Category Archives: Books (incl.Biographies – w.e.f.01 jan 2018 )

Covid-19: Wajid Ali Shah’s scion passes away

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Kolkata, WEST BENGAL :

A file photo of Prince Anjum Qudr, Dr Kaukub Quder Sajjad Ali Meerza and Prince Nayyar Qudr posing for a photo with Meerza’s daughter, Manzilat Fatima, at Imambara Sibtainabadin Metiabruz, Kolkata, sometime during 1985-1986

Kolkata / Lucknow :

Kaukub Quder Sajjad Ali Meerza, the great-grandson of Awadh’s last monarch, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, and grandson of Nawab Birjis Quder, died of Covid-19 in Kolkata on Sunday afternoon, aged 87.

Considered an authority on Wajid Ali Shah’s literary and cultural contributions, he is survived by his wife, two sons and four daughters.

Meerza may be buried on Monday at the royal burial ground(Gulshanabad Imambara), about a kilometre from the Sibtainabad Imambarah in Metiabruz, where Wajid Ali Shah rests.

A popular figure in the billiards and snooker fraternity of  the country, Quder had graduated with honours in economics from St Xavier’s College in the same batch as Amartya Sen.  He studied political science and then a three-year law course.

Subsequently, he studied Urdu at CU, won a silver medal in 1962 and also earned a UGC Junior Fellowship for research on the “Literary & Cultural Contributions of Wajid Ali Shah” in the department of Urdu at Aligarh Muslim University. In 1967, he joined the department as a lecturer and earned a doctorate for his thesis.

Kaukub Quder Sajjad Ali Meerza’s daughter, Talat Fatima, is now translating his book from Urdu to English. “His research was extremely rich. This book, published in the late 70s, has a compilation of some 42 works of Wajid Ali Shah. Some of them are in Persian,” she said, adding that her father preferred to be addressed as “Dr Kaukub Quder Sajjad Ali Meerza” instead of using the title of a prince.

It was his academic interest in his forefather that had also got Satyajit Ray to get in touch with him during the making of “Shatranj ke Khilari”.

On Ray’s birth anniversary this year, his daughter, Manzilat , had tweeted: “There are a couple of letters that were exchanged between Bawa [her father] and Satyajit Ray during the making of Shatranj Ke Khilari.” On Sunday, she spoke about how Ray  had even visited their 11 Marsden Street residence that is popularly known as ‘House of Awadh’. “Ray could have gone to anyone else for information. But he chose to get in touch with my father. In fact, he had made many attempts to meet my father but the meeting never happened. Hence, it was through correspondence that he got the information regarding Wajid Ali Shah. I feel Ray had portrayed Wajid Ali Shah in the right light. Many often claim that Wajid Ali Shah had been exiled, but that isn’t true. He had left the kingdom of his own volition. I believe my father’s information helped him give authentic information about Wajid Ali Shah,” she said.

Quder was also a great connoisseur of food. A big photograph of him along with his two brothers hangs in the rooftop restaurant opened by his daughter. “He was happy when he saw how, in my capacity, I was upholding the family name. Awadhi food was already losing its identity. He was happy I was making the effort to popularize that food,” Manzilat said.

Incidentally, he was the chief referee of first World Snooker Championship held at the Great Eastern Hotel in Kolkata in 1963-64. He had remained the chief referee of the National Billiards & Snooker Championship till it left the Palm Court of the Great Eastern Hotel in the 70s .

“It was my father who coached me to play snooker and billiards. I became the first woman participant from India to play the games at the national level,” said Manzilat.

The rolling trophy of the IBSF World Snooker Championship, the MM Baig Trophy, was designed by him. In the 70s, he had also brought out a pioneering Billiards magazine, “The Baulkline”.

According to his son, Irfan Ali Mirza, “He was the founder-secretary of The Billiards & Snooker Federation of India, The West Bengal Billiards Association and The Uttar Pradesh Billiards & Snooker Association.

Sudipta Mitra, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Peerless Hospital and a student of Meerza, describes his mentor’s demise as a “huge loss”. “A part of our cultural history is lost with his demise. He came with pneumonia and was admitted to the ICCU. Unfortunately, he passed away today afternoon due to Covid pneumonia. Jawaharlal Nehru had initiated the idea of the government of India bearing the expense of his education. He was my research guide while writing the book titled ‘Pearl by the River: Nawab Wajid Ali Shah’s Kingdom in Exile’,” Mitra said

The Peerless Hospital CEO, said according to his research, he was “the last royal pension holder”. “In 1892, the British government had created a royal pension book where only the lineage of Birjish and his wife, Mahtab Ara Begum, who was the granddaughter of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last  Mughal Emperor of India, was recognized.

Birjish, who was the only son of Wajid Ali Shah and Begum Hazrat Mahal, was the eldest surviving son of Wajid Ali Shah when the latter died in 1887. That is why this lineage has been recognized for royal pension,” Mitra said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Kolkata / by Priyanka Dasgupta and Yusra Husain / TNN / September 14th, 2020

‘Piya ka des’: 165 years on, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah’s legacy lives on in Kolkata

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Awadh, UTTAR PRADESH / Kolkata, WEST BENGAL :

The nawab, who was deposed by the British, came to plead his case with Governor General Lord Charles Canning, only to be imprisoned at Fort William.

