions of the Amir
Khusro Society of USA, Chicago.
The story of Dr. Springer‘s (1813-1893) phenomenal rise during
the time of East India Company is also very interesting. Undoubtedly he
was a great scholar but by training and profession he had first joined the
East India Company as a medical doctor. He had a good command of
Arabic and Persian. Because of his academic credentials he was
appointed the Principal of Delhi College in 1834. During his three year
tenure at Delhi he published many books and also set up the vernacular
translation society. In 1847 at the orders of Lord Hardin he was
appointed as Extra Assistant to the Residence of Lucknow and asked to
prepare a catalogue of the oriental manuscripts rotten in the library of
Kings of Awadh. During March 1938 to January 1850 he completed this
job. As a reward he was appointed Principal of Madrasa-e Aalia,
Calcutta where he was also elected as the Secretary of the Royal Asiatic
Society, Bangalore. The first volume of Awadh catalogue in which
manuscripts of Amir Khusro‘sHindavipahelis are discussed was
published from Calcutta in 1854. He also started writing the life of
Prophet. The first volume of which was published from Allahabad in
1851. Because of excess works, his health broke down, he resigned from
the service of East India Company and returned to Germany in 1856.
Later he joined Berl University as a Professor and retired in 1881. And
at the age of 80 on the way of Heidelberg on 19 December 1893, his
Life of Prophet was published in German language in three volumes
from 1861-1865.
Springer had brought quite a few boxes of oriental manuscripts to
Germany. Later he published a list of 1972 manuscripts in 1857 which
was right away purchased by Berlin manuscript. The Springer collection
contain 96 Hindustani (Urdu) manuscripts but during the first world war
and second world war, these manuscripts scattered out of Berlin and
deposited in the basement of different libraries where they got mixed up
with other oriental manuscripts. After the peace when things were
reorganized, only 35 Hindustani manuscript could be located which are
now preserved in States Bibliothek, Berlin. The remaining 61 were lost.
It is in these 35 remaining manuscript that luckily I came through a
volume No. 1763 which contains 4 small manuscripts bound together as
one volume. It had a red leather binding and embossed with gold. The
manuscript is on hand made paper in black ink. The headings are given
in red and the manuscript is mock eaten at many places. The last
manuscript in this binding has a total of 34 pages containing 150 pahelis.
Since other manuscripts in this volume which are in the same hand were
transcribed in 1795, one can safely say that the manuscript were copied
in 1795. I have published the complete text with my annotations and
analysis. The following are some of the sample pahelis from the Berlin
manuscript. Most of the titles of the pahelis are in Persian. There is a
high degree of interplay between Arabic, Persian and Hindavi words
which thoroughly points out to the ingenuity of Amir Khusro.
Furthermore, the background again and again displays in the Muslim
culture which further proves that this could only be the work of a Persian
poet. No other poet ofIndia Company and returned to Germany in 1856.
Later he joined Berl University works, his health broke down, he
resigned from the service of East as a Professor and retired in 1881. And
at the age of 80 on the way of Heidelberg on 19 December 1893, his
Life of Prophet was published in German language in three volumes
from 1861-1865.
Springer had brought quite a few boxes of oriental manuscripts to
Germany. Later he published a list of 1972 manuscripts in 1857 which
was right away purchased by Berlin manuscript. The Springer collection
contain 96 Hindustani (Urdu) manuscripts but during the first world war
and second world war, these manuscripts scattered out of Berlin and
deposited in the basement of different libraries where they got mixed up
with other oriental manuscripts. After the peace when things were
reorganized, only 35 Hindustani manuscript could be located which are
now preserved in States Bibliothek, Berlin. The remaining 61 were lost.
It is in these 35 remaining manuscript that luckily I came through a
volume No. 1763 which contains 4 small manuscripts bound together as
one volume. It had a red leather binding and embossed with gold. The
manuscript is on hand made paper in black ink. The headings are given
in red and the manuscript is mock eaten at many places. The last
manuscript in this binding has a total of 34 pages containing 150 pahelis.
Since other manuscripts in this volume which are in the same hand were
transcribed in 1795, one can safely say that the manuscript were copied
in 1795. I have published the complete text with my annotations and
analysis. The following are some of the sample pahelis from the Berlin
manuscript. Most of the titles of the pahelis are in Persian. There is a
high degree of interplay between Arabic, Persian and Hindavi words
which thoroughly points out to the ingenuity of Amir Khusro.
Furthermore, the background again and again displays in the Muslim
culture which further proves that this could only is the work of a Persian
poet. No other poet of medieval India, be it that of BrajBhasha or
Awadhi or any other language could have produced such marvelous
riddles displaying the command over both Islamic as well as Indian
languages. We are quoting below a few sample pahellis:
Sample Pahelis from Berlin Manuscript
(Springer Collection)
(58)
(15)
(18)
‘
(10)
(131)
:
)
(132)
(142)
(in which Hindavi words are inbedded in Amir Khusro's Persian
Poetry)
‗‗
(
)
‗‗
(
)
‗‗
(
‗‗
(
)
Hindavi words inbedded in Khusro's Persian Masnavi Tughlak
Nama
‗‗
……
‗‗
‘‘
……
‘
…
‘
……
Example's of Amir Khusro's Dohas
……
……
……
Khusro's Rekhta Ghazal in which is half Persian half Hindavi
)
Hindavi verse in Amir Khusro's Diwan Ghurratul Kamal
Amir Khusro's verses in which he claimed that Hindavi is his
mother tongue
‘‘
(
)
……
(
)
Sample pahelis from Jawahir-e-Khusravi (Published : Aligarh,
1918)
-----