CHAPTER THREE

EMERGENCE OF LINGUISTIC IDENTIES IN 19m CENTURY INDIA:

HINDI-URDU DISTINCTIONS

3.1 Signs of Separation: Hindi- Urdu Polarization

Although India has diverse language and cultural groups, the nationalistic

and especially linguistic consciousness among the various segments, as

discussed in chapter two, emerged sharply only as a consequence of the

political and economic developments of the"late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The development of differentiation between Hindi and Urdu and the

subsequent controversies can be understood in this context.

In Lee's (2000:340) assessment, the linguistic division between Hindi and

Urdu was not so strong until 18th century. King, C. R. (1994:23) examines the

probable origins and development of differentiation between Urdu and Hindi

by focusing not only on their emergence as linguistic heritage but also their

connection with two socio-religious traditions in India. He writes that; Long before the beginning of the Hindi movement in the latter half of the nineteenth century, the ingredients existed for the differentiation of Khari Boli into the two district entities of Urdu and Hindi: the Urdu and Nagari scripts, and two differing sources for higher vocabulary, the classical languages of Persian and Arabic, and Sanskrit. From one point of view, the Hindi-Urdu controversy could be traced back to the medieval Muslim invasions of India and the resulting Indo-Persian linguistic synthesis which came to be known as Urdu. Another point of view appears in a recent study by an Indian scholar, who argues that the excessive Persianization of what he calls Hindi/Hindavi, formerly the common literally language of Hindus and Muslims, in the eighteenth century led to the dramatic linguistic and literary split between Hindi and Urdu. From still another point of view one could claim that the first important expression of differentiation between Hindi and Urdu took place in Fort WilliHm College in the first years of the nineteenth century. Here, with the encouragement of some of the officials and instructors, two distinct prose styles, both based on Khari Boli, began to develop though their identification with separate religious traditions lay decades in the future (1994: 23).

King C. R. (1994) proceeds to note that the rapid expansion of publishing

and journalism later in the century strengthened the existing differentiation

between Hindi and Urdu, and made impossible any assimilation between the

54

two. Mujeeb (1967:544) analyzes the distinctions by pointing that the British

scholars of Fort William College, Calcutta, divided the two on the basis of

their linguistic origin, their difference being emphasized at a time when

Hindu scriptures were being printed and published in the Persian script. The

two languages were studied, taught and patronized separately.

There are different perceptions on how Hindi-Urdu polarization and socio­

political controversies may have originated. Three perspectives are

examined below in order to highlight the possible origins and nature of this

controversy especially towards the end of the 19th century. They reflect the

positions of the three dominant groups involved, namely the Hindus,

Muslims and the British.

Narain, Prem, (1968:195) observes that in the last two decades of 19th

century, the controversy generated by the attempt to make Hindi the official

language of the United Provinces (U.P.) and Bihar gathered momentum.

Since Urdu was already the official language, agitation in favour of Hindi

was started by Hindi papers.

The second dimension of this controversy arose from the opposition by

Muslims to the attempt to supplant Urdu with Hindi in U.P. and Bihar. Sir

Syed Ahmad Khan led the opposition to the Hindi movement, among the

Muslims. He took the lead in opposing the adoption of Hindi in U.P. partly on

account of his love for Urdu and partly due to his apprehension that the

replacement of Urdu would injure the interests of Muslims who did not know

Hindi (ibid.). Apart from this, there was his demand for a Vernacular

University in Upper India with Urdu as its language. This set many Hindus

thinking and the question of whether Hindi was their real language

provoked them no end. Some Hindus with strong affiliations with Muslims of

the Urdu-speaking elite, changed loyalties (Narain, 1998: 134). Robinson

(1997:76) notes that the more Hindi-Urdu controversy increased, the more

55

the links that connected Hindu and Muslim members of Urdu-speaking elite

were weakened, and the Muslim began to stand apart as the defenders of

Urdu and the Persian script.

The third contribution to the controversy came from the British government.

Their changing attitude towards the 'official language' created the problem

in the first place. Initially the British government gave prestige to Urdu as a

show of favour to the Muslims. Ahmad (1999:261) indicates that in the early

1870s, the British official policy yielded in some areas to the pressure of

Hindu agitation. First in Bihar, Urdu was officially replaced by Hindi as the

written medium of recording in law courts, then in 1872-3 it had to give place

to Hindi in the subordinate offices in the Central Provinces and in the

Darjeeling district of Bengal. These developments encouraged Hindus to

increase pressure for even wider recognition of Hindi. Narain, Kirti, (1998:

138) records that it was when Sir Anthony MacDonnell came to office that

things moved according to the expectations of the Hindi supporters and later

in 1900 Hindi resolution was passed by him. 1 Thus Hindi was promoted

officially to the same status with Urdu.

These factors from three major collectives In India those days were

mutually affecting the differentiation and controversy between Urdu and

Hindi. The wider the differentiation between Urdu and Hindi became, the

more the distance between Muslims and Hindus increased. '

When nationalism in India arose, it was a reaction against the high-handed

political domination and the feeling of superiority of the British. As we

have already seen in the introduction, nationalism and language are usually

bound up and Indian nationalism was not an exception. English became

1 N arain, Kirti, (1998: 136) attributes his pro-Hindi leanings to a variety of reasons. One of the reasons was that he had found that the province in many respects lagged behind Bengal. The departments were mostly occupied by Muslims and distinctly inferior in education and

56

the target of attack and Indian nationalists supported vernacular languages.

In the process however another problem emerged. They were divided as to

which vernacular to offer in place of English (Rahman, 1999, 91). The

Hindus regarded Hindi as a symbol of their identity, while the Muslims saw

Urdu in the same way. Thus, Hindi-Urdu controversy entered into and

undermined most attempts at vernacularization (ibid.: 91). ,

3.12 Urdu language and Muslims in India

Muslims in India have often been associated with Urdu language because of

the historical origin of the language and its connection with their cultural

and religious heritage. Thus Urdu constitutes an important element in the

symbolic and cultural identity of the Muslims.

'Urdu', a Moghul word meaning a military camp, was introduced in to

Persian historiography by al-Juwayni, and was adopted in India for his court

and army by Khizar Khan as a token of submission to the authority of Timur.

