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PNS FAQ: Pakistan News Service (bit.listserv.pakistan)

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Asim Mughal

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Apr 8, 1998, 3:00:00 AM4/8/98

Archive-name: pakistan/news-service-faq
Last-modified: 1997/02/14
Version: 1.8
Organization: Caltech Alumni Association. Pasadena, California
X-URL: http://alumni.caltech.edu/~mughal/pns/pns.html

Pakistan News Service (Paki...@Asuacad.Bitnet) &
Asim Mughal (mug...@caltech.edu)

Redistribution for profit, or in altered content /format
prohibited without permission of the authors. Any other
redistribution must include this copyright notice and
attribution.

***** ANSWERS TO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS *********

READ THIS BEFORE YOU POST A QUERY.

This message is automatically posted once a month to provide
answers to commonly asked questions on this forum.

If you have any contributions or changes to this document
please send me an email message. If you never wish you see
this document again, please add the above subject in your
KILL file.

Sincerely,
Asim Mughal (mug...@alumni.caltech.edu)
bit.listserv.pakistan FAQ Maintainer

[Standard Disclaimer]

=================================================================
NOTE:
This FAQ posting is now in USENET digest format. If you are
using "rn" (or it derivatives) to read news ^G (Ctrl- G) will
take you to the next question. If you are using any other news
reader search for the next line that begins with "Subject:".
=================================================================

*****************************************************************
This periodic posting is now archived. It is available via
anonymous ftp from
rtfm.mit.edu (18.70.0.209)
OR
sending email to
mail-...@rtfm.mit.edu with the body of the message as
send usenet/news.answers/pakistan/news-service/faq
quit

******************************************************************
*****************************************************************

Contents:

1) About bit.listserv.pakistan (PNS).
2) Welcome to Pakistan News Service (PNS)
3) History & Data on PNS
4) Introduction to PNS Forums.
5) Pictures of Pakistan on FTP site
6) Services Offered by PNS
7) List of files on the Listserv
8) Pakistan News Service Reference Guide
9) Where to Send Contributions
10) PNS Staff & how to contact them
11) Archived Publications ('93-Current)
12) WWW Home Page & Links
13) This FAQ- Archive Info, History & Credits.

************************************************************************
************************************************************************
-------
Subject: 1) About bit.listserv.pakistan (PNS).

The newsgroup 'bit.listserv.pakistan' is distribution of
BITnet LISTs "PAKISTAN@ASUACAD" & "PAKISTAN@PSUVM" called
"The Pakistan News Service."

The gateway established at American Univ. is bi-directioal.
This allows digest/newsletter posted by the editors on LISTSERV
to appear on USENET 'bit.listserv.pakistan.'

Any submission sent to 'bit.listserv.pakistan' is routed to the
editors of PNS automatically.

___ | | | ___ | | /| | | | |
| | _| | | | _| | /_| | | | | | | |
o_|__|____| | | | o |_o____| | | |__|__| | o_|__|__|___|
___/ oo ___| |___| ___| ___/ o

In the name of ALLAH, the Beneficent, the Merciful

*******
* ******* *
** ** **
* * ** * * ** **
** ** ** ** **
** * ** ** * * * ** ** *
** ** ** *** *** *** ** ** **
*********** ******** ****** ****** ****** *********
********* ****** **** **** **** *******

* *
*

P A K I S T A N N E W S S E R V I C E

Founded on: 3 Safar 1412 Hijri, Wednesday, 14 August 1991
___________________________________________________________________
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| I M P O R T A N T |
| |
| Newsletter contents may be copyright protected. The |
| person contributing the news is the only one responsible |
| for copyright violations, if any. No legal responsibility |
| accepted by List-Owners, Editors, founders and Sponsors. |
| Please, avoid reproduction on a public forum without prior |
| permission from the List Owners/Editors. |
| |
| Please forward all contributions to: |
| "PAKI...@ASUACAD.BITNET" |
| or "PAKI...@ASUVM.INRE.ASU.EDU" |
| |
| Founders : Muhammad Javed Shaikh, Asim Mughal, |
| Muhammad Javed Iqbal, Kamran Aftab, |
| Syed Irfan Ashraf, Syed Asim Ali, |
| Nauman Kassim Mysorewala |
|_________________________________________________________________|

Salaam o Alaekum,(Greetings)

We are pleased to announce the commencement of Pakistan News Service. Its
first official posting was on 14th August 1991.

The Pakistan News Service is a community based volunteer group. The goal is
to share the information concerning or regarding Pakistan with the rest of
the network community in general & with Pakistani community in particular.

The Pakistan News Service thrives on contributions, in terms of news, info
& articles from its readers. All the information gathered is made available
free of charge to the readers/subscribers.

The Pakistan News Service provides news from various sources and info on a
variety of topic, this includes but is not limited to the following:

1. Radio Pakistan News
2. News Clips from Pakistani Newpapers
3. News about Pakistan from internation News Agencies.
4. Exchange rates for Pakistani Ruppee
5. Radio Pakistan Frequency Chart & Timings
6. Pakistan- U.S. Tax Treaty: Filing Income Tax Return in the U.S.
7. Info on Travel Agents dealing with travel arrangements to Pakistan
8. Info on remitting money to Pakistan.
9. Articles, news briefs, receipies, miscellaneous info etc
10. Moderated discussions on Pakistan
11. Discussion on Computer Technology

************************************************************************
************************************************************************
-------
Subject: 3) History & Data on PNS

PNS HISTORY:

August 14, 1991. Pakistan News Service (PAKISTAN @ ASUACAD) commences
March 30, 1992. An automonous subsidiary of Pakistan News Service,
"Muslim News Network (MNN)" (MUSLIMS @ ASUACAD) established.
April 30, 1992. Pakistan News Service reaches 1,000 direct subscribers.
May 2, 1992. Pakistan News Service (PNS) Peers on PSUVM.(PAKISTAN @ PSUVM)
August 10, 1992. Muslim News Network (MNN) Peers on PSUVM. (MUSLIMS @ PSUVM)
August 14, 1992. MNN renames to IINN (Islamic Information & News Network).
Sept. 1, 1992. Independent SuperComputing Forum (SCF) formed.
Feb. 1, 1993. SCF formally linked to PNS.
July 20, 1993. Internet Relay Chat Bot for PNS Headlines: /msg PakNews Help
Sept 1, 1993. PNS FTP Site - Major Reorganization
Sept 15, 1993. PNS Mailing List established for difficult email addresses.
Oct 1, 1993. PNS-L @ PSUVM Pakistan News Service Discussion Opens.
Dec 15, 1993. PNS, PNS-L & IINN gatewayed to USENET.
Feb 1, 1994. PNS-L Archives available from 'listserv@psuvm'
March 1, 1994. SCF renamed to CTF (Computer Technology Forum) & revitalized.
April 1, 1994. CTF moved to site: gnu.ai.mit.edu.
May 15, 1994. Frequently Asked Questions Document Approved for IINN.
June 15, 1994. Frequently Asked Questions Documents Approved for PNS & PNS-L
August 14, 1995. WWW Pages setup for PNS Forums.

************************************************************************
************************************************************************
-------
Subject: 4) Introduction to PNS Forums.

The Pakistan News Service Group enjoys four feathers in its cap. Ranging
from mainstream NewsLetter to digest on computer technology in Pakistan.
Two of those forums, namely, IINN & CTF are considered "sister forums"
or "independent subsidiary of Pakistan News Service."

The following is a list of Pakistan News Service Forums:

PNS (Pakistan News Service Newsletter)

Provides almost daily coverage of news on Pakistan & events in
Pakistan. Contact Address: Paki...@asuacad.bitnet.

PNS-L (Pakistan News Service Discussions)

A moderated discussion forum on topics related to Pakistan. It
also covers special events e.g. elections. Publication is put
out once a week. Contact Address: pn...@psuvm.bitnet

IINN (Islamic Information & News Network)

A weekly digest covering news & events in Islamic World. Articles
& info on Islam in non-political & academic environment.
Contact Address: mus...@asuacad.bitnet

CTF (Computer Technology Forum)

Monthly digest covering Computer Technology as it relates to
Pakistan. Contact Address: ctf-r...@gnu.ai.mit.edu

The administrative tasks & public relations for all four forums is
combined. The resources & information gathered is shared. However, the
editorial boards are independent have different policies.

The in-house developed resources available include two sets of scripts,

1) 'Publish' - Strips off the headers/minor format
2) 'Nebula' - A newsletter generation package.

LISTSERV/USENET GATEWAYS:

List: PAKISTAN <--> USENET: bit.listserv.pakistan
List: PNS-L <--> USENET: bit.listserv.pns-l
List: MUSLIMS <--> USENET: bit.listserv.muslims

WORLD WIDE WEB URLs for PNS Forums:

Pakistan News Service:(PNS)
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/bit-pakistan-faq/faq.html

Pakistan News Service Discussions:(PNS-L)
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/bit-pns-l-faq/faq.html

Islamic Information & News Network:(IINN)
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/bit-pns-l-faq/faq.html

SUBSCRIPTION: Free

Readership: Listservs - 3,500 (December '95)
USENET - 14,000 estimated (May '94 statistics)

************************************************************************
************************************************************************
-------
Subject: 5) Pictures of Pakistan on FTP site

Pictures of Pakistan in '.gif' format are available thru Pakistan
News Service. These files are on 'listserv@asuacad' and most of
them are on anonymous FTP site.

Anonymous FTP Site:
____________________________________________________________________
This site hosts .gifs on Pakistan gathered from the net
for free distribution.

host: ftp.ugcs.caltech.edu
login: anonymous
password: <your email address>
dir : /pub/gifs/Pakistan

Information on the files is listed in ...

images.doc

P.S. Please use BINARY format to retrieve files.

************************************************************************
************************************************************************
-------
Subject: 6) Services Offered by PNS

The following is a concise list, please also see 'Introduction
to PNS Forums' and 'Welcome to Pakistan News Service.'

o Files on Listserv
o Old publications on Listserv
o Pictures of Pakistan thru FTP
o Moderated discussion on Pakistan
o Database of Pakistani Students

************************************************************************
************************************************************************
-------
Subject: 7) List of files on the Listserv

T H E P A K I S T A N N E W S S E R V I C E
__________________________________________________________________

As a continued effort to provide information on Pakistan,
Pakistan News Service manages number of files open for anyone to
retrieve from the LISTSERV. We encourage our readers to send us
files on any other subject which they think will be beneficial to
the Pakistani community.The following is a summary of how to access
these files and a list of info files currently available.

