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ਸੋਹਿਲਾ | Sohilaa
ਰਾਗੁ ਸਿਰੀਰਾਗੁ | Raag Siree-Raag
Gurbani (14-53)
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Pahre (74-78)
Chhant (78-81)
Vanjara (81-82)
Vaar Siri Raag (83-91)
Bhagat Bani (91-93)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਝ | Raag Maajh
Gurbani (94-109)
Ashtpadi (109)
Ashtpadiyan (110-129)
Ashtpadi (129-130)
Ashtpadiyan (130-133)
Bara Maha (133-136)
Din Raen (136-137)
Vaar Maajh Ki (137-150)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗਉੜੀ | Raag Gauree
Gurbani (151-185)
Quartets/Couplets (185-220)
Ashtpadiyan (220-234)
Karhalei (234-235)
Ashtpadiyan (235-242)
Chhant (242-249)
Baavan Akhari (250-262)
Sukhmani (262-296)
Thittee (296-300)
Gauree kii Vaar (300-323)
Gurbani (323-330)
Ashtpadiyan (330-340)
Baavan Akhari (340-343)
Thintteen (343-344)
Vaar Kabir (344-345)
Bhagat Bani (345-346)
ਰਾਗੁ ਆਸਾ | Raag Aasaa
Gurbani (347-348)
Chaupaday (348-364)
Panchpadde (364-365)
Kaafee (365-409)
Aasaavaree (409-411)
Ashtpadiyan (411-432)
Patee (432-435)
Chhant (435-462)
Vaar Aasaa (462-475)
Bhagat Bani (475-488)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗੂਜਰੀ | Raag Goojaree
Gurbani (489-503)
Ashtpadiyan (503-508)
Vaar Gujari (508-517)
Vaar Gujari (517-526)
ਰਾਗੁ ਦੇਵਗੰਧਾਰੀ | Raag Dayv-Gandhaaree
Gurbani (527-536)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਿਹਾਗੜਾ | Raag Bihaagraa
Gurbani (537-556)
Chhant (538-548)
Vaar Bihaagraa (548-556)
ਰਾਗੁ ਵਡਹੰਸ | Raag Wadhans
Gurbani (557-564)
Ashtpadiyan (564-565)
Chhant (565-575)
Ghoriaan (575-578)
Alaahaniiaa (578-582)
Vaar Wadhans (582-594)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸੋਰਠਿ | Raag Sorath
Gurbani (595-634)
Asatpadhiya (634-642)
Vaar Sorath (642-659)
ਰਾਗੁ ਧਨਾਸਰੀ | Raag Dhanasaree
Gurbani (660-685)
Astpadhiya (685-687)
Chhant (687-691)
Bhagat Bani (691-695)
ਰਾਗੁ ਜੈਤਸਰੀ | Raag Jaitsree
Gurbani (696-703)
Chhant (703-705)
Vaar Jaitsaree (705-710)
Bhagat Bani (710)
ਰਾਗੁ ਟੋਡੀ | Raag Todee
ਰਾਗੁ ਬੈਰਾੜੀ | Raag Bairaaree
ਰਾਗੁ ਤਿਲੰਗ | Raag Tilang
Gurbani (721-727)
Bhagat Bani (727)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸੂਹੀ | Raag Suhi
Gurbani (728-750)
Ashtpadiyan (750-761)
Kaafee (761-762)
Suchajee (762)
Gunvantee (763)
Chhant (763-785)
Vaar Soohee (785-792)
Bhagat Bani (792-794)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਿਲਾਵਲੁ | Raag Bilaaval
Gurbani (795-831)
Ashtpadiyan (831-838)
Thitteen (838-840)
Vaar Sat (841-843)
Chhant (843-848)
Vaar Bilaaval (849-855)
Bhagat Bani (855-858)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗੋਂਡ | Raag Gond
Gurbani (859-869)
Ashtpadiyan (869)
Bhagat Bani (870-875)
ਰਾਗੁ ਰਾਮਕਲੀ | Raag Ramkalee
Ashtpadiyan (902-916)
Gurbani (876-902)
Anand (917-922)
Sadd (923-924)
Chhant (924-929)
Dakhnee (929-938)
Sidh Gosat (938-946)
Vaar Ramkalee (947-968)
ਰਾਗੁ ਨਟ ਨਾਰਾਇਨ | Raag Nat Narayan
Gurbani (975-980)
Ashtpadiyan (980-983)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਲੀ ਗਉੜਾ | Raag Maalee Gauraa
Gurbani (984-988)
Bhagat Bani (988)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਰੂ | Raag Maaroo
Gurbani (889-1008)
Ashtpadiyan (1008-1014)
Kaafee (1014-1016)
Ashtpadiyan (1016-1019)
Anjulian (1019-1020)
Solhe (1020-1033)
Dakhni (1033-1043)
ਰਾਗੁ ਤੁਖਾਰੀ | Raag Tukhaari
Bara Maha (1107-1110)
Chhant (1110-1117)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕੇਦਾਰਾ | Raag Kedara
Gurbani (1118-1123)
Bhagat Bani (1123-1124)
ਰਾਗੁ ਭੈਰਉ | Raag Bhairo
Gurbani (1125-1152)
Partaal (1153)
Ashtpadiyan (1153-1167)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਸੰਤੁ | Raag Basant
Gurbani (1168-1187)
Ashtpadiyan (1187-1193)
Vaar Basant (1193-1196)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸਾਰਗ | Raag Saarag
Gurbani (1197-1200)
Partaal (1200-1231)
Ashtpadiyan (1232-1236)
Chhant (1236-1237)
Vaar Saarang (1237-1253)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਲਾਰ | Raag Malaar
Gurbani (1254-1293)
Partaal (1265-1273)
Ashtpadiyan (1273-1278)
Chhant (1278)
Vaar Malaar (1278-91)
Bhagat Bani (1292-93)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕਾਨੜਾ | Raag Kaanraa
Gurbani (1294-96)
Partaal (1296-1318)
Ashtpadiyan (1308-1312)
Chhant (1312)
Vaar Kaanraa
Bhagat Bani (1318)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕਲਿਆਨ | Raag Kalyaan
Gurbani (1319-23)
Ashtpadiyan (1323-26)
ਰਾਗੁ ਪ੍ਰਭਾਤੀ | Raag Prabhaatee
Gurbani (1327-1341)
Ashtpadiyan (1342-51)
ਰਾਗੁ ਜੈਜਾਵੰਤੀ | Raag Jaijaiwanti
Gurbani (1352-53)
Salok | Gatha | Phunahe | Chaubole | Swayiye
Sehskritee Mahala 1
Sehskritee Mahala 5
Gaathaa Mahala 5
Phunhay Mahala 5
Chaubolae Mahala 5
Shaloks Bhagat Kabir
Shaloks Sheikh Farid
Swaiyyae Mahala 5
Swaiyyae in Praise of Gurus
Shaloks in Addition To Vaars
Shalok Ninth Mehl
Mundavanee Mehl 5
ਰਾਗ ਮਾਲਾ, Raag Maalaa
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Punjab, Punjabi, Punjabiyat
Devanagari As A Writing System For Punjabi: Plus Or Minus For Punjabi?
