Urdu is the National Language of Pakistan. Its status as the national language was given in April 1954. Urdu is the lingua franca of the country, understanding and speaking is common to almost all the people here. Urdu is also the official language of Pakistan besides English.
The first poetry in Urdu was written by Amir Khusro (1253-1325). In the beginning, it was called Hindvi and Rekhta. Urdu language was highly promoted by the rulers of the Deccan, especially the Qutb Shahi rulers. In 1714 AD, a book was written on the rules of Urdu prosody by Mirza Khan "Abr". The credit for giving Urdu the status of a complete language goes to the poets of Delhi, especially Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, and later to the writers of the Progressive Movement including Maulvi Abdul Haq and others. The services of Maulvi Abdul Haq for the development and promotion of Urdu language are important in many ways. In 1898 AD, Maulvi Abdul Haq started the "Anjuman Taraqqi-e-Urdu", which made Urdu the medium of instruction in schools and colleges. In 1881, Moulvi Abdul Haq composed the first Urdu dictionary. In the same period, Mirza Ghalib, Maulana Altaf Hussain Hali, Maulana Shibli Nomani, Allama Muhammad Iqbal, Maulana Hasrat Mohani, Josh Malihabadi, Akbar Allahabadi and others composed poetry. In the field of prose, Deputy Nazir Ahmad, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, Maulana Muhammad Hussain Azad, Maulana Shibli Nomani, Maulvi Abdul Haq, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Maulana Salahuddin Ahmad, Dr. Molvi Abdul Haq, Maulana Salahuddin Ahmad and Allama Muhammad Iqbal have made important contributions. After the creation of Pakistan, great literary figures like Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Sahir Ludhianvi, Maulana Abdul Majeed Salik, Dr. Hamid Allah Hashmi, Majeed Amjad, Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi, Meera Ji, Hafeez Jullundhari, Abul Asar Hafeez Jullundhari, Qateel Shifai, Nasir Kazmi, Ahmad Faraz, Munir Niazi, Habib Jalib, Ashfaq Ahmed, Mumtaz Mufti, Bano Qudsia and Ashfaq Ahmed etc. After the creation of Pakistan, Urdu was given the status of national language and English was given the status of official language. Federal Urdu University has been established for the development and promotion of Urdu language.
Regional Languages
The detail of few of the Regional Languages of Pakistan is given as under:
I. Punjabi
Punjabi is the most widely spoken language in Pakistan. The language evolved in ancient period with Harappa/ Darawar civilization of the Punjab. Under the influence of historical and geographical changes, it has six main dialects: Maajhi, Pothwari, Multani, Chachi, Shahpuri and Dhani etc. Majhi dialect is considered to be more standard dialect prevalent in Lahor, Gujranwala Sheikhupura and surrounding areas.
Literature in this language begins with Hazrat Baba Farid- ud- Din Ganj Shakar . The subject of his poetry is love and mysticism. Later comes the name of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of the Sikh religion. From the 15th to the 19th century, Muslim sufi poets made rich contribution in Panjabi literature. Major contributors of the time are; Hazrat Baba Bulhe Shah . Hazrat Shah Hussain . Hazrat Baba Farid- ud- Din Ganj Shakar . Hazrat Sultan Bahu . and Hazrat Khawaja Ghulam Farid . Story narration (Qissa- goi) is an important genre of Punjabi literature. Popular stories in Punjabi literature include: Waris Shah's story Heer Waris Shah, Hazrat Mian Muhammad Bakhsh's story Saif- ul- Muluk, Hashim Shah's Sassi- Punnu, Fazal Shah's Sohni- Mahinwal and Qissa- Mirza Sahiban by Hafiz Barkhurdar. These stories are reflection of socio- cultural, religious, historical, economic, and mystical life of Punjab. Famous types of folk lore are Maaheiy, Boolian, Tappey etc. Punjabi folk songs include Maaheiy, Dohey, Boolian, Tappey etc. These songs are sung on different occasions not only express the feelings of the singer, but also reflect the colours of our civilization, traditions and culture. Important Punjabi poets include Anwar Masood, Inamul Haq Javed, Sharif Kanjahi, Sher Afzal Jafri, Faqir Muhammad Faqir, Munir Niazi, Ustad Daman, Asir Abid, Tajammal Kaleem and Baba Najmi and others are included.