-Asim Mughal
PNS Spokesman
updated: April 4, 1993
###########################################################################

FOR BITnet Subscribers:
For interactive access: $ SEND/NOP LISTSERV @ ASUACAD

FOR EVERYONE (BITnet,INTERnet etc) Subscribers:
1. Send an electronic mail message to either

LISTSERV @ ASUACAD.BITnet or LISTSERV @ ASUVM.INRE.ASU.EDU

2. The COMMANDS should be the text of the message.

COMMANDS:
To get a latest listing of available files: INDEX PAKISTAN
To retreive a file from the server : GET PAKISTAN filename
(example) : GET PAKISTAN INFO
____________________________________________________________________________
LISTING OF FILES:

As of Jan 01, 1996

* PAKISTAN FILELIST for LISTSERV@ASUACAD.
*
* PAKISTAN Newsletter available from LISTSERV
*
* :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

* filename filetype date time File description
* -------- -------- --------------- ----------------
PAKISTAN INFO 92/09/13 23:18:45 What is Pakistan Listserv
PAKISTAN RADIO_FR 92/09/14 01:20:48 Radio Pakistan Frequencies (Javed)
PAKISTAN EXCH_RAT 92/09/14 01:24:21 Foreign Exchange Rates in Rupees
PAKISTAN HISTORY 91/08/22 13:38:17 A Brief History of Pakistan
PAKISTAN NAT_ATHM 92/09/13 23:19:19 Pakistan's National Anthem
PAKISTAN RECIPE_A 94/03/03 20:04:22 Pakistani recipes of Main Dishes
PAKISTAN RECIPE_B 92/09/13 23:19:14 Pakistani recipes of Sweet Dishes
PAKISTAN KKH_GIF 91/09/01 15:59:06 Gif of Karakoram Valley (uuencoded IBM)
PAKISTAN K2_GIF 91/09/01 15:59:24 Gif of K2 peak (uuenoded IBM)
PAKISTAN EMBASSY 92/09/14 01:24:16 Listing of Phone Numbers of Embassy
PAKISTAN INFOTAX 92/09/14 00:23:02 US-Pak TAX Treaty
PAKISTAN INFOINS 92/09/14 01:22:29 US Immigration laws for Students & other
PAKISTAN URDUFONT 91/11/15 01:29:22 Urdu font for Sun Work Station
PAKISTAN SHLMR_GI 92/02/16 18:50:51 Shalimar Garden Gif file (uuencoded IBM)
PAKISTAN TOMB_GIF 92/02/16 18:49:33 Gif of a tomb in Pakistan(uuencoded IBM)
PAKISTAN HALA_GIF 92/02/24 10:51:39 Hala Mosque Gif file(uuencoded IBM)
PAKISTAN IQBALGIF 92/02/24 10:52:23 Iqbal poem Gif file(uuencoded IBM)
PAKISTAN BALUCHGF 92/02/24 11:04:55 Picture of scenery in Baluchistan
PAKISTAN INDUSGIF 92/02/24 11:04:22 Picture of the Indus River
PAKISTAN DCOD_BAS 92/02/24 11:13:34 XXdecode.bas file to generate
UUDECODE.COM file for IBM PC
PAKISTAN AL_QURAN 92/09/14 01:20:42 Translation of Ayats of Quran
PAKISTAN MINARET 92/09/14 01:24:04 Macintosh program to calculate prayer
timing, Qibla direction, etc.
PAKISTAN FREEDOM 93/03/18 01:23:04 PIA Diary on Freedom Fighters of
the Independence
PAKISTAN EDITORS 93/05/25 07:02:08 Addresses of Editors of various
publications in Pakistan
PAKISTAN NAMAZFOR 94/02/12 10:47:29 Fortran Source Code for SALAT Time
Calculator.
PAKISTAN PNSFAQ 94/09/10 15:19:04 Pakistan News Service (PAKISTAN)
Frequently Asked Questions
PAKISTAN PNS-LFAQ 94/09/10 15:19:04 Pakistan News Service Discussions
(PNS-L) Frequently Asked Questions
PAKISTAN IINNFAQ 94/09/10 15:18:59 Islamic Information and News Network
(IINN) Frequent Asked Questions
PAKISTAN WELCOME 95/10/16 20:49:03 Pakistan News Service Welcome Message

___________________________________________________________________________
Note: LOG files of previous issues can be retrieved in a similar manner.

T H E P A K I S T A N N E W S S E R V I C E
__________________________________________________________________

A QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
_______________________

BASIC CONCEPTS:

a. Email addresses of Pakistan News Service are:

PAKI...@ASUACAD.BITnet
paki...@asuvm.inre.asu.edu

PAKI...@PSUVM.BITnet
paki...@psuvm.psu.edu

Any contributions of News/Articles/comments may be sent to any
of the above email addresses.

b. A number of services are handled automagically by the LISTSERV.

c. These services include:

SUB PAKISTAN name - Subscribe to Pakistan News Service (PNS)
SIGNOFF PAKISTAN - Cancel Subscription to PNS
SET PAKISTAN NOMAIL - Put subscription on hold
SET PAKISTAN MAIL - Re-activate subscription
INDEX PAKISTAN - Get listing of files available thorough PNS
GET PAKISTAN filename - Get a copy of available file named 'filename'

d. To use the LISTSERV services:

Step 1: Send email to: LIST...@ASUACAD.BITnet
Step 2: 'Subject' field is optional (can be left blank)
Step 3: List the appropriate service (listed in 'c') as text of
your email.

e. Example: To subscribe from a unix machine my screen should look as
follows:

__________________________________________________________________

% mail list...@asuacad.bitnet
Subject: subscription to PNS

SUB PAKISTAN Asim Mughal

<CTRL-D>
%
_________________________________________________________________

f. Accessing Pakistan News Service forums thru USENET.

As of Oct 1, '93. PNS forums are available thru usenet as:

bit.listserv.pakistan
bit.listserv.pns-l
bit.listserv.muslims

To access: On Unix machines: type: 'rn' or 'trn'
go <name>

On VAX/VMS : type: 'VNEWS'

If USENET is not available on your site or your site doesn't get PNS
forums, please contact your system administrator and request for PNS
forums to be available.

************************************************************************
************************************************************************
-------
Subject: 9) Where to Send Contributions

Please send your contributions to any of the following addresses:

A- PAKISTAN @ PSUVM.BITNET
PAKISTAN @ PSUVM.PSU.EDU

B- PAKISTAN @ ASUACAD.BITNET
PAKISTAN @ ASUVM.INRE.ASU.EDU

C- bit-listse...@uunet.uu.net

D- USENET: % Pnews bit.listserv.pakistan

************************************************************************
************************************************************************
-------
Subject: 10) PNS Staff & how to contact them

STAFF:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Pakistan News Service - Executive Board |
| ------------------------------------------ |
| Syed Mohammad Irfan Ashraf, Syed Asim Ali, |
| Nauman Kassim Mysorewala, Asim Mughal |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

ASSOCIATE EDITORS:

CONTACT: Email Address: Pakistan @ Asuacad.Bitnet

The Publications of Pakistan News Service are automatically created &
stored on "list...@asuvm.inre.asu.edu". To retrieve a full listing
(filelist) of archived publications & files available in public, send an
email message to "list...@asuvm.inre.asu.edu", the text of the message
must be:

INDEX PAKISTAN

A file similar to the one below will be mailed back. Select the archived
publication desired. To retrieve a copy of the archived publication,
again write an email message to "list...@psuvm.psu.edu" with the
following format for your text message:

GET PAKISTAN LOGyymmx

Note: yy == year (e.g. 94)
mm == month (e.g. 08 for August)
x is alphabet (a-f)
a == first week
b == second week & so on...

Hence the command would have been.

GET PAKISTAN-L LOG9512E

A copy of Filelist retreived as of January 01, 1996 listing only the
archived publications is attached.

