Ganges
The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
–
Yamuna
The Yamuna (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in List of major rivers of India, India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a ...
Culture''), also spelled as ''Ganga-Jamni Tehzeeb'' or just Hindustani Tehzeeb, is the
high culture
High culture is a subculture that emphasizes and encompasses the cultural objects of aesthetic value, which a society collectively esteem as exemplary art, and the intellectual works of philosophy, history, art, and literature that a society con ...
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
culture. Quote: " Ganga-Jamni may be translated as “two-colored” or “mixed” and is often used as an attribute of the composite north Indian culture, especially Indo-Muslim culture."Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb: Syncretic ethos in weaves and crafts
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...
, 18 July 2018. With the rise of
Persianate
A Persianate society is a society that is based on or strongly influenced by the Persian language, culture, literature, art and/or identity.
The term "Persianate" is a neologism credited to Marshall Hodgson. In his 1974 book, ''The Venture of I ...
control over the subcontinent, the ''tehzeeb'' also spread, especially along the wider Indo-Gangetic Plains. Contemporarily, Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb conveys either the syncretic Indo-Persian civilization or the specific Hindu-Muslim brotherhood.
The culture arose following the
Persianate
A Persianate society is a society that is based on or strongly influenced by the Persian language, culture, literature, art and/or identity.
The term "Persianate" is a neologism credited to Marshall Hodgson. In his 1974 book, ''The Venture of I ...
control of the Gangetic plains, especially along the tributary
Yamuna
The Yamuna (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in List of major rivers of India, India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a ...
which includes
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
from where the native tongue(
Khariboli
Kauravi ( hi, कौरवी, ur, ), also known as Khaṛībolī is a set of Western Hindi varieties of Shauraseni Prakrit mainly spoken in Northwestern Uttar Pradesh.
Standard Hindi and Urdu are based on Khariboli, specifically on its De ...
) of which evolved into Hindavi or Hindustani, a
prestige
Prestige refers to a good reputation or high esteem; in earlier usage, ''prestige'' meant "showiness". (19th c.)
Prestige may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Films
* ''Prestige'' (film), a 1932 American film directed by Tay Garnet ...
sociolect
In sociolinguistics, a sociolect is a form of language ( non-standard dialect, restricted register) or a set of lexical items used by a socioeconomic class, profession, an age group, or other social group.
Sociolects involve both passive acquisi ...
of the cultured, eventually becoming the basis for a
lingua franca
A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...
on the plains and beyond before standardization into
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
. The ''tehzeeb'' includes a particular style of speech, literature, recreation, costume, manners, worldview, art, architecture and cuisine which more or less pervades the Hindustan region of the plains, Northern South Asia as a whole and the old city of
Hyderabad
Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...
in South India.
Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb, is a poetic Awadhi phrase for the distinctive and syncretic Hindu-Muslim culture, is reflected in the fused spiritual connotations, forms, symbols, aesthetics, crafts and weaves, for example, Kashmiri Muslim carpet makers feature
Durga
Durga ( sa, दुर्गा, ) is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars.
Durga's legend centres around c ...
in their patterns, Muslim sculptors making idols of Durga, and Hindu craftsmen create the
Muharram
Muḥarram ( ar, ٱلْمُحَرَّم) (fully known as Muharram ul Haram) is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sacred months of the year when warfare is forbidden. It is held to be the second holiest month after ...
tazia
Ta'zieh ( ar, تعزية; fa, تعزیه; ur, ) means comfort, condolence, or expression of grief. It comes from roots ''aza'' (عزو and عزى) which means mourning.
Depending on the region, time, occasion, religion, etc. the word can sig ...
.Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb: Syncretic ethos in weaves and crafts
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...
, 18 July 2018.Understanding Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb: How diverse is the "Indian multiculturalism"
Daily News and Analysis
Publications established in 2005
Newspapers published in Mumbai
English-language newspapers published in India
Daily newspapers published in India
Essel Group
2005 establishments in Maharashtra ...
, 15 June 2014.
Etymology
''Ganga-Jamuni'' is a Hindustani term that means, literally, "mixed," "composite," "alloy,"; ''Tehzeeb'' is an
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
: تہذيب tahẕīb) meaning civilization, culture, politeness, or progress/development.
Language and Literature
With the
Islamic conquest
The spread of Islam spans about 1,400 years. Muslim conquests following Muhammad's death led to the creation of the caliphates, occupying a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted by Arab Muslim forces conquering vast territories ...
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
and its surrounding region along the river
Yamuna
The Yamuna (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in List of major rivers of India, India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a ...
became the political and cultural capital of the
Persianate
A Persianate society is a society that is based on or strongly influenced by the Persian language, culture, literature, art and/or identity.
The term "Persianate" is a neologism credited to Marshall Hodgson. In his 1974 book, ''The Venture of I ...
dynasties. Delhi came to prominence because of its strategic location, as the west of which was the open Indus plains and east of which the populous Gangetic plains. The local
Khariboli
Kauravi ( hi, कौरवी, ur, ), also known as Khaṛībolī is a set of Western Hindi varieties of Shauraseni Prakrit mainly spoken in Northwestern Uttar Pradesh.
