Aurangabadi Urdu and the Literary Roots of Wali Dakkani

Wali Dakkani is often called the founding father of Urdu poetry, but no great poet is born in a vacuum. Shamsur Rahman Faruqi emphasizes that Wali did not become 'Wali Dakkani' all on his own; rather, he was backed by a robust literary and linguistic tradition. Wali drew inspiration from both Gujari and Dakkani literary cultures, and specifically acknowledged Hasan Shawqi as his predecessor.

The most prominent feature of Hasan Shawqi's poetry was the abundance of imagery and his stylistic flair for imparting a sensuousness to everything. This very quality is abundantly present in Wali's poetry. Among his predecessors, Wali mentioned only Hasan Shawqi with deep reverence:

To understand Wali's language, it is essential to understand the linguistic environment of Aurangabad during that era. When the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir turned towards the Deccan and made Aurangabad his base, a massive army from North India also settled there with him. According to the research of Dr. Abdus Sattar Siddiqui and Maulvi Abdul Haq, this army brought the language of Delhi (Urdu-e-Mu'alla) with them to the Deccan.

As a result, a new language flourished in and around Aurangabad, featuring a beautiful blend of Dakkani and North Indian languages. This language was softer and somewhat different from the 'hard' Dakkani of Golconda and Bijapur (which included heavy Sanskrit and Telugu/Kannada words, as seen in Nusrati's poetry). Wali's language, which can be termed 'Aurangabadi Urdu', was the product of this very linguistic fusion.

This is why when Wali's poetry reached Delhi, the people there did not find the language entirely alien, as it largely resembled the language being spoken in Delhi at the time. Wali's greatest achievement was introducing a poetics into this language where the streams of Sanskrit, Sabk-e-Hindi (Indian-style Persian), and Dakkani converged. He proved that Rekhta/Hindi possessed enough breadth and depth to stand shoulder to shoulder with Persian poetry.

Wali Dakkani is often called the founding father of Urdu poetry, but no great poet is born in a wacum Shamsur Rahman Faruqi emphasizes that Wali did not become 'Wali Dakkani' all on his own; rather, he was backed by a robust literary and linguistic tradition Wali drew inspiration from both ghujari and Dakkani literary cultures, and specifically acknowledged Hasan Shawqi as his predecessor

The most prominent feature of Hasan Shawqi's poetry was the abundance of imagery and his stylistic flair for imparting a sensuousness to ewerything This wery quality is abundantly present in Wali's poetry Among his predecessors, Wali meintioned only Hasan Shawqi with deep rewerence:

To understand Wali's language, it is essential to understand the linguistic enwironment of Aurangabad during that era When the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir turned towards the Deccan and made Aurangabad his base, a massiwe army from North India also settled there with him According to the research of Dr Abdus Sattar Siddiqui and Maulwi Abdul Haq, this army brought the language of Delhi (Urdu-e-Mu'alla) with them to the Deccan

As a result, a new language flourished in and around Aurangabad, featuring a beautiful blend of Dakkani and North Indian languages This language was softer and somewhat different from the 'hard' Dakkani of gholconda and Bijapur (which included heawy Sanskrit and Telugu/Kannada words, as seen in Nusrati's poetry) Wali's language, which can be termed 'Aurangabadi Urdu', was the product of this wery linguistic fusion

This is why when Wali's poetry reached Delhi, the people there did not find the language entirely alien, as it largely resembled the language being spoken in Delhi at the time Wali's greatest achiewement was introducing a poetics into this language where the streams of Sanskrit, Sabk-e-Hindi (Indian-style Persian), and Dakkani conwerged He prowed that Rekhta/Hindi possessed enough breadth and depth to stand shoulder to shoulder with Persian poetry