* NOTEBOOK archives for the list
* (Weekly notebook)
* rec last - change
* filename filetype GET PUT -fm lrecl nrecs date time Remarks
* -------- -------- --- --- --- ----- ----- -------- -------- -------------------------------
PAKISTAN LOG9301B ALL OWN V 80 605 93/01/13 08:27:53 Started on Fri, 8 Jan 1993 10:36:00 EST
PAKISTAN LOG9301C ALL OWN V 80 1217 93/01/18 10:23:58 Started on Fri, 15 Jan 1993 09:58:00 EST
PAKISTAN LOG9301D ALL OWN V 80 529 93/01/28 22:03:10 Started on Thu, 28 Jan 1993 17:28:00 EST
PAKISTAN LOG9302A ALL OWN V 80 1552 93/02/06 07:03:34 Started on Fri, 29 Jan 1993 23:09:00 EST
PAKISTAN LOG9302B ALL OWN V 80 593 93/02/14 05:28:02 Started on Sun, 14 Feb 1993 01:43:00 -0500
PAKISTAN LOG9302C ALL OWN V 79 58 93/02/15 23:40:11 Started on Mon, 15 Feb 1993 22:48:42 MST
PAKISTAN LOG9302D ALL OWN V 79 1189 93/02/27 05:10:22 Started on Mon, 22 Feb 1993 22:55:23 MST
PAKISTAN LOG9303B ALL OWN V 80 1304 93/03/14 23:08:58 Started on Tue, 9 Mar 1993 16:53:00 EST
PAKISTAN LOG9303C ALL OWN V 80 1374 93/03/18 23:26:54 Started on Tue, 16 Mar 1993 01:33:03 EST
PAKISTAN LOG9303D ALL OWN V 80 994 93/03/25 05:10:16 Started on Wed, 24 Mar 1993 03:11:05 -0700
PAKISTAN LOG9304A ALL OWN V 80 3835 93/04/06 22:19:52 Started on Fri, 2 Apr 1993 13:42:49 -0700
PAKISTAN LOG9304B ALL OWN V 80 1186 93/04/14 13:31:37 Started on Fri, 9 Apr 1993 05:23:28 -0700
PAKISTAN LOG9304C ALL OWN V 80 1756 93/04/21 21:24:01 Started on Sun, 18 Apr 1993 16:33:02 MST
PAKISTAN LOG9304D ALL OWN V 79 289 93/04/25 01:22:59 Started on Sun, 25 Apr 1993 01:21:34 -0700
PAKISTAN LOG9304E ALL OWN V 79 362 93/04/29 06:38:24 Started on Thu, 29 Apr 1993 06:08:58 -0700
PAKISTAN LOG9305A ALL OWN V 80 3678 93/05/07 08:58:53 Started on Sat, 1 May 1993 03:53:47 -0700
PAKISTAN LOG9305B ALL OWN V 80 1744 93/05/14 09:26:57 Started on Sun, 9 May 1993 12:22:11 -0400
PAKISTAN LOG9305C ALL OWN V 79 1229 93/05/20 14:51:07 Started on Sat, 15 May 1993 14:54:20 -0400
PAKISTAN LOG9305D ALL OWN V 80 1537 93/05/27 09:51:58 Started on Tue, 25 May 1993 03:01:00 EDT
PAKISTAN LOG9305E ALL OWN V 80 2210 93/05/31 07:09:31 Started on Sat, 29 May 1993 14:15:34 -0400
PAKISTAN LOG9306A ALL OWN V 78 331 93/06/05 12:15:00 Started on Wed, 2 Jun 1993 14:20:10 -0400
PAKISTAN LOG9306B ALL OWN V 80 1204 93/06/11 01:54:55 Started on Fri, 11 Jun 1993 01:51:19 -0700
PAKISTAN LOG9306C ALL OWN V 80 1899 93/06/19 05:23:27 Started on Tue, 15 Jun 1993 00:56:20 -0700
PAKISTAN LOG9306D ALL OWN V 80 928 93/06/27 16:39:32 Started on Wed, 23 Jun 1993 18:30:40 -0700
PAKISTAN LOG9306E ALL OWN V 80 579 93/06/30 20:22:18 Started on Tue, 29 Jun 1993 20:03:02 -0700
PAKISTAN LOG9307A ALL OWN V 80 1529 93/07/07 21:24:18 Started on Fri, 2 Jul 1993 23:38:27 -0400
PAKISTAN LOG9307B ALL OWN V 80 1590 93/07/14 12:35:01 Started on Fri, 9 Jul 1993 22:18:41 -0700
PAKISTAN LOG9307C ALL OWN V 80 2688 93/07/20 19:45:44 Started on Thu, 15 Jul 1993 03:57:00 EDT
PAKISTAN LOG9307D ALL OWN V 80 1760 93/07/28 18:42:08 Started on Thu, 22 Jul 1993 03:51:57 -0400
PAKISTAN LOG9307E ALL OWN V 80 496 93/07/31 19:09:06 Started on Thu, 29 Jul 1993 16:33:28 -0400
PAKISTAN LOG9308A ALL OWN V 81 1333 93/08/06 13:09:31 Started on Mon, 2 Aug 1993 16:23:36 -0400
PAKISTAN LOG9308B ALL OWN V 80 1287 93/08/14 11:54:31 Started on Sun, 8 Aug 1993 19:39:12 PDT
PAKISTAN LOG9308C ALL OWN V 80 1338 93/08/21 05:26:04 Started on Mon, 16 Aug 1993 00:31:19 -0700
PAKISTAN LOG9308D ALL OWN V 80 974 93/08/28 14:49:13 Started on Mon, 23 Aug 1993 01:49:19 PDT
PAKISTAN LOG9308E ALL OWN V 80 838 93/08/31 18:33:12 Started on Mon, 30 Aug 1993 12:38:00 EDT
PAKISTAN LOG9309A ALL OWN V 80 2647 93/09/07 20:50:35 Started on Wed, 1 Sep 1993 20:25:42 PDT
PAKISTAN LOG9309B ALL OWN V 79 1174 93/09/14 03:15:46 Started on Wed, 8 Sep 1993 15:06:31 PDT
PAKISTAN LOG9309C ALL OWN V 79 739 93/09/21 14:54:47 Started on Sat, 18 Sep 1993 00:39:26 PDT
PAKISTAN LOG9309D ALL OWN V 79 509 93/09/27 14:44:02 Started on Mon, 27 Sep 1993 14:30:06 PDT
PAKISTAN LOG9309E ALL OWN V 79 398 93/09/29 19:48:09 Started on Wed, 29 Sep 1993 19:43:43 PDT
PAKISTAN LOG9310A ALL OWN V 80 2967 93/10/07 22:42:00 Started on Sat, 2 Oct 1993 15:26:30 -0700
PAKISTAN LOG9310B ALL OWN V 80 2290 93/10/12 22:40:22 Started on Sat, 9 Oct 1993 08:45:44 MST
PAKISTAN LOG9310C ALL OWN V 109 707 93/10/19 02:53:08 Started on Fri, 15 Oct 1993 00:12:22 PDT
PAKISTAN LOG9310D ALL OWN V 80 1954 93/10/26 02:12:00 Started on Fri, 22 Oct 1993 04:34:00 EDT
PAKISTAN LOG9311A ALL OWN V 80 1224 93/11/06 20:14:11 Started on Tue, 2 Nov 1993 17:40:54 PST
PAKISTAN LOG9311B ALL OWN V 80 2893 93/11/14 23:10:06 Started on Tue, 9 Nov 1993 18:25:28 -0700
PAKISTAN LOG9311C ALL OWN V 80 826 93/11/21 12:24:13 Started on Mon, 15 Nov 1993 19:29:38 -0700
PAKISTAN LOG9311D ALL OWN V 80 329 93/11/24 18:11:44 Started on Mon, 22 Nov 1993 07:44:52 -0500
PAKISTAN LOG9311E ALL OWN V 80 1900 93/11/30 02:10:25 Started on Sun, 28 Nov 1993 23:04:16 -0700
PAKISTAN LOG9312A ALL OWN V 80 1537 93/12/07 14:00:45 Started on Thu, 2 Dec 1993 01:47:28 -0500
PAKISTAN LOG9312B ALL OWN V 79 357 93/12/14 13:05:02 Started on Wed, 8 Dec 1993 11:27:20 -0500
PAKISTAN LOG9312C ALL OWN V 80 1351 93/12/19 22:41:06 Started on Wed, 15 Dec 1993 12:51:38 -0500
PAKISTAN LOG9312D ALL OWN V 80 782 93/12/26 21:48:22 Started on Wed, 22 Dec 1993 08:48:15 MST
PAKISTAN LOG9312E ALL OWN V 78 203 93/12/30 00:35:46 Started on Thu, 30 Dec 1993 02:28:11 -0500
PAKISTAN LOG9401A ALL OWN V 80 1625 94/01/07 19:00:27 Started on Sun, 2 Jan 1994 00:57:43 -0500
PAKISTAN LOG9401B ALL OWN V 80 1733 94/01/13 19:18:02 Started on Sun, 9 Jan 1994 12:39:16 -0500
PAKISTAN LOG9401C ALL OWN V 78 476 94/01/21 00:31:15 Started on Mon, 17 Jan 1994 03:51:28 -0500
PAKISTAN LOG9401D ALL OWN V 80 840 94/01/28 02:41:25 Started on Sun, 23 Jan 1994 01:36:19 -0500
PAKISTAN LOG9401E ALL OWN V 83 662 94/01/31 19:45:52 Started on Sat, 29 Jan 1994 10:26:00 EST
PAKISTAN LOG9402B ALL OWN V 80 1115 94/02/12 10:35:27 Started on Tue, 8 Feb 1994 00:44:08 -0700
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************************************************************************
************************************************************************
-------
Subject: 12) WWW Home Page & Links

PNS HOME PAGE:
http://alumni.caltech.edu/~mughal/pns/pns.html
http://www.wmich.edu/psa/news

PNS-L HOME PAGE:
http://alumni.caltech.edu/~mughal/pns-l/pns-l.html

CTF HOME PAGE:
http://alumni.caltech.edu/~mughal/ctf/ctf.html

IINN HOME PAGE:
http://alumni.caltech.edu/~mughal/iinn/iinn.html

PNS FAQ URL:
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/pakistan/news-service-faq

PNS-L FAQ URL:
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/pakistan/news-service-list

IINN FAQ URL:
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/bit-muslims-faq/faq.html

ARCHIVE INFO:

This FAQ is archived & availble thru anonymous FTP & world-wide web.

Anonymous FTP:

1. SITE: rtfm.mit.edu
Directory: /pub/usenet/news.answers/bit-pakistan-faq.Z

2. SITE: ftp.uu.net
Directory: /pub/usenet/news.answers/bit-pakistan-faq.Z

Word-Wide Web:
-------------

URL for USENET FAQs:
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/top.html

URL for this FAQ:
www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/pakistan/news-service-faq

HISTORY:

Version 1.0 Released June 26, 1994
Version 1.2 Released July 04, 1994 Distribution to scp & s.answers.
Version 1.3 Released Aug 14, 1994 Copyright Info Included
Version 1.4 Released Oct 12, 1994 Item #7 updated. Files List of Listserv
Version 1.5 Released Aug 10, 1995 New Items #11 & #12. Total=13
Version 1.6 Released Oct 05, 1995 Updated Subject: &
Version 1.7 Released Jan 01, 1996 Updated header, #3, #11, #12
Version 1.8 Released Feb 14, 1997 Updated #12 & Headers/Archive name.

CREDITS: Pakistan News Service Staff

End of Bit.Listserv.Pakistan FAQ
********************************
-------

MoinA

unread,

Apr 14, 1998, 3:00:00 AM4/14/98

THE LANGUAGE SYSTEMS IN THE SUBCONTINENT
The subcontinent of South Asia is rich in cultural diversity and is made of
many races, nationalities, and religions. It is the birth place of at least two
of the major religions on the planet, and the nursing ground of many of the
worlds languages. Tracing the genealogy of a language is as easy as driving
through a minefield. One has to avoid religious dogma and xenophobia. It is
said that South Asian may have as many as 114 different dialects. Many of the
South Asian languages fall into distinct language groups.

South East Asia too has many language families. For example modern Nippon has
1) The Kanji The Chinese based Japanese language 2) the Japanese language 3)
The “gaigin” or foreign language based Japanese (i.e hamburger-maru).

THE SEMITIC LANGUAGES AND THE INDO-IRANIAN LANGUAGES
World linguists divide the world into these major language groups:

1) The Indo-Iranian group of languages
2) Indic Group of languages
3) The Semitic Group of languages
4) The Latin Group of languages
5) The Chinese Group of languages
6) The American Group of languages
7) The African Group of languages
8) Other

Arabic is a 'Semitic' language. The other major member of the Semitic group of
languages is 'Hebrew'. Except for the Mekran coast and Sind the Arab influence
on the subcontinent has been minimal. As such it is not surprising that Urdu
does not use the Arabic script. Urdu uses the Persian script (subtle
differences in vowel "liason", fonts,
alphabets,pronunciation,joining,sounds.... not readily understood by the casual
observer. Many subcontinental languages including Pushto, Baluchi, Persian etc.
all belong to Indo-Iranian group of languages.

THE SOUTH ASIAN LANGUAGE SYSTEMS
Like Japan the South Asian subcontinent may have three traceable language
systems.

1) The original languages of the IVC. The archaic pictographic Harappan based
languages that thrived in the basin of the Indus and today survive in South
India (though the pictographic script is lost) etc.
2) The languages that were imported into the subcontinent like Farsi, Arabic
and Sanskrit
3) The Brahmini based languages that thrived elsewhere in the subcontinent.
Depending on the theory that you accept these language families may or may not
belong to group two.

NORTHERN “INDIA” THE CULTURAL CAPITAL OF SOUTH ASIA SPAWNS URDU
Even though she is a thousand years old, Urdu is considered a young language.
This multi-cultural South Asian language, rich in literature, and history can
be understood by millions around the world. Urdu is a Turkish word (Ordu) that
translates to "lashkar" an "army camp" or an "army caravan".
The English word "horde" is of the same origin. The language developed as a
means of communication between the soldiers of different nationalities who
served under the kings.

Urdu started out as an army "language" where people of different religions and
nationalities mixed together and wanted to talk to each other. Out of the
cauldron, a new language and a new culture came into existence. This new
culture centered around Lucknow and Delhi, in Northern India is responsible for
the renaissance, growth and proliferation of art, painting, music, and
architecture of pre-British South Asia. The culture born of the confluence of
many languages and many religions exuded a sophistication now found in the
North Indian and Pakistani population. The emperors, kings, rajahs, nawabs and
badshahs of the region supported with gold and silver the poetry and the
literature that was an essential part of their court.

The new languages were very instrumental in the transformation of the
nationalities and races that inhabited the Northern part of the South Asian
subcontinent. Many South Asian languages, Kashmiri, Gujjar, Punjabi, Gujrati
and Hindi are very similar to Urdu, and have a lot of commonalties with Urdu.
Urdu is a mixture of languages including Persian, Arabic and Turkish. Today the
Urdu language is the national language of the republic of Pakistan and is a
constitutionally recognized language of the republic of India. Some Indian
states also recognize Urdu as a state language. Indian occupied Kashmir has
voted for Urdu as the state langugage. All provinces of Pakistan voted to
accept Urdu as the provincial languages. In countries neighboring India and
Pakistan the language is understood and appreciated. The language is understood
in many Persian Gulf countries and Mauritius, Fiji, South Africa, East Africa,
Maldives, and a large immigrant population in Europe and America.

Dr. Munawar Annes adds:
“There is at least one Urdu daily out of London but none in Hindi...and there
is a Urdu daily coming out from the Gulf; several dozen monthly, quarterly and
annual magazines published by the immigrant community”.

In actuality there are more than one Urdu dailies in England, and several
weeklies from New York and Los Angeles and many cities have periodicals. Some
of the best supporters are Sikhs and Hindus.

