The term Urdu derives from a Turkish word ordu that means camp or army. The Urdu language developed between the Muslim soldiers of the Mughals armies who belonged to varied ethnicities like Turks, Arabs, Persians, Pathans, Balochis, Rajputs, Jats and Afghans. These soldiers lived in shut contact with one another and communicated in different dialects, which slowly and gradually advanced into current day Urdu. It’s for this reason that Urdu can also be referred to as Lashkari Zaban or language of the army.

Throughout its development Urdu language additionally assumed various names like the term Urdu-e-Maullah meaning the exalted military which was given by Emperor Shah Jahan and the time period Rekhta which means scattered (with Persian words) which was coined by the scholars for Urdu poetry.

History and Evolution of Urdu Language

Evolution and development of any language is dependent on the evolution and development of a society where that language is spoken. Varied invasions and conquests on a spot have an effect on the development of its language. Urdu is not any exception as it also underwent varied stages of development.

Urdu belongs to the Indo-Aryan family of languages. Urdu by origin is considered to be a descendent of Saur Senic Prakrit. The term Prakrriti means root or basis. It is a later model of Sanskrit. As Prakrit language started to develop, it was influenced by Western Hindi dialects of Khari Boli, Brij Bhasa and Haryanvi.

With the approaching of Insha’s Darya-e-Latafat*, a necessity was felt to differentiate Urdu with other languages particularly Hindi. It grew to become a Hindi-Urdu controversy and in consequence Khari Boli and Devanagari became the identity of Indians while Urdu and Persian of Muslims. In this context, Persian and Arabic words replaced with Sanskrit served the aim of differentiating Hindi from Urdu.

Urdu emerged as a definite language after 1193 AD – the time of the Muslims conquest. When the Muslims conquered this part of the continent, they made Persian the official and cultural language of India. Because of the amalgamation of native dialects and the language of the invaders – which was either Persian, Arabic and Turkish, a new language advanced which later became Urdu. During the Mughals reign, Urdu was spoken in palaces and court and till the top of the Mughal rule; Urdu was the official language of most of Mughal states. This was the time when Urdu had develop into Persianized and enriched with Persian words, phrases and even script and grammar. With the approaching of the British, new English words additionally became part of the Urdu language. Many English words had been accepted of their real form while others were accepted after some modifications.

At present, Urdu vocabulary contains approximately 70% of Persian words and the remainder are a mix of Arabic and Turkish words. Nevertheless, there are also traces of the French, Portuguese and Dutch language in Urdu. However these influences are little.

Urdu was taken to different parts of the country by soldiers, saints and sufis and by the widespread people. On account of the political, social and cultural contacts amongst the folks of various speech and dialects, a mixed form of language formed called ‘Rekhta’ (Urdu and Persian in blended form). Soon folks started to use the new language in their speech and in literature which resulted within the enrichment of Urdu language and literature.

Urdu Literature

The origin of Urdu literature dates back to the thirteenth century in India through the Mughal rule. One of the vital eminent earliest poets who made usage of Urdu in his poetry is Amir Khusro who could be called the daddy of Urdu language. In literature, Urdu was usually used alongside side Persian. Mughal kings were the good patrons of artwork and literature and it was under their rule that Urdu language reached its zenith. There was a tradition of ‘Sheri Mehfils’ (poetic gatherings) within the kings’ courts. Abul Fazal Faizi and Abdul Rahim Khankhana were the well-known Urdu poets of Mughal court. Likewise, Mirza Ghalib, Allama Iqbal, Hakim Momin, Ibrahim Zauq, Mir Taqi Mir, Sauda, Ibn-e-Insha and Faiz Ahmed Faiz have contributed to the evolution of Urdu language by means of their literary works.

It’s certainly true that Hindi and Urdu are descendents of the identical language i.e. Prakrit, but where the Hindi took influence from Sanskrit and adopted Devanagri script of writing, Urdu absorbed words from Persian, Turkish and Arabic languages and adopted Persian-Arabic script and Nastaliq calligraphic fashion of writing and emerged as a separate language. But beside common ancestry, the 2 languages are as completely different as can be. There are marked grammatical, phonological and lexical variations in each languages.

Urdu was additionally used as a device by the Muslims for freedom struggle and for creating awareness amongst Muslim communities in South Asia to unite under the banner of Independence from British Raj. For this, providers of Maulana Hali, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and Allama Iqbal aren’table, who by way of their poetry and prose provoked the necessary spark within the lives of the Muslims. Urdu was chosen to become the nationwide language of Pakistan at the time of Independence from British. Urdu is now the national language of Pakistan, spoken and understood thoroughly by mainity of the population.

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