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Journalism of Courage
The popular notion goes that Urdu is to Muslims what Hindi is to Hindus, and yet this understanding could not have been further from the truth. A large body of historical and literary research indicates that Urdu was the more popular language in vast parts of the region that is now known as the Hindi belt.
Known to have originated in the armed forces of the Mughal Empire, Urdu was in no way tied to any religion. The language borrowed heavily from existing languages in the region, such as Persian, Braj, Awadhi and more.
It is only from the 1800s that we see the religious association of Urdu with Islam and Hindi with Hinduism. It was partly due to the British government’s shift to the vernaculars in the lower administration, which in turn sparked a heated competition among the speakers of these languages for government jobs.
1. The historical association of Hindi and Urdu with specific religions is inaccurate
Some of the biggest names among Urdu writers, novelists, and poets are non-Muslims. This includes Premchand, Amrita Pritam, and Gulzar.
Author Rakshanda Jalil, in her new book, Whose Urdu is it anyway?, has put together a collection of short stories written by non-Muslim writers, in an attempt to bust stereotypes and misconceptions about Urdu being the concern of Muslims alone.
Currently, a large number of non-Muslim Urdu speakers reside in regions such as Maharashtra and Punjab.
2. Urdu originated in the Mughal army
The word Urdu is borrowed from the Turkish word ‘Ordu’, which means camp or army. The language was born within the armed forces of the Mughal Empire. As soldiers from diverse backgrounds interacted closely with each other, they borrowed vocabulary from different languages, including Turkish, Persian, and even Hindi. Urdu was a product of these exchanges.
Interestingly, the Urdu Bazar in Old Delhi was named so because of the language’s links with the army. Before being relocated to its present location beside the Jama Masjid, the Urdu Bazar was situated in the lane directly in front of the Lahori Gate of the Red Fort. It was named so on account of being in the vicinity of the army camp.
3. Polarisation between Hindi and Urdu was driven by colonial policies and government jobs
The standardisation of both Hindi and Urdu, and the competition that followed thereafter, happened after the arrival of the British in the 19th century. With the arrival of the British, English was introduced as the language of higher administration.
The language of lower administration, on the other hand, was to be the vernaculars. It is in this context that a competition arose between Hindi and Urdu. The competition was less about religious identities and more about gaining access to government jobs and education.
Surveys showed that Urdu speakers, most of whom were Muslims or Kayasthas, occupied the majority of government jobs. It immediately prompted Hindi speakers to promote their language as being the oldest and purest language of India.
The polarisation and competition between the two languages grew dramatically after the Partition, when Pakistan adopted Urdu as the official language of the country, despite the majority of the population speaking Punjabi.
