Indo Aryan literature

Punjabi literature

Punjabi is a language with several shades. It is being written in two scripts, Gurmukhi and Persian. The Gurmukhi script till the end of the nineteenth century was almost limited to the Adi Granth, the holy book of the Sikhs. Only a small number of people tried to learn the script except the granthis, who recited the holy Granth in the gurdwaras. However, the language did not lack literature.

Guru Nanak was the first poet in Punjabi. Some other contemporary poets, mostly Sufi saints, used to sing in this language. These Sufis or their followers used the Persian script if they wanted to commit their poetry to writing. In this list, the first name is that of Farid. His poetry has found a place in the Adi Granth. The Adi Granth also contains poetry of the next four gurus.

All this literature belongs to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Amongst the later gurus, the poetry of the ninth guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur has also contributed to the Adi Granth. Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth guru, was educated in Patna (Bihar), where he learnt Persian and Sanskrit. He has composed two savaiyyas in Punjabi but these are not a part of the Adi Granth.

But it was the love stories of Heer and Ranjha, Sasi and Punnu and Sohni and Mahiwal, which gave this language its theme in the early days. Even the story of Puran Bhagat found favour with some poets. Beautiful poems written by some known and some unknown poets have come down to us. These are being sung by local singers for the last two or three hundred years.

There are several other poetic stories which have been composed by the locals. This folklore has been preserved. The most important of these is Heer of Waris Shah. It is the most popular of the early works. It is a landmark in Punjabi poetry. Similar is the popularity of Bulley Shah who was a Sufi saint. He has left a large number of songs. One of his popular forms of compositions was called kafi; it was sung in a classical musical form. Kafis are sung by people with great fervour.

In the twentieth century, Punjabi had come into its own. Bhai Vir Singh composed an epic, named Rana Surat Singh. Puran Singh and Dr. Mohan Singh are among the best known writers. Essays, short stories, poetry, novels, criticism and all other forms of writing have adorned the Punjabi literary scene.

Rajasthani, a dialect of Hindi, had its own part to play. The bards (itinerant singers) moved from place to place, providing entertainment and keeping the stories of heroes alive. It was from these ballads that Colonel Todd collected the heroic stories of Rajasthan and put them in the Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan.

But the devotional songs of Mira Bai have a place of pride in the history of language as well as devotional music. Mira Bai’s love for her lord (Lord Krishna) is sometimes so intense that it transcends this mundane world and transports one to the land of this singer.

Gujarati literature

Early Gujarati literature is available in the form of Bhakti songs of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It still follows the old tradition which is popular in Gujarat. Narsi Mehta’s name is the foremost in this respect. The people of Gujarat wove these devotional songs in their folk dances and their religious forms often find expressions in their celebrations.

Narmad’s poetry gave a fillip to the Gujarati literature. Saraswati Chandra, a novel by Govardhan Ram, has become a classic and has given great impetus to other writers. But probably a name that cannot be forgotten is that of Dr. K.M. Munshi. He was a novelist, an essayist and a historian, and has left a plethora of historical novels.

In these books he exhibits his ability to mix fact with fiction. Prithvi Vallabha is one of his finest novels. A special mention must be made of Narsi Mehta whose songs in praise of Krishna not only made him a very popular figure but also made Gujarati language popular.

Sindhi literature

Sindh was one of the important centres of Sufis, who established khanqahs at various places. The Sufi singers with their devotional music made the language popular. The credit for creating literature in Sindhi goes to Mirza Kalish Beg and Dewan Kauramal.

Marathi literature

Maharashtra is situated on a plateau where a large number of local dialects were in use. Marathi grew out of these local dialects. The Portuguese missionaries started using Marathi for preaching their gospel. The earliest Marathi poetry and prose is by Saint Jnaneshwar (Gyaneshwar) who lived in the thirteenth century. He wrote a long commentary on the Bhagavad Gita.

He was the one who started the kirtan tradition in Maharashtra. He was followed by Namdev (l 270- 1350), Gora, Sena and Janabai. All these sang and popularised the Marathi language. Their songs are sung even today by the Verkari pilgrirns on their way to Pandharpur pilgrimage. Almost two centuries later, Eknath (l 533-99) came on the scene. He wrote the commentaries on the Ramayana and the Bhagawat Purana. His songs are very popular all over Maharashtra.

Then came Tukarama (1598-1650). He is supposed to be the greatest Bhakti poet of them all. Ramdas (1608-81), who was the guru of Shivaji, is the last of these hymn writers. He was the devotee of Rama. He inspired Shivaji. The closing years of the nineteenth century saw an upsurge in the Marathi literature. It was a nationalist movement that made Marathi prose popular and prominent.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak (l 857-1920) started his Journal Kesari in Marathi. This helped the growth of Marathi literature. But the role of Keshav Sut and V.S. Chiplunkar was no less. Hari Narayan Apte and Agarkar wrote novels which became very popular. All these prose writers made great contribution to the development of Marathi literature.

The name of H.G Salgaokar is remembered for writing inspirational poetry. Besides, the names of M.G. Ranade, K.T. Telang, G.T. Madholkar (poet and novelist) are no less important.

Kashmiri literature

Kashmir shot into literary prominence, when Kalhana wrote Rajatarangini in Sanskrit But this was in the language of the elite. For locals, Kashmiri was the popular dialect. Here also the Bhakti movement played its role. One Lal Ded, who lived in the fourteenth century, was probably the first to sing in the Kashmiri language. She was a Shaivite mystic.

After Islam spread in this area, the Sufi influence also came to be visible. Haba Khatoon, Mahjoor, Zinda Kaul, Noor Din also known as Nund Rishi, Akhtar Mohiuddin, Sufi Ghulam Mohammad and Dina Nath Nadim wrote devotional poetry in Kashmiri. These people contributed to the growth of Kashmiri literature. The Western influence did not reach Kashmir till the end of the nineteenth century.

In 1846, after the first Sikh War, the Dogras of Jammu became the rulers there. The Dogras were more interested in Dogri language than in Kashmiri. There were hardly any schools or education. There was widespread poverty and economic backwardness. All these led to a lack of good literature in Kashmir.

Though the list of Modern Indian languages can have many languages, the constitution of India has originally about 15 languages as national languages i.e. Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kashmiri, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Urdu, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam. Three more langauges i.e. Nepali, Manipuri and Konkani have been added now to the list.