Forum Pakistan

Dehlawi, Amir Khusrau (1253-1325)
Poet. Born in Delhi to a family of Central Asian Turkic origin, Amir Khusrau was a scholar, a court historian, a musician, an author of treatises on music and a poet writing in both Persian and in the *Hindavi language, immediate ancestor of both *Urdu and Hindi, then emerging in the environs of Delhi. Dehlawi was in fact the first to write poetry in Hindavi. He lived at the court of the Delhi Sultan Alauddin Khilji (1286-1316) and was a member of the Chishtiya *Sufi Order. His in the lyrical *qasidas, *ghazals, and *rubais Persian language have been compiled in five collections (*diwans). His poetry reveals the influence of Sa'di, Khakani, and Anwari. Khusrau was the first Persian poet to write a response to Nizam's Khamse, imitating its style. Stylistic perfection conveying the *Chishtiyas' religious, philosophical, and ethical views distinguish Khusrau's poems and *masnawais.

Khusrau is responsible for five poems devoted to historic events in India of which he was a witness. These include the poem Masnawi 'Dowal-rani Khizr Khan', in which the tragic love of Sultan Khizr Khan and his Hindu concubine is interpreted as an allegory of Hindu-Muslim unity, and the idea of spiritual rapprochement and mutual enrichment of the two cultures is promoted. The poem reveals a new trend in the development of Persian language literature (masnawi and *dastan) and the use of Indian sources in the plot. Khusrau incorporates local dialects into his work. The five-volume prose work Ijaz-i-Khusrawi ('The Wonders of Khusrau') reflects the author's broad knowledge of different disciplines, including history, philosophy and music theory.
Khusrau is considered one of the founders of IndoPakistan classical music. His musical compositions unite Indian and Arab-Muslim elements, resulting in a new variety of vocal and instrumental expressiveness. He collected and classified a large number of the *ragas that are the basis of Indo-Pakistan classical music. He established some of the functions of the basic instruments-the *sitar and *tabla. Legend credits him with being the inventor of these two instruments. The genre of *qawwali is of particular importance in the creative work of Khusrau. His musical compositions are often performed during folk festivals and are widely popular in India and Pakistan. Khusrau's treatises on mu ic look at the key questions of music theory and practice of his time, such as harmony formation and types of harmonies, rhythmic organization, music forms and genres, musical instruments, and performing methods. In his treatment of questions of music theory, he follows the traditions of Arab-Iranian music e.g. relying on sound acoustic characteristics of the string instruments. Of particular interest are descriptions of contests of court musicians-majlis.


WORKS: 'Kulliyat-i-ghazaliyat' (Complete collection of ghazals), Rawalpindi, 1972-74, vols 1-3; 'Dowal-rani Khizr Khan', Aligarh, 1917; 'Hasht Behesht' (Eight Heavenly Gardens), Aligarh, 1918; 'Lawahir-i-Khusrawi' (The Treasures of Khusraw), Aligarh, 1918; 'Ijaz-i-Khusrawi' (The Wonders of Khusraw), Lucknow, 1876.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: G.Yu. Aliev, 'Persian Language Literature of 1ndia', Moscow, 1968 (in Russian); Mumtaz Husain, 'Amir Khusraw Dehlawi', Karachi, 1986; Zoe Ansari, 'Khusraw ka Zahni Safar', New Delhi, 1977 and 1988.