After Babur' s conquest it came to be applied generally to the imperial camp

(Ahmad, 1999: 244).

Durir..g 18th century, the poets of Delhi, like Siraj al-din 'Ali Khan Arzu

(1689-1756) and his direct or indirect disciples, Mir Taqi Mir (d. 1810),

Mazhar Jan-I Janan (1698-1781), Khawja Mir Dard and Mirza Rafi Sauda

(1713-81), proud of the 'pure' Urdu of the imperial camp, which had attained

considerable modal and expressional proximity to Persian, rejected the

Dakani principle and practice of borrowing extensively from Indian

languages, and especially so if these borrowing were related to Hindu

religion, culture or world view (Ahmad, 1999: 252). Ahmad proceeds to note

that;

This rejection of the Indian and Hindu elements was an unconscious operation of group-psychology, an instinctive effort to preserve in a culturally

class. He wanted to reduce their strong position in government service.

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alien and hostile milieu its own cultural roots, signs, symbols, and insular patterns of expression. In this process imagery was drawn exclusively from Persian precedents, i.e. from the unseen and unexperienced sights, sounds and smells of Persia and Central Asia; rejecting the totally the Indian sights, sounds and sensuous experiences as materials regarded not sublime enough for poetic expression. The operation of this psychological process in Urdu poetry is analogical to the Persianized conventionalization of Ottoman Turkish poetry, which ignored Anatolian life and landscape as valid material for courtly polished verse, and left it for the exercises of the folk-poets. Images that were realities in Persia or Central Asia, became in Urdu poetry either symbols in the analysis of generalized emotions, or 'designs' for weaving the expressionist texture of style. As 'designs' these images ca:rried forward the already difficult tradition of Bedil to impossible extremes which ended, wherever the touch of emotional or analytical genius was absent, in the banal or the ridiculous (1999: 252-3).

Ahmad (1999:255) Urdu prose, before the utilitarian-modernist revolution it

underwent under the inspiration of Jhon Gilchrist at the Fort William

College in Calcutta at the dawn of the nineteenth century, showed an even

more intriguing pattern of escapism from the Indian environment. The

rejection of the Indian milieu in Urdu led to the rejection of Urdu by the bulk

of Hindu community who adopted modern literary Hindi, which is a

Hinduized and Sanskritized forin of Urdu. This counter-revivalism which

created and accepted universally the Hindu-biased Hindi language, was an

exaggerated response to the Musliffi challenge of quest for extra-territorial

inspiration (Ahmad, 1999: 255)

This rejection of indigenous culture by Muslims and the response from the

Hindus explains the shifts in psychological advantages and disadvantages

among these two communities over time. Fishman (1989: 117) notes that

economically advantaged groups are always relatively more conscious of and

protective of their group identity. Disadvantaged groups become similarly

conscious only as a result of partial changes in their circumstances which,

more than anything else, merely serves to heighten their sense of relative

deprivation and the fact that it is enforced on the basis of group membership.

Although Urdu was initially spoken both by Hindu and Muslim elite, the

subsequent language-community linkage prompted the Muslims to assume

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exclusive rights about the use of the language as a way of protecting their

privileges.

This imagined identity became more evident in later periods especially with

the emergence of a demand for a separate Muslim state bifurcated from

India. When the issue oflanguage was taken up by the Muslim political elite,

it became clearer and stronger. The politicized connection between Urdu

language and Muslims in India traces its origin to the 19th century. The

Hindi-Urdu controversy just before independence of India emanated from

the need for an authentic language in which the North Indian culture and

identity could be expressed. The adoption of Urdu as a symbol of Muslim

identity in North India from the late nineteenth century onwards illustrates

several points concerning the uses made of culture symbols by political elite

(Brass, 1996: 83).

Brass gives five points to explain and illustrate the Urdu-Muslim

connection. The first is the way in which the elite attach new value to

symbols for purposes of promoting identity and differentiating one group

from another (ibid.: 83). In nineteenth century in North India, before the

extension of the English systems of government, and schools, Urdu was not

used in its written form as a medium of instruction in traditional Islamic

schools, where Muslim children were taught Persian and Arabic, the

traditional languages of Islam and Muslim culture. Later when Hindi-Urdu

controversy developed, Urdu written in the Persian-Arabic script became a

symbol of Muslim identity only second to Islam itself (ibid.: 83).

A second point revealed by the Hindi-Urdu controversy in north India is

how symbols may be used to separate peoples who, in fact, share common

aspects of culture (ibid.: 83). It is well known that Hindus and Muslims used

the same language in the United Provinces (U.P.) in the nineteenth century.

Ordinary Muslims and Hindus alike spoke the same language, namely

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Hindustani, whether called by that name or whether called Hindi, Urdu, or

one of the regional dialects such as Braj or Awadhi. The legal and

administrative elite in courts and government offices, Hindus and Muslims

used Urdu in the Persian-Arabic script. However when the Urdu-speaking

elite divided politically on the question of script, that division was

communicated and transmitted to the mass of the people (ibid.). Moreover,

leaders of the Hindi and Urdu movements respectively set out to separate

the two languages through Sanskritization and Persianization of their own

language forms (ibid.: 84). Mujeeb, (1967: 381) however notes that prior to

the emergence of Hindi-Urdu controversy it was a common language-Persian

in seventeenth . and Persian and Urdu in the eighteenth century-which

brought Hindus and Muslims really close together in a common and fruitful

loyalty.

A third point discussed by Brass (1996:84) is that the choice of a symbol

often has a material basis, arising out of elite competition for economic

advantages. After the British replaced Urdu with Hindi as the language of

administration in the northern provinces and admitted Hindi on equal

status with Urdu, the Muslim elites in North India rose to defend Urdu

because the replacement of Urdu by Hindi or even its introduction at equal

level with the former threatened the advantage that Muslims traditionally

held in government employment, particularly in the United Provinces (ibid.).

