Modern History in Urdu Literature

 Modern history in Urdu literature (novels)

Literature has always been a mirror of life and modern issues, even if it is a symbolic color. In the novel, the tendency to present and preserve contemporary society and history is found in every major language.

Similarly, there are impressions of modern history in Urdu novels.

The failure of 1857 took Indian society out of the world of dreams and put into real worldliness.

This tendency towards realism has replaced ghazals in poetry with Nazm and prose with novels.

According to Dr. Arif,

"The attitude of the people as a whole was becoming realistic, so the stories of dreams and ideas could not satisfy them, so the realism of the novel was acceptable".

The Urdu novel begins with Nazir Ahmad's novel "Marat al-Aroos(Mirror of Paradize)".Nazir Ahmad presented his contemporary issues in all the novels, but the two novels "Ayamah" and "Ibn al-Waqt(Son of Time)" are very thematic and prominent. The novel "Ayamah" presents a major social problem of the Muslims of this age, also hightights the connection between conservatism and modernism, and discusses the mental and domestic problems of Muslim educated women.

Similarly, the novel Ibn al-Waqt is a historical document in the background of 1857. Ibn al-Waqt is a character who represents hundreds of characters in India.

Dr. Muhammad Afzal writes in his article about the way Nazir Ahmad has made his society the main  subject of his novels.

According to Dr. Afzal,

"In Nazir Ahmad's time, expediency, coercion and hypocrisy were common. He wanted the moral, political and social reform of Muslims. He limited the canvas of the novel to the domestic and collective life of Muslims"

In Nazir Ahmed's novel, modern history and society are felt in full color."Tawbat al-Nusuh(pardon of Nasuh)" is prominent in Nazir Ahmad's novels which reflect his era and society.

Ratan Nath Sarshar has summed up the history of his era in his novel "Fasana Azad(Fiction Free)  in a slightly different color. He has shown the streets and bazaars of Lucknow on the move.

Sarshar's other novels "Jam Sarshar(Dedicted Jam)" and  "Sair e Kohsar(visit to mountain)" also represent their origins.

Some critics have raised objections to the overall atmosphere of Fasana Azad, but the fact is that as long as civilization and culture were being preserved.

In the last decades of the 19th century, Urdu novels gained momentum.

Abdul Haleem Scherer is one of the leading novelists of this period. His novels do not contain any references to modern history. However, in some of his novels he is seen talking about contemporary issues.

After this Shaz Azeem Abadi,Rashid Al Khairi Mirza Abbas are prominent.

In the late nineteenth century, prostitution-related cultural activities flourished in the Indian landscape.

Mirza Hadi Raswa made the historical highlights of his era, the subject of most of his novels was society and its social issues.

From the beginning of the twentieth century, the landscape of India has changed. Cultural and political changes were taking place in India. As time went by, political and cultural activities were increasing. This reaction directly affected literature.The Urdu novel kept a close eye on the whole scenario, especially the political and social history and important events.

Prem Chand is the greatest novelist of this era. Prem Chand is recognized as a social realist.

Pem chand completed his novel "Gosha e Afiyat(Corner of peace)" in 1920.

In this novel, the growing class affiliation of Indian society and the awareness of its basic problems and its fundamental issues give a new look to the art of the novel.

In Sajjad Zaheer's novel "London One Night", the situation is noticeable where other issues are being discussed in a group of different people.

Ismat Chughtai's novel "Ziddi(stubborn)"  also reveal the modern situation of his society, although it describes the inner and outer events of the individual, but it also highlights the aspect of conflict between the individual and society. Ismat Chughtai's second novel "The Crooked Line" is prominent in the Urdu novel tradition of women's issues in Indian society.Symbolically, Ismat Chughtai showed the inner state of the Indian people and this is the social history that is difficult for any historian to find.

Krishn Chandr's main identity is fiction, but in some of his novels, modern history emerges. In his novel "defeat" the details of the conspiracies behind the Hindu-Muslim riots are given in some detail.

Aziz Ahmed has a variety of themes in his novels. There are many modern references in his novel "Such Heights and Such Depths"

About Aziz Ahmed, Dr. Usman writes that,

  "The political, social and economic situation is important in its place and also acknowledges that it gives some serious meaning to Aziz Ahmed's novels but a great novel is not made because it Even on the most serious occasion, he does not just look at the emotions and revolves around them"

Mumtaz Mufti's first novel, "Alipur's Ellie', is an excellent essay. It contains the earliest scenes of the 1947 partition and migration from the beginning of the twentieth century.

This novel contains the highlights of the era. The real subject is the biography of a character. We cannot directly make modern history the subject, but in the background of the biography of the main character, modern history seems to be moving.

Fazal Karim Fazli is a novelist who has portrayed modern society and history in his stories in a brilliant way.

Ibrahim Jalis is one of those who wrote after the partition of India. His novel "Chor Bazaar(Thief market)" has progressive tendencies.There is no hero or heroine in this novel but it is about the educated unemployed youth who are humiliating the new and conscious generation by the oppression of life. This novel is the white paper of the society of this era.

The above discussion proves that the impressions of our modern history are clearly found in the Urdu novel.