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A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF SHAPUR TEHRANI'S CONTRIBUTION TO PERSIAN POETRY ABSTRACT THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY, ALIGARH FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF Boctor of $i)tlosopt)p m PERSIAN BY MOHAMMAD USMAN GHANI Under the Supervision of DR. AZARMI DUKHT SAFAVI (Professor) DEPARTMENT OF PERSIAN ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY ALIGARH (INDIA) 2001 ABSTRACT With the foundation of the Mughal rule in India, Persian language and literature achieved a special position at the Mughal court which it did not enjoy even in Iran. It was the special favour and patronage of Mughal rulers especially Akbar and Jahangir which attracted a large number of scholars and poets towards India. Hence the literary forms and fashions initiated in the Indian style as Sabk-i-Hindi. Urfi, Naziri, Zahuri, Talib Amuli, Abu Talib Kalim, Saib Tabrizi etc. made enough contribution to develop it and this style reached its climax in Mughal India. Shapur Tehrani was also amongst the pioneers of this style. His Diwan consists of Ghazals, Qasidas, Rubais, Tarjibands and an incomplete Mathnawi "Shireen Khusro". His poetic style is highly extolled by many Tazkira writers. It is unfortimate that despite the glorious tributes paid by Persian scholars to his poetic genius and his illustrious family, no substantial work has been done to critically evaluate his poetry. The aim of the present research work, being submitted for the award of the degree of Ph.D. is to assess and analyse the contribution of Shapur Tehrani to Persian literature and to determine his position amongst the plethora of Persian poets associated with Iran as well as the Indian sub-continent. The thesis consists of an introduction, six chapters and a Conclusion. First chapter deals with the political, social and cultural scene of Shapur Tehranis' time. In order to understand the particular style of a poet, prose writer and his contribution to literature, it is necessary to first understand and analyse the political/social scenario prevalent during his time. The chapter describes at some length, the relationship between Iran and India, birth of a composite culture, mutual exchange of literary, social and cultural ideas between the Iranians and Indians and its impact on language and literature. In the second chapter, a brief account of literary activities in India, during Shapur's time is given. It was deemed necessary to present the dominent trends prevalent both in Iran and India during the time of Shapur. The chapter describes how and why the Safawi kings disapproved of Qasidas and Ghazals and recommended poems of a purely religious nature. Many poets and writers left Iran and migrated to India where, they were warmly welcomed by the Mughal emperors and accorded a previleged position. Shapur was among them who visited India. Third chapter has been divided into two parts : First part deals with some important family members of Shapur such as Ummidi Tehrani, Khwaja Muhammad Shareef Hijri, Khwaja Muhammad Tahir Wash, Amin Ahmad Razi, Mirza Ahmad Tehrani, Etemadud Daula, Empress Noorjahan, Abul Hasan Asaf Khan (father of Mumtaz Mahal), Eteqad Khan Mirza Shapur etc. Some of them were poets and some joined the administrative and military services, served as ministers, and entered almost every respectable profession not only in the court of the Safawis, but also in the court of Mughal emperors in India. After giving their biographical details, their literary and other activities have also been discussed. Second part is devoted to Shapur. It provides a biographical sketch of the poet, and describes his works, also his contemporaries such as Taqi Auhadi, Nazim of Tabriz and Jafar Beg Asaf Khan. Their literary contribution has also been highlighted. Fourth chapter deals with Ghazal writing in Persian literature, with special focus on Shapur's Ghazals : Persian language is considered to be one of the sweetest languages known to mankind and Persian poetry regarded as one of the finest literary vehicles of the world. Among all the forms of Persian poetry, Persian Ghazal has been perhaps the best representative of this poetic tradition. It is the description of beauty and love and in much broder sense it includes all those things which are related with human feelings like sense, realization and perception. In this chapter, we critically analyse the Ghazals of Shapur and find that it represents** the emotion of love and romance and vivid art of expresison in the shape of words. His achievement as a Ghazal writer has been discussed in detial with suitable exmaples from his poetry. Fifth chapter has also been divided into two parts : First part describes the meaning of Qasida, a brief history of the evolution of Qasida and a short critical appreciation of some major Persian Qasida writer has been appended. The second part is devoted to the Qasida writing of ^hapur. In close analysis we find that the Qasida of Shapur is traditional. Shapur attached himself to the Mughal rulers and their nobles and wrote Qasidas in praise of them. In his Qasidas he praised his patron's generosity, power and justice. Besides, he also wrote many Qasidas in praise of Hazrat Ali, the fourth caliph of Muslims. In the sixth and last chapter, under the heading of 'Mutafarriqat', Shapur's Rubais, Tarjibands and Masnawi have been discussed. A detailed bibliography is appended in the end. MOHAMMAD USMAN GHANI DEPARTMENT OF PERIAN ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY ALIGARH '-^ • M * * r**i ^^ ^ ^ ^• i T5606 Department of Persian Dr. Azanni Dukht Safavi Aligaiii Miislim Umversity Professor of Persian Tel.: 703152(R) 700937 Ext. 543 (O) CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the present thesis entitled "A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF SHAPUR TEHRANI'S CONTRIBUTION TO PERSIAN POETRY" has been written by Mr. Mohammad Usman Gham under my supervision and guidance and it is his original research work. Azarmi Dukht Safavi Imllii Jijiip r i£ t/'J'Uy>^K'ti>-;<L jt^cf- j)l jtL./^^\ti^\j^>'LLd'^h6iy^»l^^y£fi • • • •• >c>% /"^(J^ (if l»vi I (}/U'. if U ^vV l?-V ('..^L r» ^'(3->'i/-/yt?^V r^t <M • ** * J VigCni \ 1 ^1 i^/y ^>t tfj L-r't;^4£. 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