Mushaira - History Article
Mushaira: A History of thunderous and traditional Waah-Waahs
Vishakha Goyal
November 11, 2020
5 min.
Jo tufanon mein palte ja rahe hain
Wahi duniya badalte ja rahe hain
Those who can survive and grow in the storms
Are the ones changing the world and its norms
This couplet by Jigar Moradabadi can very well be applied to the
functionality of those poetic spaces, popularly known as Mushairas, which
are not just sustaining themselves amidst the strife but are also sites of
literary, political and social discourse in the contemporary times.
Mushaira (mehfil or bazm) is a gathering of the poets who write, recite and
listen to poetry of one another written in Urdu language, with a
participative and responsive audience. It is not a contest which has a
winner in the end, but the poets simply read out their self-composed poems
in their patented and individual styles, crafted in accordance with a
specific metrical pattern and carrying a certain loftiness of thought.
Dating its evolution, Amir Khusro in the foreword to his Ghurrat-ul-Kamaal
describes a Mushaira attended by princes and other eminent personalities of
the city. The Mughal king Babar in his Babarnama describes a sitting where
a Persian poet was quoted during the course of the conversation who then
asked his courtiers to compose poetry on the spot adhering to the same
pattern. These poetic symposia came to be known as Mushairas in the 18th
century before which they were called Murekhta or Majlis-e-Rekhta performed
in the Rekhta language, an early form of Urdu language, literally meaning
‘scattered’ or ‘mixed’ because it contained Persian.
The onset of Indian Urdu Mushairas, called Shahi Mushairas, thus in a way
began with the transitional gatherings by Mir Taqi Mir and Khwaja Mir Dard
in Delhi under the reign of Muhammad Shah ‘Rangeela’ from 1719-48. The
style and craft of recitals, the well-defined and intricate decorum, the
sanctity and seriousness of the language, were maintained, negligence of
which was equivalent to sacrilege. Ali Jawad Zaidi in his book
Tarikh-e-Mushaira wrote that Urdu Mushaa’ira had become so popular in Delhi
that Lal Qila, or the Red Fort became a venue for such events. Shah Alam
Sani, one of the successors to Aurangzeb Alamgir, was the first to hold an
Urdu Mushaira there. The trend caught on and the courtiers and nobles
followed suit. The public, too, began holding Mushairas. Sirajuddin Khan
Ali Aarzoo, the anti-Persian activist, pro-Urdu revolutionary, hosted a
Mushaira every month to promote Urdu.
Tarhii Mushairas were held in the courts of Oudh and Delhi. The general
procedure was to send an invitation and announce at the same time a
Misra-i-tarah, a half-verse to show the metre and rhyme in which the Ghazal
was to be composed. When the poets had assembled, a candle was passed
around. It was placed before the poet who was to recite his poem.
Much importance was attached to the order in which the poets were requested
to recite, the well-known beginner coming first, those with established
reputations coming later. And often, unpleasantness was caused by a poet
being asked to recite too soon or before another poet whom he considered
his inferior. As a result, Mushairas sometimes led to bitterness and
conflict.
From 1837 onwards, when Urdu replaced Persian as the court language in
upper India, it gained currency which kept this oral tradition alive. A
culture was built around taking lessons in poetry writing; it even became
fashionable for royalty to learn Urdu shaayari and an Ustaad-shaagird
culture was accorded grave importance and reverence. Bahadur Shah Zafar,
the last Mughal Emperor of India was an accomplished poet in his own right
who brought alive the Mushaa’iras in his Darbar which ushered in the age of
legends such as Mirza Ghalib, Momin Khan Momin and Ibrahim Zauq. From
writing and then reciting the Ghazals in an uncompromising metrical pattern
or tarah, to the grave mazmuun or themes of poetry which are treated
condescendingly if frivolous, merge to take the shape of the literary genre
of Urdu poetry which then immortalizes after its oral representation in a
Mushaa’ira. The shu’aara and the saam’iin i.e. the poets and the audience
together manifest the Mushairas. Dalrymple qualifies the listeners or
saam’aiin as “an audience of connoisseurs” which gradually, became
variegated when Mushairas started taking place in the bazaars, community
centres, universities and academies, but they remained involved and engaged
in the poetry just as much.
After suppressing the mutiny of 1857, the last Mughal king, Bahadur Shah
Zafar was exiled to Burma and India was annexed to the British Empire in
1858. The newly founded British India found itself amidst a linguistic
battle between Hindi and Urdu which sowed the seeds of Muslim Nationalism
whence forth Conferences, Organizations and Societies serving Urdu under
the aegis of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Altaf Hussain Hali, Shibli, Nazir Ahmad,
Zakaullah, Enayatullah, Wahiuddin Salim and others, multiplied and later
took the shape of All-India Muhammaden Educational Conference (1886) and
All-India Muslim League (1906) and revived the cultural art form of
Mushaa’iras with alterations and altercations. The gatherings became common
(Avaamii) and cultural in style. “The Urdu language then developed and the
Mushaa’ira became a popular feature of social life.