Of the many things that are common to the subcontinent, Urdu is surely one of
them. Perhaps this bridge can be used to bring peace to our poverty ridden
region. The following pages will trace the history of the many languages that
encompass the subcontinent.

Urdu is written in the Arabic script like Farsi,. Javi, Maldivian, Old Turkish,
several Central Asian languages, Pashto, Baluchi, Western Gurmukhi Punjabi.

PERSIAN AND INDIC GROUP OF LANGUAGES
According to many linguists, Pushto and Baluchi, including Persian , belong to
the Iranian group of languages and Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati etc. belong
to Indic languages. However this is not clearly defined. Most linguists claim
that Urdu is not a 'form' of Persian. Many linguist claim that Urdu and Persian
have different syntax, phonology, and morphology. However some linguists
proclaim that both Persian and Urdu belong to the Indo-European group of
languages and have a common base. Punjabi and Urdu speakers can clearly
understand and comprehend Persian where as Gujrati and Hindi speakers cannot
understand Persian and Arabic. Urdu beause of its rich heritage can be
conjugated in different ways. It can be conjugated in the Sanskrit manner, or
the Persian or the Arabic manner.

*************************************************************************
My home page:ftp://usman.imran.com/pub/articles/moin/)
Faisal's Education Mailing Lists-Taleemi Jamaat www Home Page:
http://www.tuns.ca/~fkharadi/taleem/TaleemiJ.html

MoinA

unread,

Apr 14, 1998, 3:00:00 AM4/14/98

THE HISTORY OF URDU
AND OTHER LANGUAGE SYSTEMS IN SOUTH ASIA
by Moin-Ansari

Urdu hai jis ka naam hamin jaantay hain Daagh
Saray jahan main dhoom hamari zaban ki hai!!!

alt.language.urdu.poetry
Urdu/VOA site
www.gpg.com/radio/index/html

Urdu site:
http://carla.acad.umn.edu/lctl/languages/Hindi-Urdu.html

This article is posted on
ftp://usman.imran.com/pub/articles/moina/

For more information please see:
http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/ibrahim.html
alt.language.urdu.poetry and also see
in...@urdutimes.com

http://www.syberwurx.com/phool/gg.htm

URDU
Urdu is a language spoken and understood by about a billion people on this
planet. It is one of the major languaes of Asia. It however remains almost
totally unknown in the West, especially America. This apathy about Urdu is
partly due the fact that the Subcontinent is largely ignored in matters of
culture and edification. The Lingua Franca of Northern India is understood by
every sixth person on this planet. The resilience of this wonderful language is
almost unprecedented. The language crosses culture, religion, creed, caste and
national boundries. With some official patronage in the land of its birth, the
language is known by many names. Urdu is spoken in the far corners of the
globe.

The original and formal full name of the language is Zaban-e-Urdu-e-Mualla. The
long title has been shortened to the nick name Urdu. Urdu papers are published
from all major cosmopolitan centers of the planet, New York, Los Angeles,
Chicago, London, Bradford, Manchester, Toronto, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Islamabad,
Lahore, Delhi, Karachi, Srinagar, and hundreds of other cities. Urdu language
radio broadcast inundate the airwaves on Short-wave, Medium-wave and FM. Today
the language is encroaching the Internet. From the shopping malls of Singapore,
to the skyscrapers of Dubai, from the jungles of Nairobi to the beaches of
Fiji, from the ski slopes of Kashmir to the streets of London, from the shops
of Toronto, to the taxis of Chicago-- Urdu is survives as a live and vivacious
testament to its speakers.

As varied as Chinese in accent and dialect, it is understood by more people who
speak Mandrin. Its history is as controversial as the history of its peoples.
Almost as old as English, the language had humble beginnings as a pidgin
dialect that slowly evolved into a polished language. Urdu led to the cultural
unity of Northern India. It has impacted the British Empire and it effected the
lingua franca of the world-- English. Many of the words used in English have
South Asian origins. Kabob, Sahib, Raja, Qamarband, Bazaar, Pajama, Bengal,
Curry, Saffron are only some of the examples of Urdus influence on the rest of
the planet.

In any discussion of cultural and religious unity, and in any discussion of
mystical Sufisim, (one of the highest forms of Islamic and religious thoughts),
Urdu remains the common factor between the peoples of various religions and
creeds of Northern and Western parts of the Subcontinent. According to Barbara
Metcalf, (in an interesting discussion on Urdu in her book Islamic revival in
India), Urdu was indeed a major factor that led to the Northern Indian
Hindu-Skih-Muslim "Mughlea" culture with its lavish architecture and profound
literature, and rich Indian-Middle-Eastern-Sino-Central-Asian heritage. Urdu
spans religions and races. It always has and always will. It was the language
of Muslim kings and Hindu rajas, and Sikh princes and Parsi courtiers. It
spawned a culture and architecture that has survived centuries.

People have died for it, and people are as parochial about it as the
Franco-phones are about French in Quebec. Its detractors are jealous of its
popularity, and its enemies hate the phenomenal growth the language has seen.
It continues to grow day and night, sometimes at the expense of other languages
and dialects.

This article tries to trace the origins or Urdu and other language systems in
the South Asian Subcontinent. Though it is relatively a young language it is
rich in culture, poetry and literature. This article attempts to trace the
genealogy of the language and deliantes the differences between Urdu and Hindi.
The article also discusses the other language systems in the South Asian
Subcontinent. Let us begin by looking at the linguistic systems in the world.

MoinA

unread,

Apr 14, 1998, 3:00:00 AM4/14/98

THE ORIGINS OF URDU
Urdu was influenced by Persian and adopted the Persian script as opposed to the
Arabic script. One of the many reasons why the language is spoken around Delhi
and developed as a “lingua franca” in the first place was that it was spoken
around Delhi, seat of the first and later the most extensive Muslim conquests.
Thus, its vocabulary was heavily influenced by Arabic and Persian right from
the time when it began to develop as a separate language.

Mahmud of Ghazni invaded India in 1000 A.D. His second invasion was against
Jaypal in 1001. At this time Persian and Arabic was introduced to the
subcontinent. Firdausi is considered one of the first poets of Urdu. By the
year 1100 the house of Ghaur had been established. The Muslim conquest of India
had been formalized. Urdu had begun. The military camps had all sorts of people
in them. When they wanted to communicate they spoke their own languages and
dialects. These people communicated and gave birth to a new language. Urdu or
Askasi was a Turkish word which means “lashkar” or army from a camp. Some
called the language "askari" (word also means military in Turkish).

Here is another author giving us soruces on the origins of Urdu:

There is evidence (presented by Baba-e Urdu or father of Urdu, Moulvi Abdul
Haq) that Urdu sayings can be reliably attributed to Nizamuddin Auliya and Baba
Farid Ganj Shakar, who lived in the Sultanate period. And, of course we have
the vast apocryphal literature attributed to Amir Khusrau, which is in a
language surprisingly close to modern Urdu.

Since Khusrau was associated with Balban's court, it is very likely that the
language was understood and spoken there. The name was eventually shortened to
Urdu. From its earlier use in the sub-continent it was written in the Arabic
script. Its vocabulary came from vernacular Hindi,Punjabi, Sanskarit to which
were gradually added Persian, Turkish and later English words.

This is what Mansoor Khan of Cleveland, Ohio says abot origins of Urdu:

"Ameer Khusro is considered by some the first Urdu poet. At his time this
language was used only for some poetry purpose and was called "Rekhta" not
Urdu untill Mirza Ghalib's time. Ghalib was first Urdu prose writer in the
form of letters to his friends. He called it "Urdu-e-Mu'alla" means
superior Urdu to distinguish from the version spoken by masses.
Ishfaq"

The Slave Dynasty of India was firmly established in India between the years
1206-1290. These were the days of the creation of URDU. The Khiljis ALSO
provided Urdu a cradle in the years 1290-1320. The Tughlaqs officially used
Persian as the court language but they gave Urdu the importance it deserved.
The Lodhis used Urdu as the court language. Stanley Wolpert in his book A New
History of India says the following about Sikandar Lodhi (1498-1517):

“ has been hailed as the wisest and most dedicated , hard working , and
far-sighted sultan ever to sit upon Delhis the throne. He wrote poetry himself
and invited scholars of every sort to his side, encouraging the compilation of
books on medicine (Ma’dan-ul-shifa) as well as music (Lahjat-i-Sikandar-shahi)”

Urdu was given great patronage and the language clearly on the way to becoming
the Lingua Franca of at least northern India. During the Lodhi era, Urdu was
FIRMLY past the crib, and was in the population. With Babur’s advent he
immediately recognized Urdu as the language to be dealt with. Both Babur, Sher
shah Suri and Humayun glorified the language.

Stanley Wolpert in his book A New History of India says the following about the
year 1595:

“The importance of Persian cultural influence in the Mughal Empire and court
can hardly be exaggerated: it was found in Akbars Sufisim but also in the
reintroduction of Persian as the official language of Mughal administration and
law (Persian had been used by the Tughlaqs but not the Lodis). The elegant
decadence of Mughal dress, decor, manners, and morals all reflected Persian
court life and custom. Mughal culture was however more than an import; by
Akbars era, it had acquired something of a “national” patina, the cultural
equivalent of the Mughal-Rajput alliance. The new syncretism which has come to
be called “Mughlai” is exemplified by Akbar’s encouragement of Hindi literature
and its development. While the Persian and Urdu languages and literature
received the most royal patronage and noble as well martial attention, the
emperor also appointed a poet laureate for Hindi. Raja Birbal (1528-83) was the
first poet to hold the honored title, thanks to which many other young men of
the sixteenth century were induced to study the northern vernacular that has
now become India national tongue, helping to popularize it through their poetry
and translations of Persian classics. Most popular of the Hindi works of this
era was the translation of the epic Ramayana by Tulsi Das.”

This is what "Yaswant Malaiya" <mal...@cs.colostate.edu> says:

According to what I have seen, the term "Urdu" dates from Shahjahan's
time (1628 to 1658) when he built the fort in Delhi. Other terms
have been used for it (Hindavi or Rekhta) but around 1850 the term
Urdu was in common use.

However if we define Urdu by its basic structure, it can perhaps be
dated to as far back as 13th century or so. The Farsi poet
Amir Khosrow (1253-1325) wrote verses in a dialect that can be
regarded to be Urdu.

Firdausi (940-1020), who wrote Shah-Nameh, was certainly a great
poet, but I am not aware of him writing Urdu.

You can see a translation of Shah-Nameh at
http://www.cit.ics.saitama-u.ac.jp/hobbies/iran/shahnameh.html

However in a way, you can say that Urdu existed around 1000 AD.
Many manuscripts of Apabhransha books from that period are now
known. Apabhransha is regarded to be the old form of modern north
Indian languages.

At the time of the birth of Urdu, Sanskrit was NOT a spoken language, it was
more like Latin and Hebrew, available to scholars. The fifteenth century saw
the rise of the Mughal empire (1526-1857), and these three centuries were the
golden period of Urdu.

Delhi and Lucknow became centers of Urdu poets and writers. Poetry became the
fond habit of the rich and the poor. Great eulogies (“qaseeda”) were written
for the kings and the nawabs, and the poets were paid handsomely in gold. On
the death of the loved ones great obituaries (“marseas”) were written. The
sonnets in the form of “ghazzal” were written for lovers and other topics.
Around the nineteenth century, poets like Iqbal used Urdu to rile the masses
against the British colonialism.

