'HINDI - THE LANGUAGE OF REBELLION' by Dr. M. L. Nigam
Dr. Jai Maharaj
Frozen in time
By Dr. M. L. Nigam
The Deccan Chronicle
Sunday, October 18, 1998
The history of the growth of the Hindi language and its various
institutions at Hyderabad forms an interesting study. Hindi, since
the advent of Islamic rule in the Deccan, has been the language of
communication between the people of the North and South India.
The movement of the people from North to South of India whether it
is for political, economic or religious reasons, was responsible
for Hindi becoming a link language in the Deccan. Being an offshoot
of the Sauraseni Apabhramsa language, Hindi in its regional form of
Brijabhasa became popular in and around the regions of Delhi.
The Muslim Sufi saints like Masoud (1045-1121 AD), Shaikh Farid
(1173-1265), Shaikh Bu-Ali Qalander (14th century) and Amir Khusro
(1253-1382) adopted this language to preach their doctrine among
the masses.A large chunk of the Hindu population who served in the
armies of the Khilji and Tughlaq kings were brought from Delhi to
settle in the Deccan.
Similarly, a large number of the North Indian civil and army
officers who came along with Mohd Tughlaq, when he shifted his
capital from Delhi to Daulatabad, refused to go back and ultimately
settled down in the Deccan. They continued to follow their own
language and culture.
A number of Hindu saints of Marathwada like Namadeva, Janabai and
Gonda of mid-14th century AD, wrote poems in old Hindi as well as
Marathi. Similarly, hundreds of Sufi saints who wrote their poems
in Hindi had reached Deccan from North India and settled at
Gulbarga, Bijapur and Golkonda.
Khwaja Bandanawaz, who loved music, became very popular in the
Deccan and his followers spread out in various towns and cities
which formed parts of the Bahmani Kingdom.
Although they wrote their books in Arabic and Persian yet, they
used Hindi to preach their doctrine among the masses which
consisted of devotees of all castes and creed. The rulers of the
Bahmani and Bijapur kingdoms, as the noted historian Ferishta tells
us, had adopted Hindi as the language of their administration.
Hindi remained the means of communication between the Hindu and
Muslim States of South India. Kerala had adopted Hindi or
Hindustani as the language of communication with the Muslim States
of the Deccan. In fact, Kerala played a very positive role in
popularising Hindi.
The pilgrimage centres of Kerala, especially Guruvayur, were often
visited by the devotees of North India which added to the growth of
the Hindi language in various “Gosain Chavdis” built by the rulers
for accommodating the pilgrim traffic.
Thus, Hindi which was written in Persian script in Bijapur and
Golkonda had become popular in Deccan during the medieval era of
Indian history. Even the Naik kings of Tanjour and Madura
patronised Hindi by writing Hindi dramas which were staged in the
courts.
Two dramas, viz. Vansidhara Vilas and Vishawajeet Vilas, composed
by the ruler of Tanjour, Shahji, are well known. Though the Nizam
government did not encourage Hindi in Hyderabad yet, a number of
socio-political activities made Hindi popular in the region.
Firstly, a large number of Hindu communities, such as the Kayasths,
Khatris, etc., had reached Hyderabad in the company of Asaf Jah I.
In spite of their own mother tongue, Hindi, these civil and
military officers had command over Persian which enabled them to
get high offices in the Asaf Jahi administration.
Most of such Hindu nobles spoke Kadi Boli which was nearer to Urdu
in its usage. The advent of a good deal of Marwadi businessmen who
hailed from Rajasthan, Delhi and the western parts of Uttar Pradesh
gave a further fillip to the growth of Hindi in Hyderabad State.
With the establishment of Arya Samaj at Hyderabad in 1892, Hindi
acted as a powerful tool to unite the Hindu population and to give
a collective fight against some of the anti-Hindu policies of the
Nizam government.
As the book Satyartha Prakash, written by Swami Dayanand which
highlights the tenets of Arya Samaj is in Hindi, a large number of
Hyderabadi youth were attracted to learn Hindi. Later, the
Satyartha Prakash was translated into Telugu.
A band of exponents of Arya Samaj, consisting of people like Pt
Mangaldatt, Pt Dattatreya, Pt Narendra and others arrived at
Hyderabad to organise and monitor the multifarious activities of
the Samaj in the Nizam State. Thus the entire movement was
conducted with the help of the Hindi which became extremely popular
in the Hyderabad State.
