Amir Khusro
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Ab'ul Hasan Yamīn al-Dīn Khusrow (Persian: ابوالحسن یمین‌الدین خسرو, Devanagari: अबुल हसन यमीनुद्दीन ख़ुसरो) (1253-1325 CE), better known as Amīr Khusrow Dehlawī (Urdu: امیر خسرو دہلوی), was an iconic figure in the cultural history of the Indian subcontinent. A Sufi mystic and a spiritual disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi, Amīr Khusrow was not only a notable poet but also a prolific and seminal musician. He wrote poetry primarily in Persian, but also in Hindavi. He has been termed as the "father of qawwali" (the devotional music of the Indian Sufis).[1][2] He is also credited with enriching the Hindustani classical music by introducing Persian and Arabic elements in it, and was the originator of the khayal and tarana style of music.[3] The invention of the Indian Tabla is also traditionally attributed to Amīr Khusrow.[4]
A musician and a scholar, Amīr Khusrow was as prolific in tender lyrics as in highly involved prose and could easily emulate all styles of poetry which had developed in medieval Persia, from Khāqānī's forceful qasidas to Nezāmī's khamsa. His contribution to the development of the ghazal, hitherto little used in India, is particularly significant.[5]
Amīr Khusrow was born in Patiali near Etah in northern India. His father, Amīr Sayf ud-Dīn Mahmūd, was a Persian officer from Balkh, in northern Afghanistan.[5][6][7] His mother was a native of India and belonged to the Rajput tribes of Uttar Pradesh.[7][8]
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[edit] Major life events in chronological order
- 1253 Khusro was born in Patiali near Etah in what is today the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India. His father Amir Saifuddin came from Balkh in modern day Afghanistan and his mother hailed from Delhi.
- 1260 After the death of his father, Khusro went to Delhi with his mother.
- 1271 Khusro compiled his first divan of poetry, "Tuhfatus-Sighr".
- 1272 Khusro got his first job as court poet with King Balban's nephew Malik Chhajju.
- 1276 Khusro started working as a poet with Bughra Khan (Balban's son).
- 1279 While writing his second divan, Wastul-Hayat, Khusrau visited Bengal.
- 1281 Employed by Sultan Mohammad (Balban's second son) and went to Multan with him.
- 1285 Khusro participated as a soldier in the war against the invading Mongols. He was taken prisoner, but escaped.
- 1287 Khusro went to Awadh with Ameer Ali Hatim (another patron).
- 1288 His first mathnavi, "Qiranus-Sa'dain" was completed.
- 1290 When Jalal ud din Firuz Khilji came to power, Khusro's second mathnavi, "Miftahul Futooh" was ready.
- 1294 His third divan "Ghurratul-Kamal" was complete.
- 1295 Ala ud din Khilji (sometimes spelled "Khalji") came to power and invaded Devagiri and Gujarat.
- 1298 Khusro completed his "Khamsa-e-Nizami".
- 1301 Khilji attacked Ranthambhor, Chittor, Malwa and other places, and Khusro remained with the king in order to write chronicles.
- 1310 Khusro became close to Nizamuddin Auliya, and completed Khazain-ul-Futuh.
- 1315 Alauddin Khilji died. Khusro completed the mathnavi "Duval Rani-Khizr Khan" (a romantic poem).
- 1316 Qutb ud din Mubarak Shah became the king, and the fourth historical mathnavi "Noh-Sepehr" was completed.
- 1321 Mubarak Khilji (sometimes spelled "Mubarak Khalji") was murdered and Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq came to power. Khusro started to write the Tughluqnama.
- 1325 Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq came to power. Nizamuddin Auliya died, and six months later so did Khusro. Khusro's tomb is next to that of his master in the Nizamuddin Dargah of Delhi.
[edit] Khusro the Royal poet
Khusro was a prolific classical poet associated with the royal courts of more than eleven rulers of the Delhi Sultanate. He is popular in much of North India and Pakistan, because of many playful riddles, songs and legends attributed to him. Through his enormous literary output and the legendary folk personality, Khusro represents one of the first (recorded) Indian personages with a true multi-cultural or pluralistic identity.he khown as tut-e-hind means parote of india
He wrote in both Persian and Hindustani. He also spoke Arabic and Sanskrit.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15] His poetry is still sung today at Sufi shrines throughout Pakistan and India.
