PUNJABI
Punjabi is an ancient language spoken in the most populous province of Pakistan. We do not exactly know how and where this language came into being. Many experts trace its origin to the ancient Dravidians of Harrapa civilization (2500 BC) others relate it with the period of Mahmood of Ghazna which is approximately 1000 AD. Generally Baba Farid-ud- Din Ganje-Shakar (1174-1265) is known to be the first Punjabi poet.
Themes: Punjabi poets and prose writers have written on a variety of themes i.e, love, fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), folk tales ad epics.
Forms: Punjabi poetry is comparable to the best of the poetic works rendered in any language of the world. Traditional Punjabi poets expressed themselves through the medium of nazm (verse) or the forms closely identical to it. These are kafi, war, tappa, dhola, doha, sathni and ghori. Ghazal (ode) was introduced at a comparatively later stage, probably under Urdu influence. Tradition of writing epic poetry and songs of national love and pride is very rich in Punjabi literature. It was only in the first half of the twentieth century that short story, drama, novel and criticism was for the first time introduced in the Punjabi prose. Punjabi literature therefore, has not a very rich collection of these forms. Radio, television and film played very important role in the development of Punjabi drama and story writing.
Names and Dialects: The name "Punjabi" was for the first time used by the author of the book Miftah-ul-Fiqh, written in the first half of the seventeenth century. Before that, it was referred to as Multani, Lahori, Jatki, Hindi etc. Alberuni called it 'Alhindiya'. People in different areas like to call their Punjabi dialect by different name like Saraiki, Hindko, Chhachhi, Hithari, Pothohari, Dhanni, Shahpuri and Majhi etc. Among these Saraiki enjoys a special position due to its delicate, pleasant discreet accent and the large number of users. Appreciating its importance Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan has established a Saraiki Research Centre and Islamia University Bahawalpur is catering master's classes in the language.
Literary Assets: Sufi saints like Madhu Lal Hussain, Sultan Bahu, Bulhe Shah, Hafiz Barkhudaar, Fazal Shah, Hashim Shah, Qadir Yar, Waris Shah, Khawaja Farid and Mian Muhammad Buksh () are the most prominent among the endless list of Punjabi poets. History of prose writing in Punjabi is not very long. All ancient fables were composed in verse, most prominent among these are: Heer Ranjha (Waris Shah), Sassi Punnun (Hashim Shah) Sohni Mahinwal (Fazal Shah), Mirza Sahiban (Hafiz Barkhudar).
SINDHI
Script: Prof. Max Muller is of the opinion that Sindhi was born even before Sanskrit which is generally held to be the most ancient Indian language. He expressed this opinion In this famous book "Biography of Words." He says that the people living on both sides of the river Indus as early as BC 2000 spoke Sindhi.
Relics found at Harappa and Moenjodaro reveal that the people of the old Indus valley civilization knew the art of writing and from this we infer that old Sindhi did have a script, but we do not know for sure what it really was like. Sindhi script, now in use, was devised by Abul Hasan Sindhi on the basis of Arabic letters.
Literary Assets: Sindhi is the first language in South Asia the Holy Quran was translated into. Chach Nama is one of the immortal works of the Sindhi literature. Period between 1050 and 1350 AD is marked with a prolific production of important role in the progress of Sindhi literature. The Ismaeli preachers played their vital role in that period. They invent 40 digits alphabet of Sindhi. Ginan, bait, sortthe and gatha are the forms they introduced.
Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai (1689-1752) is admittedly the greatest poet Sindhi has so far produced. His book Shah Jo Risalo is a masterpiece in Sindhi literature. His poetry is known for eloquence, simplicity, flow and rhythm. Dignity of labour and the higher values of life are his favourite themes. He immortalized the old Sindhi fables with the force of his pen. Sachal Sarmast is another great Sindhi poet who composed in almost the same age, in his nine hundred thousand couplets he used many other languages side by side with Sindhi, and these were Hindi, Urdu, Saraiki, Punjabi, and Persian. Wahat-ul-Wajood (Pantheism) is the most favourite of his themes.
Makhdum Muhammad Hashim (1690-1761) was a religious scholar and prose writer. He wrote about 150 books in Persian and Sindhi. His books were included in the curriculum taught at Al-Azhar University (Cairo), the biggest seat of Islamic learning in the world. Azizullah and Shah Latif were his contemporaries. Azizullah translated the Holy Quran into Sindhi. The period covering the end of the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth century deserves to be called the golden age in the history of Sindhi literature.
Mirza Qalich Beg (1855-1929) is no doubt the most prominent of the Sindhi scholars who lived in the British period. He wrote about 400 books covering a variety of subjects. Among the modern Sindhi writers Sheikh Ayaz, Prof. Karim Buksh Nizamani and Asad- Ullah Bhutto are the most remarkable. Muhammad Bin Qasim Literary Society is rendering good services to Sindhi language and literature by publishing valuable books on social sciences and literary themes as well as Sindhi renderings of the important books of other languages. A number of institutions working under official patronage have done commendable service by preserving classical Sindhi literary assets in modern forms.
Dialects: Sindhi spoken in different parts of Rajisthan, Sindh and Balochistan is identified with different names. Literary and formal Sindhi standard is sahti. Dialects spoken in the lower Sind and Rajisthan are known as lari, kachhi, katthiawari and thari: Similary jogali, gandavi, fikri, lasi, kaichi, Lori and cheni are the Sindhi dialects used in different parts of Baluchistan. Other famous accents are kohistani, saraiki and vicholi.
PUSHTO
Historical Background: Pushto is the language of the valiant Pakhtoons settled in the north-western part of Pakistan, on the right bank of the river Indus and the Hindu Kush mountain range. Pushto took birth nearly five thousand years back in the Afghan area known as Bakht or Bakhtar and derived its name from it. Originally known as Bakhtu, this language later come to be known as Pushto.
