Representation of Azad Khayal Ashrafia in Nineteenth Century Urdu Prose

I Representation of Azad Khayal Ashrafia in Nineteenth Century Urdu Prose GULL-I-HINA ASLAM Reg. 21-PHD-His-2008 Department of History Government College University Lahore Representation of Azad Khayal Ashrafia in Nineteenth Century Urdu Prose Submitted to Government College University Lahore In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the award of degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSPHY IN HISTORY BY GULL-I-HINA ASLAM Reg. No. 21-PhD-HIS-2008 DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY GOVERNMENT COLLEGE UNIVERSITY, LAHORE III DECLARATION I, Gull-i-Hina, Roll No. 21-PHD-HIS-2008, student of PhD in the subject of History session 2008-2011 hereby declared that the matter printed in the thesis entitled “Representation of Azad khayal Ashrafia in Nineteenth Century Urdu Prose” is my own work and has not been printed, published and submitted as research work, thesis or publication in any form in any University, Research Institution etc. in Pakistan or abroad. Signature of Deponent Dated: IV RESEARCH COMPLETION CERTIFICATE Certified that research work contained in the thesis entitled Representation of Azad khayal Ashrafia in Nineteenth Century Urdu Prose” has been carried out and completed by Gull-i-Hina Registration No. 21-PHD-HIS-2008 under my supervision during her PhD (History) GC University Lahore. Dated: Supervisor Name of Supervisor Submitted Thorough Chairperson Department of History GC University Lahore Controller of Examination GC University Lahore V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious and the Most Merciful Alhamdulillah, all praises to Allah for the strengths and His blessings in completing this thesis. To my most respected teachers whose wisdom, devotion, commitment and extraordinary attention served a beacon of light for upgrading my knowledge. My heartiest thanks go to my valued supervisor, Dr. Tahir Kamran and Dr. Tahir Mehmud who guided me in the most professional way and imparted the finer points of the modern day knowledge. I am also very thankful to Professor (Emeritus) Dr. Khawaja Muhammad Zakriya , Director, Department of History of Literature in Punjab University, who helped me to identify the areas of my research work for broader insight. Dr. Tahir Jamil without him, it is impossible to complete this task. To all those who contributed in this work even in a small but expedient manner, I extend my profound thanks, especially to my parents whose prayers, love and care gave me enough strength and courage to accomplish this challenging task. I must acknowledge the support of my beloved husband, Amir Raza Khan who with the aid of his vast journalistic experience facilitated me in a great way not only in my research but also in our matrimonial affairs. My special thanks are to my little loving daughter, Amna who sacrificed in a big way by never crying to see a laptop in my lap, her favorite place to get closer to me. My gratitude to all my family members who provided me congenial environment in which I worked really hard on this project with ease and comfort and without meeting any inconvenience. Last but not least, I‘m highly grateful to all my well-wishers who did help me before the surface and beyond the scene for the successful execution of my research. VI DEDICATION This work is dedicated to the greatest benefactor of humanity; the Holy Prophet (PBUH) who promoted Islam despite barriers, intense hardships and flourished the light of knowledge and peace everywhere in the world. He dies not who devotes his life to learning. (Narrated by the Holy Prophet; May peace be upon him.) VII ABSTRACT Literature has become a credible source for writing History by which we can explore the past, and in the light of that we can analyze our present, which helps us to have proper perspective for the future. Literature provides us with a prism through which the changes accruing to the value can be identified. Literature is indeed a tool of hastening the process of history. Such monumental events like reformation and renaissance in Europe could be made possible through the endeavors of laureates. Besides, history and literature are complimentary to each other in particular respect to the social history. To trace the social history of the populations, prose writin gs provide the basic information related to contemporary issues, culture of ruling elite and the extent of their relationship with the masses. Thus, nineteenth century Urdu literature verily was an instrument for the renaissance among the Ashrafia (Muslim aristocratic) class. Urdu prose writers pushed their pens, depicting the state of Muslim elite which was the central theme of the literary activities in Delhi and Lucknow. In Urdu prose Deputy Nazir Ahmed was the harbinger of that particular trend. He brought into his literary focus the culture, language and lifestyle of the Delhi Ashraf in his writings and set out to explore the merits and demerits in their weltanschauung. Lukhnow