Nationalism in the Vernacular

HINDI, , AND THE LITERATURE OF INDIAN FREEDOM

An Anthology edited by

SHOBNA NIJHAWAN

with Introductions by

VASUDHA DALMIA AND CHRISTOPHER SHACKLE

permanent black Contents

Preface and Acknowledgements xiii

Christopher Shackle 1 INTRODUCTION: URDU, NATION, AND COMMUNITY

Vasudha Dalmia 33 INTRODUCTION: , NATION, AND COMMUNITY

Part I: Geography, History, and Mythology 65

1 Altaf Husain "Hali" (1837-1914) 67 THE FLOW AND EBB OF ISLAM Translated from the Urdu and introduced by Christopher Shackle

2 Shahab al-Din Ahmad "Saqib" (fl 1857-1863) and 88 Hakim Muhammad "AhsarT (fl. 1857-1863) THE LAMENT FOR DELHI Translated from the Urdu and introduced by Pasha Mohamad Khan

3 Shridhar Pathak (1860-1928) 93 THE BEAUTY OF KASHMIR Translated from the Hindi and introduced by Valerie Ritter

4 Brij Mohan Dattatreya "Kaifi" (1866-1955) 101 A MIRROR FOR Translated from the Urdu and introduced by Christopher Shackle vi CONTENTS

5 Prempyari Devi (late nineteenth century) 112 THE STORY OF THE GLOBE Translated from the Hindi by Geeta Patel and introduced by Shobna Nijhawan 6 Shiv (late nineteenth century) 117 ABOUT THE NATION AND BHARAT'S YOUNG WARRIORS Translated from the Hindi by Geeta Patel and introduced by Shobna Nijhawan 7 Muhammad Iqbal (1879-1938) 121 HIMALAYA; THE ANTHEM OF INDIA; AND THE ANTHEM OF THE COMMUNITY Translated from the Urdu and introduced by Christopher Shackle 8 Premchand (1880-1936) 128 THE WORLD'S MOST PRECIOUS OBJECT Translated from the Urdu and introduced by Allison Busch 9 Maithilisharan Gupta (1886-1964) 139 THE SLAYING OF JAYADRATH Translated from the Hindi and introduced by Pamela Lothspeich 10 Vrindavanlal Varma (1889-1966) 152 RANI LAKSHMI BAI Translated from the Hindi and introduced by Harleen Singh

Part II: Confronting the Colonial State 165 11 Bharatendu Harishchandra (1850-1885) 167 THE TANGLES OF PANCH Translated from the Hindi and introduced by Vasudha Dalmia CONTENTS Vil

12 Shibli Nomani (1857-1914) 171 You ARE NOT OPPRESSORS, BY ANY MEANS, BUT STILL WE ARE OPPRESSED; RELIGION OR POLITICS; AND MUSLIM LEAGUE Translated from the Urdu and introduced by A. Sean Pue 13 Balmukund Gupta (1865-1907) 178 SHIVSHAMBHU'S LETTERS TO LORD CURZON Translated from the Hindi by Jason Grunebaum and Ulrike Stark and introduced by Ulrike Stark 14 Brij Narain "Chakbast" (1882-1926) 192 A SPAT WITH LORD CURZON Translated from the Urdu and introduced by Mehr Farooqi 15 Josh Malihabadi (1896-1982) 197 ADDRESS TO THE SONS OF THE Translated from the Urdu and introduced by Christopher Shackle 16 Ganga Prasad Shrivastav (1890-1962) 204 THE LAWYER'S ARGUMENT Translated from the Hindi and introduced by Rahul Bjorn Parson 17 Saadat Hasan Manto (1912-1955) 224 THE PROGRESSIVE GRAVEYARD Translated from the Urdu and introduced by Pasha Mohamad Khan

Part HI: Confined Spaces 233 18 "Munir" Shikohabadi (1819-1881) 235 ON HIS IMPRISONMENT Translated from the Urdu and introduced by Christopher Shackle vill CONTENTS

19 Shivrani Devi (d. 1976) 241 IN PREMCHAND'S HOME Translated from the Hindi and introduced by Preetha Mani

20 Sacchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan "Ajneya" 254 (1911-1987) SHEKHAR: A LIFE Translated from the Hindi by Vasudha Paramasivan and introduced by Nikhil Govind

Part IV: Political Nationalism 267

21 "Akbar" Ilahabadi (1846-1921) 269 SATIRICAL VERSES AND EXCERPTS FROM "DIALOGUE BETWEEN NEW AND OLD WAYS" Translated from the Urdu and introduced by Mehr Farooqi