Nawab Wajid Ali Shah (Photo| Wikimedia Commons)

Kolkata :

Some 165 years ago, in the month of May, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah — the last ruler of Awadh — is believed to have written the now-famous lament “Babul Mora Naihar Chooto Jai…Mein Chali Piya ke Des” (O father, my home I leave behind…I go to my beloved’s land), as he made his way to Kolkata to live the next 31 years of his life in exile.

The nawab, who was deposed by the British, came to plead his case with Governor General Lord Charles Canning, only to be imprisoned at Fort William as the East India Company feared that he may turn into a rallying point for sepoy mutineers during the first war of Indian Independence, which broke out the very next year.

After he was freed two year later, Wajid Ali and many from his court who chose to join him in exile decided to live in his ‘Piya ke Des, gifting a legacy of music, dance, Urdu poetry, fashion and fusion cuisine to the syncretic culture of the metropolis.

“My great, great, grandfather Wajid Ali Shah, who landed here by steamer on May 13, could have chosen to live anywhere after he was freed…but he chose this city. We believe he fell in love with its culture and found remnants of his beloved Lucknow in Metiabruz or Matiaburj where he chose to settle,” said Shahenshah Mirza, 54, a civil servant and a history buff.

The nawab, over the years, built some 18 palaces and the landmark Sibtainabad Imambara in Calcutta, but his descendants live scattered as the British demolished the palazzos on one pretext or the other.

Mirza and his father, 86-year-old Sahebzada Wasif Mirza – the president of the Awadh Royal Family Association — now live in a modest though stately old house at Talbagan Lane, off Dargah Road, in the heart of the eastern metropolis.

“Just 500 of his followers came with him in 1856, but as news spread that he was building a Lucknow-like city within a city, at Metiabruz in Calcutta, many of his nobles, artisans and musicians followed and flourished here,” said Mirza.

Though much of the original mini-city which Wajid Ali built was taken over for Garden Reach shipyards, Metiabruz still exists and is now famous as a garment tailoring hub — reportedly accounting for Rs 15,000 crore worth of textile trade a year — mainly on account of the skilled tailors who came here as part of the Nawab’s entourage.

Wajid Ali, who used the pen name “Akhtarpiya” for his poetry, prose and thumris, was a known patron of arts, and with the destruction of Mughal cities in the aftermath of the 1857 revolt, Kolkata subsequently became the new cultural capital, attracting talent from all over north India.

As time progressed, Bengal’s zamindars and rich ‘bhadraloks’ (gentlemen) enthusiastically developed a taste for the Nawab’s leisure activities ‘mujra’ (music and dance soirees), kite-flying and pigeon games (kabootar baazi). “Even today some 3,000 people are engaged in the business of making kites in this city,” explained Mirza.

The nawab introduced the citys elite to Thumri, Dhrupad and Kathak. “Singers and dancers of the calibre of Bindadin Maharaj, Piyari Sahab, Gauhar Jaan, Malka Jaan, Jauhar Jaan came to settle here…Kolkata opened up to Kathak and thumris,” said well-known Shantiniketan-based musicologist Rantideb Maitra.

This, in later years, influenced the film industry and the dance and music forms became part of the pan-Indian culture.

The song ‘Babul Mora’ itself was popularised by Kolkata-based music director Rai Chand Boral when he got Kundan Lal Saigal to sing it for the movie ‘Street Singer’ in 1938, nearly 80 years after it was written.

“Kathak, though it started as a temple dance, had taken a stylised form under the Mughal patronage. When brought to Kolkata by Wajid Ali, who himself often danced as Krishna, it blossomed into a popular classical dance form,” said Shyam Banerjee, another musicologist and Urdu translator.

However, if the average Kolkatan remembers the Awadh ruler with fondness, it is because of the gastronomic legacy he left behind.

Said Manzilat Fatima, another of Wajid Ali’s descendants from his junior begum, Hazrat Mahal — who led mutineers in Lucknow and eventually escaped to Nepal — “He (Wajid Ali) tried to recreate Lucknow but with a difference…(among other things) his kitchen became an experimental centre for new dishes.”

Fatima (53), who runs the up-market restaurant Manzilat’s explained that experiments led to the inclusion of potato — then a rich man’s exotic vegetable favoured by Europeans — and eggs to Awadh’s Biryani. “New spices, coconut milk, mustard oil, all went into the making of Awadhi dishes and the result was the unique dum-pukht Kokata Biryani, now so popular all over,” she said.

The Nawab also set up a printing press in Metiabruz and came out with a weekly gazette in Urdu, adding to the literary and journalistic tradition of the city, which boasts of being the cradle to some of India’s oldest newspapers.

“We feel he was more popular in the city he chose to make his own than in Lucknow…When the legendary filmmaker, Satyajit Ray, asked my father how he saw Wajid Ali’s legacy, he had explained that it lives on, as is evident from the fact that ‘you chose to make your first Hindi movie – Shatranj ke Khilari – on a novel based on the the Awadh ruler’s life’,” added Mirza.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Kolkata / by PTI / May 23rd, 2021

The last Begum of Bhopal: How Begum Sultan Jahan fought patriarchy and educated a generation of women

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Bhopal, MADHYA PRADESH :

Born in 1858, Begum Sultan Jahan ascended the throne in 1901. While she was the fourth female ruler of Bhopal, she is credited with many firsts. She was known for ruling in the present with her eyes set on the future. Her progressive policies for women, at a time when they were shackled by the forces of patriarchy, have made her a feminist icon even today.