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<blockquote data-quote="Gyani Jarnail Singh" data-source="post: 188957" data-attributes="member: 189"><p>ARTICLE ON HISTORICAL STATUS OF PUNJABI LANGUAGE PART 1 OF 3</p><p></p><p><a href="http://www.apnaorg.com/articles/IJPS/" target="_blank">http://www.apnaorg.com/articles/IJPS/</a></p><p></p><p>The Learning of Punjabi by Punjabi Muslims: A Historical Account</p><p></p><p>Tariq Rahman Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad</p><p></p><p>International Journal of Punjab Studies, Volume 8, Number 2, July-December 2001</p><p></p><p>___________________________________________________________________</p><p></p><p>The colonial privileging of Urdu reinforced by Pakistan's nation building demands has resulted in the downgrading of the Punjabi language. Although it is the mother tongue of the Punjabi Muslim community, it has been relegated to the language of 'the home. ' This article seeks to understand the circumstances in which this situation has arisen. It then goes on to look at the hard struggle of language activists since Pakistan's creation, to champion Punjabi in the face of popular prejudice and official disapproval. The work of the Punjabi Adabi Board is examined along with that of such leading figures as Faqir Mohammad Faqir and Mohammad Masood. While limited progress has been made in the growth of Punjabi as a language of instruction, !! wary state has ensured that this is provided within an 'ideologically correct' framework.</p><p></p><p>_____________________________________________________________________</p><p></p><p>Punjabi had never been used in the official domains of power or taught at a high level, or in its own right, before the coming of the British. However, there is evidence that at the primary level, children were taught some books in Punjabi. Moreover, it was informally learned by a number of people, Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims. Let us first take the evidence about it being taught at some level. This evidence comes from Hear Ranjha, the famous tale of two lovers in verse narrated by Waris Shah among others, and has been mentioned by many people including G.M.D. Suti (1941). The lines from Heer are as follows:</p><p></p><p>Parhan fazil dars durvesh mufti Khoob kudh alhan parkaria neen Taleel, Meezan to SarI Sahai, Saif-e-Meer bhi yad pukaria neen Quzi, Qutab te kanz, Anwa Saran, Masoodian jald savaria neen.</p><p></p><p>The learned ascetics and judges learned the art of correct pronunciation. They read books on Arabic grammar by heart. Books on logic and Islarnic law were compared with manuscripts for correction. A number of other books are mentioned and then come two lines which mention the following books:</p><p></p><p>Ik nazam de Dara Harkaran Parhde Nam-e-Haq a te Khalig Sarian neen</p><p></p><p>Gulistan, Sostan nal Sahar Danish, Tooti Nama te Raziq Sarian neen</p><p></p><p>Minisha 'at Nisab te Abul Fazlan, Shahnamion, Wahid Sarian neen</p><p></p><p>(Sabir 1986: 16)</p><p></p><p>Most of the books mentioned in these lines were in standard texts in Arabic and Persian taught in the madrassas. Indeed, some of them are taught even now in Pakinstan' s madrassas.</p><p></p><p>Out of these Muhammad Shafi, the informant of Sufi, places only Anwa Baran (or Baran An wa) among the Punjabi books (Sufi 1941: 109). Both Shafi and Sabir place Raziq Ban, Wahid Bari and Nam-e-Haq among Persian books (Sabir 1982: 620-621; Sufi 1941: 109). But there is a copy ofa certain Wahid Bari, the name of whose author is lost, in the British Library .It was probably written in 1621-22 in order to teach Persian to students on the pattern of the well known Kha/iq Bari. The meanings of Persian words were conveyed through their Punjabi equivalents. The difference was that in Kha/iq Bari the lexicon was in Hindvi (old Urdu). Persian and Arabic while in Wahid Bari the facilitating language is Punjabi. An example from it makes this clear:</p><p></p><p>Madar, man; hiradar hhai Pidar, hap; eenga; parjai</p><p></p><p>The meaning of Persian words explained through Punjabi ones are as follows:</p><p></p><p>Punjabi Persian English</p><p></p><p>mau madar mother</p><p></p><p>hhai hiradar brother</p><p></p><p>bap pider father</p><p></p><p>partjai eenga brother's wife</p><p></p><p>In short, Punjabi was not taught for itself but facilitated the learning of Persian. It was the means to an educational end -the learning of Persian. Sheerani mentions the Wahid Bari though the date of the manuscript available to him was 1034 A.H. (1663-1664). He also mentions a number of other such books:</p><p></p><p>Raziq Bari by Ismaill071 (1660-61).</p><p></p><p>Raziq Bari by Mustafa 1085 A.H. (1674-74).</p><p></p><p>Izad Bari by Kharmalll05 A.H.(1693-93).</p><p></p><p>Allah Bari by Ummeed 1196 (A.H.( 1782).</p><p></p><p>Nasir Bari by Mufti Shamsuddin 1208 A.H. ( 1793-94 ). San 'at Bari by Ganesh Das Budhra 1220 A.H. (1805). Qadir Bari by Muzaffar 1223 A.H. (1808).</p><p></p><p>Wase ' Bari by Yakdil1231 A.H. (1815-16).</p><p></p><p>Rahmat Bari by Maulvi Rahmat Ullah 1232 A.H. (1816-17) Farsi Nama by Abdur Rahman Qasuri (n.d) Nisah-e-Zaroori by Khuda Baksh (n.d)</p><p></p><p>Bad Sahel (n.d) Azam Bari (n.d) Sadiq Bari (n.d)</p><p></p><p>Azam Bari (n.d) and</p><p></p><p>Farsi Nama by Sheikh Mohammad (Sheerani 1934: 119).</p><p></p><p>Although these books were meant to teach Persian or the rudiments of Islam, they need Punjabi as the language of explanation. This tradition had been established by Abu Nasr Farahi when he wrote his Nisab u/ Sabiyan in 617 A.H. (8 January 1660-27) January 1661) in Persian to teach Arabic to Afghan children. A number of such nisabs, including one by Amir Khusro were written upto the tenth century. Hindi nisabs came to be written 'probably from the loth century Hijri (15th century] (Sheerani n.d.: 7) A certain Hakeem Yusufi, who migrated from Hirat (Iran) to India wrote Insha-i-Yusufi. He gives Hindi equivalents for parts of the human anatomy. The famous Kha/iq Bari is part of this tradition but, according to Sheerani, it was written by Ziauddin Khusro, not the famous Amir Khusro, in 1621-22. Kha/iq Bari is in the mixed language of Hindi, Persian and Arabic. It was meant to teach Persian to the children of north India (Sheeani n.d). As such, one wonders whether books like the Wahid Bari could not have been placed among Punjabi books by Shafi and Sabir? A major complitcation, however, is that there were several books of the same title so that we can never be sure exactly which book Waris Shah had in mind. However, in fact that Persian was taught through both Punjabi and old Urdu (Hindvi) to Punjabi children, cannot be denied.</p><p></p><p>Other older books of Punjabi, out of which the Pakki Roti is part of the M.A. course in Pakistan and therefore well known, were meant to explain the rudiments of Islam to students in their mother tongue. Pakki Roti is in the form of questions and answers. For instance, the question is 'If somebody asks you as to when to perform ablutions you reply as follows'. The reply is the accepted Sunni teaching on the subject. Complications and controversial matters are avoided and the answers would probably be acceptable to most Punjabi Muslims. A number of other such books in manuscript form are given in various catalogues in the British Library (Blumhardt 1893; Haq 1993; Quraishi 1990; Shackle 1977). The manuscripts located in Pakistan libraries however, are not catalogued. Among the 34 manuscripts catalogued by Christopher Shackle (1977), Muhammad Yar has authored eleven. He lived in Kotkala in Shahpur (Sargodha district). He calls his language' Jhangi' at places. It is, as to be expected, a mixture of the languages, which are called Siraiki and Punjabi nowadays.</p><p></p><p>The earliest works of Muhammad Yar seem to have been written in 1196 A.H. (1792) while the latest is dated around 1244 A.H. (1828-29). The books were copied by his grandson Faiz Mohammad in 1271 A.H. (1854-55). The Pand Nama;, Afrinash Nama; Tuhfat a/-Fiqh and Bina a/-Mominin are treatises on Islamic rituals and fundamental beliefs while the Nafi a/-Sa/at is on the benefits of prayers. Among the hagiographical works are those on saints (Siharfi Hazrat Pir and Nafi a/-Kaunain) and the Prophet of Islam (Tuhfat a/-Sa/uk, Tarvij Nama, Siharfi Hazrat Rusu/-i-Maqbu/). These, as well as other works, are all religious.</p><p></p><p>Another major writer was Maulvi Abdullah Abidi (d. 1664) who was born in village Malka Hans of Sahiwal district but lived and died in Lahore. His language too has Multani (now called Siraiki) forms and it is his work Baran Anwa which is referred to in Heer mentioned earlier. The importance of Abdullah for students is thus described by Shackle:</p><p></p><p>The comprehensive character of Abdi's [sic] writings has, however ensured them a uniquely important and influential position as manuals of instruction; and they have been frequently published, usually in collections of twelve treaties entitled Baran Anva (Shackle 1997: 39).</p><p></p><p>Let us new describe Baran Anwa and other works of a religious kind which were read both by students and other Punjabi Muslims. The following manuscripts, seen by the author, are being mentioned very briefly by way of illustrating this genre ofPunjabi writing.</p><p></p><p>(1) Baran Anwa. By Abdullah Abidi Lahori. This is handwritten</p><p></p><p>manuscript in nastaliq (i.e. the script in which Persian and Urdu are written now) in Punjabi verse. It begins, as usual, with hamd and naat and goes on to describe Islamic rituals: ablutions, prayers, fasting, giving alms and so on. It also discusses the rituals and regulations concerning purity with special reference to women. Thus there are long sections on pregnancy, menstruation, divorce etc. The second part is full of historical anecdotes with reference to authorities like Masoodi. It is a voluminous book and is defInitely the one mentioned in Beer Ranjah by Waris Shah.</p><p></p><p>(2) Fiqqu Asghar: By Faqir Habib Darzi bin Tayyab Gujrat. This is a</p><p></p><p>handwritten manuscript in naskh (the script of Arabic). It is written in black ink and there are about twelve lines per page. The author explains Islamic rituals</p><p></p><p>and other matters pertaining to faith in Punjabi verse. The sub-titles are in Persian.</p><p></p><p>(3) Muqaddimat ul Anwar. by Abdul Faqir. This is also a handwritten</p><p></p><p>manuscript in naskh. Islamic injuctions pertaining to marriage, inheritance, sartorial property etc. are explained in Punjabi verse while the sub-titles are in Persian. The point of view is very stringent and puritanical. Women, for instance, are forbidden even to use the dandasa -a bark of a tree which cleans the teeth and makes the lips red.