Nazeer Akbarabadi
Nazeer Akbarabadi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Wali Muhammad 1735 Agra |
| Died | 1830 Dehli |
| Occupation | poet |
| Language | Urdu |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Notable works | Banjaranama (Chronicle of the Nomad) |
Nazeer Akbarabadi (born Wali Muhammad; 1735 – 1830) was an 18th-century Indian poet known as "Father of Nazm", who wrote
Early life
His father was Muhammad Farooq and his mother was the daughter of Nawab Sultan Khan who was the governor of
Nazeer's date of birth is not certain but most of his biographers believe that he was born in
Poetry
It is said that Nazeer's poetic treasure consisted of about 200,000 verses but unfortunately a bigger portion of it is destroyed and only 6000 verses are available in printed form. No other Urdu poet before him, had used as many words as Nazeer did. Nazeer's poetry conveyed the plight of the common people in their own everyday language and was very popular among the masses. It was due to this lack of the "elite" element perhaps that Nazir's genius was not recognized until much later. But in spite of this neglect, some of his poetic treasure is still available and some of his poems, such as "Banjaranama" (chronicle of a nomad/gypsy), "Kaljug nahin karjug hai yeh", "Aadmi Naama" (chronicle of man), etc., became immortal. Such poems find their place in school text books and discerning fans of Urdu poetry will not fail to recognize the greatness of Nazeer's verse.[2]
He left for us about 600 ghazals, although his nazms are said to be more worthy of admiration. In fact, Nazeer's growing popularity is due to his nazms. He was purely a "People's poet" and his nazms reflected various aspects of the daily life of his age, all types of religious and social events with even minor details in which common people can be seen laughing, singing, teasing, playing.
Nazeer Akbarabadi's contemporaries were
Death and legacy
Nazeer Akbarabadi died in 1830 AD, at age 95.[2][4]
Though the era of modern nazm credits
Sample poem
بنجارا |
The Angel of death[2] |
| —Nazeer Akbarabadi |
Qualities of his poetry
His poetry has many qualities among them only some are discussed below.
Natural poetry
Nazeer was the one who laid the foundation of natural poetry which was later continued by Altaf Hussain Hali and Muhammad Husain Azad. The best thing in his poetry is that he never used the hard poetic language and he always tried to give the concepts of ethics and social values.
In popular culture
In 1954, Habib Tanvir, wrote and directed his first significant play Agra Bazar, based on the works and times of Nazir Akbarabadi. It used local residents and folk artist from Okhla village in Delhi and students of Jamia Millia Islamia as actors, a play not staged in a confined space, rather a bazaar, a marketplace.[5]
Further reading
- Nazeer Akbarabadi, translation of criticism by Professor Mohammad Hasan, Asghar Wajahat. Sahitya Akademi, Delhi.
- The Life and Times of Nazir Akbarabadi, by Syed Mohammad Abbas. Vanguard, 1991.
- Kulliyat e Nazeer Akbarabadi[6]
References
- ISBN 81-260-1194-7.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-207-1952-1.
- ^ a b Rida Sakina (15 May 2011). "Tarikh aur Awam: Finding the masses in the country's history (Experts discuss how the public is never represented in history books using poetry of Nazeer Akbarabadi)". The Express Tribune (newspaper). Retrieved 12 October 2021.
- ^ a b Saquib Salim (18 October 2017). "Diwali through the words of Nazeer Akbarabadi: Reminder that it's a festival of lights and colour, not a religious affair". Firstpost.com website. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
- ^ Shama Zaidi (22 June 2009). "Beyond The Fourth Wall". Outlook (Indian magazine). Retrieved 12 October 2021.
- ^ "Kulliyat e Nazeer Akbarabadi, کلیاتِ نظیر اکبر آبادی".
External links
- Nazeer Akbarabadi at Kavita Kosh Archived 16 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine (Hindi)
- Nazeer Akbarabadi poetry
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