It necessitated educational institutions which could provide
education to children through Hindi medium. This led to the
foundation of the Keshav Memorial School in memory of late Pt
Keshavarao Kavatkar, an ardent Aryasamajist. The school was
inaugurated by Pt Gopalrao Borgaonkar.
This was the first educational institution to impart instruction in
Hindi. A number of schools in Hindi medium were started by the
affluent members of the Marwadi community. The Marwadi Hindi
Vidyalaya was established at Hyderabad in 1924 AD.
Again in 1926, a Marwadi school was started at Secunderabad. Sri
Keshavarao Karatkar opened the Kanya Gurukul at Begumpet which was
later on divided in 1940 in two different institutions, namely,
Kanya Gurukul Devi Ashram and Kanya Pathshala Vaidik Ashram.
In 1937, two more Hindi medium schools, namely Marwadi Hindi
Vidyalaya, (Begum Bazar) and Mahila Navajivan Vidyalaya were
established. In 1940, Sir Bansilal Balika Vidyalaya, (Begum Bazar)
was founded.
In 1950, the Secunderabad Hindi Vidyalaya was established at
Secunderabad. Similarly, the Brahma Kshatriya Samaj had established
Mufidul Anam Batika Vidyalaya as early as in 1901 AD. Initially,
the medium of instruction was Urdu, but after some time, it adopted
the Hindi medium.
The earliest of all these institutions was Dharmavant Vidyalaya
which was started by the Kayasth community in 1879 AD. Earlier, it
was an English medium school but later on Hindi was made the medium
of instruction. It was Mahatma Gandhi who visualised Hindi as a
link language to strengthen the Freedom movement.
It was for this reason that Mahatma Gandhi established Dakshin
Bharat Hindi Prachara Sabha at Madras in 1918 AD. The Sabha had
also opened branches at Trivandrum in 1922 and at Vijayawada in
1936. Thus, it was the freedom struggle against Nizam which gave
unprecedented impetus to popularise Hindi in Hyderabad State.
Both were, no doubt, complimentary to each other; the Freedom
movement opted for Hindi which acted as a link language to unite
the people of North and South to fight against the atrocities of
the Nizam government on one hand, and Hindi gained momentum, on the
other, to develop in a big way in South India.
In 1935, the Hindi Prachar Sabha was established at Hyderabad to
propagate Hindi and the Devanagari script in the erstwhile
Hyderabad State. The Sabha had three provincial bodies with their
head offices at Hyderabad, Aurangabad and Gulbarga.
It further helped the promotion and propagation of Hindi in Andhra,
Maharashtra and Karnataka. The Sabha invited the All India
Convention of Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, a national body, at Hyderabad
in 1949 AD which proved to be a grand success.
Though the Osmania University of Hyderabad was established in 1919
yet, Hindi as a separate subject did not find place there. Till
1948, Hindi was taught there at the college level only as part of a
paper on Urdu.
After the Police Action in 1948, the students were allowed to use
Devanagari script also to answer their question papers. A full-
fledged Hindi department was established in 1949 and it was after a
year, in 1950, that MA Hindi classes were started.
Later, the Hindi Mahavidyalaya was established to impart education
in Hindi medium.It was in 1946 that the Arya Samaj started its
first weekly by name Arya Bhanu. Similarly, Hindi Prachar Sabha
came out with a monthly literary magazine, Ajanta in 1948.
The other literary magazine, which was popular all over the country
for its high standard, was started by Sri Badri Vishal Pitti, a
staunch supporter of Hindi and a political stalwart of Socialist
Party. In 1950, a Hindi Daily, Hindi Milap was started from
Hyderabad.After India achieved Independence in 1947, Hindi was
declared the national language of India.
The Indian Constitution provided a rightful place to Hindi by
declaring it as the link language of the country. It is, however, a
pity that due to the parochial attitude and indifference of our
leaders, the country is still devoid of a national language even
after 50 years of her Independence.
Even in Andhra Pradesh where the Hindi language acted as a tool to
fight against despotism, our leaders seem to have forgotten
history. What Hindi receives today is only lip sympathy.
We must be thankful to late Anjaiah, one of the former chief
ministers, who had established the State Hindi Akademi in
Hyderabad. But it has become defunct now for sheer lack of
financial support from the present government.
Whereas the State Urdu Akademi receives substantial financial aid,
the State Hindi Akademi is now a dead horse for which there is none
to shed tears. In the words of a poet, “Hama ne mana vo taghaful na
karenge lekin Khaq me mil jayenge ham unko khaban hone tak.”
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Jai Maharaj
Jyotishi, Vedic Astrologer
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Om Shanti