Author: Mirza Farhatullah Baig
Translator(s)/ Editors(s): Akhtar Qamber
Publisher: Orient Longman
Year: 2010
Language: English
Pages: 180
ISBN/UPC (if available): 9788125039679
Description
This volume is the first-ever English translation of Mirza Baig's Urdu classic Dehli ki Akhri Shama, a fictional account of what purports to be the last great Musha'irah held in Delhi under the patronage of Bhadurshah Zafar, the last Mughal emperor.
The narrative recreates for us the various stages of organizing such an occasion, introduces us to unforgettable people, and now-forgotten places, and builds up to the climax - the Musha'irah itself - at which all the important Urdu poets of the time are present.
The twilight Delhi of the later Mughals, decadent in statesmanship, devastated by marauders, declining in history, still managed to leave behind something more durable than marble and sandstone: a magnificent body of Urdu poetry and prose., In the first quarter of this century, Mirza Farhatullah Baig Dehalvi set about recapturing this aspect of Delhi in a unique literary work. Drawing upon living memory, manuscripts and other documents, he wrote this book in Urdu.
This translation is accompanied by a long introduction, textual and other annotations and an extensive glossary.
ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR:
Akhtar Qamber obtained graduate degrees in English literature from Universities of Lucknow and Columbia. She taught at Isabella Thoburn College, Lucknow and at Miranda House, Delhi, and visited the International Christian University at Tokyo and Western College for Women at Oxford, Ohio, on teaching assignments. After retiring from the academic life, Qamber devoted her time to translating from Urdu and Persian into English. Her earlier publications include a collection of poems written originally in English, and a book on the relationship between the work of W B Yeats and the Noh drama of Japan.
Contents
Preface
Note on Transliteration
Note on Maps and Illustration
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Mirza Farhatullah Baig
Mughal Delhi - shah Jahanabad
Mughal society
The Urdu Language
The Musha'irah
The Ghazal
CHAPTER TWO :
A MUSHA'IRAH IN DELHI : The Seating Plan for the Musha'irah
Preamble
The Plan
Preliminary Arrangements
The Musha'irah
APPENDICES
Glossary
Bibliography