From Delhi...

From Delhi, this new language reached Gujarat and the Deccan where its growth and initial popularity awakened the first serious literary activities under the `Adilshahi and Qutbshahi rulers,[^10]0 some of whom were themselves good poets of Urdu. Earlier, the Sufis[^11]1 employed this polyglot for their missionary work and wrote religious and mystic treatises in it.

Gradually, it attained a literary status in the South before it was employed by writers in the North, where in due course it became popular during the post-Aurangzeb period, during which Hatim, Mir, Sauda, Dard, and others wrote excellent poetry in it.

Then the centre shifted to Lucknow and other places, till in 1215/1800, the Fort William College was established by the British at Calcutta where deliberate efforts were made to simplify Urdu style under the name of Hindustani, which encouraged a revival of interest in secular, non-communal, and local aspects of its literature.

These efforts, however, did not succeed fully because Urdu had already assumed a specific shape and complexion more akin to Persian and other Muslim literatures, and it was not then possible to divest it of its predominantly Muslim stamp. They, in a way, encouraged parting of the ways, and led to the creation of the modern Hindi with a distinct Hindu spirit drifting largely away from Urdu and the "lingua franca" Hindustani.

So, by 1303/1885, Urdu, which was hitherto a common language of the Hindu-Muslim intelligent­sia, came to be claimed as a language, more or less, of the Muslims. About the same time, Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan advocated this claim simultaneously with the declaration of the Muslims to exist as a separate politico-cultural group in India and the issue was thus decided once for all.

Later, the pro­tection and preservation of Urdu became one of the basic grounds for demand­ing a separate homeland for the Muslims. B This brief history would prove the fact of active association of the Muslims with Urdu since its origin, though not to the exclusion of other communities (Hindus and Europeans) whose contribution to its progress is certainly creditable. For a considerable time the Hindus took keen interest in the advancement of Urdu as if it were their own language.