Travelogues of India in Urdu Language: Trends and Tradition

Home , Farman Fatehpuri, Jagan Nath Azad

Muhammad Afzal Javeed 1,a , Qamar Abbas 2, Farooq Ahmad 3, Dua Qamar 4, Mujahid Abbas 5

1,a Department of Urdu, Govt. K.A. Islamia Degree College, Jamia Muhammadi Sharif, Chiniot, Pakistan, 2,4 Department of Urdu, Govt. Postgraduate College, Bhakkar, Pakistan, 3Punjab Higher Education Department, GICCL, Lahore, Pakistan, 5Department of Urdu, Qurtuba University of Science and Technology, D. I. Khan, Pakistan, Received: February 7, 2016 Accepted: April 25, 2016

ABSTRACT India is the one of the major countries which is the topic of Urdu travelogues. Many writers from Pakistan have visited this country. The main purpose of their visits was to participate in different literary functions. They included information about this country, in their travelogues. Pakistani and Indian public have relations of many kinds with each other. These relations were especially highlighted in these travelogues. Urdu travelogues of India are an important source of information about this country. KEYWORDS : Urdu Literature, Urdu Travelogue, Urdu Travelogues of India, Urdu Travelogue trends.

1. INTRODUCTION

India is the neighbour country of Pakistan. In India Urdu is one of the main languages. India and Pakistan remained a part of single country before partition. Both the countries have their social, cultural and religious relations. Many of Pakistani’s have their relationship with Indian people. Both countries have relations of literary and philosophical natures. This is why a large number of people from Pakistan visit India every year.

2. URDU TRAVELOGUES OF INDIA

Urdu is the major language of the both countries; India and Pakistan. Every year literary delegations visit each other’s countries. From Pakistan most of the writers go to India for participation in literary functions and on their return, they write travelogues and include their visit reports in them. Some important Urdu travelogues of India are as under: 2.1. JANOBI HIND MAIN DO HAFTAY BY JAGAN NATH AZAD

Jagan Nath Azad is the son of famous Urdu poet Talok Chand Mehroom. His family migrated from Kalour Kot Pakistan to India. This travelogue is about his visit of southern parts of India where he attended many literary functions. He was invited by Govt. Arts College Madras. In his travelogue, he introduced literary personalities and had given the details of the functions he attended (Azad, 1950).

2.2. MANDAR MAIN MEHRAB BY DR. MUHAMMAD AJMAL NIAZI

In this visit of India, Atta ul Haq Qasmi was with the writer. They traveled India for participation in literary functions. In this visit they traveled Ambala, Delhi, Agra, Lakhnao and Amratsar. They visited historical places in India and included detailed information in the travelogue. In his writing style Dr. Ajmal Niazi extends his conversation with the help of his writing power, so we found less information and more wording in it. His style is a little bit philosophical (Ajmal Niazi, 1987).

2.3. BHARAT MAIN CHAND ROZ BY AETABAR SAJID

Aetabar Sajid visited cities of Ambala and Delhi along with the famous literary personality, Tufail Hoshiar Pori. They attended literary functions there and included reports of these functions in the travelogue. The writer also described his meetings with the poets and prose writers. There is a description of social life of India in the travelogue. A light humour is a part of writing style (Sajid, 1989).

aCorresponding Author : Muhammad Afzal Javeed, Department of Urdu, Govt. K.A. Islamia Degree College, Jamia Muhammadi Sharif, Chiniot, Pakistan, +923458353786, Email: [email protected].

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2.4. SHEHR DAR SHEHR BY AMJAD ISLAM AMJAD

This is the story of his two visits to different countries. In his first visit he traveled in France, Canada and America, while second visit is of India. The visited cities of India are Delhi, Ambala and Saharanpur. In his first visit Perven Shakir and Jamil ud Din Aali were with him and in second visit of India, Atta ul Haq Qasmi accompanied him. He met with Pakistani people living in visited areas. He described his activities of the visit and introduced the food of traveled areas (Amjad, 1988).

2.5. SAFARNAMA E AMIN CHAND BY MUNSHI AMIN CHAND

Munshi Amin Chand visited the areas of Punjab, Kashmir, Dakan, Malwah, Rajputana, Bengal and Kolkata during 1850 to 1854. He traveled in these areas on the instructions of Deputy Commissioner Robert Kist for collecting the information of geography and history of India. He had given the details about visited cities of India, their worship places, culture, customs and population. He also introduced emperors of Delhi Empire. Historical buildings and educational institutions are also introduced (Amin Chand, 1995).

2.6. ZAMEEN AUR FALAK AUR BY INTZAR HUSSAIN

Intzar Hussain is the famous novelist and short story writer of Urdu language. He visited India along with famous journalist Muno Bhai. The visited cities were Delhi, Agra and Aligarh. They attended different literary functions and meetings and took part in discussions with writers and friends. Historical places and buildings were also discussed in the travelogue. The writer remembers past and wants to recall it from the history. He used symbols of history and explained present age by them (Hussain, 1984).