Amir Khusro was the author of a Khamsa which emulated that of the earlier Persian-language poet Nizami Ganjavi. His work was considered to be one of the great classics of Persian poetry during the Timurid period in Transoxiana.
[edit] Amir Khusro and the origins of the Sitar and the Tabla
Amir Khusro is credited with fashioning the tabla as a split version of the traditional Indian drum, the pakhawaj.
Popular lore also credits him with inventing the sitar, the Indian grand lute, but it is more likely that the Amir Khusro associated with the sitar lived in the 18th century (he is said to be a descendant of the son-in-law of Tansen, the celebrated classical singer in the court of the Mughal Emperor Akbar). Even this 18th century Amir Khusro probably made significant contributions to the sitar, but did not invent it. See Origin Of Sitar and About Sitars.
[edit] Some samples of Khusro's poetry
[edit] Persian couplets
اگر فردوس بر روی زمین است
همین است و همین است و همین است
Agar firdaus bar roo-e zameen ast,
Hameen ast-o hameen ast-o hameen ast.
If there is any paradise on the face of the earth,
It is this, it is this, it is this
[edit] Persian poems
کافر عشقم، مسلمانی مرا در کار نیست
هر رگ من تار گشته، حاجت زُنار نیست
از سر بالین من برخیز ای نادان طبیب
دردمند عشق را دارو به جز دیدار نیست
ناخدا بر کشتی ما گر نباشد، گو مباش!
ما خدا داریم ما ناخدا در کار نیست
خلق می‌گوید که خسرو بت‌پرستی می‌کند
آری! آری! می‌کنم! با خلق ما را کار نیست
Kafir-e-ishqam musalmani mara darkaar neest
Har rag-e mun taar gashta hajat-e zunnaar neest;
Az sar-e baaleen-e mun bar khez ay naadaan tabeeb
Dard mand-e ishq ra daroo bajuz deedaar neest;
Nakhuda dar kashti-e maa gar nabashad goo mubaash
Ma khuda daareem mara nakhuda dar kaar neest;
Khalq migoyad, ki Khusrau butparasti mikunad
Aare-aare mikunam, ba khalq mara kaar neest.
I am a pagan (worshiper) of love: the creed (of Muslims) I do not need;
Every vein of mine has become (taut like a) wire; the (Hindu) girdle I do not need.
Leave from my bedside, you ignorant physician!
The only cure for the patient of love is the sight of his beloved –
other than this no medicine does he need.
If there be no pilot on our ship, let there be none:
We have God in our midst: the pilot we do not need.
The people of the world say that Khusrau worships idols.
So I do, so I do; the people I do not need,
the world I do not need.
[edit] Hindavi couplets
ख़ुसरो दरिया प्रेम का, उलटी वा की धार,
जो उतरा सो डूब गया, जो डूबा सो पार.
Khusro dariya prem ka, ulṭī vā kī dhār,
Jo utrā so ḍūb gayā, jo ḍūbā so pār.
Khusro! the river of love has a reverse flow
He who enters will drown, he who drowns will get across.
सेज वो सूनी देख के रोवुँ मैं दिन रैन,
पिया पिया मैं करत हूँ पहरों, पल भर सुख ना चैन.
Sej vo sūnī dekh ke rovun main din rain,
Piyā piyā main karat hūn pahron, pal bhar sukh nā chain.
Seeing the empty bed I cry night and day
Calling for my beloved all day, not a moment's happiness or rest.
[edit] Hindavi poems
छाप तिलक सब छीनी रे मोसे नैना मिलाइके
प्रेम भटी का मदवा पिलाइके
मतवारी कर लीन्ही रे मोसे नैना मिलाइके
गोरी गोरी बईयाँ, हरी हरी चूड़ियाँ
बईयाँ पकड़ धर लीन्ही रे मोसे नैना मिलाइके
बल बल जाऊं मैं तोरे रंग रजवा
अपनी सी रंग दीन्ही रे मोसे नैना मिलाइके
खुसरो निजाम के बल बल जाए
मोहे सुहागन कीन्ही रे मोसे नैना मिलाइके
छाप तिलक सब छीनी रे मोसे नैना मिलाइके
Chhāp tilak sab chīnī re mose nainā milāike
Bāt atham keh dīnī re mose nainā milāike
Prem bhaṭī kā madvā pilāike
Matvālī kar līnhī re mose nainā milāike
Gorī gorī baīyān, harī harī chuṛiyān
baīyān pakaṛ dhar līnhī re mose nainā milāike
Bal bal jāūn main tore rang rajvā
Apnī sī kar līnhī re mose nainā milāike
Khusro Nijām ke bal bal jaiye
Mohe suhāgan kīnhī re mose nainā milāike
Bāt atham keh dīnī re mose nainā milāike
You've taken away my looks, my identity, by just a glance.
