An Inroduction to Urdu


Urdu is an Indo-European language just like English. It is a descendant of Sanskrit just like all other North Indian languages, although it has a Semitic script.

Its edifice is built on the foundations of the Hindi dialect of the Delhi area (khari boli) with a super-structure of Persian.

As the Persian language itself is largely influenced by Arabic, Urdu can be rightly regarded as a synthesis of Hindi, Persian and Arabic. The script has been adopted from Persian (with a few local additions to represent sounds not found in Persian). It is interesting to note that Persian, also an Indo-European language, had gone through the same process in adopting the Arabic script, so that the Arabic, Persian and Urdu alphabets have 28, 32 and 36 letters respectively.

Furthermore Urdu contains words from Turkish, English, Portuguese and several other Indian and foreign languages. The word 'urdu' is Turkish and means a camp (the same root as the English word 'horde'), which points to the origins of the language.

Urdu originally developed as a lingua franca in the Mughal army camps around Delhi. The local vernacular was Hindi, the official language of the administration was Persian and the army consisted of people of many different nationalities. Hence the development of a lingua franca like Urdu was a natural process.

Urdu, as a literary medium, was first employed in the Deccan, at the courts of Bijapur and Golconda. Later on this tradition reached the Mughal court at Delhi and it was here that Urdu poetry blossomed prodigiously . The Golden Age of Urdu poetry was during the peroid of the last Mughal emperors. The very last Mughal king, Bahadur Shah Zafar, was himself an Urdu poet and Mirza Ghalib, the Shakespeare of Urdu literature, was one of his court poets.

But how could a vernacular lingua franca develop into a rich literary language and over so short a period ?

Herein lies the wonder of Urdu ! This synthesis of languages, which Urdu basically is, turned out to be a perfect concoction, a 'magic formula' ! It proved to be a language of grace and beauty, a perfect medium for poetical expression ! It is also unique in its potential for polite, elegant and cultured diction (e.g. as it is spoken in Lucknow) !

The magic spell of Urdu poetry is evident even to this day. Its popularity is amazing. It captures the hearts of all sorts of people, even those who do not master its script or those who only understand it partially. Which other language in the world can make similar claims ? Indeed Urdu is a uniquely wonderful language !!!


T. S. Kalsi
kalsi@post4.tele.dk
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Copyright © 1995, T. S. Kalsi, Last Updated - 04-04-99 10:23:57