Persian paved way for secular, mass education
in India: Historian
Tuesday February 26, 2013 07:59:10 PM,
IANS
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Hyderabad:
Persian language for the first time paved the way for secular and
mass education in India, said historian and scholar Ziauddin Ahmed
Shakeeb.
According to him, until the British rule was enforced, education
in India was restricted only to Brahmins.
"Aside from Muslims, no other Indian of a caste lower than
Brahmins had access to literacy. In such a situation Persian
offered itself as a language open to one and all," he said while
explaining why Persian and not an Indian language was used as an
official language in India.
The former professor of Urdu and the history of Indo-Islamic art
and culture at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London,
was delivering key-note address at an international seminar on
Persian organized at Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU)
here Tuesday.
Speakers from India, Iran and other countries are attending the
three-day seminar on 'The contribution of Adil Shahis of Deccan in
promotion of Persian language, literature and culture' organized
by the H.K. Sherwani Centre for Deccan Studies of MANUU in
collaboration with Iranian consulate in Hyderabad.
Eminent art collector and historian Jagdish Mittal made a
presentation to highlight the contribution of Bijapur painting
during the period of Adil Shahis.
Shakeeb noted after shifting of capital from Delhi to the Deccan
in 14th century, the Perso-Islamic culture by the end of 15th
century was not in its pristine Iranian form as it had already
assimilated a good deal of Indian influence linguistically and
culturally.
"In almost a century and a half of Bahmani rule in the Deccan
there had been a huge influx of sufis, poets, scholars who wrote
in Persian language, administrators, architects, painters,
calligraphers and other sections of the Delhi elite," he said
while observing that it was a beginning of a major change in the
administrative system in the Deccan.
Bijapur was a multilingual state with Kannada and Marathi as major
languages but the official language was Persian not only at the
court but throughout the state administration.
Out of two centuries of Adil Shahi reign in Bijapur, a hundred
years each were covered by Shia and Sunni rulers.
"During the reign of Shias, Iranians known as afaqis dominated the
court and naturally, Persian language and literature flourished.
During the reign of Sunni sultans, local Deccanis and other native
sections prospered which resulted in a wonderful linguistic
phenomenon known as Deccani," Shakeeb explained.
MANUU vice-chancellor Mohammad Miyan noted that both Urdu and
Persian were integral part of Deccan culture, which was
cosmopolitan in nature. Describing Urdu as daughter of Persian, he
said unlike others, Urdu adopted the culture and native languages.
Mohammad Sharaf-e-Alam, former vice-chancellor, MMH Arabic and
Persian University, Patna, observed that Urdu would have no
existence without Persian.
He did not agree that Persian is a dead language. "It is mother
tongue and official language of four to five countries. It is a
language of business in some Arab countries. It has made a special
place for itself in modern Arab world," he said.
He explained that the scope for learners of Persian are huge given
its use in tourism, embassies, business and relations among
countries. He advised students to develop command over the
language and hone their skills in reading, writing and
interpretations to tap the opportunities.
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