</p><p></p><p>(4) Zibah Nama. Handwritten manuscript in naskh probably written during King Muhammad Shah ' s reign ( 1719-48) as a couplet in it suggests. It was probably copied in 1860-61 as it contains the date 1277 A.H. It explains Islamic injunctions pertaining to the sacrifice of animals, hunting and lays down rules as to which meats are kosher and which are not.</p><p></p><p>(5) Anwa-i-Faqir. This too is a handwritten manuscript in naskh probably by Faqir Habib. The sub-headings are in Persian and it has been copied by someone called Karm Uddin from Jhelum. The date on it is Ziqad 1277 A.H.</p><p></p><p>(May-June 1861). This too is on faith and the tone is puritanical and reformist. (6) Intikhab Dl KDtab: Punjabi Nazm. The name of the author is probably Karnal ud Din but this particular manuscript was copied by Nur Ahmed of Kolia in 1261 A.H. (21 January 1806-10 January 1807). It too is handwritten in Punjabi naskh and the sub-headings are in Persian. It presents Islamic teachings in verse on bathing, funeral prayers, burial, congregational prayers, marriage, sacifice of animals and as to which meat is kosher.</p><p></p><p>(7) Mitthi Roti: Punjabi by Qadir Baksh. This is a printed copy in</p><p></p><p>Punjabi nastliq dated 1883. It too described Islamic injunctions about all aspects of life including coitus. There are many references to Islamic works, which suggest that it might have been intended for the use of learned people.</p><p></p><p>(8) Nijat al-Mominin. A religious treatise written in 1086 A.H. (1675) by</p><p></p><p>Maulana Abd al-Kirim (1657-1707) of Jhang district.</p><p></p><p>(9) Kissa Kumad. Written by Ashraf in nastaliq. This is an allegorical</p><p></p><p>poem on the sugarcane which describes itself as being cut and ground.</p><p></p><p>(10) Kissa Umar Khattah. An account in verse of the war of Caliph Umar</p><p></p><p>with the infidel king Tal written by Hafiz Muizuddin of Takht Hazara in 1176 A.H. (1762-63).</p><p></p><p>(11) Raushan D.H.: Written by Fard Faqir of Gujrat, Christopher Shackle</p><p></p><p>calls it 'one of the best-known of all the many basic treaties on Islam to have been composed in Punjabi verse' (Shackle 1977: 46).</p><p></p><p>(12) Raddulimubtad' in.: This is an anonymous treatise in Punjabi verse</p><p></p><p>against disbelief, polytheism and heresy written in 1788 A.H. (1814)</p><p></p><p>(13) Anwa Barak Allah by Hafiz Barak (d. 1871) It is a book in Punjabi</p><p></p><p>verse on the Sunni law of the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence. It was probably written in 1254 A.H. (1838) and printed several times later (for biographical note see Bhatti 1982: 119-138).</p><p></p><p>Besides the religious works mentioned above, there are the classical romantic tales of famous lovers (Yusuf-Zulaikha, Heer Ranjha, Laila-Majnun etc.) A somewhat unusual story is about the King Akbar who wants to test the chastity of the Begum of Hyderbad. The Begum, dressed as boy, is brought to the King but successfully resists him The manuscript, in Punjabi verse, is written in the nastaliq script but the heading and all other details are lost. Another story uses characters from a tale which must have originated before Islam.</p><p></p><p>Qissa Raja Kam Roop O Rani Luttan by Maulvi Ahmed Yar. This is a handwritten manuscript in nastaliq in Punjabi verse. The sub-headings are in Persian. It is like other romantic love legends with beautiful women and handsome men in a supernatural, pre-modern setting. The copy seen by me was incomplete and ends at page 120 because it was originally bound with some other book. The author starts with a supplication to Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani who will presumably bless love affairs as passionate as the one narrated here.</p><p></p><p>Apart from the above manuscripts personally inspected by the author, there are many others such manuscripts mentioned by different people scattered in South Asia and other parts of the world. A number of printed books, some of them based on the above mentioned manuscripts, are also in circulation. There are called 'chapbooks' by Hanaway and Nasir who have listed them in their very useful bibliography of words of this kind available in Pakistani cities (Hanaway and Nasir 1996: 455-615). Shahbaz Malik, a research scholar on Punjabi, has mentioned them in his bibliography called Punjabi Kitabiat (1991). They are also listed in several bibliographies of printed books in the British Library.</p><p></p><p>These books appear to fall into two major categories; those which are meant to make Muslims conscious of or knowledgeable about the rudiments of their faith and those which are about romantic love. Those in the fIrst category have probably been written by maulvis because they present a very strict and highly purutanical view of the sharia 'h. Some, such as one version of the Pakki Roti, prohibits music calling it a great sin just as it prohibits sodomy with boys and women. Those in the second category are tales in which romantic love and sometimes making love and drinking are shown without disapproval. These represent a more tolerant, more worldly or realistic, world view which existed side by side with the stricter one and is much in evidence in both Persian and Arabic tales. None of these books are meant to teach Punjabi as such. Punjabi serves as the means to an end -the end being socialization of Muslim children in this case or, simply, the pleasure oflistening to a good story.</p><p></p><p>In short, although activists .)f the Punjabi movement make much of the teaching of Punjabi, they ignore the fact that it was not taught for itself in preBritish times. Moreover, although some of them refer to Haf1Z Mahmood Sheerani's article mentioned earlier, they generally fail to mention to fact that Sheerani was trying to prove that Urdu, and not only Punjabi, were taught in the Punjab at this period (see references to the teaching ofPunjabi in Yameen 1969: 10-11). Sheerani mentions not only the Khaliq Bari but also the Zauq ul Sabyan written in circa !207 A.H. (1792-93) by Haf1Z Ahsan Ullah of Lahore. The language of this book is the same Urdu (or Hindvi) which is used in the Khaliq Bari. Again. Like the Khaliq Bari, it too was meant to acquaint students with the vocabulary of Persian through Urdu. According to its author, who was a teacher, the Punjabi boys for whom it was intended understood it without any difficulty which, says Sheerani, suggests that Urdu was not unfamiliar for Punjabis (Sheerani 1934: 125).</p><p></p><p>If the students did understand Urdu it would not be surprising. Punjabi and Urdu share many core vocabulary items, the teaching of Persian through books like the Khaliq Bari must have farniliarised Punjabi students with Urdu words and even before the British period there was communication between Punjab and north India where Urdu literature was coming into its own. In short, the situation in the Punjab on the eve of the British arrival was that Persian was the court language of the Sikhs. It was taught through Punjabi and Urdu at the primary level but those languages were facilitators at best and were not valued in their own right.</p><p></p><p>Punjabi on the Eve of British Rule</p><p></p><p>When the British arrived the schools in the Punjab could be divided, following Leitner, into maktabs, madrassas, patshalas, Gurrnukhi and Mahajani schools. The mektab was a Persian school while the madrassas was an Arabic one. The patshalas were Sanskrit schools while the Gurrnukhi schools taught Punjabi in the GUm1ukhi script. In the Mahajani schools the Landi or Sarifi script was taught to commercial people (Leitner 1882: 10).</p><p></p><p>The Sikhs considered it a religious duty to learn GUm1ukhi enough to be able to read the Sikh holy books. Those following an advanced course studied, among other things, GUm1ukhi grammar and prosody (Ibid, 32). The child gegan his studies at the age of six. He, or she, then proceeded to learn the GUm1ukhi alphabet of which Guru Angad himself wrote a primer. The primer, being written by such an eminent spiritual leader, was in itself religious. It was, however, the means to an even more religious end -to enable the child to read the Adi Granth, a sacred book of the Sikhs. After this other works, such as Hanuman Natak, a Punjabi adaptation of a Hindi drama, were taught. Other subjects, such as elementary medicine and rhetoric, were also taught in Gurrnukhi to Sikh children. According to Leitner, there were many people who knew Gurrnukhi when he was collecting information for his report (1880s). Urdu, however, had been brought in and was being established slowly by the government (Leitner 1882: 35-37).</p><p></p><p>Some educational reports, such as that of 1857, tell us those students were first taught to read books in Persian without knowing their meaning. Later, they would translate them literally word by word, into the vernacular, but there was no attempt at explanation' (Leitner 1882: 60). This 'vernacular' was Punjabi which was not taught but was used, as we have seen, as a medium of instruction at least at the lower level before the British conquest. This practice continued even after the conquest and Leitner mentions that in 'most kor'an schools some elementary religious books in Urdu, Persian or Punjabi are taught' (1882: 68). The Deputy Commissioner of Ferozepur also reported that books on the rituals of Islam, which have been mentioned earlier, were taught in some of the Persian Quran schools (Edn. P. 1883: 10). However, none of these informants has specified which out of the books listed were in Punjabi.</p><p></p><p>Female education is generally said to have always been neglected among Muslims but, according to Leitner, , Among Muhammadans nearly all girls were taught the Koran, nor could a Sikh women claim the title and privileges of a "learner" unless she was able to read the Granth' (1882: 98). He also gives a Punjabi song which the women had made (Ioc.cit). Girls were also taught 'the Koran together with little boys, and Urdu or Perso-Punjabi religious books, stories of prophets, etc. The Sikh girls read the Granth aDd other books in Gurrnukhi (Leitner 1882: 107). For the Sikhs even Nazeer Ahmad's Mirat ul Urus had been translated into GUm1ukhi. Leitner suggests that there had been a decline in female teaching since the British conquest because 'formerly the mother could teach the child Punjabi. Now, wherever the child learns Urdu, the teaching power of the mother is lost' (Leitner 18S2: 108).