Standard Hindi and Urdu are based on Khariboli, specifically on its De ...
sociolect
In sociolinguistics, a sociolect is a form of language ( non-standard dialect, restricted register) or a set of lexical items used by a socioeconomic class, profession, an age group, or other social group.
Sociolects involve both passive acquisi ...
of the descendants of the conquerors, the nobility, the courtiers and hence the cultured. The official language of these empires was
Dari Persian
Dari (, , ), also known as Dari Persian (, ), is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the term officially recognised and promoted since 1964 by the Afghan government for the Persian language,Lazard, G.Darī  ...
from
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
and the usual mother tongue of these upper echelons was an Indian language albeit with heavy Persian influence, hence Hindavi or Hindi was the word used which still just means ''Indian'' in Persian. The Turkic word ''Urdu'' instead connotated as spoken by the camps and plebs. As the empire enlarged, Persianised Khariboli or ''Hindavi'' and ''Hindustani'' as was called became the basis for the ''
lingua franca
A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...
'' different Indo-Aryan speakers on the plains and beyond used to communicate. There are many Hindustani dialects that arose, Deccani being the major one, a form of
Khariboli
Kauravi ( hi, कौरवी, ur, ), also known as Khaṛībolī is a set of Western Hindi varieties of Shauraseni Prakrit mainly spoken in Northwestern Uttar Pradesh.
Standard Hindi and Urdu are based on Khariboli, specifically on its De ...
that migrated from the banks of Delhi and mixed with
Marathi
Marathi may refer to:
*Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India
*Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people
*Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece
See also
*
* ...
,
Telugu
Telugu may refer to:
* Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India
*Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India
* Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language
** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode
S ...
and
Kannada
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...
in the
Deccan
The large Deccan Plateau in southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by the ...
. It was only during the
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
that the Persianised Hindi or Hindustani came to be specifically called ''Urdu'' as was later standardized so as to distance the Muslim associated upper class language with Hindi and Hindustani for it implied 'of the Hindu'.
Literary tradition in Hindustani began in North with the acceptance of Deccani Hindi as a medium of literary exchange in the South. The first Deccani author was Khwaja Bandanawaz Gesudaraz Muhammad Hasan.
Bahamani Sultanate
The Bahmani Sultanate, or Deccan, was a Persianate Sunni Muslim Indian Kingdom located in the Deccan region. It was the first independent Muslim kingdom of the Deccan,
were the pioneers, writers such as
Bande Nawaz
Muhammad bin Yusuf Al-Hussaini (7 August 1321 − 10 November 1422), commonly known as Banda Nawaz Gaisu Daraz, was a Hanafi Maturidi scholar and Sufi saint from India of the Chishti Order.
Gaisu Daraz was a disciple and then successor of Sufi ...
Ibrahim Adil Shah II
Ibrahim Adil Shah II (1570 – 12 September 1627) was king of the Sultanate of Bijapur and a member of the Adil Shahi dynasty. Under his reign the dynasty had its greatest period as he extended its frontier as far south as Mysore. He was ...
of
Bijapur
Bijapur, officially known as Vijayapura, is the district headquarters of Bijapur district of the Karnataka state of India. It is also the headquarters for Bijapur Taluk. Bijapur city is well known for its historical monuments of architectural ...
, and Wali Mohammad Wali were important writers in Deccani. Influenced by this, Urdu Prose and Poetry, as is now called also began in the Hindustan region, chief writers being, Ghalib, Khaliq, Zamir, Aatish, Nasikh, Zauq, Momin and Shefta.
Malik Muhammad Jayasi
Malik Muhammad Jayasi (1477– 1542) was an Indian Sufi poet and pir. He wrote in the Awadhi language, and in the Persian Nastaʿlīq script. His best known work is the epic poem '' Padmavat'' (1540).
Biography
Much of the information abo ...
's ''Padmavat'' in Awadhi and the Works of
Kabir Das
Kabir Das (1398–1518) was a 15th-century Indian mystic poet and saint. His writings influenced Hinduism's Bhakti movement, and his verses are found in Sikhism's scripture Guru Granth Sahib, the Satguru Granth Sahib of Saint Garib Das, ...
. An age of tremendous integration between the Hindu and the Islamic elements in the Arts with the advent of many Muslim Bhakti poets like Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana who was a minister to Mughal emperor
Akbar
Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...
and was also a great devotee of Krishna. The Nirgun School of Bhakti Poetry was also tremendously secular in nature and its propounders like Kabir and Guru Nanak had a large number of followers irrespective of caste or religion.Karen Pechilis Prentiss (2014), The Embodiment of Bhakti, Oxford University Press, , pages 15-16
One of the best examples of syncretic faith is captured in one of Kabir's
doha
Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
Ram
Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to:
Animals
* A male sheep
* Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish
People
* Ram (given name)
* Ram (surname)
* Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director
* RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch
* ...
