Peerzada Ghulam Ahmad (August 1885 − 9 April 1952), known by his

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

as Mahjoor, was a

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

of the

Kashmir Valley The Kashmir Valley, also known as the ''Vale of Kashmir'', is an intermontane valley concentrated in the Kashmir Division of the Indian- union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The valley is bounded on the southwest by the Pir Panjal Range and ...

, along with contemporaries, Zinda Kaul,

Abdul Ahad Azad Abdul Ahad Azad (1903 – 1948) was a Kashmiri poet born in village ranger tehsil Chadoora of Budgam district. He is often referred to as the "Keats of Kashmir". He was influenced by Kashmiri ''ghazals'' of Rasul Mir and Mahmud Gami.He was o ...

, and

Dinanath Nadim Dinanath Kaul "Nadim" (1916–1988) was a prominent Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Gre ...

. He is especially noted for introducing a new style into Kashmiri poetry and for expanding Kashmiri poetry into previously unexplored thematic realms.

Early life

Mahjoor was born in the village of Mitrigam, Pulwama, 38 km from

Srinagar Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its natu ...

and 5 km from

Pulwama Pulwama (known as Panwangam in antiquity, and later as Pulgam) is a City and notified area council in the Pulwama district of the Indian-administered territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is located approximately south of the summer capital of ...

. He got his pen name Mahjoor when he visited

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

and started writing poetry under the influence of great Urdu poet, Shibli Namani. He followed in the academic footsteps of his father, who was a scholar of

Persian language Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and ...

. He received the primary education from the Maktab of Aashiq Trali (a renowned poet) in Tral. After passing the middle school examination from Nusrat-ul-Islam School, Srinagar, he went to Punjab where he came in contact with Urdu poets like Bismil Amritsari and Moulana Shibi Nomani. He returned to Srinagar in 1908 and started writing in Persian and then in Urdu. Determined to write in his native language, Mahjoor used the simple diction of traditional folk storytellers in his writing. Mahjoor worked as a ''

patwari A Village accountant or Patwari (Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal), Talati (Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra) or Lekhpal (Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand), is an administrative government position in rural areas of the Indian subcontinent ...

'' (''regional administrator'') in Kashmir. Along with his official duties, he spent his free time writing poetry, and his first Kashmiri poem 'Vanta hay vesy' was published in 1918.

Poetic legacy

Mahjoor is recognized by one commentator as a poet who revolutionized the traditional forms of

nazm ''Nazm'' () is a major part of Urdu and Sindhi poetry that is normally written in rhymed verse and also in modern prose-style poems. is a significant genre of Urdu and Sindhi poetry; the other one is known as ''ghazal'' (). is significantly ...

and

ghazal The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...

. In 1972, a bilingual film named '' Shayar-e-Kashmir Mahjoor'' was released with the

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 ...

version starring Balraj Sahni. A square in Srinagar is named after him. He is buried near the poet

Habba Khatoon Habba Khatoon (born Zoon; 1554 – 1609; sometimes spelled Khatun), also known by the honorary title ''The Nightingale of Kashmir'', was a Kashmiri Muslim poet and ascetic in the 16th century. Her compositions have been sung and recited count ...

at a site near Athwajan on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway. A song featured in ''

Coke Studio Explorer ''Coke Studio Explorer'' is a Pakistani web television music series created by musicians Ali Hamza and Zohaib Kazi. As a part of new module, it is a spin-off to a ''Coke Studio'' and prequel to its eleventh season. Instead of studio recordin ...

'', "Ha Gulo" is written by Mahjoor and was sung by Kashmiri regional band Qasamir.

Bibliography

* Ghulam Ahmad Mahjoor. ''Poems of Mahjoor''. New Delhi:

Sahitya Academi Sahitya literally means literature in Sanskrit. It is also used to refer to the lyrics of a Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including t ...

, 1988. * Ghulam Ahmad Mahjoor. ''The Best of Mahjoor: Selections from Mahjoor's Kashmiri Poems'' (translated by Triloki Nath Raina). Srinagar, India: J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, 1989.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahjoor, Ghulam Ahmad Kashmiri poets 1887 births 1952 deaths 20th-century Indian poets Kashmiri people Indian male poets Poets from Jammu and Kashmir 20th-century Indian male writers