I Radical Politics and the Urdu Literary World in the Era Of

Radical Politics and the Urdu Literary World in the Era of South Asian Nationalisms c.1919 - 1952 A dissertation submitted by Sarah Waheed In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History TUFTS UNIVERSITY February 2011 Advisor: Dr. Ayesha Jalal i Abstract This dissertation is a historical study of the cultural and intellectual trends amongst Urdu intellectuals in South Asia during the decades immediately preceding and following the attainment of formal independence in 1947. I argue that linking literary radicalism in late colonial North India to a much longer history of the Urdu language and cultural milieu provides fresh insights for understanding nationalisms in South Asia. The intellectual and cultural history of the upper middle-class strata of Muslim society from cities such as Delhi and Lahore reveals that writers from Muslim backgrounds—representing a relatively small fraction of the entire anti-colonial Indian intelligentsia—came to play a very strong role in the radical, left-leaning literary landscape. I show that a minority community, ostensibly organized around a ‘religious’ identity, became the votaries of ‘secular’ nationalisms—not because of any neat separation between realms of “religion” and concepts of the “secular”—but because of a long-standing history of culturally informed religious social identity to which ethical sensibility (in comportment, character, and moral conduct) was central. These radical writers, known as progressive writers, challenged not only colonial rule, but also the indigenous social hierarchies in their own (Muslim) communities including conservative sexual politics, as well as the culturally exclusive nationalisms of the Indian right. Ultimately, I show that the decolonization era was characterized by a multiplicity of nationalist voices—alternative secular nationalisms— which was expressed through the cultural politics of Urdu language and literatures. This dissertation is organized by the examination of three inter-related themes. The first theme is the influence of imperial statecraft upon Urdu poetic practice. I examine Urdu poetry over the long durée, from its ascendance under Mughal political disintegration to the early assertions of Indian nationalism, and argue that it was a relatively autonomous domain from ii interference of colonial manipulation. Furthermore, in examining elite and popular modes of disseminating Urdu poetry, the continued prevalence of pre-existing Indo-Persian literary milieu in which mystical dimensions of Islam often influenced critical discourses of religious and state authorities, I show that the Urdu literary milieu was a shared social space cutting across religion, and allowing Muslims to express their individual subjectivity as well as attachment to place of origin. The second theme explores how the field of ethics known as adab, which also means literature, as well as ethical conduct (akhlāq), was central in determining literary practice and moral conduct with specific focus on gender. I examine how akhlaq and adab were reformulated by twentieth century Urdu writers to challenge the sexually conservative politics of the Muslim upper-classes throughout the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. In examining first, the transformation of the culturally significant figure of the courtesan-prostitute, and second, how the emergence of progressive writers which was instantiated by a significant debate about obscenity and subsequent censorship, I show how both the concept of “progressive” and the identity of “Muslim” was variegated and diffuse from 1920s through the 1950s. The third theme of this dissertation examines how radical and progressive writers from Muslim backgrounds of late colonial India, were critical of territorial nationalism. This theme examines more closely the relationship between minority Urdu culture, left politics, and nationalism. I show that progressive writers were critical of narrowly defined interpretations of the ‘nation’ as a territorially bound entity. In India, they produced an understanding of the nation as defined through urban modernism, as they migrated into the city, and played a role in both cinema and left-politics there. Also, in their commitments to international, revolutionary, and global forms of anti-colonial and anti-imperial resistance, many Urdu progressive intellectuals iii articulated larger questions of social justice in supporting the demand for Pakistan. In doing so, my project not only contributes to an understanding of nationalism as a variegated phenomenon, but it also accounts for the impact that was made by those from the Urdu intellectual tradition, in the wider political arena. This dissertation is a departure from the existing literature on nationalism and Muslim identity, because it evaluates the role of both ethics and aesthetics in the fashioning of modern selfhood in South Asia. iv Table of Contents Table of Contents iv Acknowledgments vi Note on Transliteration and non-English Terms viii Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………….1 Chapter One, Poetry and the Political Past: Muslims, India, and Narratives of Decline c. 1700s - 1919………………………………………………………………………………………………27 Chapter Two, The ‘Disreputable’ Woman: Literary Ethics Beyond National Frames, c. 1857- 1952……………………………………………………………………………..………………..99 Chapter Three, Progressive Literary Ethics: Challenges to Sharif Culture, 1932- 1947…………..............................................................................................................................167 Chapter Four, Bombay Cinema as Archive: Urdu, Urbanity, and the Radical Literati, c. 1942- 1967……………………………………………………………………………………………..236 Chapter Five, Anti-Imperial Converges: Radical Literati and the Emergence of Pakistan, 1919- 1967…………………..................................................................................................................274 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………..…………....349 Appendix 1………………………………………………………………………..…………....351 Bibliography…………………… ……………………………………………………...……...356 v For my mother and father vi Acknowledgements Writing a dissertation, while a trial of intense solitude, cannot be completed without the intellectual and moral support of many people. I want to express my gratitude towards a number of individuals and institutions, without whose support, this project would not have been possible. First and foremost, I want to thank my advisor Ayesha Jalal, who has given me tremendous support, advice, and guidance throughout the course of my graduate studies. Ayesha’s patience, encouragement, and confidence in my endeavors have been nothing short of the incredibly generous. I am extremely fortunate to count myself as having had the privilege of working with such a sharp and rigorous historian. I am also greatly appreciative of the other members of my committee, Sunil Sharma, Kris Manjapra, and Jeanmarie Penvenne, all of whom have exhibited much patience towards the last days of this dissertation. Sunil Sharma’s moral support in particular throughout my days as a graduate student has been invaluable. I want to thank him for making Boston and Cambridge much warmer places. At Tufts University’s History department, I want to thank Steve Marrone, who was not only intellectually stimulating in those early days when I was first beginning to change course from Anthropology to History, but has consistently been a supportive and admirable Graduate Chair, never hesitating to help me secure funds for research and study. I also want to thank Reed Ueda for his support as I was transitioning from dissertation research to the onset of the dissertation writing stage. Having the opportunity to work with historians Jeanmarie Penvenne, Ina Bagdianz-McCabe, Beatrice Manz, and Shruti Kapila was quite invaluable, and I learned a great deal of how to organize my courses and syllabi, not to mention lessons in pedagogy. Without Annette Lazarra and Margaret Casey, much in way of administrative procedures at Tufts would have been virtually impossible, as their patience enabled all paperwork to function smoothly. I also have memories of my early years at Tufts with fellow history students Neeti Nair and Neilesh Bose. For patiently reading my drafts and offering constructive criticisms of my writing, I want to thank friends and colleagues Manan Ahmed, Eric Beverley, Mana Kia, Riaz Khan, Darryl Li, Lata Parwani, and Santosh Shankar. The encouragement and friendship I received from them, not to mention the stimulating intellectual conversations we have shared over the years have been most enriching. An especially heartfelt thanks to Lata, Mana, and Eric, whose support during the most trying of times of dissertation writing is most appreciated. I have been lucky to have been in the company of such wonderful friends. Through my last days of writing while teaching at Mount Holyoke College, I am extremely grateful for my time in the valley of Western Massachusetts, where I had the opportunity to get to know Svati Shah, Britt Halverson, and Sarah Sarzinsky. In India, I benefited from the support of Seema Alavi, who was so supportive and hospitable, always there to help me navigate through the difficult city of Delhi’s and for assisting me in obtaining permission to access archives and libraries at Jamia Milia Islamia University. I thank vii her for her kindness, insight, and rigor and for meeting with me a number of times before and during my research. I want to thank the staff at the National Archives of India, the Nehru Museum

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