Begum Sultan Jahan was a pioneer in the field of education and even authored a book, Dars-e-Hayat, about the education and parenting of young girls.

Nearly a century ago, when the term feminism was not yet part of common parlance, the princely estate of Bhopal was run by a line of powerful women. In the absence of male successors, they initiated a matrilineal reign from 1819, which continued till 1926. These rulers are often referred to as the Begums of Bhopal.

During this era, they ruled with authority, dignity and bold reforms — disrupting the patriarchal system that had been laid down centuries before them.

The last Begum of Bhopal was Begum Sultan Jahan. She ruled from 1909 to 1926 after which she stepped down and was succeeded by her son.

Begum Sultan Jahan died on May 12, 1930 at the age of 71. She was known for ruling in the present with her eyes set on the future. Her progressive policies for women, at a time when they were shackled by the forces of patriarchy, have made her a feminist icon even today.

Apart from being a philanthropist and prolific writer, she was a symbol of women empowerment, known for taking up the cause of female education. She was the first female Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, which she had nurtured during its nascent stage, when it was still known as the Mohammadan Anglo Oriental College.

In a time when it was rare for women to venture out due to a strict purdah system, she famously constructed a Meeting Hall for Ladies in Lahore.

But above all, Begum Sultan Jahan was an astute ruler who restored the glory of her estate.

It is hard to find a female ruler who authored over 40 books, designed school curriculum, founded women’s clubs, travelled to Europe, met British officials with authority, funded almost all major institutions — both in the country as well as one in Saudi Arabia — and even headed a University as its first female Chancellor.

Interestingly, film actress Sharmila Tagore is the granddaughter-in-law of Nawab Hamid Ullah Khan, the youngest son of Begum Sultan Jahan.

Begum Sultan Jahan, the ruler of Bhopal

Born in 1858, Begum Sultan Jahan ascended the throne in 1901. While she was the fourth female ruler of Bhopal, she is credited with many firsts.

She was not one to stand on the sidelines. An incident from the early days of her regime is often cited to highlight her penchant for ruling from the front. When she took over as Queen, there was only Rs 40,000 in the treasury which was not enough to even pay the salary of her employees. Begum Sultan Jahan decided to tour her kingdom and interact with the village folk. After learning their concerns, she set up the municipality system and even introduced municipal elections.

She also constructed a walled city and a palace for herself. She took steps for improving public health, sanitation, and water supply in the walled city and implemented widespread vaccination drives for its residents.

Apart from being a philanthropist and prolific writer, she was a symbol of women empowerment, known for taking up the cause of female education.

Recognising that women needed a space exclusively for them to assemble and discuss ideas, she laid the foundation stone for a meeting hall in Lahore in 1913.

To encourage women and promote handicrafts, she organised an exhibition called ‘Numaish Masunuaat e Hind’ in Bhopal, where she displayed her own creations. Queens from other kingdoms, such as Gwalior, Jhanjhar, Sultanpur, Narsinghgarh and Gulburgah also participated and displayed their handiwork.

Begum Sultan Jahan as an educationist

She was a pioneer in the field of education and even authored a book, Dars-e-Hayat, about the education and parenting of young girls. There was a time when almost every city of the country had one or more educational institutes for girls which were funded by Begum Sultan Jahan.

To encourage parents to educate their daughters, she set up several schools. However, most initially resisted the idea, as at the time it was considered socially acceptable to teach their daughters at home.

Undeterred, she started the Sultania School and also improved the condition of two existing schools — Madarsa Bilqisia and Madarsa Victoria. She even revamped the syllabus and added subjects such as English, Urdu, Arithmetic, Home Science and crafts. These schools were meant for underprivileged children and hence their expenses were borne by the Bhopal estate. Even in those times, she got the Madarsa Sultania affiliated to the Allahabad Board. This Madarsa was well equipped and even had an ambulance and sections for medicine and nursing. Later she also started a nursing school called Lady Minto Nursing School.

Begum Sultan Jahan did not solely focus on uplifting Muslim girls. She famously founded the Barjeesiya Kanya Paathshala’ and even instituted a scholarship for the underprivileged students of Jain Shwetambar Paathshala.

Despite being a small princely estate, Bhopal had an education budget of one lakh rupees. The educational institutions she supported were not confined to Aligarh alone. She was also funding a Madarsa in Deoband, Nadwatul Uloom in Lucknow and even Madarsa Sultania in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Institutions such as Lady Hardinge Medical College, Delhi and some renowned colleges in Bombay (now Mumbai), and Calcutta (now Kolkata) received generous grants from her.

Begum Sultan Jahan established the Ladies Club in Bhopal with the aim of involving more women in her mission. She addressed the functions of the Ladies Club. Later, she even organised an event under the aegis of All India Women Association in Sadar Bhopal and established the Sultan Jahan Endowment Trust with a corpus of Rs three lakhs for helping needy students.

Begum Sultan Jahan also went as far as encouraging the rulers of other princely states to promote education. Even Lord Harding praised her efforts.

She authored 41 books, many of which were distributed for free. She also translated a number of English books into Urdu.