</p><p></p><p>Some British officers, besides the enthusiastic Leitner, had suggested that Punjabi should be taught flfSt to children and only after that should they proceed to other languages (Leitner 1882: 110-112). Leitner, of course, defended this proposition with much fervour because the thesis he argues in his report is that, because of British rule:</p><p></p><p> the true education of the Punjab was crippled, checked, and is nearly destroyed ...(and our system stands convicted of worse than official failure (Leitner 1882:1 ).</p><p></p><p>The removal ofPersian from its position of honour and the introduction of Urdu, argues Leitner, are language-reaching policies which have alienated Punjabis both from their traditional high culture as well as the prevalent popular culture. Among other things Leitner provides a brief history of the traditional schools in the Punjab.</p><p></p><p>Besides ordinary mosque, or Quran, schools there were some well known schools both of Sikhs and Muslims. For instance there was Mian Sahib Qadri's school at Batala which was supported by a landed estate which was withdrawn by the British. Another such school, which also closed down for the same reason, was Maulvi Sheikh Ahmed's school in Sialkot. Then there were: Mian Faiz's school at Gujranwala famous for Persian, Bara Mian's school at Lahore; Khwaja Suleman's school at Dera Ghazi Khan; Mian Abdul Hakim's school at Gujranwala and so on. All these schools are advertised as great centres of Persian and Arabic studies (Leitner 1882), but Punjabi books like Pakki Roti might also have been taught there.</p><p></p><p>Punjabi and the British Conquest</p><p></p><p>Immediately after the annexation, court circulars and notices were published in Punjabi. The missionaries, true to their conviction that the Bible should be available in a reader's mother tongue, distributed bibles in Punjabi (Singh, A : 479). Moreover, the government realised that Punjabi could not be ignored since it was the language of 17,000,000 people. In a note about its importance for the functionaries (,f the state it was written:</p><p></p><p> </p><p></p><p> Punjabi is of special importance as being the language of our Sikh soldiers. It is of the greatest importance that the officers in Sikh regiments should be able to converse freely in Punjabi. Too many of them employ Hindustani. There is a great deal of tea grown in the Northern Panjab. The European [sic] employed there must be able to speak Panjabi (Committee 1909: 116).</p><p></p><p>However, the official vernacular which the British adopted in the Punjab was Urdu. Reasons for doing this have been given earlier (Rahrnan 1996: 192-194). Let us go over them briefly, however, to put things in a historical perspective. Since the British had done away with Persian in 1836 they did not allow it to continue as an officia11anguage in the Punjab where it had that status both in the Mughal and the Sikh courts. They, therefore, asked the advice of their field officers about the language to be used in the lower domains of power. Very few among them favoured the teaching of Punjabi. Most officers, indeed, were prejudiced against it. Their views, spread over a copious correspondence, can be summed up as follows: that Punjabi is a rustic dialect not fit for serious business; that Urdu is an advanced and more sophisticated form of Punjabi and that simple Urdu is easily understood in the Punjab (for the original letters expressing these views see Chaudhry, 1997).</p><p></p><p>In addition to this prejudices there were some apprehension, though it is expressed at very few places and then only in passing, that the British feared the symbolic power (and hence the political potential) of the Gurmukhi script. Thus the Commissioner and Superintendent of the Delhi Division wrote in a letter to the Secretary of the Punjab Government on 16 June 1862:</p><p></p><p> it will be a stultification of our whole educational system to adopt Punjabee as our Court language. Here we are teaching the population to read and write Oordoo... Besides, I think that any measure which would revive the Goormukhee, which is the written Punjabee tongue would be a political error (Chaudhry 1977: 6667). This occurs among the opinions sought from commissioners of the Punjab in the 1860s, about three years after the Punjabis had shown their loyalty to the British in the events of 1857.</p><p></p><p>However, as noted earlier, not all the British officers agreed with this neglect of Punjabi. Some of them, for example, J. Wilson, Deputy Commissioner of Shahpur (in 1894) and Robert Cust (in a letter of2 June 1862), advocated the cause of Punjabi but to no avail ( for details see Rahman 1996: 194-196). The officers who refused to accept their point of view, and who were in a majority, were implacable in their prejudice against Punjabi. During this period both Muslims and Hindus developed consciousness about their identity. Religion, language, script, vocabulary and literary tradition were all seen as belonging to one or the other identity. Especially relevant for our purposes is the way Hindi and Hindu identity converged as is very competently described by Christopher King (1994). Simultaneously, Urdu too became a part, and symbol, of the Indian Muslim identity. Thus the Punjabi Muslims began to identify with Urdu rather than Punjabi during the Hindi-Urdu controversy which began in the 1860s and went on in one way or the other till the partition of India in 1947.</p><p></p><p>Besides British officers, mostly Sikhs and Hindus kept insisting that Punjabi should be taught in the Punjab. In 1867, for instance, Jumna Dass, a tutor to some Sardars (chiefs) suggested that the teaching of Gurmukhi, being a sacred obligation, should be established by the British at Amballa (Dass 1867: 39). Later Hukum Singh, Pundit Rikhi Kesh and Bhai Chiranjeet Singh wrote a memorandum with a view to persuading the Punjab University Senate to introduce Punjabi as a language of examinations. Among other things they argued that books on grammar, composition and poetry existed in Punjabi and that Sikhs, Khatris and Hindus would welcome the introduction of their mother tongue as a school subject. It is significant that they did not mention the Punjabi</p><p></p><p>Muslims whose mother tongue too was Punjabi but who had begun to identify with Urdu, which was becoming a Muslim religious identity symbol, by this date. Reminiscent of later debates about the teaching of Punjabi in Pakistan, they said that they only wanted Punjabi to be 'taught up to the middle school examination in Government schools, like other languages. It is, however, by no means contemplated that Urdu should be supplanted by the Punjabi in the Province' (Singh et.al 1877: 473). Similar reasons were advanced by Sardar Attar Singh for the teaching of Punjabi. But the Sardar added a political reason to persuade the British to teach it. He wrote:</p><p></p><p> The Sikhs who form the most important class of the inhabitants, after whom the province is called (the land of Sikhs, and not Hindus or Muhammadans), and who are the most faithful subjects, have Gurmukhi characters and Punjabi language for their religious and worldly affairs. To reject this language, therefore, would be to dishearten those people (Singh 1877: 478-479).</p><p></p><p>At that time Punjabi was taught in the Normal Female School at Lahore, in the Sat Sabha of the Punjab and several private schools. However, the government did not examine candidates in the language except, of course, its own civil and military officers. The members of the University Senate who debated proposal XI, about allowing Punjabi to be a subject of examinations, were mostly British officers. General Maclagan, Major Holroyd and Perkins opposed Punjabi while Dr. Leitner, Brandreth, Pandit Manphul and Sodi Hukum Singh supported it. Hukum Singh even asserted that the 'books usually taught in Government schools exist in the Punjabi language' while Brandreth pointed out that 'there were many well known and popular books in Punjabi before the English came'. However, the opponents considered it below the dignity of a university to teach what they called a 'rustic' tongue. Moreover, they felt that if Punjabi were allowed, the flood gates of languages would burst open and Balochi, Pashto, Jatki etc would all clamour for admission. The debate, therefore, ended in a defeat for the pro-Punjabi lobby (PUC 1877: 445-454).</p><p></p><p>Although the Muslims in general showed little enthusiasm for owning Punjabi, some of their representatives did not oppose it either. Indeed, Nawab Abdul Majid Khan and Fakir Sayad Kamar ud Din, both members of the senate of the Punjab University College, submitted memoranda recommending that the vernacular languages, including Punjabi, should not be excluded from the examination list, nor should they be completely neglected (Native Members 1879: 943).</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, a number of private bodies, such as the Singh Sabha, promoted the teaching of Punjabi but mainly among the Sikhs. The Singh Sabha too petitioned the Punjab University College to associate its members in a subcommittee to be set up for th" teaching of Punjabi and that the entrance examination, which was in Urdu and Hindi, should also be given in Punjabi (Singh Sabha 1881: 223).</p><p></p><p>This was conceded and Punjabi became one of the options for school examinations. Sikh children could also study Gurmukhi if they wanted to, but employment was only available in Urdu in the lower and English in the higher domains of power. The report of 1901 tells us that 'Gurmukhi is taught in the Oriental College' (Edn.P 1901: 16). However, because a major motivation for all formal education, including the learning of languages, was employment by the state, the Gurmukhi classes did not become popular (Edn.P 1906: 15).</p><p></p><p>Those who desired to give Punjabi a more pronounced role in the education of Punjabis suggested changes. J.C. Goldsby, the Officiating Director of Public Instruction of the Punjab, wrote to the senior Secretary to the Financial Commissioner in this context as follows:</p><p></p><p> It is a question between Punjabi and Urdu, and if the question is decided by the districts or divisions, there is no doubt that Urdu will invariably be chosen because of its practical utility. But Punjabi has a strong claim to be the language of the home in most cases; and more might be done to encourage the use of it, or at any rate to remove the impression that it is being purposely neglected (Goldsby, 1908).