2.7. DELHI DOR NAHEIN BY ANWAR SADEED

Anwar Sadeed visited India to participate in International Ghalib Seminar in 1988. He is the writer of research book ‘Urdu Adab Main Safarnama’. His travelogue ‘Delhi Dor Nahien’ is a report of his literary activities at Delhi. He described his meetings with his friends and literary personalities, his participation in functions and his visit to different places of historical importance (Sadeed, 1994).

2.8. SAFARNAMA E HAZOR E AALI BY NAWAB BISMILLAH KHAN

Nawab Bismillah Khan visited different cities of India with 30 other persons. The duration of this visit was two months in 1891. They collected historical information of the visited cities and drew their maps. Cultural and social life of the cities was also observed. The description of markets, gardens and museums is also included in the travelogue of Nawab Bismillah Khan ‘Safarnama e Hazor e Aali’ (Bismillah Khan, 1891).

2.9. SHALIMAR SAY TAJ MAHAL TAK BY TABINDA BATOOL

Tabinda Batool was an MA Urdu student and she visited Delhi, Aligharh, Lakhnao and Agara. The duration of this visit was from 12 April to 17 April 1987. Her Father was with him in this tour. Purpose of this visit was to collect material for her MA Urdu research thesis having topic about ‘Saleem Wahid Saleem’. For this purpose she met poets and other literary parsons, searched different libraries and book stores. This travelogue is a description of her study tour and research activities (Batool, 1991).

2.10. BANEHAL KAY OS PAR BY SURRYA KHURSHID

‘Banehal Kay Os Par’ is travelogue of India and Kashmir. Surrya Khurshid visited Delhi and Chadigarh and the duration of her visit was two weeks. We find historical facts and political events in this travelogue. The description of beautiful valleys, gardens and natural scenes makes this travelogue heart touching. Imagery of this travelogue is marvelous. She felt pain for Kashmiri Nation. She also highlighted class differences in India and their effects on the life of native population (Khursheed, 1988).

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2.11. DAIKHA HINDUSTAN BY HASSAN RIZVI

Hassan Rizvi was a famous literary figure. He visited with Saadat Saeed the cities of India Amritsar, Saharanpur, Delhi, Lkhnao, Bombay and Ambala. He included reports of literary meetings, he attended during his journey to India. Introduction of different personalities relating to literature and politics is also included in the travelogue. This travelogue is written in diary style (Rizvi, 1992).

2.12. SAFARNAMA E HINDUSTAN BY KHAWJA HASSAN NIZAMI

It is a daily report of Khawja Hassan Nizami’s four months visit to the cities of India Bombay, Gujarat and Kathiawar. He traveled these areas in 1907. He included in this travelogue his daily routine, his meeting with different personalities and his visit to religious places. Description of nature beauty is also at its full bloom in this travelogue (Nizami, 1924).

2.13. SIYAHAT E HIND BY ALLAMA RASHID UL KAIRI

This travelogue is a description of Allama Rashid ul Kairi’s different tours of Indian cities. He went to Aligarh, Baroda, Soorat, Jhansi, Gawaliar, Agara, Hisser, Sargodha, Lahore, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Nagpur, Jabalpur, Kanpur, Allahabad, Banaras, Saharanpur, Patiala, Gujranwala, Gujarat, Madras, Lkhnao, Kolkata and many other cities. Duration of these visits was 1923 to 1933. He described every one of his visit briefly and introduced his hosts (Alkhairi, 1936). 2.14. AY AAB ROOD E GANGA BY RAFIQUE DOGAR

He visited India with a group of visitors. They went to the cities of Delhi and Agra there. They visited historical places and the places of religious importance. Information about history and politics of the India is the main topic of the travelogue. This travelogue has an imaginative style of writing (Dogar, 1987).

2.15. SERE DELHI BY SHEIKH RIAZ UD DIN AMJAD

Sheikh Riaz ud Din Amjad visited Delhi in 1860. The most part of his visit was of historical places of Delhi. He also met literary and other important personalities of Delhi. Another main feature of this travelogue is that he included many of his poetic verses and his poems in this travelogue (Amjad S. R.).

2.16. LAHORE TA BOMBAY BARASTA DELHI BY RIAZ UR REHMAN SAGHAR

Riaz ur Rehman Saghar visited India with his wife and children. The year of the visit was 1989 and they visited Delhi, Agra and Bombay cities. Problems of the way are discussed at many places of the travelogue. He mentioned their stay at these cities and their food routine during the journey. He described his meetings with film industry’s personalities and with his friends. He also visited historical places there (Saghir).

2.17. DYAR E ADAB BY SHAD QADVAI

It is a literary travelogue of Shad Qadvai. On 2 February 1956 he started his journey to India and there he went to the cities of Lkhnao and Bhopal. The main purpose of this journey was to meet his friends and relatives there. He also participated in literary functions and included their reports in the travelogue. He also included the poetry of different prominent poets (Qadvai, 1957).

