46. Ashfarul Khalq

Abstract    46      
ASHRAFUL KHALQ   

Indian Arabic literature: the past saga

Arabic language, the sole wide spoken Semitic language, is the one of the primitive communication media in the world.  Arabic language which arrived in India by the Arab traders got a good and proper hub in Indian peninsula and it took only a few years to accumulate popularity and wide acceptance even in the grass root level. Arabic literature took birth in Indian peninsula primarily by the conversation betwixt Arab traders and local suppliers then it advanced to better form of official language.

The Indian history witnesses that each royal courts of Indian rulers were comprised of highly prolific Arab experts and their command in Arab conversation and writing was commonly used to ensure solid and concrete bilateral tie up with Arab, then main trade agent betwixt east and west. In the medieval history of India, local rulers were very keen in appointing notable personalities in the Arabic language to deal with Arab visitors, who were very common in their royal court, as well as the best warriors in the naval way.

Islam, the religion based on Arabic holy book, the Quran, reached Indian soil by the two ways- i.e.  1) Preaching of Malik Deenar (r) and 2) military campaign of Muhammad bin Quasim (8^th century). The latter resulted in formation of new Islamic based kingdom in India and also recognized Hukume Shareethe, judiciary based on Islamic laws, as the official law. This special historical context resulted on the production of peerless and unique polymaths, who wrote many oeuvres in Arabic language. During Delhi sultanate, as well the following kingdoms, Arabic language found good position very next to Persian language, the official language of the empire. This period witnessed influx of such holy books, which were rich in Arabic literatures and also the translation of vey popular Indian works to Arabic language. Khallel Dimne, the first Arabic story was translated by bin Mukaffa from Sanskrit to Arabic. Alif Lail, the very popular story book in the Arabic literature, obtained its core from Maha Baratha and Upanishiths. Scholars, who were experts in both of Arabic language and their mother tongue, were assigned the task of transaction of prominent works in Indian language to Arabic language. In a nutshell, Arabic literature fetched more significance and its influence in the local slang became obvious.

Indian peninsula gave birth for many world renowned Arabic writers. Abdul Haq bin Dahlavi, Shah Valiyullahi Dahlawi, Gulam Azad Ali Balgrami, Navab Sideeq Hassan and Abul Hassan Ali Nadvi are some eminent writes that brought Indian prestige on the height of summit and made the Arabic literature alive. India also granted its land for many Arabic institutions, where Arabic language was considered as the main language, such as Nadvatul Uloom of Lucknow.

Unfortunately, post independent India faced such tragic context that forced Arabic language to be confined to small area of literature and also compelled it to lose its inherited prestige. The protest against the move of state government to eliminate this foreign language from school syllabus drew the national attention.

In this paper presentation, my attempt would be to contextualize Arabic literature in Indian peninsula and to review the miles it covered in Indian literature. Here I like to analyse the reason behind the vanishing of this greatest literature form.