Begum Sultan Jahan and AMU

Around that time, more than 600 kilometres away from Bhopal, in the province of Uttar Pradesh, the Mohammedan Anglo Oriental College was taking shape in Aligarh.

In 1910, while returning from Mussoorie, she stayed in Aligarh for the first time. During her visit, she donated Rs 50,000 for the construction of the All India Muhammadan Educational Conference, which still exists today and is known as Sultan Jahan Manzil.

A monthly grant of Rs 100 was sanctioned by her for the girls school started in Aligarh by Sheikh Abdullah, which is now known as the Women’s College of AMU. She designed the syllabus herself and offered it to the school authorities. It was done at a time when there was a paucity of funds and women ’s education had taken a backseat. Later, when MAO College became AMU, she was named its first Chancellor.

During AMU’s centenary celebrations on December 22, 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Begum Jahan and her contribution to the historic institution — “The AMU has the rare distinction that Begum Sultan Jahan took over the responsibility of its founder chancellor. How daunting it would have been one hundred years ago!”

In 1910, she stayed in Aligarh for the first time. During her visit, she donated Rs 50,000 for the construction of the All India Muhammadan Educational Conference, which still exists today and is known as Sultan Jahan Manzil.

As Chancellor of the AMU, she addressed its first-ever convocation ceremony in 1922 amidst renowned scholars from across the country. She also arranged cars and lodging for 175 persons during the jubilee ceremony of the University. Begum Sultan Jahan visited Aligarh seven times, with her last visit being in 1929.

Her speech during the foundation stone laying ceremony of Sultania Boarding House in Women’s College reflects her vision. She said, “Today is the beginning of a new era in the history of Muslims. And, whenever, in the coming time, the history of this era is recorded, today’s programme will be remembered as one of its brightest chapters.”

Her prophecy came true. The school patronised by Begum Sultan Jahan has grown into a college drawing over 3,095 female students from across the country and overseas enrolled in 34 courses taught by 107 faculty members.

The women’s college attracts international students from more than 20 countries including, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Turkey, Thailand, Indonesia, Iran, UAE, Iraq, Yemen, Bangladesh, Libya, Nepal, Syria among others.

The Nasrullah Hostel for Boys in AMU, too, was constructed with her support. It is often said that whenever AMU needed help, Begum Sultan Jahan of Bhopal Estate was among the first to step up.

Following in her footsteps, her son Hamidullah Khan, who studied in Aligarh, founded a Science College in the city, and donated Rs two lakh to it.

(Nasir is Assistant Professor, Department of Law, Aligarh Muslim University; Fareed is Media Advisor, AMU)

source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> Lifestyle> Art & Culture / by Faisal Fareed & Mohammad Nasir (Aligarh, UP) / May 27th, 2021

Builders of Bengal: Begum Rokeya

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Pairaband Village (Rangpur), BENGAL (British India):

A PAST WE MUST PRESERVE | She was a pioneer of women’s education and feminist writing who started the first school for education of Muslim girls in Calcutta

Begum Rokeya, 1880-1932 / File picture

Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, popularly known as Begum Rokeya, was a pioneer of women’s education and feminist writing who started the first school for education of Muslim girls in Calcutta. She considered education to be crucial to women’s emancipation.

She was born in 1880 at Pairaband village in Rangpur, now in Bangladesh. Her elder sister Karimunnesa, who was a poet who wrote in Bengali, was a great influence on her life. Rokeya at 18 was married to Khan Bahadur Sakhawat Hussain, who was 38 and the deputy magistrate of Bhagalpur.

A liberal man who spoke Urdu, he encouraged his young wife to continue her studies in Bengali and English and to write.

Rokeya chose to principally write in Bengali and her works uphold the equality of men and women. Matichur (1904, 1922) is a two-volume collection of her essays on her thoughts about women and society, Padmarag (1924) is about the oppression of Bengali wives and Abarodhbasini (1931) is a robust critique of the severe forms of purdah for women.

Ten years before the American novelist Charlotte P. Gilman published Herland, Begum Rokeya wrote her feminist utopia Sultana’s Dream in 1905. Written in English, it is a novella set in Ladyland, ruled by women.

A few months after her husband’s death in 1909, Begum Rokeya started Sakhawat Memorial Girls’ High School in Bhagalpur, with five students. She moved the school to Calcutta in 1911, where it is still located, but is run by the government.

In 1916, Begum Rokeya founded Anjuman-e-Khawateen-e-Islam (Islamic Women’s Association) to hold discussions on women, education and progress. She advocated change in Muslim women’s lives and spoke up against rigidity and conservatism.

She went from door to door to ask Muslim families to send their daughters to school. She was engaged till the very end of her life in ideas and activities that would lead to the empowerment of women. She passed away on December 9, 1932, shortly after presiding over a session of the Indian Women’s Conference.

Bangladesh observes Rokeya Day on her death anniversary every year.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph Online / Home> Culture> People / by Chandrima S. Bhattacharya / March 28th, 2021

Iqtidar Alam Khan’s Latest Books on India’s Medieval History Unearth Hidden Secrets

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DELHI :

Iqtidar Alam Khan’s Latest Books on India’s Medieval History Unearth Hidden Secrets

A painting of west gate of Firozabad fort, near Delhi. This fort was built by Feroz Shah Tughlaq in the 1350s, but destroyed by later dynasties. Photo: Wikipedia/Public domain

Iqtidar Alam Khan’s first slim book, a biography of Humayun’s brother Mirza Kamran was published in 1964; his latest book, slightly bulkier than the first, has been published in early 2021 when he is nearing 90, with nearly a dozen authored and edited volumes in-between. Quite an emphatic comment on how prolific he has been in his distinguished career as a historian of medieval India! Add a very distinct quality of the huge range of themes and the empirical solidity of his researches and one begins to appreciate the indelible imprint on the study of medieval Indian history he has left for his own and future students.