By making me drink the wine from the distillery of love
You've intoxicated me by just a glance;
My fair, delicate wrists with green bangles in them,
Have been held tightly by you with just a glance.
I give my life to you, Oh my cloth-dyer,
You've dyed me in yourself, by just a glance.
I give my whole life to you Oh, Nijam,
You've made me your bride, by just a glance.
[edit] Hindavi riddles
1. Nar naari kehlaati hai,
aur bin warsha jal jati hai;
Purkh say aaway purkh mein jaai,
na di kisi nay boojh bataai.
Is known by both masculine and feminine names,
And lightens up (or burns up) without rain;
Originates from a man and goes into a man,
But no one has been able to guess what it is.
2. Pawan chalat weh dehe badhavay
Jal peevat weh jeev ganvavay
Hai weh piyari sundar naar,
Naar nahin par hai weh naar.
With the blow of wind she flares up,
And dies as soon as she drinks water;
Even though she is a pretty woman,
She’s not a woman, though she’s feminine.
[edit] Answers
1. Nadi (Stream) 2. Aag (Fire)
[edit] Unique Multi-lingual Poem
Zeehaal-e miskeen makun taghaful,
duraye naina banaye batiyan;
ki taab-e hijran nadaram ay jaan,
na leho kaahe lagaye chhatiyan.
Shaban-e hijran daraz chun zulf
wa roz-e waslat cho umr kotah;
Sakhi piya ko jo main na dekhun
to kaise kaatun andheri ratiyan.
Yakayak az dil do chashm-e jadoo
basad farebam baburd taskin;
Kise pari hai jo jaa sunaave
piyare pi ko hamaari batiyan.
Cho shama sozan cho zarra hairan
hamesha giryan be ishq aan meh;
Na neend naina na ang chaina
Na aap aaven na bhejen patiyan.
Bahaqq-e roz-e wisal-e dilbar
ki daad mara ghareeb Khusrau;
Sapet man ke waraaye raakhun
jo jaaye paaon piya ke khatiyan.
NOTES
The phrase "Zeehaal-e-miskeen" comes from a poem of Amir Khusrau. The unique thing about this poem is that it is a macaronic, written in Persian and Brij Bhasha. In the first verse, the first line is in Persian, the second in Brij Bhasha, the third in Persian again, and the fourth in Brij Bhasha. In the remaining verses, the first two lines are in Persian, the last two in Brij Bhasha. The poem showcases Amir Khusrau's mastery over both languages. The English translation is:
Do not overlook my misery by blandishing your eyes,
and weaving tales; My patience has over-brimmed,
O sweetheart, why do you not take me to your bosom.
Long like curls in the night of separation,
short like life on the day of our union;
My dear, how will I pass the dark dungeon night
without your face before.
Suddenly, using a thousand tricks, the enchanting eyes robbed me
of my tranquil mind;
Who would care to go and report this matter to my darling?
Tossed and bewildered, like a flickering candle,
I roam about in the fire of love;
Sleepless eyes, restless body,
neither comes she, nor any message.
In honour of the day I meet my beloved
who has lured me so long, O Khusrau;
I shall keep my heart suppressed,
if ever I get a chance to get to her trick.
[edit] Works
- Tuhfa-tus-Sighr (Offering of a Minor) his first divan, contains poems composed between the age of 16 and 19
- Wastul-Hayat (The Middle of Life) his second divan, contains poems composed at the peak of his poetic career
- Ghurratul-Kamaal (The Prime of Perfection) poems composed between the age of 34 and 43
- Baqia-Naqia (The Rest/The Miscellany) compiled at the age of 64
- Qissa Chahar Darvesh The Tale of the Four Dervishes
- Nihayatul-Kamaal (The Height of Wonders) compiled probably a few weeks before his death.
