Ram Babu Saksena and the history of Urdu

Ram Babu Saksena

 

Ram Babu Saksena (1892-1957) was a civil servant in colonial India who worked in the United Provinces. He is now remembered for his  book 'A History of Urdu Literature', which was first published nearly a century ago in 1927. Saksena's work came much after Mohammad Husain Azad's pioneering Aab-e-Hayat, but as his labour of love was in English it reached a different set of readers.

When Saksena's book was printed, it was pointed out that there were hardly any discussions of the works of the figures he so meticulously commented upon. There were no extracts or quotations of Ghalib, Zauq, Akbar Allahabadi, Altaf Hussain Hali and others which was taken as a considerable omission in his pursuit of tracing the history of Urdu literature. But this deficiency doesn't take away the importance of his work. Saksena may have forsaken the penetrating discussion of the matla, but his book presents a masterful analysis of what he set it out to be - a textbook to interpret Urdu literature to English knowing public. The fact that a second edition came out in 1940 was proof enough that his book had covered a huge gap.  

There were hardly any first-rate criticism and commentaries on the lives and works of Urdu literary figures in Urdu, and almost nothing in English. The few that were present were blinded by thinly concealed adulation. The scholar Mohammad Abdur Rahman Bijnori's book on Ghalib, published in 1921, to give an example, mentions that the Vedas and the Diwan of Ghalib are the only two inspired books in India! This was not a crime which Saksena would commit. A civil servant with a family background of learning and scholarship, it was sad, however, that Saksena got embroiled in a rather unfortunate legal mess, which besmirched his reputation. But more of that later.   

What appealed to me was the rather unambiguous way in which Saksena traced the slavish imitation of Persian by the early Urdu poets. Saksena says that they drew little from Hindi/Sanskrit as they were neither knowledgeable nor interested. As is well-known, the early Urdu poets were also masters of Persian. Someone like Ghalib too wanted to be known as a Persian poet. For several of the early figures Urdu offered a much needed relaxation from the taxing Persian compositions.  

The considerable influx of Persian imagery in Urdu poetry made it difficult (perhaps almost impossible) for the seasons of India, its mighty rivers and landscape to find any mention in early works. But at the same time the entry of Persian words into Urdu was unavoidable. Innumerable Persian words were introduced as they had no equivalents in Sanskrit or other languages. Even early poets like Kavi Chand in his Prithvi Raj Raso employed Persian to great effect.

According to Saksena, Urdu's existence can be traced to dialect prevalent near Delhi and Meerut. Modern 'High Hindi', he says is an outcome of developing Urdu by purging it of Persian words and instead drawing from Sanskrit vocabulary. Aside from several such sharp observations, the highlight of the book is that it doesn't just stop at the big names of Urdu literature. A fairly good account of the development of Urdu drama also finds place. It seems a bit unorthodox to have Urdu dramas being discussed along with Wali Dakhani and Sauda. The pioneering work by enterprising Parsis in popularising Urdu dramas  and the most interesting career of writer Raunaq Banarasi (briefly mentioned) make for an interesting read.   

I was also intrigued by Durga Sahai Sarur (1878-1910), better known as Suroor Jahanabadi. Like Ghalib, Suroor, too, loved his wine, which was also responsible in ruining his career and cutting short his life. Suroor used Hindi words in Urdu verses to magnificent effect. His compositions were also seen as breaking the limited motifs, imaginations, and symbols of Urdu poetry. Of course no body can come close to Iqbal and his 'Sare Jahan Se Achcha', but it was Suroor who broke the traditional moulds of Urdu poetry by highlighting patriotic themes and steering clear of communal agenda. 

Khaki-i-Watan, Hasrat-i-Watan,Yad-i-Watan were some of Suroor's famous compositions. He also wrote religious and historical poems.  But abject poverty made Suroor a good and willing source for those who used his compositions to pass off as their own. This reminded me of a sherwani-clad individual belonging to one of Bombay's rich merchant family who in the 1960s and 70s read poetry written by someone else!

Coming back to Saksena. In the year of India's independence, Saksena was brought to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry in the central government as deputy secretary, which was a sort of promotion from his posting in the United Provinces (which became the state of Uttar Pradesh). He was subsequently sent to the Tonk state as an administrator, and oversaw the state's merger with India as the Dewan. It was during this stint that, as alleged by Nawab Ismail Ali Khan, Saksena sought Rs 3 lakh as his commission to help the Nawab get Rs 14 lakh sanctioned out of the state treasury by the States Ministry. The Nawab alleged that Saksena had threatened to implicate him as a supporter of Azad Kashmir forces, when he resisted paying the full amount. 

Subsequently the matter reached the Regional Commissioner who brought Saksena and Nawab Ismail face-to-face and made the former return the Rs 3 lakh given to him. That was not the end of the matter. Saksena subsequently returned to the United Provinces government and became the subject of court proceedings as the Nawab filed a case against  him for cheating, bribery and extortion. In 1949 Saksena was in Nainital when he was sought to be brought before the district magistrate of Tonk to face justice. Effectively, the United State of Rajasthan sought his extradition from United Provinces! All his efforts to stall the case were unsuccessful, and his case proceeded before a magistrate in Jaipur.

Ram Babu Saksena (sitting - fifth from left) in a conference at Aligarh Muslim University in March 1957 Pic: @FarooqiMehr

Saksena's defence was that the Regional Commissioner and the Nawab were good friends and were acting in unison to pull him down. The money (Rs 3 lakh) was given to him by the Nawab to meet certain expenses, and despite his efforts to return, was not taken back by the former ruler of Tonk. It is not clear what came out of the court case, but Saksena's reputation as a literary scholar was not affected. He passed away in December 1957 when he was about to take the train to attend the writer's conference in Calcutta.                      

An Urdu translation of Saksena's book by Mohammad Askari became quite popular and is evident of Saksena's path-breaking work. Current day biographies of Urdu literary personalities are a pale imitation of Saksena's book. I would say that in his own way Ram Babu Saksena was the 20th century equivalent of John Gilchrist!     

Saksena's account got me interested in Suroor Jahanabadi and I found this composition rather appealing:

Naqsh ab tak teri ismat ka hai baitha dil mein 

Tu wo devi hain tira lagta hain mela dil mein

(To read Ram Babu Saksena's book visit: Archive.org or Rekhta)