Script: Before the arrival of the Muslims in the Sub-Continent Pushto was lettered in Kaharoshti script. Saifullah devised a script for it. He also wrote a book Tazkira-tul-Aulia. Pushto alphabets are now 43 in number.
Although Pushto was influenced by many foreign languages like Turkish, Pali and Sanskirth, yet these influences did not make any substantial change in its basically Islamic character. Impacts of Hindi philosophy and mythology, found very commonly in other languages of Pakistan, are absolutely nonexistent in Pushto.
Pushto Literature: Like most of the languages, tradition of writing poetry is older than the writing of prose in Pushto literature. No evidence of written prose has been found prior to nineteenth century. The most ancient Pushto written work so far discovered is "Patta Khazana" written in the later half of the eighth century.
Four Phases of Pushto Literature: keeping in view the written works available, critics divide Pushto literature into four phases.
First Phase: (between 8th and 15th century AD)
In this phase, the first Pushto poet Amir Karore was born. Qasidas of Gias-ud-Din were composed and Bayazid Ansari Bulban and Sher Shah Suri famous poet, lived during this period.
Second Phase: (between 16th century and 17th century AD)
Renowned Pushto writer Akhund Dryuza belongs to this age. Living Pushto legends Khushhal Khan Khatak and Rehman Baba also composed during
this period.
Third Phase: (Between 17th century and 18th century AD)
During this period famous religious scholar Mian Omer and writers like Mullah Abdur Rasheed, Sa'adat Khan and Qasim Ali Afridi are especially notable.
Fourth Phase: (18th centre AD to present)
Pushto literature produced during this period is dominated by anti-imperialist sentiments, love of freedom and expression of discontentment and revolt against the oppressive foregin rule. Most notable amongst these freedom loving poets and writers are: Mohammad Akram Khadim, Fazal Mahmood Makhfi, Abdul Kabbir Khan, Gul Badhsha, Akbr, Fazal-e-Rahim Saqi, Muhammad Aslam Khan Sharar, Abdul Hakeem Khan, Ahmad Shah Barrister, Abdul Ghani Khan Ghani, Amir Nawaz Jalia, Abdul Khaliq Khaleeque, Dost Muhammad Kamil, Muhammad Nawaz Khan Kamil, Muhammad Nawaz Khatak and Abdul Malik Fida. During the 1965 Indo Pak war Pushto poets and writers produced very effective national literature, especially poetry.
Dialects: Pushto has three major dialects or accents i.e. north dialect, south western dialect and the dialect of Zai tribes.
Forms and Classical Poetry: Tappa is the oldest Pushto poetic form. Poetry which was transferred from one generation to another without being recorded in black and white for generations is found in forms like char baitey, tobey, badley and nemkai.
Khaushaal Khan Khattak is held in highest esteem among the Pushto poets. His works are superb pieces of poetry as well as excellent treatise on the politics of his age. He is a true representative of Patthan national pride, while Rehman Baba generally reflects on themes of purely religious nature. Hameed Baba is another ancient Pushto poet. Ahmed Shah Abdali, founder of modern Afghanistan, is one of the leading Pushto poets.
BALOCHI
Balochs were divided into clans and tribes a few centuries back, and had all the characteristics of the pre-Islamic Arab society. Every tribe had its own poet who composed exaggerated accounts of the expeditions the valiant young heroes of the tribe had accomplished triumphantly. These were known as Qasida. They also condemned the enemy in poems called Hajv. Since Balochs did not know the art of writing and they had no script, the poetry so created was not written, it just passed down by word of mouth and has almost been forgotten with the passage of time. Most of the literature created in that period falls in the category of epic poetry. Linguists believe that Balochi belongs to the family of Aryan languages. We can divide Balochi poetry into four kinds.
i. Epics; poems about the history pedigree and lineage of the Baloch tribes.
ii. Narratives of wars that took place between the tribes, poems in the praise of heroes (qasidas) and condemnation of the enemy (hajviyat).
iii. Romantic poems and lyrics, ghazals ethical poems and brief poems like lullaby (loli) romantic sogns (dastangh) and motak etc.
iv. Eligies (marsia) and long narratives of events in poetry (masnavis).
Style: Baloch's living in bare and barren, sunbaked hills have a very fertile and prolific mind. The poetry they produced was simple in form but strong in impact. This gave a faithful description of the Balochi way of life. This arose from their hearts and made a direct appeal to the hearts of the listeners. It made a very honest portrayal of the events.
Golden Period in the History of Balochi Literature: Nineteenth century deserves to be called the golden age in the history of Balochi literature. Kalhora rulers were great patrons of letters and literature. Balochi literature also benefited from this. Persian impact during this period further intensified. Mirza Ghulam Muhammad Natiq Makrani is the most eminent poet of this age; he was a contemporary of Mirza Asad Ullah Khan Ghalib. During this period Leich, Mayer, Longworth, Jamait Rai collected, compiled and published Baloch ballads and other literary works.
Literary Works: Meer Chakar and Hammal Rind are the most celebrated of the classical Balochi poets. Haani Shah Murid is an excellent Balochi classic. Sayyid Muhammad Taqi Shah Taib, Mast Tavakkali and Gul Muhammad Zaibare rated very high amongst the classical Balochi poets. Mir Muhammad 'Anqa a mid-twentieth century poet rendered meritorious services for the cause of Pakistan. Most notable amongst the modern Balochi writers and poets are Muhammad Ramazan, Gu Khan Naseer, and Azad Jamal-ud-Din.
Script: History of the Balochi script, which is based on Arabic letters, is not very old. Standard Balochi script was finalized after the creation of Pakistan by amending the script already in use.