ii. Sindhi Language
Sindhi is widely spoken language in the Sindh Province. It contains words of Turkish, Sanskrit, Greek, Iranian and Drawarian languages. This language is spoken in many dialects, famous of which are: Lari, Thari, Fakri, Gandavi, Lasi and Kachhi etc. It has its own script which is derived from the Arabic script. The language had a highly developed literature since the time of Arabs arrival in 7th century. The poetic literature of Sindhi is as old as 9th century. The earliest poet of Sindhi language is "Qazi Qadan". He is said to be the first poet of this language. The most famous and prominent poet of Sindhi is Hazrat Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai . His poetic collection is called "Shah Jo Risalo". The verses are sung, accompanied by a string instrument called Yaktaro. He has expressed the color of love and mysticism and explained the unity of God. Sindhi poetry, like Punjabi, is also replete with stories of love. Some of the famous poets of Sindhi are: Makhdoom Mohiuddin, Abdul Ghafoor Bhittai, Qazi Qadan, Khawaja Zaman, Khawaja Muhammad Zaman of Luari, Shah Inayat, Saifal, Mian Noor Muhammad, Moulana Abdul Haq, Mirza Maghrib, Mian Mir Muhammad, Mir Ali Sher Qani, Hafiz Hamid, Khalifo Nabi Bux, Muhammad Siddique, Muhammad Ashraf, Syed Mian Abdul Rasheed, Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah, Imam Bux alias Juman, Moulana Tajal-Uloom, Syed Rahat Kazmi, Shaikh Ayaz, Ustaad Bukhari, Sarshar Siddiqui, Bijarani, Syed Mehdi Shah Rashidi, and Syed Ali Muhammad Rashidi etc.
iii. Pashto Language
Pashto is a major language of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is an ancient language. The literature of this language also has a history of thousands of years. The prose of this language is not as developed as poetry. The ancient book "Pata Khazana" is considered to be the first book in the Pashto language. However, experts have expressed some doubts about its authenticity.
The early Pashto poetry is found in the verses of the saint "Shaikh Bhittani" and "Shaikh Matta". The first known historical poet of Pashto is the famous saint "Pir Roshan" whose real name is"Bayan-ud-Din" was a revolutionary of 16th century.
The famous names in the history of Pashto poetry include, Khushhal Khan Khattak a warrior poet of the 17th century. He is also called the "Father of Pashto". The revolutionary poet Ajmal Khattak is also known as a follower of Khushhal Khan Khattak. Another poet is the famous woman poet "Nazo Tokhi" the mother of Mir Wais Khan. In the modern period, the great poet "Hamza Baba" is famous for his beloved poetry. The Pashto language has 13 different dialects. The dialect of Peshawar is said to be the standard dialect. The other major dialect is Quetta dialect which is spoken in Balochistan. Some well known poets of Pashto include Ghani Khan, Shafiq-ur-Rehman, Shair Zaman, Amar Gul, Momin Khan, Inaam, Yousaf, Ali Khan, Aziz Khan, Mehmood, Rasool, Ghulam Jan, Shabbir, Taad Khan and others.
iv. Balochi Language
Balochi is one of the ancient languages of the subcontinent. Its speakers are spread all over Pakistan, including Balochistan. It is a very rich and wellknown ancient language. The Balochi language was born out of the Persian language and thus belongs to the Indo- Iranian branch of the Indo- European family. In addition to Persian, it also contains words from other languages, such as Brahvi, Sindhi and Urdu etc. Its dialects are: Eastern Hill Balochi, Rakhshani, Sarhad Balochi, Western Balochi, Coastal Balochi, and Lashari. The Balochi script is derived from the Persian script. The earliest poetic works of Balochi belong to the 15th century. Jam Dhand, Jam Durrak, and Hazrat Shah Mirza etc. are important in classical Balochi literature. The most important theme of classical poetry is romantic stories. Some of the prominent poets of Balochi are: Masta Tawakar, Mast Tawakali, Mir Ghulam Khan, Zahoor Shah Hashmi, Mast Tawkal, Mir Gul Khan Naseer, Aziz Bugti and Ata Muhammad Shad.