''Mushaira'' ( ur, , Mušā'ira) is a poetic symposium. It is an event (called ''

mehfil Mehfil (also spelled ''mahfil'') is a formal venue where indoor recreational activities such as poetry ( mushaira), singing, music, and dance are entertained in parts of the Indian subcontinent. It is part of Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb culture. His ...

'', Mushairi) where poets gather to perform their works. A mushaira is part of the Culture of North India,

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and 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 ...

, particularly among the

Hyderabadi Muslims Hyderabadi Muslims, also referred to as Hyderabadis are a community of Deccani people, who are part of a larger ethnic group of Urdu-speaking Muslims, from the area that used to be the princely state of Hyderabad in the regions of Marathwad ...

, and it regarded as a forum for free self-expression.

Etymology

According to

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...

; Urdu word ''Mushaira'' comes from an Arabic word “mušā'ara” meaning “vying poetry”. Some legends suggest that ''Mushaira'' was first organized by

Amir Khusraw Abu'l Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrau (1253–1325 AD), better known as Amīr Khusrau was an Indo-Persian Sufi singer, musician, poet and scholar who lived under the Delhi Sultanate. He is an iconic figure in the cultural history of the Indian sub ...

(1253–1325), while some legends reject this hypothesis and claim that instead it was

Qawwali Qawwali (Punjabi language, Punjabi: (Shahmukhi), (Gurmukhi); Urdu: (Nastaʿlīq, Nasta'liq); Hindi: क़व्वाली (Devanagari); Bengali language, Bengali: কাওয়ালি (Bengali alphabet, Bengali)) is a form of Sufi Isl ...

introduce by

but not ''mushaira''. According to some other legends, ''Mushaira'' originated in the 14th century in

during the

Bahmani 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,

, and was introduced in

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 ...

by Wali Deccani in 1700 AD, where upon his arrival he recited a collection of his poems in a vernacular

Deccani language Deccani (also known as Deccani Urdu and Deccani Hindi). https://knowledgehubadda.blogspot.com/2022/02/blog-post_74.html? m=1 or Dakni, Dakhni, Dakhini, Dakkhani and Dakkani (, ''dekanī'' or , ''dakhanī''), is a variety of Hindustani spoken ...

—(a form of

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

there were no poetic public gatherings for locals, whereas poetic gatherings use to commence in elite

courts A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...

in which participating poets use to recite their poems only in

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 ...

History

History of Initiatives

Urdu poetry took the final decisive position in the 17th century when

Mughals 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 ...

had established their dominion. It was thought by the legends of early India that ''Shairy'' should be recited in a gathering of minds with sufficient understanding of the language, so that they may enjoy, criticise, and ultimately appreciate what was recited. The gathering, though, would be in the presence of the King and his Ministers, but then the talk was about somewhat a big gathering than of that. They prophesied that this would lead to development of Urdu ''Shairy'', as people will be able to get the ideas of practical poetry in accordance with the demand of public interests and of public betterment.

History of Development

The most common form of poetry recital was the ''mushaira'', or poetic symposium, where poets would gather to read their compositions crafted in accordance to a strict metrical pattern, agreed upon beforehand, even while meeting a certain loftiness of thought. The real initiative was legendary that took in the 18th century in the Mughal Court helping Urdu Mushaira reach its final, decisive form. A culture was built around taking lessons in poetry writing; it even became fashionable for royalty to learn Urdu shairi. Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal Emperor of India, was an accomplished poet in his own right. He had a habit of setting his court difficult poetic tasks, such as the challenging art of ''tazmin'', which led to the development of Tarahi Mushaira.

Forms

A mushaira can take a number of forms. Traditionally, the ''

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 ...

'' is the specific

poetic form Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in a ...

employed, neither recited nor sung, but other forms of poetry, recitation and song may be allowed also. If the poetry is humorous in nature, it is referred to as ''Mazahiya Mushaira''. Mazahiya Mushaira is very popular these days, people enjoying the recitation with great pleasure. Some of the poets now developed it in the form of criticising, so presently it's also being used to comment in a very slight way giving a deeper meaning which gives a long period realisation for the potential comments understanding. These days invited guest poets will usually be seated behind a long table at the front of the room, with often the most admired of them seated in the centre. One person will host the mushaira, inviting each poet to come and perform. However, the form is relatively free, and anyone can come forward and ask to perform. The host usually lets the most admired poet present be the last to perform. Traditionally, a burning candle used to be passed from one end of the line to the other indicating whose turn it is to present. The audience often interacts with the poets, most often with encouraging calls of ''wah'' ''wah'' at the end of appreciated couplets. If a couplet is particularly appreciated, there may be calls for the poet to repeat it, or the audience might spontaneously repeat it themselves. The latter is done when a poet's first couplet is appreciated. " Recently, the combination of traditional Mushaira with Hindi '' kavi sammelan'' has given it a big thrust. Now, such "Mushaira-Kavi Sammelan" are being organised across the globe.

Tarahi Mushaira

Sometimes a mushaira is more competitive. The Tarahi Mushaira is a particular form where a ''

misra (couplet) Misra or Mishra may refer to: * Motor Industry Software Reliability Association * MISRA C, a software development standard for the C programming language * Misra (poetry), a term meaning a line of a couplet, or verse, in Turkic, Arabic, Persian an ...

'' is given, and poets compose their

s using that misra (couplet) the

behar Behar, BeHar, Be-har, or B'har ( — Hebrew language, Hebrew for "on the mount," the fifth word, and the Incipit, first distinctive word, in the parashah) is the 32nd weekly Torah portion (, ''parashah'') in the annual Judaism, Jewish cycle of Tor ...

(rhythmic metre) of the misra (couplet). According to a contemporary Urdu poet Prof. Waseem Khan Seem, and Dr Muhammad Shakeel Khan however the usual and traditional way of writing Urdu poetry in the most natural way for any authentic poet is to write poetry on the basis of AAMAD (germination of poetic thoughts in poet's mind) instead of just following Tarhai Misra.

References

External links

Andaaz e Bayaan Aur Mushaira YouTube Channel

Andaaz e Bayaan Aur Mushaira Website

Mushaira website

More about Mushaira
{{Urdu poetry Arabic and Central Asian poetics Urdu-language poetry Pakistani culture Indian culture Islam in India Islam in Pakistan Desi culture