A History of Urdu Literature

Description

This work has successfully managed to order a vast and amorphous body of literary activity into one volume. The book marked a stage in the development of literary consciousness even more deeply than preceding works by Abdul Latif and Ram Babu Saxena. Taking a historical view, the study regards the formative Deccan period as particularly important, both for the natural bent of the language and the natural inclination of the poets. The author’s view that the pure, indigenous Urdu is better than the Persianised Urdu is clearly explained. This literary history ends with a notice on Mohammad Iqbal. When the book was written the Progressive Writers’ Movement had not been launched, and the author stood at a cusp. From this vantage, he provides us with a useful summary of the past, and gives a context to unfolding trends in literature. Another interesting, in fact important, aspect of this work is that the author is rarely dismissive of any poet, however minor. The author’s credentials as a historian of literature are validated by the place he assigns to minor poets who make up the general fabric of literature to a far greater extent than the major poets-the major poets being too individual-and their sameness being a challenge to a discerning critic seeking precision

Table of Contents

1. Introduction by Muhammad Reza Kazimi
2. Introduction to the 1932 edition
3. The history of Urdu
4. The beginnings of Urdu literature
5. The first century of urdu poetry in Delhi (ad 1730-1830)
6. Urdu poetry in Lucknow in the nineteenth century
7. The second Delhi period and the four poets of Rampur
8. Urdu prose
9. The new age
10. Conclusion
11. Bibliography
12. Index of persons
13. Index of works
14. Index of subjects

Authors Biography

T. Grahame Bailey was born in Ambala, India, in 1872 into a family of missionaries. He was sent to school in Scotland at the age of nine, and returned to India in 1895 after being ordained. He served in India for 25 years before returning to Britain. He obtained his D.Litt. from the University of Edinburgh and became a professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University. The author retired from this position in 1940 and died two years later.

Dr Muhammad Reza Kazimi has an MA and PhD from the University of Karachi. He is a critic of Urdu literature and has taught for more than thirty years in different colleges, and at the University of Karachi, the Aga Khan University, and M.A. Jinnah University in Karachi. His latest Urdu book Tehzeeb-o-Takhleeq has been published by Karachi University. His latest English book is A Concise History of Pakistan (OUP 2009). His other publications are Mutale’a-e-Pakistan (OUP, 2006); Pakistan Studies (OUP, 2007); Liaquat Ali Khan: His Life and Work (OUP, 2015); Intikhab-e-Kalam: Ghalib (OUP, 2009); Intikhab-e-Kalam: Sahir Ludhianvi (OUP, 2013).