Professor Iqtidar Alam Khan was an alumnus and later faculty of the department of history at Aligarh Muslim University when it shone like the pole star in the study of medieval Indian history under the leadership of frontline scholars like Professors Mohammad Habib, Nurul Hasan, K. A. Nizami and Irfan Habib; he himself added to its lustre, evident in his extensive explorations of different facets of his discipline. This, when he always avoided drawing attention to himself.

The range of his explorations is amazing: biographies of two Mughal nobles, “Turko-Mongol theory of kingship” which had a decisive influence on Mughal notion of sovereignty, the system of revenue assignment of Akbar.

The classic essay on “Akbar’s nobility and the evolution of his religious policy”, which was a sort of watershed intervention in 1968 in that it set new terms for the study of the Mughal “religious policy” and has stood the test of time, some feeble recent challenges notwithstanding, the pioneering studies of gunpowder, guns and artillery and not least the bringing to attention some Persian language texts. However, all this work pertained to the Mughal period of Indian history.

Attention to detail 

This current year has, however, revealed two hitherto unknown facets of his scholarship with the publication of two books in quick succession, both by the venerable publishers, Primus: Studies in Thought, Polity and Economy of Medieval India 1000-1500 and, hard to believe, Researches in Medieval Archaeology.

The first brings to us his mastery of various themes from the Delhi Sultanate era with the same eye for empirical soundness of every detail as his works on the Mughal period, though still tied to the Court and its outliers except for a revisit to Alberuni’s ‘concept of India’.

It is the second work that takes us literally to the ground level, taking us through the dust and grime of small buildings, remains of centuries-old Sarais (inns), waterworks, indigo vats, dykes and fascinatingly the ‘city’ built by Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq which he had named Swargduari, Gateway to Heaven, in district Etah in present day Uttar Pradesh.

Traveling in ramshackle vehicles for nearly two decades, Professor Khan along with his team, dedicated himself to recovering and recording the remains of small, virtually forgotten buildings of various kinds – calling them monuments would be grandiose – in every little detail of location, dimensions, recoverable history from texts and from folklore. It was remarkable labour of love where his age and family’s pleas could not hold him back.

The introduction, besides bringing the reader up to date on the theoretical backdrop of archeological study makes the valuable plea that one should embark on field exploration only after running through all the relevant textual material available for imparting completeness to the exploration.

While for all the sites studied included in the book have almost every kind of technical detail have been recorded, the last and longest chapter, dealing with Sarais is the most fascinating in that it opens up a number of windows to the social history of the period. It reveals that the state took upon itself the task of promoting travel as well trade, and at a certain stage postal service, by constructing inns and rest houses all along the trade routes. The task of constructing inns starts as early as Asoka’s time, for it is mentioned in one of his edicts, but later history on the theme is obscure.

In medieval India, references to these, along with milestones, kos minars resume from Sher Shah’s time and continue into the 18th century. The title Sarai is scattered all over the land with prefixes like Ber Sarai, Arab ki Sarai, Katwaria Sarai, Sarai Kale Khan and numerous others in Delhi itself, not to forget the Mughal Sarai, its history now erased through political diktat.

The very spread of these is suggestive of both the extent of travel and trade and state’s assumption of responsibility for providing security and patronage for it. The lodging and boarding at Sarais were often complementary and at times chargeable.

Luckily for the historian, the travelers at times left some graffiti on the walls noting their identity, several of which have been copied in the book. Where boarding was provided, separate kitchens were run for the Hindu and the Muslim travelers, suggesting that they came from both communities and shared the space but maintained differences in food, which was recognised and accepted by the state.

It also suggests that the difference did not turn into hostility. The book reproduces one graffiti in Devnagari on the wall of a mosque by one Kishan Das wald (son of) Maha Nand Kambu of Agra; he had obviously found shelter at least for a night at the mosque which he appears to have gratefully recorded; this reminds Professor Khan of Goswami Tulsi Das’ reference to “sleeping at a mosque”!

These two books, the second one, in particular, is a delightful revelation of an attractive aspect of an extremely reticent scholar of great eminence: dedication without seeking recompense in the form of the fanfare of recognition, but pure dedication to the unearthing of history’s hidden secrets without a trace of prejudice or preference. Dedication that cuts across compartmentalisation of Delhi Sultanate versus Mughal Empire, economic history versus political history, archeology versus textual narratives and so forth. A dedication that does not tire with age.

We are grateful to Professor Ali Nadeem Rezavi, who as head of the department of history and in-charge of its section of archeology persisted with Iqtidar Alam Khan to collect all his scattered data and reproductions of photographs of remains and graphs prepared to put together in a book; we owe a big debt to him for succeeding in the effort.

