Hindu Contributions to Urdu Literature

This short piece was instigated by the 17 Apr 2025 Times of India headline that cried: “SC on Urdu use: Language shouldn’t divide society.” Supreme Court of India (SC) was dilating on a petition by someone claiming Urdu to be a foreign language, apparently also spoken by the Indian Muslims. The SC decreed… “…language was not related to any religion and Urdu was as much an Indian language as Hindi and Marathi. …The prejudice against Urdu stems from the misconception that Urdu is alien to India.

This opinion, we are afraid, is incorrect as Urdu, like Marathi and Hindi, is an Indo-Aryan language. It is a language which was born in this land.” The SC Bench beautifully put it: “Language is not religion, …. and does not even represent religion. Language belongs to a community, to a region, to people; and NOT to a religion. Language is culture. So is the case of Urdu, which is the finest specimen of the Hindustani Tehzeeb, which is the composite cultural ethos of … India,”

This deliberate historical and constitutional dementia displayed by certain senior and learned elements in the country who have been consistently manufacturing false narratives to denigrate Urdu as a Muslim language has put this magnificent language under constant siege. It is with this background that I thought it may help to revivify the evolution and march of the Urdu language since its inception, with a message to such historically demented folks that Urdu language does not belong to the Indian Muslims, but to all Indians, and that the Hindu contribution to the growth of Urdu has been immense and unparalleled in the annals of the history of this language.

Sample this from Raghupati Sahay Firaq Gorakhpuri: “Sham bhi thi dhuan dhuan, husn bhi tha udas udas; Dil ko kayi kahaniyan yaad si aa ke reh gayin.” Translated into English: “The twilight was misty and vague, beauty was sorrowful and subdued; In my heart, many tales surfaced, half-remembered, half-renewed.” Only Firaq, a Hindu, could create such a stunning verse in world literature.

This couplet exemplifies Firaq Gorakhpuri’s masterful ability to create atmosphere and evoke complex emotions with remarkable economy of language. The poem captures that twilight moment when memories surface unbidden, when the external world’s dimming light mirrors an internal state of reflection and gentle melancholy. Firaq Gorakhpuri is a perfect example of how Urdu poetry transcended religious boundaries, with Hindu poets making profound contributions to the tradition. This verse is a priceless treasure that Firaq Sahib has given to us all Indians.

Urdu, as a language was born from the meeting of worlds - neither exclusively Hindu nor Muslim, but quintessentially Indian in its embrace of multiplicity. While contemporary political forces may attempt to divide what history has joined, we remember that Urdu’s greatest voices have always transcended religious boundaries.

In his magnificent ode to Urdu, Josh Malihabadi compared the language to a sweet, gentle spring that transforms into a mighty river - a perfect metaphor for how Urdu began as a local dialect and evolved into a powerful literary tradition that connected civilizations. Josh’s poem celebrates Urdu’s distinctive qualities: its melodious flow, its emotional depth, and its extraordinary capacity to build bridges between communities. He recognised that Urdu belongs to all who cherish its beauty, regardless of faith or background. Savour the great poem and imagine the sonorous taste that ONLY Urdu can give to our senses: -

“Naddi ka mod, chashma-e shireen ka zer-o-bam

Chaadar shab-e nujoom ki, shabnam ka rakht-e nam

Moti ki aab, gul ki mehak, maah-e nau ka kham

In sab ke imtezaaj se paida hui hai tu

Kitne haseen ufaq se huvaida hui hai tu

Lehja maleeh hai , ke namak-khwaar hoon tera

Sehat zaban mein hai ke beemar hoon tera

Aazad-e sher hoon ke giraftar hoon tera

Tere karam se sher-o-sukhan ka imam hoon

Shahon pe khandazan hoon ke tera ghulam hoon.”

We pay tribute to the towering Hindu poets and writers who shaped Urdu literature: Firaq Gorakhpuri, whose ghazals plumbed the depths of human emotion; Raghupati Sahay ‘Firaq’ whose pen revealed the universal in the particular; Brij Narayan Chakbast, who wove patriotic fervour into classical forms; Gulzar (Sampooran Singh Kalra), whose lyrics continue to capture the imagination of millions; Kishan Bihari Noor, whose ghazals enthral and quietly caress our heart’s inner cheek, and Krishan Chandar, whose progressive prose reflected India’s social complexities.

We remember Daya Shankar Kaul ‘Nasim,’ whose mastery of the ghazal matched any of his contemporaries; Ratan Nath Dhar ‘Sarshar,’ whose historical novels enriched Urdu prose; and Upendranath Ashk, whose clear-eyed realism documented the struggles of ordinary Indians across communities. Sarshar, who embodied this cross-cultural literary identity was a Kashmiri Pandit working in Lucknow’s predominantly Muslim literary circles. Sarshar demonstrated how shared aesthetic values and linguistic appreciation could transcend religious differences. His revolutionary and monumental novel “Fasana-e-Azad” drew on both Western literary techniques and indigenous narrative traditions, creating a distinctly Indian literary modernity that resonated across communal boundaries.

Sarshar demonstrates the pluralistic nature of Urdu literary culture and challenges the simplistic association of Urdu exclusively with Muslim cultural expression. This work is one of the greatest contributions to the Indian letters and cultural heritage. In an era when linguistic identities have often been communalised, Sarshar’s work stands as evidence of Urdu’s historical role as a bridge between diverse cultural traditions in pre-partition South Asia. Thus, these Hindu Urdu writers are a shining example to remind contemporary readers that Urdu emerged as a composite cultural expression that belonged to no single religious community. This historical reality is important to acknowledge, especially given the present-day communalisation of linguistic identities in South Asia.

Through these voices and countless others, Urdu has been what it has always been - a language of remarkable inclusivity, poetic refinement, and emotional resonance. A language that belongs not to any single community but to all who love its expressive possibilities and cultural richness. A language whose very existence testifies to the beautiful complexity of Indian civilization, where difference has historically led not to division but to creative synthesis.

For paucity of space, I have discussed only a few Hindu Urdu writers here whose significant but often overlooked contribution to the development of Urdu literature is deliberately ignored by the mainstream to somehow bolster their malicious propaganda against Urdu. Though frequently characterised as a “Muslim” language in contemporary discourse, Urdu emerged as a shared literary medium that transcended religious boundaries throughout much of North India and the Deccan.

May this dedication, therefore, serve as a reminder that languages, like literature itself, flourish most vibrantly when they remain free from artificial constraints of religious or communal ownership. For Urdu, with its unique blend of Persianate elegance and indigenous Indian sensibilities, represents not separation but connection - a bridge between communities that share more than what divides them; a language for and of all Indians.

Colonel M Maqbool Shah, Recipient of Rashtriya Gaurav Saman - 2009