Tribute To Hazrat Amir Khusrau
Of The Many Great Names That Adorn The Pages Of Muslim History In
South-Asia , The Name Of Hazrat Amir Khusrau Ranks Amongst The Greatest Scholar
And Statesman , Soldier And Savant,
Courtier And Mystic, Writer And Musicologist, Philosopher And Wit, He
Combined In His Person, The Best Of All Accomplishments That Contemporary
Society Offered. He Lived Besides in One Of The Most Formative Periods The
Social And Cultural Evolution Of Muslim Society As A Separate And Distinctive
Entity On The Sub-Continent. The Period Of The Sultanate Of Delhi, It Was
During This Period That The Process Of Ethnic And Cultural Assimilation Of
Muslim West –Asian And Indigenous South-Asian Peoples Matured The Process Which
Reached Its Culmination During The Days Of The Great Mughal Empire. Muslim
Immigrants From Across Its Borders Gradually Came To Accept Their New
Habitation As A Land Of Their Own : The Barriers Of Racial Exclusiveness And
Social Elitism Which Divided The Turkish Aristocracy And The Native Masses Were
Effectively Pierced And Out Of The Fusion Of Their Own Cultures A New Civilization
Was Born , This Cultural Synthesis Found Expressions At Different Levels In
Language And Literature, In Music And The Decorative Arts , In Social And
Religious Practices And In The Idiom Of Every Day Living. Amir Khusrau Was One
Of The Main Catalytic Agents In This Ferment And Strode Like A Colossus Over
This Vast Panorama Of Social , Political And Cultural Changes.
He Was A Humanist In The Truest Sense Of The Word, Equally Opposed To The
Aristocratic Ideals Of Nobility Of Birth And , Purity Of Blood And The Hearless
Fanaticism Of Bigoted Priestocracy. He Was Equally At Home In The Company Of
The Highest In The Land, Kings And Emperors, And The Most Lowly Born Weavers
And Washerman , Peasants And Working Women. And He Wrote And Sang For Them All.
He Wrote Ornate Euologies Of Kings And Captians, Profound Historical And
Philosophical Dissertations For The Learned, Tender And Moving Lyrics Both Devout
And Profane, Alongside With Riddles And Jingles For Children, Word Games For
Housewives And Homely Songs For Love-Sick Maidens And Tired Old Men. And He
Taught The Music Makers Of His Times To Sing These Compositions In A Mode That
Touched Every Heart. Thus Apart From His Very Significant Contributions To
Contemporary History It Is By This Ineffable Body Of Music And verse That He Is
Best Remembered By Posterity.
Amir Khusrau Was Born In The Year 651 Hijra i.e 1252-53 A.D. At Patiali, A
Village Near The Present Day Town Of Badaon (According To Some Authorities In
Dehli). His Father Amir Saifuddin Mahmood, A Cheiftain, Of The Lachin Turkish
Tribe Was Forced To Flee His Territory In Face Of The Mughal Onslaughts And
Took Service With Sultan Shamsuddin Iltmush At Delhi. He Married An Indian Lady
Daulat Khatoon Daughter Of Imadul Mulk One The Most Powerful Nobles At The
Imperial Court. Khusrau One Of Three Brothers, Izzuddin Ali Shah , Abul Hasan
Khusrau And Husaluddin Qutlugh , Lost His Father When He Was Only Seven Years
Old And Was Brought Up By His Maternal Grand Father Who Was Equally
Distinguished As Scholar And Statesman. It Was Under His Care That The Child
Khusrau Was Introduced To All The Branches Of Contemporary Learning. It Was
Also In The Same Household That He Sat At The Feet Of His Spiritual Mentor And
Beloved Master. “The King Of Saints” Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia Of Delhi Who
Stayed With Imadul Mulk For Two Years After Obtaining His Khilafat From Hazrat
Farid Shakar Ganj. Khusrau Was A Precocious Child And Fame As A Poet Came To
Him Early But It Was At The Age Of 20 That His Political And Literary Career
Really Began. During The Same Year He Published His First Dewan And At The Same
Time Took Service With Malik Chajju, A Nephew Of The Emperor Balban And A
Generous And Powerful Prince. From 1273 To 1290, Amir Khusrau Served In The
Courts Of Various Nobles And Princes , Travelled With Them And Fought Their
Battles All Over The Sub-Continent From Bengal To The Punjab And From Sind To
Deccan With A Long Sojourn At Multan. This Was Formative Period Of His Long
Life During Which He Mastered, Apart From The Classics, Arabic, Persian And
Turkish, The Various Dialects Of The Country (He Mentions 12) And Acquired A
Detailed And Intimate Knowledge Of Peoples And Places Of Various Regions. He
Wrote Tirelessly All This While But It Was After 1290 A.D., When He Finally
Returned Home To Delhi From His Wanderings And Spent The Next Thirty-Five Years
In The Imperial Court, That His Genius Truly Flowered And The Voluminous Body
Of His Historical , Lyrical And Descriptive Verse Was Composed. He Wrote With
Equal Facility In Persian, Arabic And His Native Hindi Or Hindvi Although Much
Of What He Wrote In The Indigenous Dialects Appears To Have Been Lost.
In The Year 725/1325, The Voice Of His Great “Songster Of Sugared Tongue”
Was Stilled And He Was Rejoined , As He Ardently Wished, With His Beloved
Master, “The King Of The Saints”, Who Had Died Six Months Earlier.
In This Series Of Long Play Records , EMI (Pakistan) Ltd. In Collaboration
With The National Committee For The Celebrations Of 700th
Anniversary Of Amir Khusrau, Presents A Brief Selection Of The Great Master’s/Compositions
As A Modest Tribute To The Memory Of His Genius. These Pieces Have Been Sung ,
Played And Composed By Some Of The Most Eminent Artists Of Pakistan.
Click To Download.
- Raag Saz Giri Tabla By Mohammad Tufail Narowali & Sitar By UstadMohammed Shareef Khan Poonchwala
- Raag Sur Parda Tabla By Mohammad Tufail Narowali & Sitar By Ustad Mohammed Shareef Khan Poonchwala
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