Languages of PakistanEvolution and development of any language is dependent on the evolution and development of a society where that language is spoken. Various invasions and conquests on a place affect the development of its language. Pakistan is a land that attracted many foreign races and empires during the course of its long history. Such was the sponge like quality of the sub-continent of India that under every invasion it readily absorbed foreign traits yet, maintaining their own distinct individuality as well. Language was one such trait. The inhabitants of Indian subcontinent were the speakers of Sanskrit and eventually, words and dialects of the languages of each successive intruder intermingled with Sanskrit and gave birth to various dialects and languages. Most of the languages spoken in Pakistan are part of the Indo-European family of languages. The main language families in Pakistan are Indo-Aryan, Iranian, Dravidian and Dardic.
Following are some of the major languages spoken in Pakistan:
Urdu-The National Language of Pakistan
English- Official language of Pakistan
Languages of Punjab (Punjabi, Majhi, Jhangvi or Jhangochi, Shahpuri, Pothowari, Hindko, Saraiki)
Languages of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pashto, Waziri)
Languages of Sindh (Sindhi, Aer, Dhatki, Thari, Parkari)
Languages of Balochistan ( Balochi, Bashagerdi, Brahvi, Dehwari)
Languages of Northern Areas of Pakistan (Badeshi , Burushaski, Balti, Dogri, Gojri, Kashmiri , Khowar, Kalash)
Literature of Pakistan:
The literary heritage of Pakistan can be traced back to the Muslim period, originating with the advent of the Arabs in this region as early as in the 8th century A.D. The literary heritage of Pakistan has been enriched by three classical languages: Arabic, Persian and Urdu. Parallel with these three literatures, there is the wealth of folk classics in various regional languages of Sindhi, Punjabi, Pashto, Baluchi, Brahui, Kashmiri and the more localized dialects. Pakistani literature can be classified into the following categories:
Urdu Literature
The origin of Urdu literature dates back to the 13th century India during the Mughal rule. Mughal kings were the great patrons of art and literature and it was under their rule that Urdu language reached its zenith. There used to be a tradition of ‘Sheri Mehfils’ (poetic gatherings) in the kings’ courts. Abul Fazal Faizi and Abdul Rahim Khankhana were the famous Urdu poets of Mughal court.
Urdu has drawn inspiration from Persian literature and has now an enormous stock of words. One of the most eminent earliest poets who made usage of Urdu in his poetry is Amir Khusro (1253-1325). Khusro can be called the father of Urdu language. The first Urdu book "Woh Majlis" was written in 1728 and the first time the word ‘Urdu’ was used by Saraj-ud-din Aarzoo in 1751.
While the Urdu literature tends to be heavily dominated by poetry, the most well developed vessel of urdu literature has turned out to be the Ghazal and the range of expression achieved in the ghazal and nazm, has led to its continued development and expansion into other styles of writing, including that of the short story, or afsana and dastaan, which are long-epic stories dealing with magical creatures and events in a complicated plot.
Before 1970, Urdu prose generally followed the ornate and florid style of Persian writings. The Calcutta school developed a simple prose style, which served as a model for the writers of Delhi and Lahore. Of these Sher Ali Afsos and his translation of Gulistan-e-Saadi called Bagh-e-Urdu, Hafizuddin Ahmad and his excellent rendering of Abul Fazal’s Bahar Danish, renamed Khirad Afroz, Mazhar Ali Khan Vila and his translation of Baital Pachisi from Sanskrit were outstanding. Shah Rafiuddin and Shah Abdul Qadir (sons of Shah Waliullah) brought out their translations of Quran in simple Urdu. A special place belongs to the collection of letters of the poet Ghalib that were intimate and colloquial in tone while sparkling and witty in content.
Near the end of the 19th century, the school of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan wrote prolifically on social, political, scientific and educational themes. A parallel school of religious learning was led by Maulana Shibli Nomani. His monumental work on Muhammad the Holy Prophet, Seerat-ul-Nabi and his history of Persian literature Sher-ul-Ajam are regarded as standard works. Abdul Halim Sharar wrote historical romances of Muslim heroes and realistic novels of contemporary social life. Maulvi Nazir Ahmed wrote a number of domestic tales of ordinary men and women with a strong moral message. Saadat Hassan Manto (1912-1955), a prominent writer of short stories of the South Asia, produced great literature out of the events relating to the India-Pakistan independence.
