Nazeer Akbarabadi (born Wali Muhammad; 1735 – 1830) was an 18th-century Indian poet known as "Father of Nazm", who wrote
ghazals
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 p ...
and
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 ...
s under the
pen name (
takhallus A takhallus ( ur, , fa, تخلّص, hi, तख़ल्लुस), is a pen-name. Pen names were widely adopted by Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi and Persian poets.
''Takhallus'' is an Arabic word which means, literally, "to get liberated" or "become s ...
) "Nazeer", most remembered for his poems like ''
Banjaranama'' (Chronicle of the Nomad), a satire.
Birth, early years and migration to Akbarabad
His father was Muhammad Farooq and his mother was the daughter of Nawab Sultan Khan who was the governor of Agra Fort
The Agra Fort is a historical fort in the city of Agra in India also known as the Red Fort. Rebuilt by the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1565 and completed in 1573, it served as the main residence of the rulers of the Mughal Dynasty until 1638, when ...
. Agra
Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra i ...
, the Indian city, was known as Akbarabad after Mughal emperor Akbar at that time. He used simple, everyday language in his poems.[
Nazeer's date of birth is not certain but most of his biographers believe that he was born 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 ...
(then called "Dihli") in 1735 AD. The period of his birth coincided with the decline of the 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 ...
in India. In 1739, Nazeer was still a child when Nadir Shah
Nader Shah Afshar ( fa, نادر شاه افشار; also known as ''Nader Qoli Beyg'' or ''Tahmāsp Qoli Khan'' ) (August 1688 – 19 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian ...
attacked Delhi and the Mughal emperor
The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...
Muhammad Shah
Mirza Nasir-ud-Din Muḥammad Shah (born Roshan Akhtar; 7 August 1702 – 26 April 1748) was the 13th Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1719 to 1748. He was son of Khujista Akhtar, the fourth son of Bahadur Shah I. After being chosen by the ...
(also known as "Muhammad Shah Rangila") was arrested. He was later released but countless people were mercilessly killed in Delhi. The horrors of this plunder were still fresh in the minds of people when 18 years later, in 1757 AD, Ahmad Shah Abdali
Ahmad Shāh Durrānī ( ps, احمد شاه دراني; prs, احمد شاه درانی), also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī (), was the founder of the Durrani Empire and is regarded as the founder of the modern Afghanistan. In July 1747, Ahm ...
attacked Delhi. People left Delhi for safer cities. Nazeer along with his mother and grandmother also abandoned Delhi and migrated to Akbarabad. At this time, Nazeer was 22-23 years old.
Poetry
It is said that Nazeer's poetic treasure consisted of about 200,000 verses but unfortunately a bigger portion of it is destroyed and only 6000 verses are available in printed form. No other Urdu poet before him, had used as many words as Nazeer did. Nazeer's poetry conveyed the plight of the common people in their own everyday language and was very popular among the masses. It was due to this lack of the "elite" element perhaps that Nazir's genius was not recognized until much later. But in spite of this neglect, some of his poetic treasure is still available and some of his poems, such as " Banjaranama" (chronicle of a nomad/gypsy), "Kaljug nahin karjug hai yeh", "Aadmi Naama" (chronicle of man), etc., became immortal. Such poems find their place in school text books and discerning fans of Urdu poetry will not fail to recognize the greatness of Nazeer's verse.[
He left for us about 600 ghazals, although his nazms are said to be more worthy of admiration. In fact, Nazeer's growing popularity is due to his nazms. He was purely a "People's poet" and his nazms reflected various aspects of the daily life of his age, all types of religious and social events with even minor details in which common people can be seen laughing, singing, teasing, playing.][ He wrote nazams about religious and social festivals, such as Diwali, ]Holi
Holi (), also known as the Festival of Colours, the Festival of Spring, and the Festival of Love,The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...". is an ancient Hindu religious festival ...
, Eid, Shab-e-baraat, about fruits and about animals like mouse and birds, about seasons and even inanimate objects, such as '' paisa'', '' rupaiaa'', ''roti
Roti (also known as chapati) is a round flatbread native to the Indian subcontinent. It is popular in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica, Trini ...
yaan'', ''aata-daal'' (meaning "flour" and "lentils"), "pankha" (meaning "fan") and "kakrhi" (Melon). He wrote nazms about different aspects of human life, such as "muflisi" (Urdu word meaning "poverty") and "kohrinamah" (chronicle of a leper). The canvas of Nazeer's nazms is so vast that it encompasses all aspects of human behaviour and every person can find nazms that can suit his taste.
Nazeer Akbarabadi's contemporaries were Mirza Muhammad Rafi Sauda, Mir Taqi Mir, Sheikh Qalandar Bakhsh Jur'at, Insha Allah Khan Insha, and Ghulam Hamdani Mushafi. He was young during the age of Sauda and Mir and might be a middle aged man during the age of Jur'at, Insha and Mushafi.
Death and legacy
Nazeer Akbarabadi died in 1830 AD, at age 95.[
Though the era of modern nazm credits Altaf Hussain Hali and Muhammad Husain Azad, Nazeer could arguably be considered "Father of Urdu Nazm" because he preceded them.][
]
Sample poem
Qualities of his poetry
His poetry has many qualities among them only some are discussed below.
Natural poetry
Nazeer was the one who laid the foundation of natural poetry which was later continued by Altaf Hussain Hali and Muhammad Husain Azad. The best thing in his poetry is that he never used the hard poetic language and he always tried to give the concepts of ethics and social values.
His poem was named "Aadmi Nama" was mistakenly published "Army Nama" in Pakistan. Similarly all his words "Aadmi" were replaced by "Army" which become controversial by mistake, it was taken farce on large scale."[
]
In popular culture
In 1954, Habib Tanvir
Habib Tanvir (1 September 1923 – 8 June 2009) was one of the most popular Indian Urdu, Hindi playwrights, a theatre director, poet and actor. He was the writer of plays such as, ''Agra Bazar'' (1954) and '' Charandas Chor'' (1975). A pi ...
, wrote and directed his first significant play ''Agra Bazar'', based on the works and times of Nazir Akbarabadi. It used local residents and folk artist from Okhla
Okhla is a suburban village located near Okhla barrage in the South East Delhi district of Delhi near the border between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Its nearest industrial area called commonly as Okhla Industrial Area (OIA) or Okhla Industrial Est ...
village in Delhi and students of Jamia Millia Islamia as actors, a play not staged in a confined space, rather a bazaar, a marketplace.
Further reading
* ''Nazeer Akbarabadi'', translation of criticism by Professor Mohammad Hasan, Asghar Wajahat. Sahitya Akademi, Delhi.
* ''The Life and Times of Nazir Akbarabadi'', by Syed Mohammad Abbas. Vanguard, 1991.
* ''Kulliyat e Nazeer Akbarabadi''
References
External links
Nazeer Akbarabadi at Kavita Kosh
(Hindi)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akbarabadi, Nazeer
Urdu-language poets
Indian male poets
People from Agra
1735 births
1830 deaths
18th-century Indian Muslims
18th-century Urdu-language writers
Urdu-language writers from India
Poets from Uttar Pradesh
Urdu-language writers from British India
Urdu-language writers from Mughal India
Urdu-language religious writers
18th-century Indian poets
19th-century Indian poets
19th-century Indian male writers
18th-century male writers