</p><p></p><p>However, the report on education of 1907-8 does say that Hindu and Sikh girls were learning Gurmukhi in greater proportion than boys while Muslims, both girls and boys did not learn it (Edn.P 1908: 22). The report of 1910-11 remarks that the demand for Gurmukhi has increased even among the boys in the Lahore and Multan divisions, mostly in Lyallpur (Edn.P 1911: 5). Such yearly fluctuations, however, did not change the general pattern, which the report of 1916 sums up as follows:</p><p></p><p> Urdu continues to be in favour as the school vernacular for boys. Gurmukhi or Punjabi schools for boys and girls numbered 446 with 20,347 scholars, but three-quarters of the latter were girls (Edn.P 1916: 16).</p><p></p><p>Punjabi Muslims generally spoke Punjabi at home and in informal domains, among friends, in the bazaar etc, but they wrote in Urdu (or English) and they used Urdu for political speech-making, serious discussions and other formal domains. Mohamrnad Iqbal, the national poet of Pakistan, is said to have spoken the Sialkoti variety of Punjabi but he wrote only in Urdu, Persian and English throughout his life. In the only interview he gave in Punjabi in December 1930 to the editor of the Punjabi magazine Sarang, Iqbal made it clear that he did not write in Punjabi because his intellectual training had not opened up that option for him. He did, however, enjoy the language and appreciated the mystic content of its best poetic literature.</p><p></p><p>Of course, ordinary Punjabis too enjoy listening to Punjabi jokes, songs and poetry. Indeed, that is why poets like Imam Din and Ustad Daman (1911-1984) were and remain so immensely popular. According to Son Anand, an inhabitant of old Lahore, Daman 'is still a household name for all those who lived in the crowded "mohallas" and frequented the Punjab "mushairas"'. He held audiences spellbound and was often in trouble for making fun of the authorities. Daman was anti-establishment, irreverent and humorous. These characteristics, and the fact that he used words which had an irrunediate appeal being those of the mother tongue, made him a great Success with Punjabi audiences (Anand 1998: 38-41). But pleasure was one thing and politics another. The Urdu-Punjabi controversy was an extension of the Urdu-Hindi controversy. The political need of the time, as perceived by Muslim leaders in the heat of the Pakistan movement, was to insist on a common Muslim identity of which Urdu played an integral part. Moreover, having studied Urdu at school, the Punjabi intellectuals had complete command over its written form and literary tradition. Like Iqbal, all the great intellectuals of the Punjab such as Abroad Nadeem Qasmi, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Sa'adat Hasan Manto, wrote in Urdu. Urdu was also the language of journalism -the Paisa Akhbar, the Zamindar of the irrepressible Zafar Ali Khan and the Nawa-i-Waqt of Hameed Nizami being household names -which, like literature, was concentrated in Lahore. Indeed, Zafar Ali Khan modernised the Urdu language and became irrunensely popular as did Chiragh Hasan Hasrat whose witty columns were enjoyed by all those who read Urdu (Anand 1998: 173-177). Urdu was not only the adopted language of the intelligentsia of the Punjab. It was the symbol of their Muslim identity. That is why they opposed those who advocated the teaching ofPunjabi.</p><p></p><p>Such was the anti-Punjabi fervour of the leading Punjabi Muslims that when Dr. P .L. Chatterjee, the Bengali Vice Chancellor of Punjab University, declared in his convocation address at the University in 1908, that Punjabi, the real vernacular language of the Punjab, should replace Urdu, the Muslims condemned him vehemently. The Muslim League held a meeting at Amritsar to condemn him in December. The newspapers carried the controversy for several months. The Paisa Akhbar, a popular Urdu newspaper of Lahore, wrote articles not only about Chatterji's ideas but also on the subject of the medium of instruction. Most writers, following editorial policy, said that Punjabi was not capable of being used as a medium of instruction even at the primary level (see file of Paisa Akhbar December 1908 till April 1909). One contributor wrote that the educated Sikhs and Hindus, who used to speak Urdu earlier, had started speaking Punjabi out of prejudice against Urdu. However, he added, working class people -porters, cooks, gardeners etc -still spoke Urdu (Paisa Akhbar 16 July 1909). Another argument against Punjabi was that it consisted of dialects which changed after every few miles and had no standard form (Paisa Akhbar 7 June 1909). Most people, however, felt that the promotion of Punjabi was a conspiracy to weaken Urdu and, by implication, Muslims (for a detailed defence of Urdu in pre-partition days see M.R. T 1942; for the controversy of 1908 see Khawaja, 1982).</p><p></p><p>In short, most of the arguments were the same which were used by the functionaries of the state and right wing intellectuals in Pakistan later. The difference was that in pre-partition India almost all notable Punjabi Muslims united to oppose their own mother tongue in support of Urdu. In Pakistan, on the other hand, identity-conscious Punjabis and their left-leaning sympathisers supported Punjabi much as the Sikhs and Hindus had done earlier while establishment and right-wing people supported Urdu. The question was one of the politics of identity in both cases: before the partition almost all Punjabi Muslim leaders and intellectuals insisted on their Muslim identity so as to give a united front to the Hindus and Sikhs; in Pakistan some Punjabi intellectuals felt that the cost of renouncing their Punjabi identity was excessive while the others felt that it was necessary to prevent the rise of ethnicity which, in their view, would break up Pakistan. On the eve of the partition, then, Punjabi was not owned by the Muslims.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Gyani Jarnail Singh, post: 188957, member: 189"] ARTICLE ON HISTORICAL STATUS OF PUNJABI LANGUAGE PART 1 OF 3 [url]http://www.apnaorg.com/articles/IJPS/[/url] The Learning of Punjabi by Punjabi Muslims: A Historical Account Tariq Rahman Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad International Journal of Punjab Studies, Volume 8, Number 2, July-December 2001 ___________________________________________________________________ The colonial privileging of Urdu reinforced by Pakistan's nation building demands has resulted in the downgrading of the Punjabi language. Although it is the mother tongue of the Punjabi Muslim community, it has been relegated to the language of 'the home. ' This article seeks to understand the circumstances in which this situation has arisen. It then goes on to look at the hard struggle of language activists since Pakistan's creation, to champion Punjabi in the face of popular prejudice and official disapproval. The work of the Punjabi Adabi Board is examined along with that of such leading figures as Faqir Mohammad Faqir and Mohammad Masood. While limited progress has been made in the growth of Punjabi as a language of instruction, !! wary state has ensured that this is provided within an 'ideologically correct' framework. _____________________________________________________________________ Punjabi had never been used in the official domains of power or taught at a high level, or in its own right, before the coming of the British. However, there is evidence that at the primary level, children were taught some books in Punjabi. Moreover, it was informally learned by a number of people, Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims. Let us first take the evidence about it being taught at some level. This evidence comes from Hear Ranjha, the famous tale of two lovers in verse narrated by Waris Shah among others, and has been mentioned by many people including G.M.D. Suti (1941). The lines from Heer are as follows: Parhan fazil dars durvesh mufti Khoob kudh alhan parkaria neen Taleel, Meezan to SarI Sahai, Saif-e-Meer bhi yad pukaria neen Quzi, Qutab te kanz, Anwa Saran, Masoodian jald savaria neen. The learned ascetics and judges learned the art of correct pronunciation. They read books on Arabic grammar by heart. Books on logic and Islarnic law were compared with manuscripts for correction. A number of other books are mentioned and then come two lines which mention the following books: Ik nazam de Dara Harkaran Parhde Nam-e-Haq a te Khalig Sarian neen Gulistan, Sostan nal Sahar Danish, Tooti Nama te Raziq Sarian neen Minisha 'at Nisab te Abul Fazlan, Shahnamion, Wahid Sarian neen (Sabir 1986: 16) Most of the books mentioned in these lines were in standard texts in Arabic and Persian taught in the madrassas. Indeed, some of them are taught even now in Pakinstan' s madrassas. Out of these Muhammad Shafi, the informant of Sufi, places only Anwa Baran (or Baran An wa) among the Punjabi books (Sufi 1941: 109). Both Shafi and Sabir place Raziq Ban, Wahid Bari and Nam-e-Haq among Persian books (Sabir 1982: 620-621; Sufi 1941: 109). But there is a copy ofa certain Wahid Bari, the name of whose author is lost, in the British Library .It was probably written in 1621-22 in order to teach Persian to students on the pattern of the well known Kha/iq Bari. The meanings of Persian words were conveyed through their Punjabi equivalents. The difference was that in Kha/iq Bari the lexicon was in Hindvi (old Urdu). Persian and Arabic while in Wahid Bari the facilitating language is Punjabi. An example from it makes this clear: Madar, man; hiradar hhai Pidar, hap; eenga; parjai The meaning of Persian words explained through Punjabi ones are as follows: Punjabi Persian English mau madar mother hhai hiradar brother bap pider father partjai eenga brother's wife In short, Punjabi was not taught for itself but facilitated the learning of Persian. It was the means to an educational end -the learning of Persian. Sheerani mentions the Wahid Bari though the date of the manuscript available to him was 1034 A.H. (1663-1664). He also mentions a number of other such books: Raziq Bari by Ismaill071 (1660-61). Raziq Bari by Mustafa 1085 A.H. (1674-74). Izad Bari by Kharmalll05 A.H.(1693-93). Allah Bari by Ummeed 1196 (A.H.