BACK in 1930, some scholars from Deccan had a perception that Moulvi Abdul Haq was not publishing enough works by the old maestros of Urdu who belonged to Deccan. These scholars decided that something must be done.

Moulvi Abdul Haq, popularly known as Baba-i-Urdu, had edited and published many manuscripts that were penned by Deccan’s writers. He had introduced many of Urdu’s literary works written centuries ago in Deccan. In fact, it was Moulvi Abdul Haq who had introduced Quli Qutub Shah — a 16th-century Urdu poet and ruler of Deccan whose mother tongue was Telugu — and his Urdu divan in a 1922 issue of Urdu.

Urdu was a research journal published by Anjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu and edited by Moulvi Abdul Haq. As a result, it was established that Quli Qutub Shah, and not Vali Dakani, was the first poet to have compiled an entire divan in Urdu. Anjuman’s offices, too, were established at Aurangabad (Deccan) from where Moulvi Sahib would do his research work.

Interestingly, some scholars of today, notably Shamsur Rahman Farooqi, too, believe that the poets and scholars from North (Delhi and other literary hubs in northern India) tried to underrate or even ridicule the poets of Urdu from Deccan though Deccan was the true cradle of Urdu literature. The fact that the Urdu language was born in the North (Delhi and adjoining regions) but Urdu literature’s earliest written works are found in the South (Deccan and Gujarat) is curious and fascinating. But many scholars from Deccan were not convinced with the hard work put in by Anjuman and Moulvi Sahib and felt that there was so much more to Urdu’s golden era in Deccan that needed to be introduced to the world more vigorously.

So on January 1, 1931, a new organisation named Idara-i-Adabiyaat-i-Urdu (IAU) was established at Hyderabad, a city founded by Quli Qutub Shah in 1591. Later on, Hyderabad was the capital of the State of Deccan and after Deccan’s forced annexation by India in 1948, it was made a part of Andhra Pradesh in 1956.

The moving spirit behind the establishment of IAU was, of course, Dr Mohiuddin Qadri Zor who had just returned from Europe after having obtained higher degrees in linguistics. Zor had joined Osmania University’s Urdu department. But there were four other scholars who joined hands and are credited as being the founding members of IAU along with Dr Zor. The other four were: Prof Abdul Majeed Siddiqi, Prof Moulvi Abdul Qadeer Siddiqi, Prof Naseeruddin Hashmi and Prof Abdul Qadir Sarwari.

The services rendered by IAU proved that maybe Moulvi Abdul Haq was sincere and did his best for Deccan’s language and literature, but he could not have single-handedly matched the tremendous results that IAU achieved by preserving and publishing Dakani Urdu’s manuscripts. IAU has rendered invaluable services for promotion of Urdu and Deccan’s history and culture. The museum established by IAU at Aiwan-i-Urdu houses antiques, too. What is painful, however, is that IAU is not in good shape these days.

Nawab Yousuf Ali Khan Salar Jang III — who had a unique collection of rare manuscripts, antiques and artefacts and which was to become Salar Jang Museum at Hyderabad Deccan later on — established Majlis-i-Isha’at-i-Dakani Makh­tootat (MIDM) for publication of rare Dakani manuscripts that he had collected. Abdul Qadir Sarwari, too, was made a member MIDM.

Abdul Qadir Sarwari was an academic, critic, researcher and a connoisseur of Dakani language, literature and culture. He was one of those researchers who played an all-important role in bringing forth the rare works of Dakani literature. He wrote not only on Deccan’s poets and Deccan’s Urdu literature but also on linguistics, literary history and literary genres.

Abdul Qadir Sarwari was born on August 19, 1906, in Hyderabad (Deccan) into a poor family. But with hard work and deep study, he rose to eminence. Having done his MA (Urdu) and LLB from Osmania University, Hyderabad, Abdul Qadir Sarwari was appointed as lecturer at his alma mater in 1929. In 1942, he was appointed as professor and head of Urdu department at Mysore University. In 1948, Sarwari joined his alma mater again, but as head of Urdu department. In 1963, Abdul Qadir Sarwari joined Srinagar University’s Urdu and Persian department and served it till his death.

Among the books Abdul Qadir Sarwari edited are: Cheeni Aur Japani Afsane (1930), San’ati’s Qissa-i-Benazeer (1938), Ibn-i-Nishati’s Phool Ban (1939), Kulliyaat of Siraj Aurangabdi (1940). His other books include: Dunya-i-Afsana (1929), Kirdar Aur Afsana (1929), Siraj Aur Un Ki Shaeri, Siraj-i-Sukhan (1937), Urdu Masnavi Ka Irtiqa (1940), Raat Ka Bhoola Aur Deegar Afsane (1942), Zaban Aur Ilm-i-Zaban (1956), Urdu Ki Adabi Tareekh (1958), Kashmir Ke Do Adeeb (1965) and Kashmir Mein Farsi Adab Ki Tareekh. His monumental work Kashmir Mein Urdu was published posthumously in three volumes. Sarwari also worked as editor of Maktaba, an Urdu literary magazine published from Hyderabad.

Prof Abdul Qadir Sarwari died in Srinagar on March 11, 1971.

drraufparekh@yahoo.com

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2020