Nazeer Akbarabadi

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Nazeer Akbarabadi (Urdu: نظیر اکبر آبادی) (real name "Wali Muhammad") was an Indian poet of 18th century who wrote Urdu ghazals and nazms under takhallus (Urdu word for nom de plume) "Nazeer". His father was Muhammad Farooq and his mother was the daughter of Nawab Sultan Khan who was the governor of Agra fort. Agra (a city in India)was known as Akbarabad (after Mughal emperor Akbar) at that time.

[edit] Birth, early years and migration to Akbarabad

Nazeer's date of birth is not certain but most of his biographers believe that he was born in Delhi (then called "Dihli") in 1735 AD. The period of his birth coincided with the decline of the Mughal empire in India. In 1739 Nazeer was still a child when Nadir Shah attacked Delhi and Muhammad Shah Rangeela was arrested. He was later released but countless people were mercilessly killed in Delhi. The horrors of this plunder were still fresh in the minds of people when 18 years later, in 1757 AD, Ahmad Shah Abdali attacked Delhi. People left Delhi for safer cities. Nazeer along with his mother and grandmother also abandoned Delhi and migrated to Akbarabad (present day Agra). At this time Nazeer was 22 or 23 years old.

[edit] Poetry

It is said that Nazeer’s poetic treasure consisted of about 200,000 verses but unfortunately a bigger portion of it is destroyed and only 6000 verses are available in printed form. No other Urdu poet used as many words as Nazeer did. Nazeer’s poetry conveyed the plight of the common people in their own everyday language and was very popular among the masses. It was due to this lack of the "elite" element perhaps that Nazir's genius was not recognized until much later. But in spite of this neglect, some of his poetic treasure is still available and some of his poems, such as “Banjara Nama” (chronicle of a nomad/gypsy), “Kaljug nahin karjug hai yeh”, “Aadmi Naama” (chronicle of man), etc., became immortal. Such poems find their place in school text books and discerning fans of Urdu poetry will not fail to recognize the greatness of Nazeer's verse.

He left for us about 600 ghazals, although his nazms are said to be more worthy of admiration. In fact, Nazeer’s growing popularity is due to his nazms. He was purely a "People’s poet" and his nazms reflected various aspects of the daily life of his age, all types of religious and social events with even minor details in which common people can be seen laughing, singing, teasing, playing. He wrote nazams about religious and social festivals, such as "Diwali" (the festival that marks the Hindu new year), "Holi" (a festival which is celebration of colors), "Eid" (a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting), "Shab-e-baraat" (according to Muslims, a night of worship and salvation), about fruits and about animals and birds, about seasons and even inanimate objects, such as "paisa" (Indian currency similar to a cent or a pence), "rupaiaa" (Indian currency similar to a dollar or a pound), "rotiyaan" (plural of Indian bread "Roti"), "aata-daal" (meaning "flour" and "lentils", regular diet of South Asians), "Pankha" (meaning "fan") and "kakrhi" (a kind of cucumber). He wrote nazms about different aspects of human life, such as "muflisi" (Urdu word meaning "poverty") and "kohrinamah" (chronicle of a leper). The canvas of Nazeer’s nazms is so vast that it encompasses all aspects of human behavior and every person can find nazms that can suit his taste.

Nazeer Akbarabadi’s contemporaries were Mirza Muhammad Rafi Sauda, Mir Taqi Mir, Sheikh Qalandar Bakhsh Jur’at, Inshallah Khan Insha, and Ghulam Hamdani Mushafi. He was young during the age of Sauda and Mir and might be a middle aged man during the age of Jur'at, Insha and Mushafi.

Nazeer died in 1830 AD, at 98.

Though the era of modern nazm credits Altaf Hussain Hali and Muhammad Hussain Azad, Nazeer could arguably be considered “Father of Urdu Nazam” because he preceded them.