, Kabir is a worshiper of true love and hence reveres both."''
Etiquette and Costume
Awadh
Awadh (), known in British historical texts as Avadh or Oudh, is a region in the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which was before independence known as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. It is synonymous with the Kośāla region of ...
has a special place in the etiquette of this culture along with Delhi and Hyderabad; infact Lucknowi Hindi still retains the polished and polite language of Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb.Delhi Sultanate,
Bahamani Sultanate
The Bahmani Sultanate, or Deccan, was a Persianate Sunni Muslim Indian Kingdom located in the Deccan region. It was the first independent Muslim kingdom of the Deccan,
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
,
Nawabs of Awadh
The Nawab of Awadh or the Nawab of Oudh was the title of the rulers who governed the state of Awadh (anglicised as Oudh) in north India during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Nawabs of Awadh belonged to a dynasty of Persian origin from Nishap ...
,
Bhopal
Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...
Nizams of Hyderabad
The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, M ...
were forerunners of this ''tehzeeb''. The greeting ''Aadaab'' from the Arabic word آداب, meaning ''respect and politeness'', is a hand gesture and expression used in the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
for
greeting
Greeting is an act of communication in which human beings intentionally make their presence known to each other, to show attention to, and to suggest a type of relationship (usually cordial) or social status (formal or informal) between indiv ...
, especially by Muslims to non-Muslims though not necessarily. It is associated with the Ganga-Jamuni culture because it origined out of a necessity for a more non-religious greeting from the Arabic
Assalamu Alaikum
As-salamu alaykum ( ar, ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ, , ), also ''Salamun Alaykum'' is a greeting in Arabic that means 'Peace be upon you'. The (, meaning 'peace') has become a religious salutation for Muslims worldwide when greet ...
and Sanskrit
Namaste
''Namaste'' (, Devanagari: नमस्ते), sometimes called ''namaskar'' and ''namaskaram'', is a customary Hindu non-contact manner of respectfully greeting and honouring a person or group, used at any time of day. It is found on the In ...
.
Sherwani, Jama, Topi, Kurta, Dupatta, Salwar, Kameez, Shawl, Pajama and Socks are few of the major attire still present in India.
Recreation and Cuisine
Art and Architecture
See also
*
Hindu–Islamic relations
Interactions between the followers of Hinduism and Islam began after the advent of the latter in the Arabian Peninsula, in the 7th century, mainly through trade across and around the Indian Ocean. Historically, these interactions formed contras ...
Phool Walon Ki Sair
Phool Waalon Ki Sair meaning "procession of the florists" is an annual celebration by the flower sellers of Delhi. It is a three-day festival, generally held in the month of September, just after the rainy season in the region of Mehrauli. It ...
*
Din-i Ilahi
The Dīn-i-Ilāhī ( fa, , ), known during its time as Tawḥīd-i-Ilāhī ("Divine Monotheism", ) or Divine Faith, was a new syncretic religion or spiritual leadership program propounded by the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1582, intending to merge ...
*
Inclusivism
Inclusivism is one of several approaches in religious studies, anthropology, or civics to understand the relationship between different religions, societies, cultures, political factions etc. It asserts that there is beauty in the variety of d ...
, concept that all religions are at least partially true and none is untrue
*
Sheilaism
Sheilaism is a shorthand term for an individual's system of religious belief which co-opts strands of multiple religions chosen by the individual usually without much theological consideration. The term derives from a woman named Sheila Larson, wh ...
, a term for an individual selecting strands of multiple religions
*
Folk religion
In religious studies and folkloristics, folk religion, popular religion, traditional religion or vernacular religion comprises various forms and expressions of religion that are distinct from the official doctrines and practices of organized re ...
, any flexible vernacular religion without a rigid doctrine
*
Interfaith dialogue
Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is ...
, constructive interaction among various religions
*
Religious pluralism
Religious pluralism is an attitude or policy regarding the diversity of religious belief systems co-existing in society. It can indicate one or more of the following:
* Recognizing and tolerating the religious diversity of a society or coun ...
, tolerance for diversity of religions in a society
*
Religious tolerance
Religious toleration may signify "no more than forbearance and the permission given by the adherents of a dominant religion for other religions to exist, even though the latter are looked on with disapproval as inferior, mistaken, or harmful". ...
, respecting and upholding others' right to behold religion
*
Multiple religious belonging
Multiple religious belonging, also known as double belonging, refers to the idea that individuals can belong to more than one religious tradition. While this is often seen as a common reality in regions such as Asia with its many religions, religi ...
, a phenomenon that a person can belong to multiple religion is specially found among more tolerant societies such as Indian and Chinese origin religions
*
La Convivencia
''Convivencia'' (, "living together") is an academic term, proposed by the Spanish philologist Américo Castro, regarding the period of Spanish history from the Muslim Umayyad conquest of Hispania in the early eighth century until the expulsion of ...
, a similar dynamic in mediaeval
Islamic Spain
Al-Andalus translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label= Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, al-Ándalus () was the Mu ...