Mushairas became much more democratic because a literary medium had been
discovered which stimulated a far larger number of people to exercise their
minds in the composition and appreciation of poetry. The style of the
Qasidah fell into the background, the Ghazal, with its opportunities for
terse, epigrammatic expression, came to the forefront.”
Founded in 1936, the Progressive Writers Movement, anti-imperialistic and
left-oriented, under the leadership of Syed Sajjad Zahir and Ahmad Ali in
association with famous Urdu writers and poets like Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Hameed
Ali, Saadat Hasan Manto, Kaifi Azmi, Ahmad Faraz, Firaq Gorukhpuri, Sahir
Ludhianvi and several others, sought to create a climate of equality and
nationalism, breathing liberation and democracy in their works. Prominent
women writers like Ismat Chughtai, Amrita Pritam made it the strongest
literary movement of undivided India. These groups organized Mushairas in
their homes, coffee and tea houses which reson
th the “progressive” poetry recitals and played a magnificent role in
creating an atmosphere of unity enriched by academic, aesthetic and
creative talent.
Maqsadi Mushairas as they are called, they became purposive in nature which
gave socio-political impetus to this oral literary and cultural art. Poetry
and music have always played an extensively important role in forming the
psychological make-up of the society. These poets and mushaa’irists not
only inspired but also struck a chord with the popular masses that enabled
people to form connection with their verses and performance. From Faiz
Ahmed Faiz, Sahir Ludhianavi, Ahmed Nadeem, Jaan Nisar Akhtar, Habib Jalib,
Amrita Pritam, Parveen Shakir and later Kaifi Azmi, Ahmed Faraz, Firaq
Gorakhpuri to very recently Bashir Badr, Waseem Barelvi, Rahat Indori,
Javed Akhtar, Munnawar Rana, Farhat Ehsaas, Nida Fazli et cetera continue
to hold aloft the banner of purposive art and poetry.
With August 1947, came the hour of Independence but there came with it the
distressing separation of not only two political parties and religions, but
also two cultures and languages. Urdu and Hindi became the official
languages of Pakistan and India respectively. Hindi and English became the
official languages in India while Urdu became the scheduled language. But
it is very deeply felt and recognized that, “Rozi roti toh beshaq di Hindi
aur Angrezi ne, par jeene ke aadaab humein Urdu se aaye” (Our livelihood
might depend on Hindi and English, but Urdu has taught us to be cultured)
and the Mushairas then assisted in keeping the poetry and the Urdu language
alive. Indo-Pak Mushairas by The Chelmsford Club in the 1950’s and 60’s
revived the love for Ghazal and poetry recitals and there was a tone of
nostalgia attached to it which can be felt in this couplet by Faiz:
Saba Phir Humain Puuchti Phir Rahi Hai
Chaman Ko Sajane Ke Din Aa Rahe Hain
The whizzing breeze is trying to ask
If the days to decorate the garden are here
Soon after, “the Mushaira—public yet intimate—encountered the mass media.
While the Red Fort revived its historic links on behalf of the modern
Indian state—hosting poets from all over the country on Republic Day—radio
and television became the new vehicles for taking the legacy of the
Mushaa’ira to people across the country. And over the years, many private
organisations have stepped in to provide a new platform for this symbol of
our syncretic culture.” Mushairas have come to serve as a cultural trope
which exhibits the dynamics of the language, people, attitudes and the
topical predilections.
Mushairas are unequivocally performative, but having said that, the merit
of Mushaa’iras equally lies in the literariness of their content and
erudition of its performers. “Urdu poetic tradition can be described in
just in one word––colossal– in every respect: range, volume and music
worthiness. From the 19th and into the 20th century, poetry had focused not
only on “ghazalesque” themes of love and longing, but also other themes as
well, the politics of mutiny, nationalism, tension between modernism and
orthodoxy which consequently altered the outlook of Mushairas such that
they turned propagandist in nature and socio-political in theme.”
On being asked about the changing nature of Mushairas, Munnawar Rana, an
Indian Urdu poet commented in 2015, “Mushaire nahin badle, shaair badal
gae, shayari badal gai” (Mushairas have not changed, poets and poetry have
changed). They have always been a site of literary discussion, a platform
for appreciation of poetry, a commentary on conventions and a medium of
expression of multif