22 Bharatendu Harishchandra (1850-1885) 272 THE SAD STATE OF INDIA Translated from the Hindi and introduced by Francesca Orsini

23 Bharatendu Harishchandra (1850-1885) 279 LEVEE LACKS LEVITY Translated from the Hindi by Rupert Snell and introduced by Vasudha Dalmia

24 Thakur Jagmohan Singh (1857-1899) 283 THE PLAY OF THE HOOKAH-SMOKER: A FARCE IN FOUR ACTS Translated from the Hindi and introduced by Robert van de Walle CONTENTS IX

25 Zafar Ali Khan (1873-1956) 293 INDIA; TOMMY RAJ; THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH; MARTIAL LAW; FATE'S DECREE; THE TALE OF AURANGZEB'S BURNING OF SACRED THREADS; THE LIGHTNING OF ISLAM AND THE THRESHING FLOOR OF SHUDDHI; AND URDU Translated from the Urdu and introduced by Christopher Shackle

26 Sahajanand Saraswati (1889-1950) 301 THE PEASANTS OF GAYA AND OUR 1933 CONFRONTATION WITH GOVERNMENT Translated from the Hindi by Walter Hauser and Kailash Chandra Jha and introduced by Walter Hauser

27 Chaudhuri Abdul Ghani (1890-1932) 312 NATIONAL GATHERINGS: OUR ORGANIZATIONS Translated from the Urdu and introduced by Justin Jones

Part V: Linguistic Nationalism 329

28 Bharatendu Harishchandra (1850-1885) 331 A DISCOURSE ON THE PROGRESS OF HINDI Translated from the Hindi and introduced by Vasudha Dalmia

29 Ganeshbihari Mishra (1873-19??), 342 Shyambihari Mishra (187?-1947), Shukdevbihari Mishra (1879-1951) AN EARLY MOMENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF HINDI LITERARY HISTORY Translated from the Hindi and introduced by Allison Busch X CONTENTS

30 Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi (1864-1938) 350 THE PRESENT STATE OF HINDI Translated from the Hindi and introduced by Sujata Mody 31 Badrinath Bhatt (1891-1934) 371 EXPOSED Translated from the Hindi and introduced by Avinash Kumar

Part VI: About Women 375 32 Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817-1898) 377 LESSONS FROM LONDON Translated from the Urdu and introduced by Christopher Shackle

33 Ayodhyasinh Upadhyay "Hariaudh" (1865-1947) 385 ABSENCE OF THE BELOVED Translated from the Hindi and introduced by Valerie Ritter 34 Balaji (late nineteenth century) 390 SUITABLE LITERATURE FOR WOMEN IN HINDI Translated from the Hindi and introduced by Shobna Nijhawan

35 Shiv Sharma (late nineteenth century) 397 INSTRUCTIONS FOR WOMEN Translated from the Hindi and introduced by Charu Gupta

36 Ramrakh Singh Sahgal (1896-1952) 406 WOMEN'S SOCIETY AND SEVA-DHARMA Translated from the Hindi by Balraj Persaud and introduced by Shobna Nijhawan CONTENTS XI

37 Chaturbhuj Ji Divaniya (late nineteenth century) 413 SUSHILA Translated from the Hindi by Sneha Desai and introduced by Shobna Nijhawan 38 Jainendra Kumar (1905-1988) 421 SUNITA Translated from the Hindi and introduced by Sophie Hartman

Part VII: Untouchability 439

39 Ramchandra Shukla (late nineteenth century) 441 THE UNTOUCHABLE'S LAMENT Translated from the Hindi and introduced by Toral Gajarawala 40 Achhutanand (1879-1933) 445 THE JUSTICE OF RAM-RAJYA Translated from the Hindi and introduced by Sarah Beth

41 Suryakant Tripathi "Nirala' (1896-1961) 463 CHATURI» THE SHOEMAKER Translated from the Hindi and introduced by Scott Schlossberg

Part VIII: Nationalism—Nightmares and Visions 479

42 Hasan Nizami (1878-1955) 481 HASAN NIZAMI'S JOURNEY AROUND THE WORLD IN THE YEAR 2050 Translated from the Urdu and introduced by Zain Shirazi Xll CONTENTS 43 Premchand (1880-1936) 494 GODAAN—THE GIFT OF A COW Translated from the Hindi by Gordon C. Roadarmel and introduced by Vasudha Dalmia 44 Sa'adat Hasan Manto (1912-1955) 508 THE URINAL Translated from the Urdu and introduced by Richard Delacy

Notes on Contributors 512