Mazar-e-Shura

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mazar e Shura lit The Cemetery of Poets is the name given to a cemetery situated on a small hill alongside the main

road in the locality of Dalgate in Srinagar Kashmir. In the reign of the Moghul emperor Akbar it was constructed as a cemetery for eminent poets considering its scenic situation on the banks of the Dal lake. Five eminent poets ,all natives of Iran who emigrated to India and were associated with the court of Mughal emperors are buried here. At present only three tombstones are visible in this cemetery as the place is neglected, overrun by weeds and littered with rubbish. From historical records it transpires that the following eminent poets and men of letters are buried in this graveyard. One of the tombstones bears an inscription which is only partially legible

1. Shah Abul Fatah: He was a native of Iran who came to India and became a courtier of Akbar. He came to Kashmir along with Akbar in 1587 AD (995 Hijri) where he suddenly fell ill and died .The poet Urfi has eulogised him in a poem. He was the first person to be buried in this cemetery.

2.Haji Jan Mohammed Qudsi : He was a native of the city Mashad of Iran. He came to India and joined the court of the Mughal emperor Shah e Jehan where he rose to become MulkushShura or poet laureate. It is said that Shah e Jehan had him weighed in gold which was presented to him as a reward for his poetic excellence. When his son Mohammed Baqir died in the prime of his youth in Mashad he was heartbroken and decided not to go back to his native land but remain in India. Later he came to Kashmir and settled permanently here. He was a great admirer of Ghani Kashmiri and the admiration was mutual. An anecdote recounts that once one of his couplets was re worded by a school boy as he was reciting it in front of that boy’s teacher. Qudsi cheerfully accepted the correction and appreciated the boys wit. After his death he was buried in Mazar e Shura.

3.Abu Talib Kaleem: He was a native of the city of Hamadan in Iran. It is said that when he heard about Qudsi’s reception at the court of Shah e Jehan he too came to India and became a courtier of the Mughal Emperor. He soon attained fame as a poet. The great Urdu poets Sauda and Mir Taqi Mir have written Tazmeens ( Poems formed by inserting verses from another’s poem) of his Ghazals. He was assigned the task of writing a history of the Mughals in poetic form and sent to Kashmir so that he could do his work undisturbed. He too like Qudsi was a great admirer and friend of Ghani Kashmiri who wrote an elegy on his death (in 1650 A.D) in which he also remembered Qudsi and Saleem as great and noble poets saying that it was the love of Qudsi and Saleem which prevailed upon Kaleem so that he left this world and joined them in the cemetery.

4.Mohammed Quli Saleem: He was a native of Iran who came to India in the reign of Shah e Jehan .He joined the court of Shah e Jehan’s prime minister Nawab Islam Khan.He was accused by the Iranian poet Saib of plagiarising his poetry. He came along with some Omrahs to Kashmir where he fell ill and died and was buried in the Mazar e Shura.

5.Tughra Mashhadi: As the name indicates he was a native of Mashhad in Iran. He was an accomplished poet but had the bad habit of satirizing his contemporary poets including Qudsi and Ghani. He is the only person against whom Ghani has written harsh words. The reason for Ghani’s displeasure was the use of abusive language by Tughra while satirising him. Tughra came to Kashmir along with Mirza Abul Qasim (who is also buried in the cemetery). It is said in later life he became demented and lived like a madman in a shop in Nayidyar in Rainawari a well known district of Srinagar. After his death he was buried in Mazar e Shura.

[edit] References

1.Waqiat e Kashmir by Didmari(1691-1765A.D)

2.Ghani Kashmiri by Dr.Riyaz Ahmed Sherwani (Doctoral thesis of the author submitted to Tehran University and subsequently published in book form by J & K Cultural Academy in 1972.

3.Kashir Encyclopaedia(Kashmiri) translated from Kashmiri into Urdu and quoted in Sheeraza(J & K Cultural Academy) vol 35 ,No 11-12 1991

4.Kuliyat e Sauda Edited by Dr.Mohammed Hassan New Delhi 1996

5. Kuliyat e Mir edited by Abdul Bari Aasi New Delhi 1940

6.Deewan e Ghani Edited by Ali Jowad Zaidi Reprinted Srinagar 1984

7.Ghani Kashmiri By Neelofar Naaz Nehvi Srinagar 2002

Post Script by(taffazull@yahoo.com)

My elder brother Syed Tajjamull Hussain recounts that once as a young boy he was walking with our father Syed Nazir Ahmed Shah when a dignified gentleman in traditional old fashioned Kashmiri dress descended from the Mazar e Shura and warmly greeted our father and shook hands with him. Sometimes later my brother asked our father as to who was the gentleman who had greeted him. He replied “Do you not know that he is the famous Kashmiri poet Mehjoor who had come to the Mazar e Shura to offer Fateha(Prayers) for the great poets buried there