The term Urdu derives from a Turkish word ordu which means camp or army. The Urdu language developed between the Muslim soldiers of the Mughals armies who belonged to varied ethnicities like Turks, Arabs, Persians, Pathans, Balochis, Rajputs, Jats and Afghans. These soldiers lived in close contact with one another and communicated in several dialects, which slowly and gradually evolved into present day Urdu. It is for this reason that Urdu is also referred to as Lashkari Zaban or language of the army.
During its development Urdu language also assumed various names like the time period Urdu-e-Maullah which means the exalted army which was given by Emperor Shah Jahan and the term Rekhta meaning scattered (with Persian words) which was coined by the scholars for Urdu poetry.
History and Evolution of Urdu Language
Evolution and development of any language relies on the evolution and development of a society where that language is spoken. Varied invasions and conquests on a spot affect the development of its language. Urdu isn’t any exception as it also underwent various levels of development.
Urdu belongs to the Indo-Aryan family of languages. Urdu by origin is considered to be a descendent of Saur Senic Prakrit. The term Prakrriti means root or basis. It is a later model of Sanskrit. As Prakrit language began to develop, it was influenced by Western Hindi dialects of Khari Boli, Brij Bhasa and Haryanvi.
With the approaching of Insha’s Darya-e-Latafat*, a necessity was felt to differentiate Urdu with different languages especially Hindi. It grew to become a Hindi-Urdu controversy and consequently Khari Boli and Devanagari turned the identity of Indians while Urdu and Persian of Muslims. In this context, Persian and Arabic words changed with Sanskrit served the aim of differentiating Hindi from Urdu.
Urdu emerged as a definite language after 1193 AD — the time of the Muslims conquest. When the Muslims conquered this part of the continent, they made Persian the official and cultural language of India. Because of the amalgamation of local dialects and the language of the invaders — which was either Persian, Arabic and Turkish, a new language developed which later became Urdu. Throughout the Mughals reign, Urdu was spoken in palaces and court and till the end of the Mughal rule; Urdu was the official language of most of Mughal states. This was the time when Urdu had become Persianized and enriched with Persian words, phrases and even script and grammar. With the approaching of the British, new English words additionally became part of the Urdu language. Many English words had been accepted in their real form while others have been accepted after some modifications.
At present, Urdu vocabulary comprises approximately 70% of Persian words and the remainder are a combination of Arabic and Turkish words. However, there are additionally traces of the French, Portuguese and Dutch language in Urdu. But these influences are little.
Urdu was taken to different parts of the country by soldiers, saints and sufis and by the common people. As a result of the political, social and cultural contacts amongst the people of different speech and dialects, a blended form of language formed called ‘Rekhta’ (Urdu and Persian in mixed form). Soon people started to make use of the new language in their speech and in literature which resulted in the enrichment of Urdu language and literature.
Urdu Literature
The origin of Urdu literature dates back to the 13th century in India during the Mughal rule. One of the most eminent earliest poets who made usage of Urdu in his poetry is Amir Khusro who will be called the father of Urdu language. In literature, Urdu was usually used along side Persian. Mughal kings had been the great patrons of art and literature and it was under their rule that Urdu language reached its zenith. There was a tradition of ‘Sheri Mehfils’ (poetic gatherings) within the kings’ courts. Abul Fazal Faizi and Abdul Rahim Khankhana have been the well-known Urdu poets of Mughal court. Likewise, Mirza Ghalib, Allama Iqbal, Hakim Momin, Ibrahim Zauq, Mir Taqi Mir, Sauda, Ibn-e-Insha and Faiz Ahmed Faiz have contributed to the evolution of Urdu language by way of their literary works.
It’s indeed true that Hindi and Urdu are descendents of the identical language i.e. Prakrit, but where the Hindi took influence from Sanskrit and adopted Devanagri script of writing, Urdu absorbed words from Persian, Turkish and Arabic languages and adopted Persian-Arabic script and Nastaliq calligraphic style of writing and emerged as a separate language. However beside frequent ancestry, the two languages are as different as can be. There are marked grammatical, phonological and lexical differences in each languages.
Urdu was additionally used as a device by the Muslims for freedom struggle and for making awareness amongst Muslim communities in South Asia to unite under the banner of Independence from British Raj. For this, providers of Maulana Hali, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and Allama Iqbal usually are notable, who by way of their poetry and prose provoked the mandatory spark in the lives of the Muslims. Urdu was chosen to turn out to be the nationwide language of Pakistan on the time of Independence from British. Urdu is now the nationwide language of Pakistan, spoken and understood totally by mainity of the population.
If you enjoyed this information and you would certainly like to get even more details concerning meaning in urdu kindly see the page.