A fourth point is that the same symbol could be used at different times for

contrary objectives (ibid.: 84). When the demand was made to admit Hindi as

an official language along with Urdu, in North West Provinces and Oudh,

Muslims argued that Urdu was not their language only, but the common

possession of Hindus and Muslims alike and that it should be retained as the

sole official language for this reason and for its alleged technical advantages

over Hindi. The argument that Urdu is the language of both Hindus and

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Muslims continues to be made up to the present by its defenders. Moreover,

the argument has some historical validity. In contrast however, Urdu has

also often been used as a symbol by Muslim elites to separate themselves

from the Hindus (ibid.: 84-5). When this strategy did not work and Hindu

leaders continuously sought the official recognition of Hindi and its use

threatened the material interests of Muslim elite, many Muslims began to

argue that Urdu was the special language of Muslims, that its cultural

heritage was expressed through it, and that it was nearly as much a part of

Muslim identity as Islam itself (ibid.: 85).

The fifth point identified by Brass (1996:85) is the tendency for ethnic

groups in conflict to separate themselves from each other by multiple

symbols and to seek to make those symbols congruent (ibid.: 85). In the early

nineteenth century, Muslims and Hindus may have used different languages

to communicate with their deity, but they used a common language to

communicate with each other. Due to the Hindi-Urdu controversy, Hindi and

Urdu were developed as alternative regional standard languages taught in

all government schools in the different dialect regions of the north. Hindi in

Devanagari script became the language of Hindus and Urdu in Persian

script the language of Muslims. The functions of language in the north

thereby became transformed from their traditional uses or ritual

communication with a deity or for ordinary discourse into symbolic links

among members of the same ethnic group, as barriers to communication

between members of different religious groups, and additional marks of

identity and separateness for such groups (ibid.: 85).

Urdu was therefore transformed from a non-religious elite language into a

religious language and associated with the Muslim community in a process

that involved selective interpretation of historical facts. These developments

accord with Singh's (2000:129-30) argument that history, myth and reason

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have an important influence in social institutions. A linguistic matter had

thus acquired a religious overtone. The partition of India marked the most

crucial point in the attempt to transform this myth of equating religion and

language into reality. As indicated above, initially Urdu was a common

language for both Muslims and Hindus. Apart from the Hindi-Urdu

controversy, it was the partition of India and the birth of Pakistan as a

consequence of socio-religious conflicts that played the most crucial role in

the association of Muslims with Urdu and Hindus with Hindi. Brass, (1975:

185) comments that the objective similarities between Hindi and Urdu have

therefore been overshadowed during the past century by the subjective

attachment of Muslims to Urdu and Hindus to Hindi as the languages of

their respective communities.

3.2 Split in Indian Nationalism_

3.21 National Consciousness versus Community Consciousness

As discussed above, before the establishment of British colonial rule, there

was no significant factor to spur national consciousness among Indians.

Desai (1976:387) observes that nationalism grew in India as a result of the

conditions created by the British conquest and rule and the action of the

forces accompanying this conquest and rule. In addition to this fact Chandra

(1999:14) explains the absence of nationalistic consciousness by noting that

India was not a nation but a geographical expression, a mere congeries of

hundreds of diverse races and creeds. Thus one reason why some people

favoured the continuation of British rule was because under it Indians were

becoming a nation and they were afraid that this process might be

interrupted if British rule disappeared prematurely (ibid.). Chandra notes:

The founders of the Indian national movement accepted that India was not yet a nation despite a common history and the elements of a common culture. But they asserted that it had not entered the process of becoming a nation, that it was now becoming a nation. India they said, was a nation-in-the­making. India's becoming a nation was not to be seen as an event but a

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prolonged historical process which had to be carefully promoted and nurtured. The process faced many obstacles and was constantly challenged. It could not be taken for granted and had to be constantly developed and consolidated. Consequently, one of the major objectives they set out before the national movement was that of welding Indians into a nation and the promotion of nation-making through active ideological, political, economic and cultural efforts (1999: 14).

Desai (1976:384) similarly notes that the process of the transformation of the

physically, socially, economically, politically, and culturally disunited Indian

people of the pre-British era into a more or less well-knit modern nation, did

not follow the same route as in the case of the English or the French people.

Since this transformation of the Indian society was motivated by the

interests of foreign capitalism, and adjusted, in character, extent, and depth,

to the exigencies of these interests, it remained incomplete and even

distorted. While this ti·ansformation provided the objective basis for the rise

of the Indian nation out of an inchoate medieval community, its incomplete

character prevented the forging of the Indian people into as compact a nation

as the English or the French. Comparing the Indian situation during the

nineteenth century with that of the English and French nationalism Desai,

(1976: 384-5) notes that;

While the national states which came into existence in those European countries as a result of victory over the feudalism, almost abolished all feudal remnants in the social and economic life of their nations and, further, energetically assisted free and rapid economic and cultural development, the British government in India, ... perpetuated feudal relics and generally supported the conservative forces in the Indian society, as a social support to its rule and, further, adopted a policy of political counterpoise by introducing such devices as communal electorates, representations of interests in legislatures, and others, which tended to perpetuate such distinction and prevent the national consolidation of the Indian people.

This not only became the cause of development of different identities but

also encouraged competition and conflicts between them. Desai (1976:387)

considers an additional cause as the fact that the growth of nationalism was

an uneven process, both regarding tempo and time, among different

communities and provinces. Thus he notes that;

Since this conquest as well as the penetration of new forces did not take place

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throughout the country at the same time, the conditions, which lead to the rise of political and national consciousness, matured unevenly among different parts of communities. Some provinces and some communities became politically conscious earlier than others. Consequently, the development of the nationalist movement of the Indian people was subsequently paralleled by the growth of independent political movements of such socio-religious categories as the Muslims, the depressed classes, the Sikhs, and the non-Brahmins, and of such provincial social groups speaking the same language and having the same culture as the Andhra, the Marayalis, the Karnatakis, the Tamils, the Kanarese, the Marathas, the Oriyas, the Gujaratis, the Punjabis, the Sindhis, the Bengalis, the Biharis, and others.

