The author traces the growth of Hindi literature from the earlier period and the first known Muslim poet of Hindi, Abdur Rehman, who lived during the reign of Mohammad Ghori. Dr. Syed Asad Ali documents the patronage of Hindi by Muslim rulers of Ghazna, the Dehli Sultanate, the Mughal Empire and the Muslim Kingdoms of Deccan and Bengal since the eighth century. Because of the Muslim rulers, Dr. Ali says, Hindi became a pan-Indian language. The unbroken 1200 years long contact with Arabic, Turkish and Persian languages and literature, especially under the impact of the erudite scholar Sufi poets, secured an unprecedented inflorescence of Hindi literature resulting in new forms of poetry, new moulds of Thoughts and expressions and new phrases etc. Prior to the advent of Muslims, Historiography was unknown in Hindi literature. Nearly all the forms of Persian Poetry like Masnavi, Ghazal, Rubai, Qasida etc were adopted by Hindi poets. Enriching his text with hundred of quotations from Hindi poets, Dr. Ali illustrates that. Hindi was never the Mother Tongue of any well defined Region of India before the advent of Muslim rule. The Muslims hot only took Hindi to whichever part of India they conquered but also fostered its growth which in turn led to the growth of regional language. The author further credits the Muslim rule with the Creation of 'Hindustani' national consciousness and-gives many examples.
Significantly, Dr. Ali suggests that the Muslim Countries of the World would own and cherish Hindi as a part of their own Heritage if Hindi Language and literature are seen and interpreted beyond the narrow confines of the two Hindu epics.
There has never been a book before which so.minutely and precisely documents Islam's multi-sided impact on India and Hindi Literature. |
