MUSLIM ETHOS: As Reflected in Urdu Literature

The book is a study of Muslim ethos as reflected in Urdu literature in north India. Urdu was adopted as a literary language to escape from the domineering and snobbish attitude of non-Indian poets of Persian at the Mughal Court. It was shaped by borrowing the framework and literary traditions of the Persian, sometimes ignoring the local heritage. The responses and reactions of the Urdu literati to the outbreak of 1857, widespread in the region having flourishnig centres of Urdu, were quite significant.

The Aligarh movement’s contribution to the development of Urdu literature had been very significant. It made Urdu as the identity mark of the Muslim community and led to the growth of various branches of prose literature. It transformed the spirit permeating Urdu literature by making it more concerned with the community problems. In the post-1900 period, the Muslim elite conducted the movement for Urdu, at an all India level, by declaring it to be of special concern to the Muslims. This, in the long run, stunted its growth and reduced the popularity of Urdu which got confined to the Muslim middle classes. In the first four decades of the 20th century. The concept of nationalism based on geographical limits came in for criticism and the advocacy of nationalism based on millat had began. This period also witnessed the emergence of short story under the dominant impact of romanticism. The traditional Muslim elite leadership succeeded in smoothening the revolt, heralded by the publication of Angarey against its control over the society. It did not encourage the recognition of each poets as were critical of the elite.