A PSEUDONYM, or a fictitious name, is a term that includes penname, too. But in Urdu literature a penname or takhallus has a slightly different meaning from a pseudonym.
Pseudonym may be assumed for hiding one’s real name. Contrarily, takhallus, a widely used term in Urdu and Persian poetry, is a penname taken for claiming one’s right on a piece of writing rather than keeping the real name secret. A poet may use takhallus in the last verse in a ghazal, or any other poetic expression, to refer to him or herself. The practice of taking takhallus began in Iran when some Persian poets felt that their couplets could be plagiarised or attributed to other poets and mentioning their name in poetry would lessen the threat, wrote Dr Syed Abdullah in his book Mabaahis.
Takhallus is usually a well-known penname since poets use it with the intension of registering their identity and not to conceal it. For instance, everybody knows that Ghalib is a takhallus used by Mirza Asadullah Khan. But this takhallus was not used when Ghalib wrote Lataaif-i-Ghaibi, a book that Ghalib himself wrote and published it with title mentioning Miandad Khan Sayyah, a friend of Ghalib’s, as author. The book, supporting Ghalib’s views, was a part of ongoing controversy over Burhaan-i-Qaat’e, a Persian dictionary.
In Urdu literature, assumed names or fictitious names are used for concealing an author’s identity for certain reasons, for example, fear of persecution by the ruling regime because of political and ideological differences. Similarly, replying to a rival author or literary group without having to mention one’s real name was a reason.
Another interesting reason was earning extra money by writing a romance novel for female readers: many popular romance Urdu novels published in the 1950s and 1960s with a female main character and purporting to be written by women writers were in fact ghost-written by male writers. Their publishers’ perception was that a romantic-sounding female name as author on title would appeal more women as well as male readers.
This romantic halo around a female writer back then was a sure-fire way of attracting a lot of attention and some used it quite well. Fazl-e-Haq Qureshi, for instance, had assumed the pseudonym Tahira Devi Sherazi, a famous though non-existent woman writer. Niaz Fatehpuri used to write by the fictitious name Qamar Zamani Begum. Many fans did not know that no such female writer existed who wrote such highly imaginative and romantic pieces. Shah Nizamuddin Dilgeer, editor of Naqqaad, Agra, was so impressed with the writer that he fell in love and began writing love letters to her.
Another reason for hiding one’s identity as writer was social taboos as a century or so ago being a poet or writer carried a stigma for a woman. Many talented women writers had to hide behind a veil as well as a pseudonym. For instance, Qurrat-ul-Ain Hyder’s mother used to write by the name Bint-e-Nazr-ul-Baqar. Zainab, the real name of Mrs Abdul Qadir, a well-known writer of Urdu horror fiction, was not known till many years after she shot to literary fame. Maulana Zafar Ali Khan’s sister and Raja Mehdi Ali Khan’s mother, Hubbiya Khatoon, wrote with the initials Hey-Khey (H.Kh.). Her collection of poetry was published under the title Nava-i-Haram. The real name of Zey Khey Sheen (Z.Kh. Sh), a talented female poet, was Zahida Khatoon Shervaniya.
According to Muhammad Husain Azad, Mushafi, an Urdu poet of a high stature, used to sell his ghazals to earn a few rupees, albeit some researchers have taken exception to Azad’s statement. But it is a fact that in past many writers and poets had to sell their manuscripts to earn their bread and butter.
Among the writers and poets who concealed their identity are some other stalwarts too: Mirza Farhatullah Baig, a stylish humorist, used Mirza Alam Nashrh as penname. Sajjad Hyder Josh, another humorist, wrote using the name John Bill. The real writer behind the pseudonym Sindbad Jahazi, a famous columnist, was Chiragh Hasan Hasrat. Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi would write a column but the name of writer, as published, was Anqaa and sometimes Panj Darya. Ibn-e-Insha took many pseudonyms including Haji Baba Isfahani, Durvesh Damishqi and Pehla Durvesh. Imroze was a leading Urdu daily back in 1950s and 1960s. It published satire column and the writer was Chahaar Durvesh, but it was written alternatively by Ibn-e-Insha, Qazi Abrar Siddiqi, Tufail Ahmed Jamali and Nasrullah Khan.
When literary feud between writers of Punjab and UP began, an informal literary circle with the name Niaz Mandaan-i-Lahore was formed. Its members included bigwigs like Pitras Bukhari, Hafeez Jalandhary, M.D.Taseer, Abdul Majeed Salik, Imtiaz Ali Taj, Sufi Tabassum and Pandit Hari Chand Akhter. Several of them wrote many pieces as rejoinders and rebuttals with pseudonyms.
In our time, Waheed Qureshi used Mir Jumla Lahori and Mushfiq Khwaja used Khama Bagosh as pseudonym.
Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2023
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