Chandra (1999: 16) argues that among the elements of group consciousness

regionalism and casteism were absorbed and subsumed in the course of the

nationalist movement. These identities according to him were seen as

processes deriving strength from each other. Desai, (1976: 388) also notes

that regional consciousness in particular demanded the reconstitution of the

existing provinces in such a way as would unite people territorially. The

desires of the people for the reconstitution of their own provinces so that they

might be homes of people speaking the same languages, and having similar

cultures, did not conflict with the conception of a single Indian state. It was a

demand for the redistribution of existing provinces, which were primarily

created to meet the needs of British administration (ibid.).

However, communal/religious consciousness was particularly distinctive,

and national loyalties became entangled with communal loyalties. This

development was more discernible in Muslim attitudes, as they had entered

the nationalistic arena quite late (Narain, Kirti, 1998: 204). Some of the

factors that would explain why the Muslims were left behind in the

nationalistic movement are discussed below.

The first factor according to Desai, (1976: 393) was that since the Muslims

had taken a more prominent part in the Mutiny of 1857 than the Hindus, the

British government did not trust the Indian Muslims and adopted a policy of

disfavouring them. One of the measures adopted by the British government

against the Muslims was to stress the already introduced English education

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for administrative and other purposes. This policy reduced the importance of

Arabic and Persian, leading to the impoverishment of the Muslim

intelligentsia (ibid.: 394). Desai writes that; Their deep resentment against the new policy of the British government [disoriented them] from the new education while the Hindus were joining the new educational institutions and evolving a new English-knowing intelligentsia. This resulted not only in the cultural backwardness of the Muslims but also in their exclusion from the administrative posts and also the legal, the medical, and other professions. With the assimilation of the new education, the new Hindu educated class imbibed western ideas of democracy and freedom and became the pioneers and leaders of the Indian nationalist movement (ibid.).

The second factor that caused this delay was internal to the Muslim

community. Immediately after the 1857's riot, certain sections of Muslim

community worked for the establishment of good relations between the

British government and the Indian Muslims (ibid.: 395). It continued until

the establishment of the Muslim League in 1906. The leading person was Sir

Syed Ahmed Khan. He published the book titled The Loyal Muhammadens

of India in 1860. He tried to establish that the Muslims were basically loyal,

that the British government should abandon their attitude of political

suspicion of them and that the Muslims on their part should participate in

the administration and imbibe the progressive new culture which the British

had introduced in India (ibid.).

Another factor was related to the position taken by Sir Syed toward the

Indian National Congress that dissuaded the Muslims from joining it (ibid.).

He strongly held the view that the British government would show favour to

the Muslim professional classes as a consequence of this decision of not

joining the Congress to oppose the British (ibid.). He hoped that the

government would most certainly attend to their job aspirations by

promoting them to the ranks of colonels and majors in the army provided

they did not raise suspicions of disloyalty. He was afraid that the Muslims

would be overwhelmed by the Hindus with their superior economic power

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and greater education, without the support of the British government to the

Muslims. He, therefore, advised a policy of loyalty to the latter and opposed

the Congress, which adopted a policy of Liberal criticism of and opposition to

the government (ibid.). He encouraged this loyalty among the Indian

Muslims even during the Russo-1\rrkish war of 1877-8, in spite of the widely

prevalent Pan-Islamic and pro-Turkish sentiments and at a time when the

British were considered cool if not hostile towards Turkey. Syed feared that

the pro-Turkish sentiments among the Indian Muslims would tamper with

their loyalty to the British and he therefore raised his voice against their

sentiments and reminded them that they were 'devoted and loyal subjects' of

the British and not those of the Turkish Sultan (Prasad, 1999: 144). Prasad

notes that Sir Syed was so determined not to let his loyalty be found wanting

in any way that he even described Lytton's Vernacular Press Act {1878),

enacted to curb Indian newspapers and periodicals, as a very liberal measure.

Prasad remarks that sometimes he was even more loyal than the

Government. For even though the latter itself had introduced the famous

llbert Bill (1883), empowering Indian judges to try Englishmen, he advised

Muslims not to join the general agitation in its favour as Englishmen in

India were opposed to it (ibid.).

Robinson (1997: 347) identifies another factor that would have discouraged

and delayed Muslim participation in Indian nationalism as the close

association of Hindu revivalism with the Congress. This made it difficult for

Muslims to join the organization so as to be part of the Indian nationalist

politics.

Commenting on this trend, Desai (1976:392) notes that the professional

classes and the bourgeoisie developed within the Muslim community later

than from the Hindu community. The former found the latter already firmly

established in government services, as also in key positions in trade industry,

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and finance. Desai indicates that; They needed the support of the mass of their community in their struggle

with the Hindu rivals for jobs and industrial and trade interests. They misdescribed this struggle between the sections of the same classes, as communal, as those between the Hindu community and the Muslim community. They began to gather the support of the politically awakened Muslim masses among whom national consciousness increasingly developed as a result of the growing nationalist movement in the country, as also due to their poverty under the existing system. The upper elements of the Muslim community, composed of the landlords and sections of the bourgeoisie and the professional classes, tried to give this growing national and class awakening of the Muslim masses a deformed communal form, with a view to secure their support to serve their sectional interests as also to prevent a united mass movement of the poor strata of all communities against the vested interests (ibid., 392).

Thus the Muslims faced a dilemma with regards to national consciousness

and communal consciousness since it increased in the course of nationalistic

movement. This was because, for the Muslims, before proper nationalist

consciousness could develop, communal consciousness emerged as a parallel

force.

3.22 Imagined Muslim Community

Although religious consciousness increased within the Muslim community

in the course of nationalistic movement, there was nothing in common

among Muslims spread across India except Islam. There were a variety of

distinct Muslim communities instead. They did not speak the same language,

occupied no definite territory, and shared no common economic life (Desai,

1976: 390). Desai notes that the Muslims; Were dispersed over the whole country. Their different sections generally spoke the language of the provinces they inhabited and participated in the economic life of the provincial social groups of which they formed integral parts .... There were no common economic interests of all Muslims, who numbered about nine crores and were interspersed practically all over India . . . . Like the Hindu community, the Muslim community had a class structure comprising classes with divergent and even conflicting interests. In fact the live economic reality conspired to disrupt these supposed monolithic unities by pressing its separate classes to unite with similar classes of other communities (1976: 390-1).