2.18. ZARKHEZ PAHTAR BY SHEEN FARUKH

Sheen Farukh visited Indian cities; Bombay, Delhi, Ajmeer and Dolatabad. He included complete details of his journey. He attended literary functions and included their reports and described his meeting with literary persons. He visited different historical and important places. He described Indian society and its civilization (Farukh, 1996).

2.19. SAFAR ZINDGI KAYLIAY SOZ O SAZ HAY BY SALIHA ABID HUSSAIN

Saliha Abid Hussain visited India and her feelings for this country were like that of a homeland. In her travelogue we find an immense love for her friends and relatives. He visited the caves of Alovera there. Feelings of a woman

136 Afzal, et al., 2016 are the important characteristic of this travelogue. He also described religious places of these cities with a great love and with sincerity of emotions (Hussain S. A., 1985).

2.20. WO QURBATAIN SI WO FASLAY SAY BY MIRZA ZAFAR UL HASSAN

Mirza Zafar ul Hassan visited Haiderabad Dakan, India, in 1978. He described his sittings with his friends, poets and writers. In these meetings he memorized his old memories. He contacted with different institutions for different purposes. His feelings of sorrow were at bloom in Haiderabad Dakan. He also highlighted the cultural and social life of the area. His sense of humour was also exposed at many occasions (Zafar ul Hassan, 1985). Other important Urdu travelogues of India are: ‘Siyahat e Majdi’ by Abdul Majid Darya Abadi (Drya Abadi, 1980), ‘Qadam Be Qadam’ by Iran Aziz Beig (Beig), ‘Delhi Dor Ast’ by Atta ul Haq Qasimi’ (Qasmi, 1995), Dunya Mera Gaon’ by Khawja Ghulam us Sayedain (Sayedain, 1985) and ‘Deed o Bazdeed’ by Dr. Farman Fatehpuri (Fatehpuri, 1982). SUMMARY

Most of the Urdu travelogues of India are written by literary writers of Pakistan. One of the main purposes of visit to this country was literary exchange. The visitors from Pakistan attended literary functions there and also visited historical and religious places of this country. Their meetings with their relatives and friends are the emotional parts of these travelogues.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ajmal Niazi, D. M. (1987). Mandar Main Mehrab. Lahore: Polimer Publications. Alkhairi, A. R. (1936). Siyahat e Hind. Delhi: Ismat Book Agency. Amin Chand, M. (1995). Safarnama e Amin Chand. Lahore: Matba e Kohe Noor. Amjad, A. I. (1988). Shehr Dar Shehr. Lahore: Qosain. Amjad, S. R. Sere Delhi. Delhi: Risala Soboh. Azad, J. N. (1950). Janobi Hind Mian Do Haftay. Delhi: Delhi Kitab Ghar. Batool, T. (1991). Shalimar Say Taj Mahal Tak. Lahore: Haideri Publishers. Beig, A. Qadam Be Qadam. Lahore: Alied Business Coorporation. Bismillah Khan, N. (1891). Safarnama e Hazoor e Aali. Lakhnao: Matbae Behr ul Aloom. Dogar, R. (1987). Ay Aab Rood e Ganga. Lahore: Sange Meel Publications. Drya Abadi, A. M. (1980). Siyahat e Majdi. Lakhno: Abdul Majid Academy. Farukh, S. (1996). Zarkhez Pather. Lahore: Sange Meel Publications. Fatehpuri, D. F. (1982). Deed o Bazdid. Multan: Karwan e Adab. Hussain, I. (1984). Zameen Aur Falak Aur. Lahore: Sange Meel Publications. Hussain, S. A. (1985). Safar Zindgi Kayliay Soz o Saz Hay. Delhi: Maktaba Jamia. Khursheed, S. (1988). Banehal Kay Os Par. Mirpur: Veri Naag Publishers. Nizami, K. H. (1924). Safarnama e Hindustan. Delhi: Delhi Printing Works. Qadvai, S. (1957). Deyar e Adab. Lahore: Urdu Press. Qasmi, A. u. (1995). Delhi Dor Ast. Lahore: Jahangir Book Dipot. Rizvi, H. (1992). Dekha Hindustan. Lahore: Sange Meel Publications. Sadeed, D. A. (1994). Dili Dor Nahein. Lahore: Maqbool Academy. Saghir, R. u. Lahore to Bombay Barasta Delhi. Lahore: Mavra Publichations. Sajid, A. (1989). Bharat Main Chand Roz. Lahore: Maktaba Alia. Sayedain, K. G. (1985). Dunya Mera Gaon. Delhi: Sayedain Memorial Trust. Zafar ul Hassan, M. (1985). Wo Qurbatain Si Wo Faslay Say. Karachi: Asloob.

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