Harbans Mukhia taught medieval history at JNU.

source: http://www.thewire.in / The Wire / Home> Analysis> Books> History / by Harbans Mukhia / May 11th, 2021

Uttar Pradesh: Sahitya Akademi awardee falls to Covid-19

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Bahraich / Lucknow, UTTAR PRADESH :

pix: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Lucknow :

Sahitya Akademi awardee and former PCS officer, Mohd Idrees Amber Bahraichi (71), died of Covid-19 complicat ..

He was the husband of All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board (AIMWPLB) president Shaista Amber.

Both Mohd Idrees Amber and Shaista Amber had tested negative for Covid-19 in their RT-PCR report which came out on April .

“Both my parents gave their samples on April 25 and tested negative. They were both at home. When my mother’s oxygen saturation level started dipping, I got a CT scan done for my parents which confirmed both of them had coronavirus infection,” said their daughter Aaisha Sumbul.

“My mother is currently on oxygen support at home and is not very stable and needs prayers,” she said

“My father was fine and all his other vitals were getting better too. Suddenly, he had a heart attack and a stroke and left us on Friday,” Aaisha said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News / by TNN / May 09th, 2021

OBITUARY – Prof. Rizwan Qaiser: Covid-19 takes away one of the finest historians of the national movement

Books (incl.Biographies - w.e.f.01 jan 2018 ), Community Involvement / Social Issues, COVID 19 - Fatalities, Education, Leaders, , , , ,

Munghyr, BIHAR / NEW DELHI :

Simply Rizwan to most of his friends and colleagues, a leading voice among the historians of Modern India, succumbing to the virus, academic life will no longer be the same

With the untimely death of Prof. Rizwan Qaiser, Rizwan for most of his friends and colleagues, a leading voice among the historians of Modern India, the academic life of the country and more so of the capital will no longer be the same.

While Jamia Milia Islamia, where he has been a key member of the Department of History and Culture and also an extremely energetic member of its Teachers’ Union , loses one of academic leaders, Jawaharlal Nehru University, under siege for some time anyway, loses one of its most loved alumni who represented the University in more than one sense: someone who thought scientifically about social issues, believed that a humane world could be built with the ideals of compassion, equity and a sense of justice, the virtues tried to be enshrined in our collective consciousness during the national movement for freedom, and someone ready to speak up against the divisive social and political forces.

Born and educated in Munghyr, Bihar, Rizwan came to Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1980. It was in the Centre for Historical Studies where he had his training in Modern Indian history, with Prof. Bipan Chandra, Mridula Mukherjee, K.N. Panikkar, Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, and many others who had made the Centre the location of a robust historiography on Modern Indian history.

Coming a couple of years after the Emergency and having experienced the student movements in Bihar as a young boy, Rizwan took to the new kind of history in no time but also took to the political life of the campus at this time. Though he later moved to the School of International Studies where he worked for his Doctoral thesis with the renowned Prof. Bimala Prasad and Prof. Uma Singh, he remained a steadfast historian of the Centre for Historical Studies mould, as for him the historian’s job was not over with merely arranging facts and interpreting them in a chronological manner in a sophisticated academic language.

The historian has to review one’s own historiographical premises as well of others and present one’s case in that ouvre, as it is here that presuppositions, prejudices, biases and premises of historians and the traditions of history are located. At least two generations of students of history in Jamia Milia Islamia were richer with these historical practices becoming a prevailing mode there given the active presence of such historians. Rizwan remained till the last its most vocal proponent.

This has also allowed him to emerge as the most articulate historian of the national movement and its different strands. He meticulously located the participation of the Muslim in general and nationalist Muslims in particular in the overall universe of the national movement. In his Doctoral thesis, he chose to concentrate on the idea, role and politics of Maulan Abul Kalam Azad, the quintessential nationalist Muslim that one could think of. His work was an examination of the ideological position of the nationalist Muslims and the predicaments they had faced when the Muslim masses joined the Muslim League as against the wishes and exhortation of the Nationalist Muslims against such a move.

Prof. Qaiser showed with a historian’s craft and meticulous attention to detail how his protagonist, Abul Kalam Azad was not after all a failure just because, as other historians like V.N.Dutta and Ian Douglas claimed, he could not carry his co-religionists to the national movement under the leadership of the Congress.

In fact, Prof. Qaiser showed how Azad’s ideological position, that Muslims while following their religious credo must embrace a secular political line, turned out to be socially the most valid position to take. To Prof. Qaiser, Azad was, since his emergence as a national leader of the Muslims in the 1920s, trying to build a consensus on the point where the concerns and angst of the Muslim community, born out of their general and particular location, could be alleviated within the Congress platform so that the Muslim need not seek other forums for such issues. Once the Muslim League emerges in the late thirties, Azad’s work, as Prof Qaiser shows, became more challenging as he had to think afresh and sometime not in a very friendly atmosphere within the Congress, to bring the younger generations of Muslims towards the Congress.

His becoming the President of the Congress in 1940 in many ways was an acknowledgement of the tough job that he had at hand. Prof. Qaiser maintained that Azad had developed an ideological position where Hindus and Muslims could coexist within the framework of a single nation with adequate amount of mutual cooperation and adjustment. The need for such adjustment became greater as the movement for Pakistan became deeper and sharper and the opposition to such demand too began to take intransigent position.