Thus, a strong Muslim consciousness was mostly restricted within the

northern part of India, especially U.P. and Bihar, where in comparison to

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other provinces, a substantial number of the Muslims were living and

speaking the same language and leading a common way of life. Sir Syed

Ahmad Khan's Aligarh Movement was also restricted to the northern part of

India. In a sense, the development of united Muslims consciousness

irrespective of their classes, which was a by-product of Indian nationalism,

was an imagined situation.

According to Anderson (1999:6), all communities larger than primordial

villages of face-to-face contact, and perhaps even these, are imagined. Using

the example of a nation, he explains that it is imagined as a community,

because, regardless of the actual inequality and exploitation that may

prevail in each, the nation is always conceived as a deep, horizontal

comradeship (1999: 7). This was applicable to the Muslim community also

because this consciousness would be the basis of development of Muslim

nationalism based on two-nation theory, which would eventually lead to the

birth of Pakistan at a later period. They had to invoke Islam and other

related symbols like Urdu language to serve this purpose of constructing or

assuming comradeship.

3.3 Mobilizing the Muslim Community: Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and the

Aligarh Movement

3.31 Sir SyedAhmad Khan and his language Policy in Education

According to Oommen (1990:56) Indian nationalism can be divided

according to two distinctive sets of forces; the religious and the secular. The

religious forces asserted themselves and led to the development of Hindu,

Muslim and Sikh nationalism, and eventually the partition of India. The

secular forces of Indian nationalism anchor to language as its basis (ibid.: 55).

As explained in the introduction to this study, Oommen argues that when a

language is associated with religion, the nationalist aspirations crystallize

almost spontaneously (1990:63). The connection between Urdu language and

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Muslim nationalism can be therefore understood in this sense.

Although Urdu language was chosen as the symbol of Muslim nationalism,

it was not so consciously propagated as a clear ideology initially. When the

Muslim consciousness arose, there was initially a simple and comparatively

quiet demand to protect the language, since it directly affected Muslim

people's economic interests.

During the British colonial rule in India, the first person who showed

concern about Urdu language issue in relation to the Muslims was Syed

Ahmad Khan, and his Aligarh movemene which was concerned with

addressing the welfare of the Muslims in India. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was

one of the most dynamic personalities of the 19th century in India. As a

theologian, scholar, social reformer, educationist, politician, writer, and

journalist, he made incomparable contribution to the making of modern

India and as a modernist, he introduced the modern education to the Muslim

community in India.

Although his activities particularly in relation to the Aligarh movement

were mainly concentrated in U.P., the influence was never limited to the

Provinces. His language policy and especially his aim to protect Urdu

language has been chosen from among his numerous concerns and activities

for detailed analysis and discussion below.

Smith (1979:29) comments that although he is remembered as a man

devoted to the welfare of the Muslim community, in his early days the

problem on an important scale did not exist. Smith further notes that to be

interested in the welfare of one community, as Syed Ahmad was, did not

imply any antagonism to the other communities and this continued until the

2 This was the movement that was credited with moving the Indian Muslims out of their educational and political backwardness and uniting the Muslims of the entire subcontinent into a cohesive community and ultimately into a political nation.

69

foundation of the Indian National Congress. Prasad (1999:147) similarly

notes that Syed Ahmad Khan talked of India and not the Muslim community,

which became the sole object of his attention later. This revealed his true

position in the early phase of his public work when, while primarily

concerned with the welfare of the Muslim community, he did not exclude the

Hindu community from the domain of his activities and really worked in the

interest of what has been rightly termed as the Urdu-speaking elite,

including Hindus as well as Muslims (ibid.). For instance, in course of a

speech at Patna in 1883, he said; ... India is the home of both [Hindus and Muslims] of us. We both breath the air of India and take the water of the holy Ganges and the Jam una. We both consume the products of the Indian soil. We are living and dying together. By living so long in India, the blood of both of us, on the basis of being common inhabitants of India, actually constitute one nation; and the progress of this country and that of both of us is possible through mutual cooperation, sympathy and love ... (Cited in Prasad, 1999: 153).

Thus when he was talking about the education policy, it was not restricted

to the Muslim community, but he was thinking about the welfare of Indians.

According to Malik (1988: 189) Sir Syed publicly emphasized the importance

of the English language, and offered several pragmatic reasons for its

cultivation:

(1) Indians could not hope to gain government jobs without the knowledge

of English;

(2) participation in modern trade and international commerce was not

possible without it;

(3) International politics and the relative development of other countries

remained unknown;

( 4) And finally the Indians could not be effective in the political processes of

India even if the British Government offered them a generous share.

He did not however espouse the cause of English as the exclusive medium of

instruction, since he also knew that modern knowledge could be acquired

70

only through the mother tongue (ibid.). For this purpose, he had already

established in 1863 the Scientific Society, which had undertaken to translate

Europe's scientific literature into Urdu.

Some incidents however caused him to change his policy and his joint

Muslim-Hindu endeavour in public life began to wither. The primary cause

was the rise in 1860s of the pro-Hindi movement in UP, which was a threat

to the privileged position Urdu and Muslims had enjoyed since the 1830s.

In 1837, the government had decided to replace Persian as the court

language with regional languages. Urdu was made the language of

administration in Bihar, Awadh and Agra. It took a while for some Hindus to

see in the official status of Urdu a threat to their own position under the

government and in society. By the 1860s a movement took shape, under the

leadership of Babu Shiva Prasad (an educational Department employee of

the North-West Provinces), asking that Hindi and not Urdu should be

retained as the official language. Muslims resented this and mounted

pressure for the retention of the official position of Urdu. Aligarh became the

centre of the Muslim response (Madan, 1989: 556)

In 1867, the Hindus started to press for the use of Hindi in place of Urdu in

the courts. Hindu sabhas (associations) sprang up in Benares and elsewhere

in India with a central office in Allahabad to promote the adoption of Hindi

as the official language of India. Sir Syed argued that Urdu, although it

developed during the period ofMuslim rule, was a product of Hindu-Muslim

intercourse and was widely spoken in India by Hindus and Muslims (Malik,

1988: 245-6).