( 1782). Nasir Bari by Mufti Shamsuddin 1208 A.H. ( 1793-94 ). San 'at Bari by Ganesh Das Budhra 1220 A.H. (1805). Qadir Bari by Muzaffar 1223 A.H. (1808). Wase ' Bari by Yakdil1231 A.H. (1815-16). Rahmat Bari by Maulvi Rahmat Ullah 1232 A.H. (1816-17) Farsi Nama by Abdur Rahman Qasuri (n.d) Nisah-e-Zaroori by Khuda Baksh (n.d) Bad Sahel (n.d) Azam Bari (n.d) Sadiq Bari (n.d) Azam Bari (n.d) and Farsi Nama by Sheikh Mohammad (Sheerani 1934: 119). Although these books were meant to teach Persian or the rudiments of Islam, they need Punjabi as the language of explanation. This tradition had been established by Abu Nasr Farahi when he wrote his Nisab u/ Sabiyan in 617 A.H. (8 January 1660-27) January 1661) in Persian to teach Arabic to Afghan children. A number of such nisabs, including one by Amir Khusro were written upto the tenth century. Hindi nisabs came to be written 'probably from the loth century Hijri (15th century] (Sheerani n.d.: 7) A certain Hakeem Yusufi, who migrated from Hirat (Iran) to India wrote Insha-i-Yusufi. He gives Hindi equivalents for parts of the human anatomy. The famous Kha/iq Bari is part of this tradition but, according to Sheerani, it was written by Ziauddin Khusro, not the famous Amir Khusro, in 1621-22. Kha/iq Bari is in the mixed language of Hindi, Persian and Arabic. It was meant to teach Persian to the children of north India (Sheeani n.d). As such, one wonders whether books like the Wahid Bari could not have been placed among Punjabi books by Shafi and Sabir? A major complitcation, however, is that there were several books of the same title so that we can never be sure exactly which book Waris Shah had in mind. However, in fact that Persian was taught through both Punjabi and old Urdu (Hindvi) to Punjabi children, cannot be denied. Other older books of Punjabi, out of which the Pakki Roti is part of the M.A. course in Pakistan and therefore well known, were meant to explain the rudiments of Islam to students in their mother tongue. Pakki Roti is in the form of questions and answers. For instance, the question is 'If somebody asks you as to when to perform ablutions you reply as follows'. The reply is the accepted Sunni teaching on the subject. Complications and controversial matters are avoided and the answers would probably be acceptable to most Punjabi Muslims. A number of other such books in manuscript form are given in various catalogues in the British Library (Blumhardt 1893; Haq 1993; Quraishi 1990; Shackle 1977). The manuscripts located in Pakistan libraries however, are not catalogued. Among the 34 manuscripts catalogued by Christopher Shackle (1977), Muhammad Yar has authored eleven. He lived in Kotkala in Shahpur (Sargodha district). He calls his language' Jhangi' at places. It is, as to be expected, a mixture of the languages, which are called Siraiki and Punjabi nowadays. The earliest works of Muhammad Yar seem to have been written in 1196 A.H. (1792) while the latest is dated around 1244 A.H. (1828-29). The books were copied by his grandson Faiz Mohammad in 1271 A.H. (1854-55). The Pand Nama;, Afrinash Nama; Tuhfat a/-Fiqh and Bina a/-Mominin are treatises on Islamic rituals and fundamental beliefs while the Nafi a/-Sa/at is on the benefits of prayers. Among the hagiographical works are those on saints (Siharfi Hazrat Pir and Nafi a/-Kaunain) and the Prophet of Islam (Tuhfat a/-Sa/uk, Tarvij Nama, Siharfi Hazrat Rusu/-i-Maqbu/). These, as well as other works, are all religious. Another major writer was Maulvi Abdullah Abidi (d. 1664) who was born in village Malka Hans of Sahiwal district but lived and died in Lahore. His language too has Multani (now called Siraiki) forms and it is his work Baran Anwa which is referred to in Heer mentioned earlier. The importance of Abdullah for students is thus described by Shackle: The comprehensive character of Abdi's [sic] writings has, however ensured them a uniquely important and influential position as manuals of instruction; and they have been frequently published, usually in collections of twelve treaties entitled Baran Anva (Shackle 1997: 39). Let us new describe Baran Anwa and other works of a religious kind which were read both by students and other Punjabi Muslims. The following manuscripts, seen by the author, are being mentioned very briefly by way of illustrating this genre ofPunjabi writing. (1) Baran Anwa. By Abdullah Abidi Lahori. This is handwritten manuscript in nastaliq (i.e. the script in which Persian and Urdu are written now) in Punjabi verse. It begins, as usual, with hamd and naat and goes on to describe Islamic rituals: ablutions, prayers, fasting, giving alms and so on. It also discusses the rituals and regulations concerning purity with special reference to women. Thus there are long sections on pregnancy, menstruation, divorce etc. The second part is full of historical anecdotes with reference to authorities like Masoodi. It is a voluminous book and is defInitely the one mentioned in Beer Ranjah by Waris Shah. (2) Fiqqu Asghar: By Faqir Habib Darzi bin Tayyab Gujrat. This is a handwritten manuscript in naskh (the script of Arabic). It is written in black ink and there are about twelve lines per page. The author explains Islamic rituals and other matters pertaining to faith in Punjabi verse. The sub-titles are in Persian. (3) Muqaddimat ul Anwar. by Abdul Faqir. This is also a handwritten manuscript in naskh. Islamic injuctions pertaining to marriage, inheritance, sartorial property etc. are explained in Punjabi verse while the sub-titles are in Persian. The point of view is very stringent and puritanical. Women, for instance, are forbidden even to use the dandasa -a bark of a tree which cleans the teeth and makes the lips red. (4) Zibah Nama. Handwritten manuscript in naskh probably written during King Muhammad Shah ' s reign ( 1719-48) as a couplet in it suggests. It was probably copied in 1860-61 as it contains the date 1277 A.H. It explains Islamic injunctions pertaining to the sacrifice of animals, hunting and lays down rules as to which meats are kosher and which are not. (5) Anwa-i-Faqir. This too is a handwritten manuscript in naskh probably by Faqir Habib. The sub-headings are in Persian and it has been copied by someone called Karm Uddin from Jhelum. The date on it is Ziqad 1277 A.H. (May-June 1861). This too is on faith and the tone is puritanical and reformist. (6) Intikhab Dl KDtab: Punjabi Nazm. The name of the author is probably Karnal ud Din but this particular manuscript was copied by Nur Ahmed of Kolia in 1261 A.H. (21 January 1806-10 January 1807). It too is handwritten in Punjabi naskh and the sub-headings are in Persian. It presents Islamic teachings in verse on bathing, funeral prayers, burial, congregational prayers, marriage, sacifice of animals and as to which meat is kosher. (7) Mitthi Roti: Punjabi by Qadir Baksh. This is a printed copy in Punjabi nastliq dated 1883. It too described Islamic injunctions about all aspects of life including coitus. There are many references to Islamic works, which suggest that it might have been intended for the use of learned people. (8) Nijat al-Mominin. A religious treatise written in 1086 A.H. (1675) by Maulana Abd al-Kirim (1657-1707) of Jhang district. (9) Kissa Kumad. Written by Ashraf in nastaliq. This is an allegorical poem on the sugarcane which describes itself as being cut and ground. (10) Kissa Umar Khattah. An account in verse of the war of Caliph Umar with the infidel king Tal written by Hafiz Muizuddin of Takht Hazara in 1176 A.H. (1762-63). (11) Raushan D.H.: Written by Fard Faqir of Gujrat, Christopher Shackle calls it 'one of the best-known of all the many basic treaties on Islam to have been composed in Punjabi verse' (Shackle 1977: 46). (12) Raddulimubtad' in.: This is an anonymous treatise in Punjabi verse against disbelief, polytheism and heresy written in 1788 A.H. (1814) (13) Anwa Barak Allah by Hafiz Barak (d. 1871) It is a book in Punjabi verse on the Sunni law of the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence. It was probably written in 1254 A.H. (1838) and printed several times later (for biographical note see Bhatti 1982: 119-138). Besides the religious works mentioned above, there are the classical romantic tales of famous lovers (Yusuf-Zulaikha, Heer Ranjha, Laila-Majnun etc.) A somewhat unusual story is about the King Akbar who wants to test the chastity of the Begum of Hyderbad. The Begum, dressed as boy, is brought to the King but successfully resists him The manuscript, in Punjabi verse, is written in the nastaliq script but the heading and all other details are lost. Another story uses characters from a tale which must have originated before Islam. Qissa Raja Kam Roop O Rani Luttan by Maulvi Ahmed Yar. This is a handwritten manuscript in nastaliq in Punjabi verse. The sub-headings are in Persian. It is like other romantic love legends with beautiful women and handsome men in a supernatural, pre-modern setting. The copy seen by me was incomplete and ends at page 120 because it was originally bound with some other book. The author starts with a supplication to Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani who will presumably bless love affairs as passionate as the one narrated here. Apart from the above manuscripts personally inspected by the author, there are many others such manuscripts mentioned by different people scattered in South Asia and other parts of the world. A number of printed books, some of them based on the above mentioned manuscripts, are also in circulation. There are called 'chapbooks' by Hanaway and Nasir who have listed them in their very useful bibliography of words of this kind available in Pakistani cities (Hanaway and Nasir 1996: 455-615). Shahbaz Malik, a research scholar on Punjabi, has mentioned them in his bibliography called Punjabi Kitabiat (1991). They are also listed in several bibliographies of printed books in the British Library. These books appear to fall into two major categories; those which are meant to make Muslims conscious of or knowledgeable about the rudiments of their faith and those which are about romantic love. Those in the fIrst category have probably been written by maulvis because they present a very strict and highly purutanical view of the sharia 'h. Some, such as one version of the Pakki Roti, prohibits music calling it a great sin just as it prohibits sodomy with boys and women. Those in the second category are tales in which romantic love and sometimes making love and drinking are shown without disapproval. These represent a more tolerant, more worldly or realistic, world view which existed side by side with the stricter one and is much in evidence in both Persian and Arabic tales. None of these books are meant to teach Punjabi as such. Punjabi serves as the means to an end -the end being socialization of Muslim children in this case or, simply, the pleasure oflistening to a good story. In short, although