- Qiran-us-Sa’dain (Meeting of the Two Auspicious Stars) Mathnavi about the historic meeting of Bughra Khan and his son Kyqbad after long enmity
- Miftah-ul-Futooh (Key to the Victories) in praise of the victories of Jalauddin Khalaji
- Ishqia/Mathnavi Duval Rani-Khizr Khan (Romance of Duval Rani and Khizr Khan) a tragic love poem about Gujarat’s princess Duval and Alauddin’s son Khizr.
- Noh Sepehr Mathnavi. (Mathnavi of the Nine Skies) Khusrau’s perceptions of India and its culture
- Tughlaq Nama (Book of the Tughlaqs) in prose
- Khamsa-e-Nizami (Khamsa-e-Khusrau) five classical romances: Hasht-Bahisht, Matlaul-Anwar, Sheerin-Khusrau, Majnun-Laila and Aaina-Sikandari
- Ejaaz-e-Khusrovi (The Miracles of Khusrau) an assortment of prose compiled by himself
- Khazain-ul-Futooh (The Treasures of Victories) one of his more controversial books, in prose
- Afzal-ul-Fawaid utterances of Nizamuddin Auliya
- Ḳhāliq Bārī a versified glossary of Persian, Arabic, and Hindawi words and phrases attributed to Amir Khusrau, but most probably written in 1622 in Gwalior by Ẓiyā ud-Dīn Ḳhusrau
- Jawahar-e- Khusrovi often dubbed as the Hindawi divan of Khusrau
- Laila Majnu
- Ayina-i-Sikandari
- Mulla-ul-Anwar
- Shrin-wa-Khusrau
[edit] References used
- E.G. Browne. Literary History of Persia. (Four volumes, 2,256 pages, and twenty-five years in the writing). 1998. ISBN 0-7007-0406-X
- Jan Rypka, History of Iranian Literature. Reidel Publishing Company. ASIN B-000-6BXVT-K
- Shīrānī, Ḥāfiż Mahmūd. “Dībācha-ye duvum [Second Preface].” In Ḥifż ’al-Lisān (a.k.a. Ḳhāliq Bārī), edited by Ḥāfiż Mahmūd Shīrānī. Delhi: Anjumman-e Taraqqi-e Urdū, 1944.
[edit] Bibliography
- ^ Latif, Syed Abdul [1958] (1979). An Outline of the Cultural History of India. Institute of Indo-Middle East Cultural Studies (reprinted by Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers), 334. ISBN 8170690854.
- ^ Regula Burckhardt Qureshi, Harold S. Powers. Sufi Music of India and Pakistan. Sound, Context and Meaning in Qawwali. Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 109, No. 4 (Oct. - Dec., 1989), pp. 702-705. doi:10.2307/604123.
- ^ Massey, Reginald. India's Dances. Abhinav Publications, 13. ISBN 8170174341.
- ^ Peyman Nasehpour, Encyclopedia of Persian Percussion Instruments, 2002, retrieved 5 April 2007
- ^ a b A. Schimmel, "Amīr Koṣrow Dehlawī", in Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition, 2007, (LINK)
- ^ "Амир Хосров Дехлеви", Great Soviet Encyclopedia, Moscow, 1970
- ^ a b Dr. Iraj Bashiri. "Amir Khusrau Dihlavi". 2001
- ^ Islamic Culture, by the Islamic Cultural Board, Muhammad Asad, Academic and Cultural Publications Charitable Trust (Hyderabad, India), Marmaduke William Pickthall, 1927, p. 219
- ^ Mohammad Habib. Hazrat Amir Khusrau of Delhi, 1979, p. 4
- ^ Islamic Cultural Board. Islamic Culture, 1927, p. 219
- ^ Amir Khusrau: Memorial Volume, by Amir Khusraw Dihlavi, 1975, p. 98
- ^ Amir Khusrau: Memorial Volume, by Amir Khusraw Dihlavi, 1975, p. 1
- ^ G. N. Devy. Indian Literary Criticism: Theory and Interpretation, Orient Longman, Published 2002
- ^ Dr. Iraj Bashiri. "Amir Khusrau Dihlavi". 2001
- ^ Amir Khusrau: Memorial Volume, by Amir Khusraw Dihlavi, 1975, p. 1
[edit] External links
[edit] See also
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