Ahmad (1999:260) indicates that Sir Syed was shocked when Babu Shiv

Prasad, himself a writer of Urdu, pushed his dislike of the former Muslim

rule in India and its heritage to the extent of pressing the Hindu members of

Syed Ahmad Khan's Scientific Society to replace Urdu by Hindi as the

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language of transactions in the Society. Commenting on the demand of the

Hindus for the adoption of Hindi, Sir Syed wrote from London on 29 April

1870 to his collaborator and friend, Mahdi Ali Khan Muhsin ul- Mulk:

I understand ... Hindus are roused to destroy the Muslims' [cultural] symbol embodied in the Urdu language and the Persian script. I have heard that they have made representation through the Hindu members of the Scientific Society that the Society's Akhhar [Journal] should be published in the Devanagari rather than in the Persian script, and that all translation of [foreign language] books should likewise be in Hindi This propose would destroy cooperation between the Hindus and the Muslims, Muslims would never accept Hindi and if Hindus persistently demanded the adoption of Hindi in preference to Urdu it would result in the total separation of the Muslims from the Hindus (Malik 1988:246).

There was another issue, which showed Sir Syed's strong attachment to

Urdu in the depth of his mind. Malik (1988:189-90) records that in 1867, Sir

Sayyid developed a plan for a truly national and modern university and the

British Indian Association entered into a dialogue with the Government on

the crucial issue. On August 1, the Association sent a memorandom to the

Government suggesting;

(1) that a system of university education be established in which the arts,

sciences and other branches of European literature may be taught

through the vernacular language of Northern India, that is Urdu;

(2) all examinations in the vernacular be held for those subjects in which the

students were examined in English at the Calcutta University;

(3) that like students in English classes, degrees should be conferred on

those students who pass the same subjects in vernacular;

(4) that a vernacular development be attached to the Calcutta University, or

an independent vernacular university be created for the Northwest

Provinces.

However, the government of India discouraged Sir Syed' s plan of national

education on more elevated academic grounds. Bayley, Secretary to the

Government of India, in a letter written on September 5, 1867 drew a broad

72

distinction between the vernacular language as a necessary and only

medium of instruction of a popular kind, and the English as an essential

requisite for education of a high order. Emphasizing the unavailability of

scientific literature and texts in Urdu, he maintained that the real object of

university education was to prepare and fit the mind for the pursuit of

knowledge in the wide sphere of European science and literature, and that it

could be accomplished only through the medium of English language (ibid.:

190).

Another demand expressed through the local press was that should a

vernacular university be established in Northern India, Hindi rather than

Urdu should be employed as the medium of instruction for the Hindus.

Discouraged by the Government's negative reaction, the practical difficulties

of translating a large number of scientific works, and the demands of the

champions of Hindi, Sir Syed abandoned his commitment to the vernacular

university (ibid.: 191).

Though he remained intellectually convinced that modern education,

through the medium of English, would not produce in India a rational

approach to life and truly creative scholarship, and that people in general

would remain ignorant, this change in policy subsequently made Sir Syed a

zealot of education through the medium of English (ibid.). He failed to

recognize that the Hindu renaissance emphasizing Hindu cultural revival

was unable to accept Urdu as the national language of India. At best it would

have tolerated Urdu as a Muslim version of Hindi (ibid.: 164). Ansari

(1995:278) remarks that it was a great pity that Sir Syed Ahmad Khan who

had developed a very modernised view of secular territorial nationhood did

not respond to the situation in a judicious and realistic manner by proposing

the adoption of the common language to be written in both the scripts.

According to Madan, (1989: 556), Sir Syed Ahmad Khan went so far as to

73

claim that it was this development which made him aware of the importance

of the retention of a separate Muslim identity. Earlier he had shown greater

interest in English than in Urdu but now he too had become its champion.

The pressure of the Hindu majority became irresistible, and Hindi written in

the Nagari script was given an equal status with Urdu, fust in Bihar (1881)

and then in the United Provinces (1900). The politicisation of Hindi and

Urdu had therefore begun and this process has not yet run its course.

As to why Syed Ahmad Khan and his Aligarh movement gradually drifted

towards intense Muslim separatism (nationalism), Das Gupta provides the

following reasons. It has been repeatedly suggested that the Hindi language movements in North India and the conduct of the Hindi language associations had decisively contributed to the Aligarh movement's insistence on Muslim separatism. The Hindi movements, according to such a view, had convinced Syed Ahmad Khan that if the Hindus and Muslims could not agree even on the choice of a national language, and if the Hindus were so narrow-minded as to object to Urdu, which represented a l.inguistic compromise between Hindi and Persian, there was no possibility of a common nationhood in the subcontinent (Das Gupta, 1970: 91).

As Hindi language was gradually included in Hindu nationalism, so too was

Urdu included in Muslim nationalism.

Malik, (1988: 241) notes that despite the democratic consequence of his

movement, Sir Syed's education policy was not meant for the Muslim mass.

His concept was essentially based on an enlightened conception of noblesse

oblige. Malik further observes that; He encouraged understanding and solidarity between the lower and upper strata of Muslim society, but by no means desired to eliminate class differentiation. An enlightened bourgeoisie, in his view, created the political and intellectual climate in society which enabled the lower classes to lead a relatively prosperous and contented life and to make their contribution to the national progress. This hierarchical view of society which was the hall-mark of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century capitalistic Europe, blended harmoniously with the aristocratic background of Sir Sayyid (ibid.: 241-2).

It was not therefore surprising that his movement was aimed primarily at

uplifting the Muslim bourgeoisie (ibid.). During his stay in Europe, he had

observed in Britain a highly stratified society maintaining hierarchical roles.

74

The British and Muslim social systems appeared to be similar; aristocratic

classes played the leadership roles in both (ibid.: 194). After his return from

Europe in 1870, Sir Syed recognized the structure of the Muslim social

system as a differentiated system, calling for the play of differentiated roles

(ibid.).

This system, in fact, became the reconfirmation of old group systems in

India, with modern modifications. It was nothing new in that sense, though

his method fell far short of uniting all the Muslims.

3.32 Aligarh Movement and its Contribution to the Development of

Urdu

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and his Aligarh movement aimed to mobilize the

Muslim community through modern education and this movement opened

the way for a broader literary movement. Narain, Kirti, (1998:77) notes that

literary movements were closely followed by educational movements on

traditional as well as modern lines. Maulana Altaf Hussain Hali and Shibli

Mohammad Nomani were leaders of the new literary movements in Urdu.