activists .)f the Punjabi movement make much of the teaching of Punjabi, they ignore the fact that it was not taught for itself in preBritish times. Moreover, although some of them refer to Haf1Z Mahmood Sheerani's article mentioned earlier, they generally fail to mention to fact that Sheerani was trying to prove that Urdu, and not only Punjabi, were taught in the Punjab at this period (see references to the teaching ofPunjabi in Yameen 1969: 10-11). Sheerani mentions not only the Khaliq Bari but also the Zauq ul Sabyan written in circa !207 A.H. (1792-93) by Haf1Z Ahsan Ullah of Lahore. The language of this book is the same Urdu (or Hindvi) which is used in the Khaliq Bari. Again. Like the Khaliq Bari, it too was meant to acquaint students with the vocabulary of Persian through Urdu. According to its author, who was a teacher, the Punjabi boys for whom it was intended understood it without any difficulty which, says Sheerani, suggests that Urdu was not unfamiliar for Punjabis (Sheerani 1934: 125). If the students did understand Urdu it would not be surprising. Punjabi and Urdu share many core vocabulary items, the teaching of Persian through books like the Khaliq Bari must have farniliarised Punjabi students with Urdu words and even before the British period there was communication between Punjab and north India where Urdu literature was coming into its own. In short, the situation in the Punjab on the eve of the British arrival was that Persian was the court language of the Sikhs. It was taught through Punjabi and Urdu at the primary level but those languages were facilitators at best and were not valued in their own right. Punjabi on the Eve of British Rule When the British arrived the schools in the Punjab could be divided, following Leitner, into maktabs, madrassas, patshalas, Gurrnukhi and Mahajani schools. The mektab was a Persian school while the madrassas was an Arabic one. The patshalas were Sanskrit schools while the Gurrnukhi schools taught Punjabi in the GUm1ukhi script. In the Mahajani schools the Landi or Sarifi script was taught to commercial people (Leitner 1882: 10). The Sikhs considered it a religious duty to learn GUm1ukhi enough to be able to read the Sikh holy books. Those following an advanced course studied, among other things, GUm1ukhi grammar and prosody (Ibid, 32). The child gegan his studies at the age of six. He, or she, then proceeded to learn the GUm1ukhi alphabet of which Guru Angad himself wrote a primer. The primer, being written by such an eminent spiritual leader, was in itself religious. It was, however, the means to an even more religious end -to enable the child to read the Adi Granth, a sacred book of the Sikhs. After this other works, such as Hanuman Natak, a Punjabi adaptation of a Hindi drama, were taught. Other subjects, such as elementary medicine and rhetoric, were also taught in Gurrnukhi to Sikh children. According to Leitner, there were many people who knew Gurrnukhi when he was collecting information for his report (1880s). Urdu, however, had been brought in and was being established slowly by the government (Leitner 1882: 35-37). Some educational reports, such as that of 1857, tell us those students were first taught to read books in Persian without knowing their meaning. Later, they would translate them literally word by word, into the vernacular, but there was no attempt at explanation' (Leitner 1882: 60). This 'vernacular' was Punjabi which was not taught but was used, as we have seen, as a medium of instruction at least at the lower level before the British conquest. This practice continued even after the conquest and Leitner mentions that in 'most kor'an schools some elementary religious books in Urdu, Persian or Punjabi are taught' (1882: 68). The Deputy Commissioner of Ferozepur also reported that books on the rituals of Islam, which have been mentioned earlier, were taught in some of the Persian Quran schools (Edn. P. 1883: 10). However, none of these informants has specified which out of the books listed were in Punjabi. Female education is generally said to have always been neglected among Muslims but, according to Leitner, , Among Muhammadans nearly all girls were taught the Koran, nor could a Sikh women claim the title and privileges of a "learner" unless she was able to read the Granth' (1882: 98). He also gives a Punjabi song which the women had made (Ioc.cit). Girls were also taught 'the Koran together with little boys, and Urdu or Perso-Punjabi religious books, stories of prophets, etc. The Sikh girls read the Granth aDd other books in Gurrnukhi (Leitner 1882: 107). For the Sikhs even Nazeer Ahmad's Mirat ul Urus had been translated into GUm1ukhi. Leitner suggests that there had been a decline in female teaching since the British conquest because 'formerly the mother could teach the child Punjabi. Now, wherever the child learns Urdu, the teaching power of the mother is lost' (Leitner 18S2: 108). Some British officers, besides the enthusiastic Leitner, had suggested that Punjabi should be taught flfSt to children and only after that should they proceed to other languages (Leitner 1882: 110-112). Leitner, of course, defended this proposition with much fervour because the thesis he argues in his report is that, because of British rule: the true education of the Punjab was crippled, checked, and is nearly destroyed ...(and our system stands convicted of worse than official failure (Leitner 1882:1 ). The removal ofPersian from its position of honour and the introduction of Urdu, argues Leitner, are language-reaching policies which have alienated Punjabis both from their traditional high culture as well as the prevalent popular culture. Among other things Leitner provides a brief history of the traditional schools in the Punjab. Besides ordinary mosque, or Quran, schools there were some well known schools both of Sikhs and Muslims. For instance there was Mian Sahib Qadri's school at Batala which was supported by a landed estate which was withdrawn by the British. Another such school, which also closed down for the same reason, was Maulvi Sheikh Ahmed's school in Sialkot. Then there were: Mian Faiz's school at Gujranwala famous for Persian, Bara Mian's school at Lahore; Khwaja Suleman's school at Dera Ghazi Khan; Mian Abdul Hakim's school at Gujranwala and so on. All these schools are advertised as great centres of Persian and Arabic studies (Leitner 1882), but Punjabi books like Pakki Roti might also have been taught there. Punjabi and the British Conquest Immediately after the annexation, court circulars and notices were published in Punjabi. The missionaries, true to their conviction that the Bible should be available in a reader's mother tongue, distributed bibles in Punjabi (Singh, A : 479). Moreover, the government realised that Punjabi could not be ignored since it was the language of 17,000,000 people. In a note about its importance for the functionaries (,f the state it was written: Punjabi is of special importance as being the language of our Sikh soldiers. It is of the greatest importance that the officers in Sikh regiments should be able to converse freely in Punjabi. Too many of them employ Hindustani. There is a great deal of tea grown in the Northern Panjab. The European [sic] employed there must be able to speak Panjabi (Committee 1909: 116). However, the official vernacular which the British adopted in the Punjab was Urdu. Reasons for doing this have been given earlier (Rahrnan 1996: 192-194). Let us go over them briefly, however, to put things in a historical perspective. Since the British had done away with Persian in 1836 they did not allow it to continue as an officia11anguage in the Punjab where it had that status both in the Mughal and the Sikh courts. They, therefore, asked the advice of their field officers about the language to be used in the lower domains of power. Very few among them favoured the teaching of Punjabi. Most officers, indeed, were prejudiced against it. Their views, spread over a copious correspondence, can be summed up as follows: that Punjabi is a rustic dialect not fit for serious business; that Urdu is an advanced and more sophisticated form of Punjabi and that simple Urdu is easily understood in the Punjab (for the original letters expressing these views see Chaudhry, 1997). In addition to this prejudices there were some apprehension, though it is expressed at very few places and then only in passing, that the British feared the symbolic power (and hence the political potential) of the Gurmukhi script. Thus the Commissioner and Superintendent of the Delhi Division wrote in a letter to the Secretary of the Punjab Government on 16 June 1862: it will be a stultification of our whole educational system to adopt Punjabee as our Court language. Here we are teaching the population to read and write Oordoo... Besides, I think that any measure which would revive the Goormukhee, which is the written Punjabee tongue would be a political error (Chaudhry 1977: 6667). This occurs among the opinions sought from commissioners of the Punjab in the 1860s, about three years after the Punjabis had shown their loyalty to the British in the events of 1857. However, as noted earlier, not all the British officers agreed with this neglect of Punjabi. Some of them, for example, J. Wilson, Deputy Commissioner of Shahpur (in 1894) and Robert Cust (in a letter of2 June 1862), advocated the cause of Punjabi but to no avail ( for details see Rahman 1996: 194-196). The officers who refused to accept their point of view, and who were in a majority, were implacable in their prejudice against Punjabi. During this period both Muslims and Hindus developed consciousness about their identity. Religion, language, script, vocabulary and literary tradition were all seen as belonging to one or the other identity. Especially relevant for our purposes is the way Hindi and Hindu identity converged as is very competently described by Christopher King (1994). Simultaneously, Urdu too became a part, and symbol, of the Indian Muslim identity. Thus the Punjabi Muslims began to identify with Urdu rather than Punjabi during the Hindi-Urdu controversy which began in the 1860s and went on in one way or the other till the partition of India in 1947. Besides British officers, mostly Sikhs and Hindus kept insisting that Punjabi should be taught in the Punjab. In 1867, for instance, Jumna Dass, a tutor to some Sardars (chiefs) suggested that the teaching of Gurmukhi, being a sacred obligation, should be established by the British at Amballa (Dass 1867: 39). Later Hukum Singh, Pundit Rikhi Kesh and Bhai Chiranjeet