Likewise, Mirza Ghalib, Allama Iqbal, Hakim Momin, Ibrahim Zauq, Mir Taqi Mir, Sauda, Ibn-e-Insha and Faiz Ahmed Faiz and veterans like Josh Malihabadi who wrote poems like East India Company ke farzandon ke nam and Hussain aur Inqalab that spoke of revolution and iconoclasm. Hafiz Jallundari author of the epic Shah Namaa-I-Islam, Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum who writes with equal facility in Persian, Urdu and Punjabi and is the author of several popular national songs and geets, Ihsan Danish, one time manual worker who overnight became a foremost romantic poet and scores of others; all these names have contributed to the evolution of Urdu language and literature through their literary works.
Pashto Literature
Pashto has a long history as a literary language however; it is impossible to discover the beginnings of Pashto oral literature. It is known from Amir Khusrau that it was spoken in the second half of the 13th century. Moreover, isolated sentences in the chronicles of the Pathan rulers in northern India trace Pashto’s developments.
The first poem in Pashto language is believed to have been written by Amir Karore (d.756). Still extant are the first prose work, Tazkiratual-Awliyya by Suleiman Maka (d.1215), the first historical narrative Tarikh-e-Suri by Muhammad Ali Abasti (d.1349) and the first well known author in this language is Beyazid Ansari Pir-i-Raushan. His work Khair-ul-Bayan in rhymed prose combines Arabic, Persian and Hindi. The mystics used this language to preach their doctrines to the masses who did not understood Arabic or Persian. Pir-i-Raushan’s work was refuted in Pashto by Akhund Darwaza (d.1638). From the time onward, the language grew steadily as a literary medium, for when its greatest master ‘the father of Pashto’, Khushal Khan Khatak (d.1689), appeared on the scene.
The zenith of Pashto poetry occurred at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. This period, which marks the decay of the powerful Mughal Empire and the beginnings of Urdu in the Delhi and Northwestern regions, was also the time when other regional languages flourished in rest of the country. The greatest masterpieces in Punjabi and Sindhi were produced at this time and both languages connected by Saraiki share many tales and legends. Their imagery is largely rural and the poems of the mystics overflow with love and a feeling of all embracing unity; a feeling only rarely found in Pashto poetry.
Notable figures of Pashto literature are Khushal Khan Khattak, Rahman Baba, Shah Sayed Miran, Shah Sayed Guloon, Ahmad Shah Durrani, Shah Shuja, Timur Shah, Hamid of Kashmir, Mohammad Amin Zazai, Abdul Qader Khattak, Ashraf Hejri, Abdul Hamid Mohmand, Kazim Khan Shaida, Pir Mohammad Kakar, Dr. Mohammad Asef Sohail, Ali Khan and Abdul Hanan Barakzai.
Sindhi Literature
Sindhi literature is a rich and the oldest literature in the world. Sindhi became a literary language in the 19th century. The earliest reference to Sindhi literature is contained in the writings of Arab historians. It is established that Sindhi was the first and the earliest language of East in which the Quran was translated in the 8th or 9th century A.D. There is evidence of Sindhi poets reciting their verses before the Muslim Caliphs in Baghdad. It is also recorded that treatises were written in Sindhi on astronomy, medicine and history during the 8th and 9th centuries.
The rudimentary beginnings of Sindhi literature are documented in the 14th century, and ballads from that period in the verses of divines like Pir Nuruddin, Pir Shamsuddin and Pir Sadaruddin (circa 1358). Pir Sadruddin was a great poet, saint and Sufi of his time. He composed his verses in Lari and Katchi dialects of Sindhi. He also composed verses in the Punjabi, Saraiki, Hindi and Gujarati languages. He modified the old script of Sindhi language, which was commonly used by the luhana caste of Hindus of Sindh who embraced Islam under his teaching and were called by him 'Khuwajas' or 'Khojas'.
Some mystical verses from the 16th century are the first written evidence. Here as in Punjab the mystics used the folk tales of Sassi Pannu, Yusuf Zulaikha, Sohni Mahiwal, Saiful Muluk and Omar Marvi as a starting point for their mystical songs as much as they relied upon the indigenous imagery of gardens, fields and desert life. The poetry of Qadi Qadan of Sehwan (d. 1556) and of Shah Inait as much as that of Shah Abdul Karim of Bullri show the same richness of language (which boasts an extremely refined grammar) as is characteristic of the poetry of the greatest Sindhi mystical poet, and contemporary of Bulle Shah, Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai. We even find some verses composed by Baba Farid Ganj Shakar, in Sindhi language. Shah jo Risalo has been almost a sacred book for both Muslims and Hindus. More outspoken than Shah Abdul Latif was Sachal Sarmast (d.1826); whose lyrics in Sindh and Saraiki belong to the most ecstatic verses ever written in any Islamic country. Sachal is one in a long line of poets many of them from the Baluchi clan of the Leghari who used Saraiki besides Sindhi and whose poems even today repeat the traditional adoration of beauty as well as the acceptance of suffering typical of Sufism. Shah Latif gave new life, thought and content to the language and literature of Sindh. He traveled far and wide to the remotest corners of Sindh and saw for himself the simple and rustic people of his soil in love with life and its mysteries. He understood the ethos of the people and their deep attachment to the land, the culture, the music, the fine arts and crafts. He described Sindh and its people in the finest language. Through simple folk tales, Lateef has expressed profound ideas about universal brotherhood of mankind, patriotism, war against all kind of injustice and tyrannies, and above all the romance of human existence. He is in fact a pace maker and a catalyst for every generation and genre of Sindhi literature. He was a great musician also and he evolved fifteen new melodies (swaras). The great beauty of his poetry is that his every line or verse is sung till this day with a specific note or melody. His shadow is ever-lasting and all pervading he is sung not by the literature alone but even by the common people in the villages and towns of Sindh.