Azad, in his work came out as a historical figure, and not merely as a tragic one, or a literary genius as many others have tried to paint him. The previous historians who had worked on the Khilafat and Non Co-operation movement saw the flank of the Muslim leadership in the shape of Mohammad Ali or Abul Kalam Azad taking their historical places, somehow placing them in the context of the Muslim awakening. Further, the politics within the Muslim community as having to face the new realities of Indian politics and turning into some kind of sectarian politics had also been brought to the fore in earlier histories.

Where Qaiser diverged and made a lasting contribution with his book, Resisting Colonialism and Communal Politics: Maulana Azad and the Making of the Indian Nation (Manohar, Delhi,2011) was the fact that he placed the question of an ideological choice in politics at the centre of the historiography. Thus, Azad made a conscious choice in accepting an ideology which he thought was the ideal path for the Muslims to follow in their opposition to colonialism as well as accepting their role in defining the Indian nation. He held on to this despite being marginalised both by the Muslim masses who joined the League in large numbers, and within the circle of leadership in the Congress and yet, as Qaiser suggests, this ideological choice was the right one in hindsight as this provided a correct picture of the anti colonial feelings of the Muslim masses and their desire to be the part of a free nation. Muslim Communalism provided them a false idea and a false promise.

Communalism, for him, was a modern phenomenon and it used religion and yet communalism cannot be identified with the religious life of people, a line – very subtle at times – being taken by many historians of Muslim communities and Islam in South Asia.

Prof. Qaiser ‘s critique of the writings of Francis Robinson, Peter Hardy or Paul Brass was posited in this understanding. For Prof. Qaiser, modern history of Islam and more so the Muslims in India cannot bypass the issue of their fight against colonialism and their place in negotiating Indian Nationalism. His recent writings and lectures on Jamiat ul Ulema I Hind for example and their role during the 1940s in supporting the Congress and opposing the Muslim league for example, also underpinned Prof Qaiser’s continued emphasis on an appropriate historical trajectory within modern history for the Muslims and Indian nationalism.

.A social scientist and a socialist

Rizwan’s was also an acutely conscious historical persona steeped deeply in the cosmopolitan nature of Indianness. A proud Bihari who came out of the famed Zila School of Munghyr which once upon a time used to be an excellent institution and had already produced Indian’s pioneering historian of science, Prof. Deepak Kumar, Rizwan of late was also steering many good researches on the regional history of Bihar in modern times. He also had been noticing the inter regional differences in the nature of popular protest during the national movement in a recent lecture about how the elite and educated in Bihar actually were happy about the partition of Bengal, as they saw it was needed for the development of Bihar.

His consciousness was also shaped by his being part of the socialist students formation, Samata Yuvajan Sabha, which had produced most of the socialist leaders in the last century. He like thousands of students of his generations believed that a scientific secular and socialist society can be formed by the struggle of the youth. His was an active political academic life in the JNU where he even contested for the JNUSU presidential post in 1987 which also saw his ability to articulate a non communist socialist position for a general population. His was also a non compromising secular position and he intellectually tried to add his contribution to refine the secular position in the light of the actual politics that India was undergoing. One still remembers his visiting and holding meetings in villages for maintaining communal harmony during the Babri Masjid demolition days of 1992-3. He was in fact one of the founding members of the Sadbhavna Mission which Prof. Vipin Kumar Tripathy of IIT Delhi has been steering for almost three decades now.

In the light of the discussion on secularism, the author had asked him once about his steering the move to the granting of minority institution status to Jamia. He was asked whether that was not smacking of a political route to communal position; his answer to this was scientific and quite valid. Why do we assume that by giving an institution a minority status which is a legal status, the political and social outlook of the teachers and students will become communal?

When the country is going to celebrate its 75th year of Independence, it would be a pity that one of the finest and most articulate historians of the national movement will not be with us. His absence will be more acutely felt when we fight our battle for collective consciousness which has been showing enormously dangerous communal portents in the present.

source: http://www.nationalheraldindia.com / National Herald / Home> Obituary / by Rakesh Batabyal / May 03rd, 2021

Bushra Alvi Razzack: (Not) lost in translation

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Books (incl.Biographies - w.e.f.01 jan 2018 ), , , , , , , ,

NEW DELHI :

Writer, translator and poet Bushra Alvi Razzack about her journey with words

At the book launch of Dilliwali, IIC

Meet Bushra Alvi Razzack – Founder of the poetry group, Delhi by Verse. She has compiled and edited Dilliwali: Celebrating the Woman of Delhi through Poetry (2018), an anthology by 94 poets. Her poems have featured in anthologies and online magazines, and her articles were published in Khaleej Times, Dawn, Rising Kashmir, among others. 

She just completed translating writer Manzoor Ahtesham’s Hindi novel, Basharat Manzil, into English, is translating Urdu writer Jeelani Bano’s short stories into English, and is working on her novel. Photography and old buildings are other fascinations.

our writing schedule?

I don’t follow a rigid schedule, but I plan to rectify that soon. A lot of ideas take root while commuting, and so I always keep a pencil and paper handy to jot down stray thoughts.

Does writing energise or exhaust you?

I would say both. It energises and is cathartic too. Creating something beautiful from a mere thought can be very satisfying. Translating is fun, but can drain you pretty soon. Sometimes, it’s really difficult trying to find the right word to convey in the target language. So, I leave that portion and come back to it later. It always works. I also switch between projects on whim. So, if a Eureka moment for the novel I am working on pops up during a dull phase in the translation, I jump and pursue it till i t ’s there in my headspace.

