منشیان فورٹ ولیم کالج کا شعری مزاج Poetic Inclination of Munshis of Fort William College Section Urdu Literature

Abstract

The “Munshis” of Fort William College of Calcutta have a remarkable place in the tradition of Urdu Prose but very few people know about their poetic works and stature, therefore, their poetry, may be said the lost part of our literary history. It is very important to study Mir Sher Ali Afsos, Mirza Jaan Tapish, Mirza Ali Lutf, Haider Bakhsh Haidery, Mazhar Ali Khan Villa and Mirza Kazim Ali Jawan among all the “Munshis” because they are the most prominent poets. These six (6) poets have different backgrounds but have many similarities in their lives, personalities and above all in their poetic inclination i.e. outrospection. In 19^th century, the Urdu world split into two schools. Dehli School, which represents introspection, the followers of this school imbibe profoundity, empathy, spiritualism, mysticism and sublimity of thought. On the other hand, Luckhnow School represents outrospection and its followers pay heed to outward beauty and physical features of the woman. The farthest extent of their imagination was to highlight the dress, ornaments and appearance of their beloved. They also employed flowery language, conceit and aphorism to adorn their poetry. After analyzing the poetry of “Munshis” of Fort William, we conclude that they have demonstrated outrospective inclination in their poetry like most of Lackhnawi poets.