URDU AND HINDI .....WHICH CAME FIRST... THE CHIKEN OR THE EGG SYNDROME
The earliest use of Brahmini is disputed but the earliest known inscriptions in
Brahmini are in the Muyara period, possibly from Chandragupta's period found at
Sohguara, Mahastan; unless we can date the Piparawa casket to right after
Buddha's cremation. Here is what an Indian historian (In an interesting article
on Urdu: A Historian Looks at Hindi-Urdu Debate 8 December 1995; Copyright:
India Abroad Publications) says about Urdu and Hindi:

`Hindi" and `Urdu" did not exist as languages; they were to be formed out of
the myriad languages of northern India by soldiers (`urdu'means `language of
the camp') and others who needed a common language (over the regional tongues
of the north, such as Bhojpuri, Mythali, Khari Boli, Braj, etc. Certainly,
there was no relationship between a particular language and a particular
religious group. The nobility (including Hindus and Muslims) preferred Persian
as the tongue of the elites: common folk (including Hindus and Muslims) spoke
their local languages and used local idioms which transcended religion.

In the ongoing debate over Hindi-Urdu, most commentators betray a minimal
familiarity with the historical and linguistic record and yet, they can write
with confidence about Hindi-Urdu.
Hindi and Urdu are modern languages: in a very real sense, their most effective
development began after 1947 when they became the State languages of India and
Pakistan respectively. It was after that date that Hindi was Sanskritized ..."

The earliest use of the word "Hindi" was by Sharfuddin Yazdi in Zafarnama
(1424). Hindi somply means zaban-e-Hind the language of Hind.

Urdu-Hindi phrase book: (http://www.gorp.com/atb/cwasia/g1146.htm)
Shams-Ul-Ulama, Maulana Mohammad Hussein Azad has done extensive research on
the history of Urdu in the subcontinent. His autobiography is the autobiography
of Urdu in the Punjab and in the subcontinent.

This is what "Yaswant Malaiya" <mal...@cs.colostate.edu> says:

I have seen many scholars express the view that Urdu and Hindi
are basically the same language.

Language of the street is the basic language. There can be two views and one
can choose one of them.

1. Some consider the right Hindi a language from which every
possible Farsi/Arabic word has been replaced with a Sanskrit
one. Similarly many regard Urdu as the language in which
every noun is from Farsi/Arabic as much as possible.
If you believe that Urdu came into existance only during
late 17th century, and that it is spoken by a small minority
in India and a large fraction of the Pakistanis; you can take
this view.

2. Other possible view is that Urdu/Hindi is basically
the same language that has many variations. There is literary
Urdu, there is literary Hindi, there is common speach and
there are dialects. If you take this view then Urdu/Hindi is
an old language, popularly used and understood by a large
population.

Many take the second view.

Here is Naufal Khan twho disagrees with the single language point of view.

This really doesn't support your viewpoint. First of all, none
of the universities (not even the ones you've listed) teach a
single "language" called Hindi/Urdu. Many schools have Hindi/Urdu
programs but they do maintain a very clear distinction between Hindi
and Urdu. The elementary/very_beginner level conversation courses (usually
for foreigners) might lump the two together - mainly due to the smaller
no. of students and absolute novice level of students where they're
pretty much at "hindi/urdu phrasebook" (that you later refer to) level -
but very soon (i.e. as soon as they need to start writing and have acquired
the minimal conversational skills), the two get forked.

According to many linguists the basic difference between Hindi and Urdu
linguists is that Hindi-ites believe that “Kharri boli” was the language spoken
by the populace of Delhi. According to Hindi-ite linguists around 1000 AD, the
Delhi army used “kharrri boli” (standard Hindi) as the base language and
started speaking “Urdu” and the two languages Urdu and Hindi developed side by
side.

Many linguists and historians on the other hand proclaim that URDU or Askari
is a language that developed as a result of the interaction between Persians,
Turks, Central Asians and other people in the army. The army began speaking a
language and it spread to the populace with minor variations.

Hindi and Urdu, have similar linguistic structure. Unfortunately some parochial
writers consider them different languages based on 'religion'. One Indian says
the following:

“The Sanskritized Hindi is, as you say, as much of an enigma to the North
Indian as it is to the South Indian or to the Bengali, and is therefore
region-neutral (unlike normal, "filmi" Hindi).”

Some authors belittle the differences between Urdu and Hindi and compare them
to be as unimportant as the small differences between Dutch and German. However
Urdu proponents say that the two languages are conjugated differently. Even
though the conjugation is not necessarily one of the main ways separating
languages, conjugation DOES separate the languages from the roots. Another
difference between Hindi and Urdu is, their writing system. The Muslim Sikh
and many Hindu rulers, the government, the official court system and the Urdu
speakers, mostly people belonging to Islamic faith (though there have been
many many prolific Sikh and Hindu poets and writers) in the sub-continent, used
the 'Arabic' script where as a section of the Hindu population kept the
Sanskrit script alive and Hindi speakers have adopted the 'Devanagari' script.
Guru Goband Sings is a prime example of a Sikh who used and wrote not only in
Urdu but also in Persian. Most of Akbars Nine gems spoke and wrote Urdu and
Persian.

Here is what one Pakistani linguist says:

Persian and Urdu have the same syntax.....EXACTLY THE SAME SYNTAX. Most of the
nouns are the same. The conjugation is exactly the same. I converse wiht my
Persian friends in broken Urdu. Pushto and Baluchi is so similar that YOU
cannot even tell the difference. I can understand Iqbal’s poetry in Persian by
payng more attention. It is like reading DIFFICUILT Urdu. Pakistan’s national
anlthem can be understood in BOTH languages, Urdu, and Persian.
Pushto and Balauchi are so close to Persian that we do not need any tranlations
with Afghans, or Iranians. We learn the Quran from the age of five. Persian and
Arabic are second languages in Pakistan. We learn them as a matter of fact.
Please refrain from telling us what the realtionship of Persian and Arabic is
to Urdu. You lose your cradability.
Urdu was the language of the subcontinent for the best part of the pre and post
Mughal century. Hindi was never spoken during that era. Urdu was the lingua
franca of Northern India during the Mughals era and remains the lingua franca
of Northern India and Paksitan. The current Sanskritized version of official
Indian Hindi was brought back to life by Hindu fundamentalists who wanted to
revive a dead language like Latin, called Sanskrit. It has been done before
with Hebrew.
Urdu beause of its rich heritage can be conjugated in differnt ways. It can be

conjugated in the Sanskrit manner, or the Persian or the Arabic manner.

Example. Khabar can be conjgated as Khabrain ( Sanskrit) or Ikhbar ( Arabic).
Many words like KURSI or MAIZ are conjugated with Persian plural forms.

Here is what an Indian linguist says:

What we call Urdu is nothing but Hindi with more ‘borrowed’ Persian words just
like Hindi having more Sanskrit words. AgainUrdu speakers, mostly people
belonging to ‘Islamic’ faith in the sub-continent, have adopted ‘Arabic’ script
where as Hindi speakers have adopted ‘Devanagari’ script.
Hindi and Urdu, having the same linguistic structure are considered different
languges based on ‘Religion’ just like Dutch and German ARE different. Just
like French is different in France than the one spoken in belgian. Similarly
there are several distinct forms of Arabic.
Hindi is an ‘apabramsha’ version of ‘Pali’, the language of Buddhists, which is
itself an ‘apabramsha’ variety of Classical Sanskrit, which is derived from
Vedic Sanskrit.
Khari boli (standard Hindi) spoken around Delhi formed the base of the common
language "adopted" by Afghans, Arabs, Persian,and Turks to "interact" with the
local population.

In Hindi, "pen" is "qalam", "newspaper" is "akhbar", "life" is "zindegi", etc.
etc. the list goes on and on.
There has been "Sanskritising" of Hindi/Urdu but it certainly isn't complete.

This is what Dr. Vijay Prashad ithaca, NY says: (The writer is Professor of
History at Cornell University)
A Historian Looks at Hindi-Urdu Debate 8 December 1995; Copyright: India Abroad
Publications
Richard F. Wilcox (I.A., Sept.22 )

"seems to write from another century; when he speaks of successive `Muslim
rulers,' he does not seem to recognize that in the historical record it was not
`Muslims' who ruled in India from the 10th century to the 18th century, but
Turks, Mughals, Afghans, Marattas, etc. To purse this line of argument will
require separate treatment, but such loose statements reveal the lack of
historical understanding which is allowed to be perpetuated in our media."

THE BIRTH AND SPREAD OF SUFISM IN SOUTH ASIA PROPOGATED URDU
The Lingua Franca of most Sufis was Urdu. This common langugae led to the
cultural and religious unification of Norhtern India. This is what Kalim
Khawaja of Ellicot City Maryland says about the advent of Islam in the South
Asia (The Minaret:October 1995,Jamada II 1416)

After the establishment of the rule of Muslim kings in Northern India in the
seventh century, many Sufi saints migrated to India from West Asia. These Sufis
integrated Islam in the Indian soil by adopting many prevailing indigenous
Indian practices. It was that crucial effort at Indianizing Islam that soon
made Islam an Indian religion and earned it a big flock from among the native
inhabitants of India. These Sufis used the medium of poetry, music and social
events in addition to discourses to popularize Islam.

Urdu poetry was the medium for prolyzitizing to the poor, the disenfranchised
and the ones who were low on the caste echelon. The sifis used Urdu to
propogate the message of tolerance and unity. The Sufi message crossed Sikh,
Hindu and Muslim boundreis. The culture of the Delhi-Lucknow was of course a
conglomeration of earlier Muyara, Slave. Mughal and Gupta dynasties---an apogee
of celebration of Turkish, Persian, Afghan, Pathan, Mongol and local native
Buddhist, Brahman, Rajput and other cultures. Our languages Urdu, Punjabi,
Pahari, Kashmiri, Gujjar, Pushto, Saraiki, Hindkoh, Baluchi, Barouhi, Sindhi,
Gujrati, and Mekrani all grew up during the same time. Rekhta and Apabhransha
grew up at the same time. Prakrit, Sanskrit and Pali were formalized. Vedas
were indeed translated and written into Devanagri during the era of Akbar. Our
dress, our poetry, our prose our cuisine, our demeanor is but a confluence of
cultures of the Middle East and South Asia.

According to David Gilmartin in his book Empire and Islam: Punjab and the
making of Pakistan (Page 8) "As late as the middle of the ninteenth century,
the population of much of southern and western Punjab had been pastoralist,
migrating between the river valleys and the 'barr' the flat uplands tracts
between the rivers. But in the late nineteenth and early twnetieth centuries
much of southwestern Punjab had come under canal irrigation---leading both to
the settling of pastorialists and to the migration of settlers from central
Punjab..............from Urban populations, with ties to the Mughal past, to
only recently settled pastoral populations, the confession of Islam linked
together people of wide diversity."