Sindh produced many scholars and poets of Sindhi, Arabic and Persian languages. Qazi Qadan, Shah Karim of Bhullri (grand father of Shah Abdul Latif ), Shah lutufullah Qadri, Shah Inyat Sufi Nasarpoori, Mir Masoom Shah, Makhdoom Nooh of Hala, Lakho Lutufullah, Khalifo Nabi Bux, Mahamati Pirannath and many others are the renowned literary personalities of this period. Similarly, Bhagu Bhan, Sumang Charan, Shah Abdul Karim, Shah Inayat and many other poets of this period have enriched the language with mystic, romantic and epic poetry.
Hakim Fateh Mohammad Sewhani, Kauromal Khilnani, Dayaram Gidumal, Parmanand Mewaram, Lalchand Amardinomal, Bheruamal Advani, Dr.Gurbuxani, Jhetmal Parsram, Sayaid Miran Mohammad Shah, Shamsuddin 'Bulbul' and Maulana Din Muhammad Wafai are some of the pioneers of modern literature in Sindhi language.
The novel and short story became the main forms for prose. Narain Das Bhambhani, Gobind Malhi, Sundri Uttamchandani, Popti Hiranandani, Usman Deplai, Jamal Abro, Shaikh Ayaz, Rasheed Bhatti, Hafeez Akhund, Amar Jaleel, Naseem Kharal, Sirajul Haq Memon, Agha Saleem, Tariq Ashraf, Ali Baba, Eshwar Chander, Manak, Kehar Shaukat, Mushtaq Shoro, Shaukat Shoro, Madad Ali Sindhi, Rasool Memon, Anis Ansari, Reta Shahani, Akhlaq Asnari, Rehmatullah Manjothi, Badal Jamali, Ishtiaq Asnari, Jan Khaskheli, Hasan Mansoor, [Ishaque Ansari (Dr.),]Pervez, Shakoor Nizamani, Tariq Qureshi, Munawwar Siraj, Ismail Mangio, Fayaz Chand Kaleri, and many others were the notable short story and novel writers.
The leading figure among those writers who contributed to the development of Sindhi into a modern language was Mirza Qalich Beg (d. 1929) of Hyderabad who wrote the first Sindhi novel on female education Zinat (1890). He also composed a book containing models of Sindhi poetry in all the Persian metres.
Balochi Literature
Balochistan is a country divided among Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. Most Baluchi speakers live in Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, but there are also speakers in India, the Arab Gulf States, Turkmenistan and East Africa.
Balochi first started to be written during the 19th century. At first it was written with the Latin alphabet using a spelling system devised by British linguists. After Pakistan gained Independence in 1947, Baluch scholars adopted the Perso-Arabic script to write their language. Baluchi is written with a version of the Arabic script based on Pashto in Afghanistan.
Although there is a very rich classical literary heritage, consisting mainly of ballads and folk songs, the Baluchi language and literature came into notice relatively recently so the treasures of its folk traditions which were first collected by Darmesteter have become better known and appreciated. The establishment of the Balochistan University and the Baluchi Academy in Quetta in the late 1960s played a significant role in promoting the language, literature and culture of Balochistan. There are a number of popular ballads that deal with the heroic deeds of Baluchi tribes.
Punjabi Literature
Early Punjabi literature was writen in Shahmukhi by scholars and saints. The language itself is very ancient and has a rich history of literature and writing.
Among the Punjabi poets, the names of Sultan Bahu, Bulleh Shah, Mian Muhammad Baksh, and Waris Shah are famous. There are a number of folk tales that are popular in different parts of the Punjab. These are the folk tales of Mirza Sahiban, Sayful Muluk, Yusuf Zulekha, Sohni Mahiwal, Dulla Bhatti, and Sassi Punnun. . The most popular epic Heer Ranjha was written in Punjabi by Waris Shah (1722 - 1798).