Writing advice for your younger self ?

If there’s a novel in your head, just write it quick because the idea won’t remain floating in your mind till you’re ready to tick off other ‘have-to-do-it-first’ things.

Your favourite books?

Top on the list is The Golden Treasury – poet Francis Turner Palgrave’s compilation of the best songs and lyrical poems, by the greats including William Shakespeare, John Milton, Alexander Pope, William Wordsworth and John Keats. This book was part of my school syllabus in Grade 8 and 9, and has been with me ever since. Then Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen… one of the most adored love stories that finds an echo in Indian families too. I have taught this book as part of my teaching assignments. Z` Then Delhi by Heart, where Raza Rumi offers unusual perspectives into the political and cultural capital of India.

Literary success vs number of copies sold?

Literary success is that praise and acknowledgement I receive from readers on how they loved my writing and how it has touched them deeply. However, receiving awards for my writing would be great, once I have a larger body of work.

Favourite spot/s in Delhi to write at?

I find my creative juices flowing when in the midst of nature. At home, my writing table is set near the window so that I can see the trees and hear birds sing. When deciding which direction my story should take, a stroll through the shaded environs of my neighbourhood or the park, gets me on track. But poetry tumbles out in my observation of people – be it at home, on the road, a crowded space, etc.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Lifestyle> Books / by Bhumika Popli / Express News Service / March 08th, 2020

A tribute to Manzoor Ahtesham: A man buried in his books

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Books (incl.Biographies - w.e.f.01 jan 2018 ), COVID 19 - Fatalities, , , , , ,

Bhopal, MADHYA PRADESH :

Manzoor Ahtesham was a Hindi writer from Bhopal, who raised important questions about the identity of the increasingly alienated Muslim minority

Decorated Hindi writer Manzoor Ahtesham signed off on a well-spent life in a hospital around midnight in Bhopal on Sunday last. When he breathed his last, he was in the company of a doctor and some paramedical staff as he was a COVID-19 patient and family members were not allowed.

He is survived by the families of two daughters and that of younger brother Aijaz Ghafoor, a well-known interior designer in Bhopal. Manzoor had recently lost his wife and elder brother to COVID-19.

Born in April 1948, Manzoor belonged to one of the middle class families of Afghan lineage in picturesque Bhopal. He was handsome, very polite, unassuming, and friendly. A gentleman to the core, Manzoor had a sensitive heart, a sharp mind, and frugal lifestyle. For more than seven years that I spent in Bhopal as Resident Editor of Hindustan Times from 2000, and even later during numerous visits to the city, I found people had only good things to say about him.

His parents wanted him to do engineering. He took admission, tried for a few years, but gave up, as his interest was in literature. When his brother Aijaz started a furniture showroom in late 70s, he requested Manzoor to help him out by being there. Aijaz fondly says, “Many visitors to the showroom would tell me that Manzoor Bhai was not to be seen, though he used to be around, sitting in one corner surrounded by books.”

Over my 35 years in journalism, I have interacted with numerous writers and public figures, but none can match Manzoor’s depth of understanding of world literature. There is hardly any classical or contemporary writer of repute in English, Hindi, and Urdu literature whom Manzoor had not read. “Our younger generation has stopped reading books,” he would often lament.

During one of the several evenings that I spent with him discussing poetry, novels, plays, and world affairs, he talked very fondly of Orhan Pamuk’s writings. It was in July or August of 2006 that he had told me he expected Pamuk to win the Nobel Prize in Literature that year. A couple of months later in October, Pamuk did get the Nobel.

Bhopal’s topography — an abundance of greenery, large water bodies, and generally pleasant weather through the year – also helped Manzoor’s literary sensibilities to flourish. I remember him telling me once that the name of his highly awarded novel Sukha Bargad (A Dying Banyan), came from Dela Wadi, a forest area near Bhopal having several banyan trees. The novel tells the story of a middle-class Muslim family’s struggle to come to terms with the transformation of Indian society after partition, particularly worsening Hindu-Muslim relations.

Some institutions, such as Bharat Bhawan, a premier multi-arts autonomous complex and museum, and theatre and literary personalities such as BV Karanth, Habib Tanvir, and Shani Gulsher Ahmed helped Manzoor hone his literary skills. His interest in theatre helped him get the role of a professor in Merchant Ivory Production’s film In Custody (Muhafiz in Urdu) in 1993.

In 2007, New York magazine cited Dastan-e Lapata, (The Tale of the Missing Man) as one of “the world’s best untranslated novels.” The book, which raises important questions about Muslim identity, was translated into English in 2018 by Jason Grunebaum and Ulrike Stark of the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. It has received the Global Humanities Translation Prize.

Manzoor was a recipient of several awards such as Shikhar Samman, Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad Puruskar, Vir Singh Deo Award, and several others. The government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award, in 2003. However, writer and poet Rajesh Joshi was recently quoted in a Hindi newspaper saying that Manzoor had wanted to exchange his Padma Shri with his Sahitya Akademi award which Rajesh had got at about the same time.

Manzoor Ahtesham’s first published short story in 1973 was Ramzaan Mein Maut (Death in Ramzaan). Ironically, we lost him during this time of fasting and prayer.

source: http:///www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society> Obituary / by Askari Zaidi / April 19th, 2021