The confession of Islam was spread by the great Sufi saints of those times.
Urdu was the medium of instruction and Urdu was the great prolyzitizing (sic?)
force in the Punjab and in all of India. According to David Gilmartin in his
book Empire and Islam: Punjab and the making of Pakistan (Page 40) " "western
Punjabs conversion to Islam is usually credited to the great sufi mystics of
the Delhi sultanate period---Baba Farid ganj-e-Shakar of Pakpattan, Shaikh
Bahawal Haq Zakariyya of Multan, Saiyid Jalaludding Bokhari of Uch, and others.
Many Punjabi tribes have traced theri conversions to these medieval
times...........As Richard Eaton argues the pattern of conversion in rural
Punjab adapted to both spreading agricultural way of life and to the political
and cultural hegemony of the imperial Muslim state. The construction of sufi
khankahs (hospices) and later sufi tombs produced smbolic cultural outposts of
the power of Islam and of the Muslim state in a world where local, tribal
identitities continued to be of vital importance. Imposing sufi tombs
constructed by Muslim sutans (Footnote P41: The tughlaqs patronized many
important sufi shrines in Punjab, constructing important tombs at the shrine of
baba Farid and of Shah Rukh-e-Alam in Multan.........)...(Page 43) in the
cunturies before the British arrived, networks of shrines loosley linked within
the sufi orders spread through much of the province...(page 45)..the Mughals
apparently used the support of the sajjada nashins to extend their hegemony and
to dramatize the religious foundation of their regime...the sufi shrines thus
served as critical links between the Punjab countryside and the power of the
imperial Muslim states.

Most of the sufis were either trained by the Deobandis or sued Farangi Mahall
Nizamiyya inspired curriculums to teah the Quran Hadis, Fiqah, Logica nd
Jursipudence to the new Muslims of the Punjab. The influence of Farangi Mahall
and the Deobandis with lavish donations from the UP, was pivotal to the
survival of the sufi outposts in the Punjab. According to David Gilmartin in
his book Empire and Islam: Punjab and the making of Pakistan (Page 54): The
organizational model for the reformist 'ulema was the 'darul ulum' founded in
1867 at Deoband in the United Provinces, a religious school...though the
influence of the school at Deoband was greatest in the heartland of the old
Mughal empire, it provided a model to spread the influence of these reformers
to much of the rest of India--including the Punjab. As Barbara Metcalf points
out, the school at Deoaband attracted contributions from numerous Punjabis,
particularly those living in cities and towns. Perhaps more important, it
ultimatley spawned several schools in Punjabpatterned on the Deoband model.

MoinA

unread,

Apr 14, 1998, 3:00:00 AM4/14/98

URDU PRESS IN THE PUNJAB

According to David Gilmartin in his book Empire and Islam: Punjab and the

making of Pakistan (Page 78): The Urdu press became a political force among
Lahore's Muslims with launching in 188)s of the Paisa Akhbar, the first Urdu
daily with a mass circulation (Footnote page 78: Its circulation reachd 13000,
in the early 1900s..S.M. Feroze, Press in Pakistan, Lahore National
Publications, 1957, 69-72. For circulation figures see also N.Gerlad Barrier
and Paul Wallace, The Punjab Press 1880-1905, East Lansing: Asian Studies
Center, Michigan State University, 1970 101-102). But the most important Muslim
leader of this type was Zafar Ali Khan......a graduate of Aligarh...who rose of
prominence in the years after 1911 when he moved his fathers newspaper,
Zamindar, to Lahore and established it as a daily...

THE URDU BASED MUGHALEA CULTURE OF DELHI AND LUCKNOW
The Delhi Mughlea culture (both Hindu and Muslim) was based on Urdu. The Mughal
empire cannot be divorced from the “Mughlea” edification and the “Mughlea”
culture. Growing this culture involved creating and supporting institutions
that would functions as green houses for Muslim intellectual growth. Guardians
of the nurseries of this culture were individuals and families whose entire
purpose of existence was research into Islamic ideas. They wrote the
curriculums for the schools, and took Islam to the nooks and coreners of South
Asia. During the height of the Mughal empre they assisted in guiding imperial
religious thought (giving religious advice to Akbar, and assisting the emperor
Awrunzeb Alimgir in writing the Fatwa e Alamgiri). During the decline of the
Mughal empire, they carefully guarded and revived Islamic thinking in South
Asia. During the British rule some of these families carefully created a
vision for the youth of South Asia. They gave them a path and these greenhouses
indeed did create leaders like Mohammed Ali Juahar, Abul Kalaam Azad,
Abd-al-Bari, Jinnah, Suhrawardi, Feroze Khan Noon, Khaliq-Uz-Zaman,
Vaqar-ul-Mulk, Iqbal and Sir Syed and Liaqat Ali Khan.

SOUTH ASIAN CIVILIZATION AND MUGHAL CULTURAL HERITAGE
Languages play a very importnat part in creating culture. Even though Sikhs are
great ptrons of Urdu, Gurmaki led to the creation of the Sikh culture.

Was the Mughal period (when Jehangir was the wealthiest man on Earth) our last
most glorious era? We are proud of the Mughlea era that thrived in Northern
India. If Indians and Pakistanis trace our culture from the fabulously rich
Mughlea period of our common history. Many Muslims spoor our lineage from the
sands of Arabia. Many trace their roots from the deserts of Rajputs. Huns and
Aryans and Jats have many things in common with the Hindus. The Hindus and the
Muslims have a common bond. We have amalgamated the wealth of the Indus Valley
and the Gangetic Civilizations.

While our genealogy hazed in Mohen-ja-doaro and Harappa many Pakistanis claim
that the Pakistani civilization originated in Mecca and Medina, transplanted
itself across the gulf of Arabia and incubated itself in Samarqand, Isphahan,
Ghazni and finally flourished in Lucknow and Delhi. If the Mughals had not
carefully nurtured the Pakistani civilization, it would not have survived in
Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, Mirpur and Karachi. Many Pakistanis claim that
Pakistan is the successor state to the mighty Mughal empire. Most Indians
(Hindus and Muslims) will disagree with that assessment. This is the schism
that has generated more hatred and war in this part of the world than any
other.

THE DECLINE OF URDU “HINDI IS JUST A FORM OF URDU---- WITHOUT MUSLIM WORDS”
The golden period of Urdu was during the Mughal era. On the arrival of the
British, Urdu suffered terribly. The fall of Tipu Sultan was a fall from which
Urdu never actually recovered. Overnight the official language was changed to
English, and Urdu was uncerimonously un-crowned as the lingua franca of the
subcontinent. During the nineteeth century, the British started teaching Urdu
as Hindustani. The British not only sent Bahadur Shah Zafar into exile they
also sent Urdu and the entire culture based around Delhi into oblivion. For a
thousand years the court language and the art and literature of the
subcontinent was based around Urdu. This lagacy was destroyed.

Some where along the way, perhaps due to the patronage of the rulers, the Urdu
language got branded as the language of Muslims and Sikhs.

In an interesting article on Urdu: A Historian Looks at Hindi-Urdu Debate 8
December 1995; Copyright: India Abroad Publications

`Hindustani' was the name given to the language of the camp, to Urdu; this was
the common parlance of northern India by the late nineteenth century. At this
time, Bharatendu Harischandra and Pratap Narain Misra tried to fashion a
politics around language; they argued that there was an intrinsic connection
between Hindus and Hindi. Harischandra and Misra's attempts to make this
connection did not by itself create the problem which we are rehearsing today.
In April 1900, the lieutenant-governor of U.P., Anthony MacDonnell wanted to
undermine the established Indian bureaucrats (who used Urdu as the language of
their work -- this despite the fact that there were Hindus and Muslims in the
administration); MacDonnell insisted that Hindi in the Devangri script be used
for administrative purposes, thereby undermining the previous bureaucrats as
well as making the question of the script a political communal problem.

In the 1901 Census, the British insisted that the language of Muslim be entered
as Urdu and the language of Hindus be entered as Hindi. The agitation over
Nagri became a communal agitation. The Al-Bashir of 21 September 1901 pointed
out that there was little distinction between Urdu and Hindi; the real
difference was between the language spoken in towns and language spoken in the
countryside. The Nagri agitation was to drag the language of refinement and
culture into the morass of communal hatred.

Religious zealots came forward and tried to revive the Sanskrit based languages
and the Sanskrit based scripts. Circa: 1900. Certain segments of the Hindu
political establishemnt wanted to REPLACE Urdu and and Persian as the official
language of the court and government. The one nation agitators
(Hindu-Hindi-Hindustani) religious zealots started agitating for the Devanagri
script. As a result of this agitation the Devanagri-Sanskrit script REPLACED
the Persian Urdu langauge in the 19th century and this led to widespread
agitation which was expressed by the creation of the Muslim League in 1906 (see
Ira Lapidus..History of Islamic Societies). As soon as the Devanagri script was
adopted by the government, the language was SANSKRITIZED, all Arabic-Persian
words were quickly repalced by archaic sanskrit vocabulary.....that is STILL
alien to the speakers of the language of Northern India.

So the language spoken in Pakistan today is prety much the language that
existed int he courts and the streets of Northern India. The language
broadcasted by AIR is an alien language that had died a natural death. Persian
and Arabic and Turkish words were listed and purged from the official
dictionaries. The revival of Sanskrit had begun. A new Sanskritized “Hindi” was
transplanted as the official instrument of the elite.

Right before the British left India, Urdu was treated like a step child. Hindu
religious zealots did not want "foreign" influences in India, so they began
the "ethnic cleansing" on Urdu. The "foreign" words of Urdu were taken out, and
words Tatsama words (words in the same form as they appear in Sanskrit ) from a
dead language called Sanskrit were injected into Urdu. This new ethnically
cleansed language officially called Hindi (actually Sankritized Hindi) is now
the national language of a “secular” country called India. The official Hindi
is Urdu WITHOUT the Persian and Arabic words.

Hindi according to many Hindus is an 'apabramsha' version of 'Pali', the

language of Buddhists, which is itself an 'apabramsha' variety of Classical
Sanskrit, which is derived from Vedic Sanskrit.

Urdu is one of the languages recognized in the Indian constitution. Urdu is the
state language of the Indian part of Jammu and Kashmir. The language is clearly
understood on Bangladesh and even in Nepal, Burma and Sri Lanka. If ine know
Urdu one can get by in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and even in Kuwait. Urdu is the
national language of Pakistan, and is the provincial language of all provinces
of Pakistan, namely, Punjab, Sarhad, Balauchistan, Kashmir and Sindh. Urdu in
India, is officially alive only in Kashmir. The rest of India speaks it, but
Indian officialdom refuses its existence. Many South Indians are resentlful of
Hindi and claim that the politicians of Northern India have tried to “impose”
Sankritized Hindi (without Persian or Arabic words in it) upon the people.

Northern Indians still speak Urdu, but call it Hindi. Southern Indians have no
affinity with Hindi and they almost “refuse” Hindis existence. The result is
linguistic CONFUSION in India. The language spoken by the North Indian people
and the language broadcasted in news bulletins across the Indian air waves have
no relation to each other. Many many Indians understand Urdu but they do not
understand the Sanskrit ridden news broadcasts (the official
Sanskritized-Hinduized version of Urdu).

THE TRANSLPLANTATION: URDU FINDS A NEW HOME IN THE PUNJAB
Urdu lives on the streets of Northern India. It is however called Hindi. While
the official Hindi is a Sanskrtized language, the language on the streets of
Northern India remains the older non-Sanskritized version. The migration of the
language Eastword preceded the decline of the language in Northern India, where
under British patronage, and Hindu benefaction, Hindi was fast becoming the
lingua-franca

THE SIKHS AS GREAT PATRONS OF URDU. THE ORIGINS OF GURMUKHI (A FORM OF PUNJABI)
The Sikhs are and have been great contributers to Urdu. Many many Sikhs find
Urdu a language to be invested in. The East Punjabis created and supported many
Urdu poets and even today, Sikhs enjoy Urdu poetery and prose.