They wrote with a social purpose, and roused people to face the new situation.

Sir Syed Ahmad's contributions to social awareness and upliftment among

the Muslims were phenomenal. The Aligarh school became a force to be

reckoned with.

Chaudhary (19738

: 29) also observes that;

The impact of modernization also reflected in the sphere of literature. Despite its many disadvantages the alien rule proved a blessing in disguiqe for Indian literature. Abolition of the old feudalism by British rule marked a turning point in the cultural sphere. Poets and writers were no longer bound to display hypocritical reverence and high-sounding praise to the princes and aristocrats. They were set free "to move out of the courts to the courtyards". Gone were the days in which they lived and composed according to the taste of the aristocratic patrons. The new formative forces, like the press, the rise of the middle class intelligentsia as well as the infusion of modern scientific ideas, gave birth to certain broad features, which are easily recognizable in most of Indian languages. Among these features the most prominent were the introduction of politicaL social and psychological issues as literary themes, the resort to individualistic expression, and the emergence of realism as a

75

recognised technique in all literary foriDB. Above all, poetry which had been the predominant form of expression in the sphere of literature, now retreated into the background and continued to lose its importance and inspiration. On the other hand, prose which is the instrument of information and rational thought, made its appearance and developed rapidly, so that within half a century it became a powerful and inspiring vehicle of expression. This new trend marked the discard of the medieval ways of thinking and the commencement of the modernization of the brain of India.

These observations were applicable also in the case of Urdu. Basically,

Urdu literature had flourished under the patronage of Badshahs, Nawabs

and other remnants of feudalism in the past. Both Urdu poets and prose

writers though held in high esteem, found very little scope to bring literary

wisdom within the reach of the common people. Their own self-interests led

them to flatter or praise the outmoded Muslim monarchs and feudals,

including their entire sophisticated paraphernalia. It was not the Urdu

literature that mainly regulated the socio-cultural and religio-political

outlook of the feudals who patronized the literature but the sophisticated life

at courts that moulded or governed the outlook and approach of the writers

(ibid.: 354).

According to Sadiq (1995:320) adding to this conservatism was an

idolatrous attitude towards the past. The great thinkers, philosophers, poets,

theologians, and scientists of the past were considered to be perfect in all

respects and the people looked up to them with despairing or exultant

veneration. Syed Ahmad, Altaf Husain Hali, and some others were the ones

who strove to demolish this dogmatic faith in the inerrancy of the great men

of the past in their writings (ibid.).

In 1870 Syed Ahmad Khan's famous Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq (Mohammedan

Social Reformez7 was published, with which he began a vigorous campaign

for improving the morals and manners of his co-religionists. The effect of

Tahizib-ul-Akhlaq was almost electric; there was no doubt of his contribution

to making current a new style Urdu prose. Hali even called him the father of

',6

modern Urdu Literature, though this was probably true only in a limited

sense (Ikram, 1990: 35-6).

Hali started his career as a poet according to the old, conventional style, but

gradually his interest drifted to 'the natural poetry'. During this time Hali

came across Syed Ahmad Khan and he asked Hali to write a poem on the rise

and fall of Islam and use his muse for awakening his people to a true

appreciation of the tragedy which had overtaken them (ibid.: 61-2).

According to Sadiq (1995:347-9) the result was the famous MusaddasofHali,

of which the first was published in 1879. It was acclaimed as a great success.

It actually ran like a wildfire among the Muslims circles. It was a landmark

in the history of Urdu literature because it was the first important poem

written after the mutiny. It even overshadowed Urdu literature in his day.

Ikram (1990:62) writes that Hali's Musaddas was a long poem. It was an

account of the rise and fall of the Muslims, beginning with the condition of

Arabia before the Advent of Islam, the message of the Holy Prophet, the

transformation it wrought in the moral and material condition of the Arabs,

the achievements of Muslims in the heyday of their glory, a graphic picture of

their present decadence, and finally a message of hope and good cheer. Some

of the issues it highlights are described below. Lamenting on the plight of the

Indian Muslims, he says;

There is meanness in our every deed. Our ways are worse than those of the most contemptible of men. We have eclipsed the fame of our ancestors' name. Wherever we set our foot our countrymen are ashamed of us. We have squandered the high honor that our ancestors won, and have lost the nobility of our Arab forebears.

We neither partake of the confidences of our rulers nor attain high standing amongst men of eminence, nor show ourselves worthy of the honors of learning, nor win distinction in the crafts of industry. We neither rise to high positions in services, nor win any part in the world of trade.

Decadence has brought us to a sorry pass; adversity far and wide lays us low. Our honor has long since vanished from the world, and no hope of revival is in sight. One hope alone sustains us now we are laid low; we live on in the

77

expectation of paradise after death. 3

He criticizes the blind admiration to the past thus; The results of Western science and arts have been evident in India for the

past hundred years. But prejudice has veiled our sight, so that we cannot see the radiance of the truth. The opinions of the ancient Greeks are engraved upon our minds; now if truth were revealed from heaven we would not believe it. Those who cling fast to that philosophy today, who sing the praises of

Avicenna's Shi!a' and the Almagest lay their foreheads on Aristotle's threshold, and follow blindly in Plato's footsteps, are no whit better than the oxen at the oil press who spend their lives walking around, and finish up where they began (Ahmad and Grunebaum 1970: 97).

In trying to convince the Muslims that the British Government was not

their enemy and that modern education would give them a new hope, he

wrote; No longer think your supporters4 your enemies. No longer think your

guides5 are robbers. Think afterward of blaming those who give you good counseL and first look well into your own home, and see: Are your storerooms full, or are they empty? Are your ways of conduct good, or are they bad? (ibid.: 98) Our nation is like a sick young man, whom weakness has so reduced that he

despairs of life. He cannot leave his bed nor move from his place, and the signs of impending death are plain to all. His every ailment looks as though it were chronic; but in fact no fatal illness is upon him. True it is that there is a dearth of men in our nation; yet not all men in a nation

are alike, and if the fragments of broken vessels are piled high, yet among them lie fragments of jewels concealed. Hidden among the gravel there are pearls to be found; and mingled in the sand are particles of gold (ibid.: 98-9)

Thus Syed Ahmad Khan's Aligarh movement influenced Urdu literature

profoundly, and Bali's Musaddas marked the rise of political poetry in Urdu,

which soon became a powerful instrumental of religiopolitical propaganda

(Ahmad and Grunebaum, 1970: 95).