was the other centre where Urdu literature flourished in the nineteenth cent ury and Rattan Nath Sarshar was the key laureate. Both, Nazir Ahmed and Sarshar gave a good account of the Ashraf which was being influenced by the western lifestyle and also clinging onto the tradition. Both the authors have demonstrated quite adroitly the complex state that Ashrafia had been caught up with. Hence their works and the central themes that they had engaged with, forms the central focus of this study. VIII CONTENTS Introduction 1-27 Chapter No. 1 28-71 Genealogy of the term „Ashrafia‟ in linguistic and literary registers, Chapter No. 2 72-98 The epistemic conquest of India: nineteenth-century British constitutional and educational reforms Chapter No. 3 99-126 Conflicted modernity: debate over the first Indian novel in Urdu Novel Chapter No. 4 127-163 Imaging Muslims: class and gender in Nazir Ahmed’s novels Chapter No. 5 164-203 Inventing Individual Freedom: Lucknow Ashrafia in the Novels of Ratan Nath Sarshar Conclusion 204-217 Bibliography 218-253 1 Introduction This study investigates the role of Indian Ashrafia in the reconstruction of Muslim identity in the context of transition from Mughal rule to the British rule in the sub-continent during nineteenth-century. No attempt has been made in the existing literature as in this study to systematically investigate this theme through all the available prose literature produced in relation to Delhi and Lucknow schools of thought. The case study of Muslim Ashrafia sheds important light on the broader picture and is helpful to delineate Indian life style overall. Muslims‘ response towards new cultural conflict was mixed and marked by confusion as they found it hard to have readjustment to the new situation. Therefore, in the present study it has been attempted to deploy the cultural and class expression used by Muslim Ashrafia in contrast to the modernity, introduced by the British in the form of modern education and cultural reconstruction of India. Nevertheless, the response of Muslim Ashrafia to modernity was mixed and can be drawn on a spectrum ranging from modernity to conservatism. In order to substantiate the primary contention of the research Urdu prose is adopted for anecdotal convenience. It is the most documented genre of the time and has been duly used in the research to support the leading argument. It can be ascribed as the best representation of the Muslim Ashrafia which was undergoing a cultural transformation. Their intellectual engagement with the modernity brings out a best dialectic where they are hesitant but at the same time prone to accept the socio-political and economic reality of the period. Edward Said (1935-2003) writes about the way in which societies were studied by colonizing Europeans. He defines the meaning of Orientalism as "a western style of dominating, restructuring and having authority over the Orient." He further states, "A body of knowledge (has been) produced by text and institutional practices of the West." However, he indicates that because of ‗Orientalism‘ the Oriental was not a free subject of thought or action. He claims that all scholarship was based on imperialism and for the sake of the West.1 Regarding the press and media coverage of the Oriental world, he observed astutely 1 - Edward Said, Orientalism, Western Conceptions of the East, (Delhi : Penguin Book, 1978), the ideology and thinking derived from the Introduction of the book 2 that it was not a matter of freedom of expression but how the West used information and created profiles of subjugated peoples. This is the main idea on which this study is based on that how the concept of an apologetic modernity was the main agenda of the nineteenth- century liberal Ashrafia promoted by Urdu literature and how it espoused the agenda of the British or colonial modernity. During nineteenth-century, it was the press and contemporary print media that expended the success of how Ashrafia thinkers were trying to reconstruct or reshape Islamic thought in interaction with modern challenges. The media helped motivate the Ashrafia for social and political movements which were favouring western imperialism, materialism and modernism. All these circumstances paved the way for contemporary writers to debate these ideas in vernacular languages and Urdu was the best choice for the authors at the time to reach a wider audience. The scientific and technological advances that colonialism introduced changed the landscape. The invention of printing press made possible the easy publication of books, journals, magazines, and newspapers which enlarged the scope of literature and ultimately cleared the way for the popularity of novel and short stories among the reading masses. It also made them open to being controlled and influenced. Nineteenth-century Urdu literature represents the decline of the Mughal Empire and the transitional phase among the Ashrafia of large urban centres like Delhi and Lucknow.

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