There are very few scripts that have actually been invented. The Gurumukhi
script was invented by Guru Angad (1504-1552). He adapted the script used by
traders in the region (called Takari, i.e. script of the Takka region) to
compile the writings of Guru Nanak. Gurumukhi resembles Sharda script used in
Kashmir and nearby region. One can compare inscriptions found in Chamba etc.
with Gurumukhi.

The language of the Sikh scriptures is a completely different consideration.
According to McLeod the following trend is observed:

Nanak: Punjabi
|
Arjun: Urdu
|
Teg Bahadur: Braj

The dividing lines are rather fuzzy.

Most of the works of Guru Gobind Singh are in Braj Bhasha (some in Punjabi and
Farsi). Braj Bhasha is the language of Mathura region. In general, the whole
set of works can be said to be in “sadhukkadi” mixed language of the Sadhus.

URDU FINDS A NEW HOME IN PAKISTAN
The move of Urdu Westward was a clear sign of the creation of Pakistan. Urdu
found a new home in the Punjab, due to the aura of personalities like
Shams-Ul-Ulama, Maulana Mohammad Hussein and Alama Sir Mohammad Iqbal. Azad
like Iqbal chose to write not in his native Punjabi, but rather in Urdu. Iqbal
began his writings as an Indian Nationalist, then rediscovered himself himself
as a Pan-Islamist but later converted to focusing his attention to the Muslims
of the Subcontinent only. Urdu and Persianised Urdu was used to wake the
Muslims of the Subcontinent. The land of the five rivers has indeed produced
many authors and poets. Faiz is on the personal favorites of this author.

Persian AND Urdu..Shams Ul Ulama Maulana Mohammed etc. were URDU writers and
admirers. Urdu was greatly enhanced during the Sikh rule and is REALLY enjoyed
by East and West Punjabi elites and Punjabi elites have been enjoying Urdu for
the past century

Urdu and its sister language Punjabi have come closer because of the close
bonds of religion, script, (Muslim Punjabis chose the Urdu/Persian script)
vocabulary, idiom, grammar etc.

After 1900 when Devanagri was IMPOSED as the official script, Punjab, Sindh and
Bengal (YES BENGAL) supported Urdu as the language of Muslims....this trend has
continued till the creation of Pakistan and the adoption of the Pakistani
constitution where the language of Urdu was OFFICIALLY recognized as the
official language.

The adoption does not mean that Punjabi and Sindhi and Pushto and Baluchi
should not grow. WE MUST make the regional languages GROW and
prosper...Pakistani language is a MIXTURE of Urdu and Punjabi and Pushto, and
Mekrani, just like the regional languages are mixtures of other languages

URDU AND PUNJABI
Punjab is not a monolithic culture. Within the boundaries of the land of five
rivers are many races, castes, creeds, religions, and languages. Punjabi is a
mixture of Saraiki, Potohari, Hindkoh, Pushto, Pahari,Gujjar,Kashmiri,Urdu,
Persian, Turkish, Arabic, Sanskrit and other languages....depending on which
provincial border you encroach...Lahori Punjabi the ROYAL Punjabi is very close
to Urdu . East Punjabis speak Gurmuki with a lot Sanskrit in it. West Punjabis
speak Punjabi with Persian and Arabic words in it which have not been replaced.

This mixture language is flowering in Karachi where there is a cacophony of
cultures and languages...where Pathans have to communicate with Sindhis and
Mekranis, and Gujratis, and Bengalis etc...URDU is the medium that is common to
these Pakistanis and ALL Pakistanis

Most Pakistanis speak and write and learn Urdu BY CHOICE and because in a
multi-lingual, and multi-ethnic society one has to learn to communicate with
other Pakistanis.

For an illiterate population which language do we pick...obviously it CANNOT be
English...there is TO MUCH hatred of the West and Western slavery in rural
Pakistan to allow that...plus the simple fact that it is AN ALIEN language to
most of the population

A similar case is true WITHIN Punjab itself...the new provincial boundaries of
the present Pakistani Punjab include many non-Punjabi speaking
minorities...Pahari, Potohari,Gujjar,Kashmiri,Hindkoh,Saraiki, Sindhi,Pushto
etc. etc.....then there are subtle and not so subtle differences in the Punajbi
itself...Lahori is different than Sahiwali etc.......

Kor Gushnay oh! is very different than KITHAY WANAY PAI Oh! is very different
to kithay ja raho oh! etc. etc. etc.

Similar cases can be made for Pushto and also perhaps in Sindhi. Any effort to
IMPOSE the provincial language on the minorities within the provinces will face
a lot of negativity and confusion.

Urdu is the COMMONALITY between the provinces and WITHIN THE PROVINCES.

Urdu and Punaji cultures and language are so intermingled ANYWAYS that it is
very hard to sperate them EXCEPS IN THE MINDS of bigots....

Punjabi culture is MAGNANAMOUS, and Punjabi as a whole (not represented on SCP)
are GOOD FOLKS...humorous, GIVING, and hospitable.....this Punjabi chuvanism
that I see on the SCP was either hidden or NOT present in the PUnjab I grew up
in.

Lahore Lahore eh!!! and the languge of Lahore is Punajabi of course BUT ALSO
Urdu...Urdu poetry and literature flurishes in Bollywood, in Sufisim, in
religion, in music, in concerts but ALSO in Urdu bazaar (one of the largest
libraries and repositories of urdu literature, prose and poetry)

Let us staighten out certain facts about Punjabi heritage and
the consequences of its neglegence:
1. Punjabi has a strong tradition in literature, art and other technical
know-how of the pasts.

(a) Punjabi literature that starts with Baba Farid has produced giants.
Shah Hussai, Demodar Das, Guru Nanik were the most prominent and
relatively advanced poets (compare to other languages of the region) of
their era. Sultuan Bahu, Waris Shah, Bulleh Shah ans Sachal Sarmast of
17-18th century were the zenith of any poetry. Qadir Yar, Hashim Shah,
Mian Mohammad, Maulvi Ghulam Rasool and Khawaja Fareed of 19th century
were the stalwats of no comparison.

Amrita Pritam, Mohan Singh, Shiv Kumar and Najam Hussain Syed are
the world class poets. Pujabi novel and short story has not only caught up
with its competitors, it has srurpassed many. If you doubt, read Prem
Parkask, Mansha Yad or Gurdial Singh.

(b) Most of the classical school of singers have emeged from the Punjab.
Wasoor Gharana produced Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Chote Ghulam Ali Khan and
even Noor Jahan. Sham Chueasi Ghrana, led now Ustad Salamt Ali Kha, is in
Punjab.

(2) Urdu has been maintained and kept up by Pakistani state, however,
Punjabi has overwhelmed it when the state is neutral. Punjabi films, good
or bad, were produced in greater numbers because it was purely market that
decided what it will pay for. Now, with the audio technology revolution,
the state (through Radio) cannot control the communication. Who are the
famous most singers? Ata-ullah Esa Khailwi, Nusrat Fateh ali Khan ....
Incidently, every other Hindi song borrows tunes from Punjabi folk.

(3) Implementation of Urdu by the British in the Punjab province after the
annexation of 1849 is more complex thgan a simple conspiracy of elite of
U.P. Therefore, blaming them wouldn't cut it. Furthermore, use of Urdu in
Pakistan had less to do with Islam than to the historical factors of that
period. There were more Hindu and Sikh Urdu writers than Muslims.. Do I
have to count them?

(4) The neglegence of Punjabi has done a great damage in the progress of
civil society in the Punjab. It cannot relate to Urdu on emotional level
and it can't read Punjabi to deepen its knowledge. Due to the language
barrires less books are published and read in Urdu and Punjabi (in Punjab)
than Sindhi books although they are much smaller in numbers.
Before I go on, let me ask you guys some questions?

Is there any civilized part in the world, other than Punjab, where
elentary education is not imparted in mother tongue?

Is there any country or nation (including the newly industrialized East
Asia) where the modern civilization has taken root without the
advancement of the language of the people?

Therfore, it is an abstract discussion as to what should be the national
language of Pakistan. Whether 60-70 percent of the Pakistani population,
Punjabis, can have their language is the basic question. Will, Sindhis,
Baluchis and Pashtoons will accept Punjabi as a national language? I don't
know. What I know is that Punjabi has to be the language of Punjabis.

The above parochial discussion is a case for Punjabi. A small segment of
Punjabis feel this way. How are their right to be respected. All regional
languages should be allowed to grow and flourish. No lnaguage should be
suppressed, so that the speakers do not feel suppressed.

CRITICISM OF URDU
Here is some criticism of Urdu:

The Arabic-Urdu script is not well suited for modern printing as each letter
has varios forms depending on its position in a word or its relation to other
vowels or consonants. Urdu typewriters have been produced but, because a letter
may have as many as three differnt forms, typing is not a very rapid process.
The real advantage of the Urdu typewriter of course is that it assures a
standard of legibility. A number of other languages spoken in Pakistan
generally use the Arabic-Urdu script-notably Punjabi,

Pushtu, and Kashmiri-and Sindhi is written in an Arabic-derived script similiar
to Urdu but distinct enough to be considered a separate script.

It is parochial thinking that has led to the separation and bifurcation of the
Subcontinent. Issues of language and culture were at the heart of the
partition. If Hindus would not accept the language that was spoken in the areas
of Northern India as the current language and wanted to resurrect an ancient
language, how could the Muslims expect any better from them in the future? This
is what Dinesh wrote about Urdu: From: Dinesh Agrawal <DX...@psuvm.psu.edu>

Some hard and historical facts about Urdu language:
Urdu is an inseparable part of the two-nation theory, Mr, Jinnah wrote in a
letter to Nehru in 1929 which made 14 points - one of them was about Urdu.
Ultimately, Urdu led to Partition of the country. It was wedded to Islam and
that gave weightage to the whole two-nation theory.
It proved its credentials as a language of Partition even when Pakistan was
carved out. The basic point of bifurcation of Pakistan was imposition of Urdu
in East Pakistan which resulted in the creation of Bangladesh.
In Pakistan, Urdu is not the language of even five percent of the population.
Sindhi, Punjabi, Pukhto, etc. are the first languages in their respective
regions. Urdu is the first language of the Muhajirs who migrated from UP and
Bihar, and who inhabit areas around Karachi. Urdu is an important factor in the
ongoing Sindhi-Mohajir struggle. Now Mohajirs want to divide Sindhi. And if
that occurs, Urdu would be credited to another partition.
In Pakistan, it has been proved that Urdu is not the language of religion.
Unfortunately, in India, it is not so. More and more Muslim intellectuals are
coming out openly, seeking patronage for Urdu in the name of minority
previlege.
Right from the Mughal days up to 1837, Persian was the official court language.
Gradually, Urdu inherited the rights of Persian. Throughout the 19th century
and even after, its influence was mainly in UP.
Urdu has its origin in a Turkish word, Ordu, which means an army camp. It
originated in the army camps of Agra, Meerut, Allahabad, Lucknow and other
cities of western and central UP as a pidgin of dialects of Hindi and Persian.
It developed as the lingua franca between Turkish soldiers and Indians.
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, founder of Aligarh Muslim University broke away from the
British when he found out that British were promoting Hindi at the expense of
Urdu in the administration. And, just after that he fathered the two-nation
theory. Jinnah sired Pakistan with the help of separatist traits of Urdu and
Urdu-speaking elite hailing mainly from UP. Pakistan has its roots in UP’s Urdu
politics.
Nearly three-fourths of the Urdu vocabulary is from various dialects of Hindi,
another 15% assimilated in Hindi and the remaining 10% from Arabic, Persian etc
Urdu has its strong separatist character because of its script. Right from the
19th century, Hindi writers and leaders have demanded that Urdu be written in
Devnagri. They were brushed aside by the Muslim leaders.
Dinesh has played with history. The Devanagri script was imposed on all Indians
around 1900. Before that Devanagri was a dead script.