However, since Sir Syed and the Aligarh movement were largely devoted to

loyalty to the British Government, Urdu movement during his time was not

directly connected with the nationalistic sentiment against colonial rule. For

this purpose history had to wait until Iqbal's age. Singh (1997:137) writes

3 Cited in a translated form in Ahmad and Grunebaum (1970: 95). 4 Editors note that this was presumably the British government in India. 5 Editors note that this was presumably Syed Ahmad Khan and his colleagues.

78

that Hali laid the foundation of redeeming Urdu poetry from the morass of

subjectivity and personal expressionism, its revival, and restoration of some

of its higher functions such as criticism of social and cultural values,

expression of points of views, and preoccupation with living problems. It was

however left to Iqbal to take poetry right into the arena of life and to

revitalize it to a point where it could adequately perform these higher

functions.

It could be argued that Sir Syed Ahmad Khan's protection of Urdu was not

politically motivated but was designed to promote the economic and social

interests of Muslims on the basis of historical importance of the language.

He was simply concerned about his own community's welfare, and was

mobilizing it towards that goal. His main purpose was to awaken the Muslim

community more in socio-economic rather than political sense. The Aligarh

movement adopted a political agenda after 1886 following the formation of

the Indian National Congress as discussed in the next section.

3.33 The Organization for the Promotion of Urdu

To promote the Urdu language, Sir Syed's activities were not restricted only

to the field of literature. In 1886, he established the Muhammadan

Educational Congress (that later adopted Conference for Congress). Its

major objectives were;

(I) To transform the restless sweep of Muslims' energy into a concrete

national organization.

(2) To combine the functions of articulation and aggregation of the Muslims'

educational, economic, and political interests while enabling them to

define their role in the imperial polity of the British in India.

(3) Politicization of the Muslim masses, since it involved a large number of

them on a sustained and controlled basis (ibid.: 217-8).

This expressed his insecurity towards the establishment of Indian National

79

Congress and showed his desire to herald a competitive political

environment in India. From this time onward, he renounced the apolitical

attitude. This organization later established its ideological successor, the

All-India Muslim League in 1906 (ibid.: 218).

The Educational Conference's manifest functions however remained

educational, and not political. One of the departments set up for that purpose

was that which dealt with the development of Urdu language (ibid.: 219).

The conference's promotion of Urdu was successful and it spread even to

southern provinces of India, in spite the anti-Urdu feelings and protests from

sections of the Hindu society (ibid.: 226).

King C. R. (1994:157) reports that the Conference's activities intensified

because of the 1900 resolution by Sir Antony Macdonnel, which gave Hindi

equal status to that of Urdu. The most determined opposition came from

Aligarh, home of the Muhammadan Anglo Oriental College founded by Sir

Syed Ahmad Khan. Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk, the Secretary of the college,

Theodore Morison, the Principal, and many prominent people from Aligarh,

other western districts of the NWP&O, and the Punjab, took part in a protest

meeting less than a month after the resolution was proclaimed.

Consequently Muslims established the Urdu Defense Association in 1900

and three years later the Conference established the Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu

as a part of its effort to protect the hitherto position of advantage for Urdu.

Das Gupta, (1970: 104) however says that the Urdu Defense Association was

handicapped by its self-imposed political limitation. Since the leadership was

concentrated in the Aligar h movement, which did not want to disturb the

British administration by any substantial political agitation, it was difficult

for this movement to make much headway.

Ikram, (1990: 80-1) observes that the British government could not however

tolerate this protest although it was not a direct political challenge to their

80

authority. Eventually Mohsin-un-Mulk was forced to withdraw from the

Pro-Urdu movement, because it was obvious that if he continued the

agitation in favour of Urdu, his continuance at the helm of the College would

seriously affect its welfare. Ikram also notes that;

An essential condition for the success of Syed Ahamad's policy was that the British Government should have due regard for the Muslim susceptibilities, but Sir Antony Macdonnel was oblivious of this. The decision on the Urdu­Hindi question, and particularly the high-handed manner in which the movement in favour of Urdu was suppressed, hurt all self-respecting Muslims and paved the ways for the success of those who were opposed to Syed Ahmad's policy (ibid.: 81).

This incident had important repercussions. Though it did not immediately

bring to the ground the grand edifice of the pro-British policy which Sir Syed

Ahmad Khan had built after the efforts of life time, but the building was

badly shaken and began to show big cracks (ibid.).

Das Gupta (1970:116) argues that the major sections of the Muslim political

leaders considered the Anjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu to be the most important

vehicle of the Urdu movement. After all, the Anjuman was more in tune with

the major trends of Muslim politics than any other organization working for

Urdu. However unlike Hindi organizations which had strong influence on

the Congress, the Anjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu remained largely a cultural

association without a large-scale educational and publication network, and

failed to develop any imposing, self-sustained, 'routinized' structure (Das

Gupta, 1970: 125-6).

Summary

This chapter has discussed the emergence of community consciousness

within the original anti-colonial Indian nationalist movement. The

community consciousness first began as an effort to create and preserve

distinct identities based on language. The economic and social welfare of

Muslims in the northern part of India was directly linked with Urdu

language, which had replaced Persian as the official language throughout

81

the 19th century. This trend was altered towards the end of that century by

the emergence of Hindi movement that challenged the dominance of Urdu.

This is how the distinctions between Hindi and Urdu languages and related

ideologies emerged especially towards the end of the 19th century. One point

of view highlighted by King C. R. (1994:23) is that the proponents of Hindi

movement were opposed to and alleged excessive Persianization of

Hindi!Hindavi that was formally a common language of Hindus and Muslims

leading to a dramatic linguistic and literary split between Hindi and Urdu.

82