Singh wrote a memorandum with a view to persuading the Punjab University Senate to introduce Punjabi as a language of examinations. Among other things they argued that books on grammar, composition and poetry existed in Punjabi and that Sikhs, Khatris and Hindus would welcome the introduction of their mother tongue as a school subject. It is significant that they did not mention the Punjabi Muslims whose mother tongue too was Punjabi but who had begun to identify with Urdu, which was becoming a Muslim religious identity symbol, by this date. Reminiscent of later debates about the teaching of Punjabi in Pakistan, they said that they only wanted Punjabi to be 'taught up to the middle school examination in Government schools, like other languages. It is, however, by no means contemplated that Urdu should be supplanted by the Punjabi in the Province' (Singh et.al 1877: 473). Similar reasons were advanced by Sardar Attar Singh for the teaching of Punjabi. But the Sardar added a political reason to persuade the British to teach it. He wrote: The Sikhs who form the most important class of the inhabitants, after whom the province is called (the land of Sikhs, and not Hindus or Muhammadans), and who are the most faithful subjects, have Gurmukhi characters and Punjabi language for their religious and worldly affairs. To reject this language, therefore, would be to dishearten those people (Singh 1877: 478-479). At that time Punjabi was taught in the Normal Female School at Lahore, in the Sat Sabha of the Punjab and several private schools. However, the government did not examine candidates in the language except, of course, its own civil and military officers. The members of the University Senate who debated proposal XI, about allowing Punjabi to be a subject of examinations, were mostly British officers. General Maclagan, Major Holroyd and Perkins opposed Punjabi while Dr. Leitner, Brandreth, Pandit Manphul and Sodi Hukum Singh supported it. Hukum Singh even asserted that the 'books usually taught in Government schools exist in the Punjabi language' while Brandreth pointed out that 'there were many well known and popular books in Punjabi before the English came'. However, the opponents considered it below the dignity of a university to teach what they called a 'rustic' tongue. Moreover, they felt that if Punjabi were allowed, the flood gates of languages would burst open and Balochi, Pashto, Jatki etc would all clamour for admission. The debate, therefore, ended in a defeat for the pro-Punjabi lobby (PUC 1877: 445-454). Although the Muslims in general showed little enthusiasm for owning Punjabi, some of their representatives did not oppose it either. Indeed, Nawab Abdul Majid Khan and Fakir Sayad Kamar ud Din, both members of the senate of the Punjab University College, submitted memoranda recommending that the vernacular languages, including Punjabi, should not be excluded from the examination list, nor should they be completely neglected (Native Members 1879: 943). Meanwhile, a number of private bodies, such as the Singh Sabha, promoted the teaching of Punjabi but mainly among the Sikhs. The Singh Sabha too petitioned the Punjab University College to associate its members in a subcommittee to be set up for th" teaching of Punjabi and that the entrance examination, which was in Urdu and Hindi, should also be given in Punjabi (Singh Sabha 1881: 223). This was conceded and Punjabi became one of the options for school examinations. Sikh children could also study Gurmukhi if they wanted to, but employment was only available in Urdu in the lower and English in the higher domains of power. The report of 1901 tells us that 'Gurmukhi is taught in the Oriental College' (Edn.P 1901: 16). However, because a major motivation for all formal education, including the learning of languages, was employment by the state, the Gurmukhi classes did not become popular (Edn.P 1906: 15). Those who desired to give Punjabi a more pronounced role in the education of Punjabis suggested changes. J.C. Goldsby, the Officiating Director of Public Instruction of the Punjab, wrote to the senior Secretary to the Financial Commissioner in this context as follows: It is a question between Punjabi and Urdu, and if the question is decided by the districts or divisions, there is no doubt that Urdu will invariably be chosen because of its practical utility. But Punjabi has a strong claim to be the language of the home in most cases; and more might be done to encourage the use of it, or at any rate to remove the impression that it is being purposely neglected (Goldsby, 1908). However, the report on education of 1907-8 does say that Hindu and Sikh girls were learning Gurmukhi in greater proportion than boys while Muslims, both girls and boys did not learn it (Edn.P 1908: 22). The report of 1910-11 remarks that the demand for Gurmukhi has increased even among the boys in the Lahore and Multan divisions, mostly in Lyallpur (Edn.P 1911: 5). Such yearly fluctuations, however, did not change the general pattern, which the report of 1916 sums up as follows: Urdu continues to be in favour as the school vernacular for boys. Gurmukhi or Punjabi schools for boys and girls numbered 446 with 20,347 scholars, but three-quarters of the latter were girls (Edn.P 1916: 16). Punjabi Muslims generally spoke Punjabi at home and in informal domains, among friends, in the bazaar etc, but they wrote in Urdu (or English) and they used Urdu for political speech-making, serious discussions and other formal domains. Mohamrnad Iqbal, the national poet of Pakistan, is said to have spoken the Sialkoti variety of Punjabi but he wrote only in Urdu, Persian and English throughout his life. In the only interview he gave in Punjabi in December 1930 to the editor of the Punjabi magazine Sarang, Iqbal made it clear that he did not write in Punjabi because his intellectual training had not opened up that option for him. He did, however, enjoy the language and appreciated the mystic content of its best poetic literature. Of course, ordinary Punjabis too enjoy listening to Punjabi jokes, songs and poetry. Indeed, that is why poets like Imam Din and Ustad Daman (1911-1984) were and remain so immensely popular. According to Son Anand, an inhabitant of old Lahore, Daman 'is still a household name for all those who lived in the crowded "mohallas" and frequented the Punjab "mushairas"'. He held audiences spellbound and was often in trouble for making fun of the authorities. Daman was anti-establishment, irreverent and humorous. These characteristics, and the fact that he used words which had an irrunediate appeal being those of the mother tongue, made him a great Success with Punjabi audiences (Anand 1998: 38-41). But pleasure was one thing and politics another. The Urdu-Punjabi controversy was an extension of the Urdu-Hindi controversy. The political need of the time, as perceived by Muslim leaders in the heat of the Pakistan movement, was to insist on a common Muslim identity of which Urdu played an integral part. Moreover, having studied Urdu at school, the Punjabi intellectuals had complete command over its written form and literary tradition. Like Iqbal, all the great intellectuals of the Punjab such as Abroad Nadeem Qasmi, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Sa'adat Hasan Manto, wrote in Urdu. Urdu was also the language of journalism -the Paisa Akhbar, the Zamindar of the irrepressible Zafar Ali Khan and the Nawa-i-Waqt of Hameed Nizami being household names -which, like literature, was concentrated in Lahore. Indeed, Zafar Ali Khan modernised the Urdu language and became irrunensely popular as did Chiragh Hasan Hasrat whose witty columns were enjoyed by all those who read Urdu (Anand 1998: 173-177). Urdu was not only the adopted language of the intelligentsia of the Punjab. It was the symbol of their Muslim identity. That is why they opposed those who advocated the teaching ofPunjabi. Such was the anti-Punjabi fervour of the leading Punjabi Muslims that when Dr. P .L. Chatterjee, the Bengali Vice Chancellor of Punjab University, declared in his convocation address at the University in 1908, that Punjabi, the real vernacular language of the Punjab, should replace Urdu, the Muslims condemned him vehemently. The Muslim League held a meeting at Amritsar to condemn him in December. The newspapers carried the controversy for several months. The Paisa Akhbar, a popular Urdu newspaper of Lahore, wrote articles not only about Chatterji's ideas but also on the subject of the medium of instruction. Most writers, following editorial policy, said that Punjabi was not capable of being used as a medium of instruction even at the primary level (see file of Paisa Akhbar December 1908 till April 1909). One contributor wrote that the educated Sikhs and Hindus, who used to speak Urdu earlier, had started speaking Punjabi out of prejudice against Urdu. However, he added, working class people -porters, cooks, gardeners etc -still spoke Urdu (Paisa Akhbar 16 July 1909). Another argument against Punjabi was that it consisted of dialects which changed after every few miles and had no standard form (Paisa Akhbar 7 June 1909). Most people, however, felt that the promotion of Punjabi was a conspiracy to weaken Urdu and, by implication, Muslims (for a detailed defence of Urdu in pre-partition days see M.R. T 1942; for the controversy of 1908 see Khawaja, 1982). In short, most of the arguments were the same which were used by the functionaries of the state and right wing intellectuals in Pakistan later. The difference was that in pre-partition India almost all notable Punjabi Muslims united to oppose their own mother tongue in support of Urdu. In Pakistan, on the other hand, identity-conscious Punjabis and their left-leaning sympathisers supported Punjabi much as the Sikhs and Hindus had done earlier while establishment and right-wing people supported Urdu. The question was one of the politics of identity in both cases: before the partition almost all Punjabi Muslim leaders and intellectuals insisted on their Muslim identity so as to give a united front to the Hindus and Sikhs; in Pakistan some Punjabi intellectuals felt that the cost of renouncing their Punjabi identity was excessive while the others felt that it was necessary to prevent the rise of ethnicity which, in their view, would break up Pakistan. On the eve of the partition, then, Punjabi was not owned by the Muslims. [/QUOTE]
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Devanagari As A Writing System For Punjabi: Plus Or Minus For Punjabi?
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