It is difficult to equate the importance of Urdu in Pakistan with the
relatively small number who can write it. Urdu being the most important
language of literacy in the country, it is the normal medium of instruction in
primary and secondary schools and even where English or one of the vernacular
languages is used it is learned as a second language. With the spread of
education the number of people able to understand and write it will inevitably
increase.

URDU AND PERSIAN
The embryonic link between Urdu and Persian goes much beyond a shared
vocabulary. Urdu uses the Persian script and uses Persian idioms, and Persian
grammatical rules. Urdu and Persian share many nouns. Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives
can be borrowed into any language and all languages have these categories.
Urdu, because of the Persian influence, has borrowed lexical items from the
Persian language. Urdu has thousands of Persian NOUNS. It does not have Persian
verbs. Urdu has assimilated verbs from Arabic and Turkish. However Urdu has a
SYNTAX similar to Persian.

Urdu does not use the Arabic script and has many more sounds than Arabic. If
English words are borrowed into Urdu this does not change the syntax of Urdu.
The subject, noun, verb and object still remains in the same order. If Urdu
had borrowed just words from Persian, it surely surprises many linguists that
the GRAMMAR in URDU and PERSIAN is similar.

The syntax of the two languages is similar but not identical. Urdu is entirely
post-position based, Persian is pre-position based. Verb inflection is
incredibly different between the two languages. Persian has NO gender
whatsoever and no case, Urdu has two genders and three cases (Nom., Oblique,
and Vocative). In Persian, adjectives follow the nouns they qualify, in Urdu
the precede them.

In spite of these minor differences in syntax one can read the Pakistan
National anthem and understand it in both Urdu and Persian languages. Because
of the fact Urdu and Persian have the similar syntax, most people well versed
in Urdu have no trouble reading and understanding Persian. Given a shared
vocabulary and a common idioms it is so easy for Urdu poets like Ghalib or
Iqbal to write in Persian. In fact almost all major Urdu poets have also
written in Persian. This shared literature has created a large following of
people in the subcontinent who can understand and speak both languages. All
they have to do is learn the vocabulary, and they are set. The script and
conjugation in Urdu and Persian is similar. Hindi speakers have a tough time
learning or understanding Persian. Keeping up with the Mughal traditions
Persian and Arabic are taught as a second langauges in most government
controlled or “Urdu Medium” Pakistani schools.

Is Urdu a 'sister' language of Arabic or Persian? Urdu has a lot of Arabic
words but it is a sister language of Persian. Urdu/Hindi etc. share lot of
similar features with Persian, because Persian and Sanskrit share lot similar
features and they share the same properties with Greek, Latin, Germanic
languages because they all belong to Indo-European languages.

For more infomation on Pushto , please see I have put up a Pashtu language web
page at the following address:http://www.ishipress.com/pashtu.htm

Urdu words can be conjugagted in many ways. Some Turkish words like “Feerini”
(bread in Turkish) means rice pudding in Urdu/Hindi. The Urdu word for news
“Khabar” can be conjugated as “Khabrain” (Sanskrit) or “Ikhbar” (Arabic). Many
words like “Kursi” or “Maiz” are conjugated with Persian plural forms.
“Kursi”, which is an Arabic word, takes the normal Urdu plural, “Kursia~n”, and
“Maiz”, which is Persian, does not change in nominative plural, unlike in
Persian, which would be “Maizha”

These facts about are not arguable:

1) Urdu was a language of the army (1000-1200) which spread to the general
populace
2) Urdu contains Persian, Turkish, Arabic and many other languages
3) Urdu was the lingua franca of Northern India for the best part of a century
4) Hindi on the other hand is just Urdu without the “alien” Persian and Arabic
words. The current official Sanskritized Hindi was created by religious zealots
to counter Urdu.

HINDUSTANI
There is the language called 'Hindustani'. Hindustani INCLUDES Urdu and Hindi.
This is a common colloquial form of Hindi and Urdu. Both Hindi and Urdu have
been in used as literary languages since the 12th. century. Hindustani does not
segregate the Persian and Arabic words from the language and includes it.
Perhaps this should have been the language of India rather then the government
sponsored and officially resurrected Sanskritized version of unintelligible
Hindi broadcasted from the canonical organs of the republic of India.

Urdu in its spoken form is very similiar to Hindi and Hindustani and is
mutually intelligible to speakers of all three. In India there are around 140
million persons claiming Hindi (Urdu) to be their mother tongue. It is
estimated that nearly twice as many understand Hindustani. In Pakistan 5.4
million persons speak Urdu and probably twice as more understand undersatnd
Hindustani. Hindustani, in atleast one of it's meanings, does not refer to a
third language but to a bazaar Urdu-Hindi which has no written form, poesses a
very simplified grammar and vocabulary, and is the most widely used lingua
franca in the sub-continent.

Urdu and Hindi are differentiated from each other by differences in script and
higher vocabulary. The former is written in an Arabic script, while the latter
in a locally derived script called Devanagri . Urdu draws heavily on Persian
for its vocabulary while Hindi on Sanskarit.

MoinA

unread,

Apr 14, 1998, 3:00:00 AM4/14/98

URDU SURVIVES IN PAKISTAN, INDIA, & MANY PARTS OF THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
Even though the Republic of India did not recognize Urdu as the main national
language of India, it did recognize Urdu as one of the many languages that
exist in India. The only state of India that made Urdu the provincial language
was the state of Kashmir. Urdu did find a new home in Pakistan. In urban
Punjab, urban Sarhad, urban Kashmir and in urban Sindh it is the lingua franca,
and in all provinces it is understood and appreciated. All the provinces of
Pakistan voted for Urdu as the national language of Pakistan in 1947. In all
the constitutions of Pakistan, the common thread has been Urdu. The current
constitution of Pakistan was invoked in 1973 and Punjab, Kashmir, Sindh, and
Balauchistan voted and continue to vote for Urdu as the national langauge of
Pakistan and also as the provincial language of the provinces.

URDU AND ENGLISH
Urdu has a natural capacity to borrow words from other languages. As a result
of colonialism, today Urdu has been totally engulfed by foreign words. English
has permeated the language and many claim that English has corrupted the royal
language of the Mughals.

Urdu faces the handicap of a limited technical vocabulary. At present the
military forces of the country rely heavily on English, in part because of the
still strong British traditions but in part beacuse of the large number of
technical terms for which there are no Urdu equivalents. The army down to the
company-level uses Englishfor most of its commands and admministrative
procedure. The air-force and the navy used to use Eenglish almost exclusively.

The substitution of Urdu for English as the medium of instruction at the
university level is confronted by the same vocabulary limitations. The
translation of texts in the natural sciences wouid require much borrowing and
adaptation of words. Th is equally true of many of the social sciences. Much of
their terminology has been developed in the West and has no counterpart in Urdu

URDU WORD PROCESSORS AND SCHOOLS THAT TEACH URDU

Urdu is quite easy to learn as compared to other languages. A large number of
Universities in the U.S teach it as a language course. Some of them which I
know of are:

AMERICA:
Brown University,
Columbia University,
University of California at LA and Berkely and
University of Washington(don't remember which campus)
University of California at Berkely recently announced an Urdu Language
Program
UK: To be updated
EUROPE: To be updated
SOUTH Asia: All major univerisities in Pakistan have Urdu programs. Most
notable are:
Punjab Univeristy, Lahore
Karachi University, Karachi
Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad
Alama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad
Sir Syed University, Karachi
Peshawar University, Peshawar
Many major universities in India, UP, Kashmir, Punjab and Bengal offer
programs in Urdu
Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh is most famous for its Urdu Programs

Some of the famous Urdu Word Processors are:

1) Word International. The best one seen by this author. It has Afgahni,
Persian, Pushto, and Arabic fonts and scripts
2) Al-Katib. It is a mediocre word processor that does the job
3) Regarding Urdu fonts for DOS and windows here is some information which
Jabran Akhtar at jab...@powertech.no provided me with.
4) " There is a shareware word-processor called something like Intext (for
PC's) which as far as I know allows to write in Urdu (and most likely also
supports Arabic and Russian languages). I have never actually seen it but it
should be able to do the trick.
5) " In Norway contactArngren Electronics supply it for just 39 ,- Kr (+p&p).
Their phone number is 22 49 00 09 (fax 22 49 02 10), and the disk numer for
Urdu wordprocesser is SW 101 67 - 12. ""http://www.grfn.org/~falcon"
6) Urdu Fonts are available by <a href =
"/home/maxwell-a.ee/kmushtaq/.mosaic/pakistan/mail"

This list is to be updated on a periodic basis

SOME URDU LITERATURE
Amir Khusrau is one of the oldest poets of
Urdu.(http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/khosrow.html). Some of the greatest
names in Urdu poetry and prose are Asadullah Khan Ghalib, Mir Taqi Mir, Alama
Iqbal, Josh Maleehabadi and Faiz Ahmed Fez. There are many forms of poetry and
prose that are unique to Urdu. The official gurdians of the language the
courtiers took great pains to develp the unique indentity of Urdu art. Here is
a spattering of just a couple

Ghazal: A Ghazal is a form of poetry....in which there are different “ashaar”
(verses). Every “sher” is independent, and can have a different meaning.
Every single “sher” in a “ghazal” can touch a different aspect of life, so
this is the reason why a “ghazal” does not have a title. To quote the
definition of a “ghazal” from the “Firoze-Ul-Lughat”: A “ghazal” talks about
beauty, be it natural or otherwise

The classical pattern of a ghazal is that both the lines of the first sher
should rhyme and then the second line of the rest of the ashaar rhyme with
them.........In Urdu, this is called "Qaffia and Radeef".............
the first “sher” is the “matla” (from “tuloo”, ie. dawn, beginning)

The last “sher” is the “maqta” (from “qata”, ie. end or cessation); it usually
contains the “takhallus” of the poet (the pen-name under which (s)he writes).
The basic rhyme scheme of a “ghazal” (not to contradict, but to elaborate)
is: aa ba ca da ea fa. . .

Qawalli: The Qawalli is a form of a poetry and a a way of singing. the lyrics
of a “qawalli” can be anything.......I have heard many qawallis which are a
mixture of a lot of forms of poetry (“Ghazal”, “nazm”, “qatt'a” (quartet) etc).
All of contents of a qawalli do carry the same message which the qawaal wants
to convey...................

All the “qawwaalees” do not pertain to the same topic; instead, what is meant
here is that each qawwaalee only touches upon one topic. *grin* as for the
form of a “qawwaalee”,: this form has its origins in Arabia, following the
spread of Islam. It was originally only to praise God, the prophet and the
apostles etc.—in other words, it was a religious affair (it still is, very
often) -- this is not the same as a “naa’t” or a “hamd” in that a “qawaalee”
IS a *musical* arrangement. as for the poetic aspect of the qawalli, it is not
so much what is SAID that’s important, it’s the method of delivery that
characterizes a “qawaalee”.

Na sunno kar buraa kahay koee
Na kahoo kar bura karay koee
Roke lo gar ghalat chalay koee
Baksh do gar khata karay koee

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