| Rekhta | |
|---|---|
| ریختہ रेख़्ता | |
 The poem of Ghalib, the notable poet of the 'Rekhta' dialect | |
| Region | Around Delhi |
| Era | 13th-18th centuries[1] |
| Perso-Arabic (Urdu alphabet) Nagari | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | rekh1239 |
Rekhta (Urdu: ریختہ [ˈreːxtaː]; Hindi: रेख़्ता [ˈreːxtaː] Rekhtā) was an early form of the Hindustani language. This style evolved in both the Perso-Arabic and Nagari scripts and is considered an early form of Standard Urdu and Modern Standard Hindi.[2][3] According to the Pakistani linguist and historian Tariq Rehman, Rekhta was a highly Persianised variant of Hindustani, exclusively used by poets. It was not only the vocabulary that was Persianised, but also the poetic metaphors, inspired by Indian landscapes and seasons, were abandoned in favor of the Persian ones i.e. bahār (spring) replacing barsāt (rainy season).[4]
The 13th century Indo-Persian Muslim poet Amir Khusrau used the term Hindavi (Persian: ھندوی, lit. 'of Hind or India') for the 'Rekhta' dialect (the ancestor of Standard Urdu), the Persianised offshoot of the Apabhramsa vernacular Old Hindi, towards its emergence during the era of Delhi Sultanate,[5][6][7][8] and gave shape to it in the Muslim literature, thus called "the father of Urdu literature".[9] Other early Muslim poets, include Baba Farid, who contributed in the development of the language.[10] Later from the 18th century, the dialect became a literary language and was further developed by the poets Mir and Ghalib in the late Mughal Empire period, and the term eventually fell out of use and came to be known as Hindustani, by the end of the century.[7][11]
Etymology
Rekhtā (from Persian verb ریختن [ɾeːxˈtan]) means "scattered" but also "mixed".[12] The name was given to an early form of courtly literature in Delhi, where poems were made by combining Persian and early Hindustani (referred to as Hindavi or Dehlavi). Sometimes this was done by writing some lines of the poem in Persian, and others in Hindavi. Alternatively, both Persian and Hindavi could feature in a single line.[7]
Origin and usage
Rekhta arose in a period marked by extensive cultural interactions due to invasions, trade, and the establishment of Islamic courts in North India. As Persian became the language of administration, literature, and elite society under the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526), and later the Mughal Empire (1526–1857), it began to interact with local vernaculars. The result was a blend that facilitated communication across classes and communities. Rekhta was the literary manifestation of this blend, gaining traction particularly in the courts of Delhi, Agra, and later Lucknow.[13][14]
The literary form of Rekhta was often composed in Perso-Arabic script (Nastaʿlīq) and occasionally in Devanagari, depending on the poet and regional influence. It was predominantly used in Ghazals, Masnavis, and Qawwalis, often conveying themes of love, loss, spirituality, and philosophical musings.[15] While spoken Hindavi (or Hindavi boli) served as the Lingua franca of North India, Rekhta emerged as a refined, urbane variant used for high literary expression.[13]
Some scholars see Rekhta as part of a broader Indo-Persian cultural synthesis that defined much of medieval Indian literature. Persian was the prestige language, but Rekhta allowed Indian poets to write in a hybrid that could appeal to both elite and common audiences. This made it a unique cultural bridge across linguistic and religious communities.[16]
As Hindavi began to evolve into a literary language in the 18th century, the new term Rekhta carried over to describe this language. It denoted the Persianised, "high" form of Hindavi used in poetry, as opposed to the speech of the common population. The word was used alongside names like Urdu and Hindi. Its usage in this sense lasted into the 19th century, as evidenced by a sher of Mirza Ghalib:[7]
ريختہ کے تُم ہی اُستاد نہیں ہو غالِبؔ
کہتے ہیں اگلے زمانے میں کوئی مِیرؔ بھی تھا
Rēk͟htē kē tum hī ustād nahī̃ hō ġālib,
Kahtē haĩ aglē zamānē mē̃ kōī 'mīr' bhī thā
You are not the sole grandmaster of Rekhta, Ghalib
They say, in the ages past, that there was one (called) Mir
[ɾeːxt̪eː keː t̪ʊm hiː ʊst̪aːd nəɦĩː ɦoː ɣaːlɪb]
[kɛht̪eː hɛ̃ː əɡleː zəmaneː mẽː koiː miːɾ bʰiː t̪ʰaː]
By the eighteenth century however, the term Rekhta had largely fallen out of use and terms like Hindi, Hindustani and Urdu were favored.[4]
Zehal-e-Miskin
Zehal-e-Miskin is the first ghazal in Urdu literature, written by Amir Khusrau, through combining the Old Hindi language Braj Bhasha and Persian.[17] This Persianised combination was later known as Rekhta (the ancestor of Hindustani language).[18][19] The poem effectively conveys the agony experienced due to the distance from the beloved. This sentiment is skillfully portrayed through a remarkable fusion of both languages, resulting in a harmonious blend that enhances the overall impact of the poem.[20]
See also
References
- ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". rekhta.org.
Rekhta is the old name of Urdu. Amir Khusrau, the late 13th Century poet wrote in Rekhta. It changed its name many times and came to be known as Dakkani, Gujari, Hindavi, etc at various points of time. Mir and Ghalib also wrote in Rekhta, which later came to be known as Urdu in the late 19th Century.
- ^ "Rekhta: Poetry in Mixed Language, The Emergence of Khari Boli Literature in North India" (PDF). Columbia University. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 March 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
- ^ Kumar, Kuldeep (14 December 2017). "Understanding Rekhta". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
- ^ a b Rahman, Tariq (2011). From Hindi to Urdu: A Social and Political History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-906313-0.
- ^ Kathleen Kuiper, ed. (2011). The Culture of India. Rosen Publishing. p. 80. ISBN 9781615301492.
Hindustani began to develop during the 13th century AD in and around the Indian cities of Dehli and Meerut in response to the increasing linguistic diversity that resulted from Muslim hegemony.
- ^ Keith Brown; Sarah Ogilvie (2008). Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World. Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-08-087774-7.
Apabhramsha seemed to be in a state of transition from Middle Indo-Aryan to the New Indo-Aryan stage. Some elements of Hindustani appear ... the distinct form of the lingua franca Hindustani appears in the writings of Amir Khusro (1253–1325), who called it Hindwi[.]
- ^ a b c d Rahman, Tariq (2011). From Hindi to Urdu: A Social and Political History (PDF). Oxford University Press. pp. 29–31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 October 2014.
- ^ "All writings of Amir Khusraw". rekhta.org.
- ^ Bhattacharya, Vivek Ranjan (1982). Famous Indian sages: their immortal messages. Sagar Publications.
- ^ Masica, Colin P. (1993). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Cambridge University Press. p. 54. ISBN 9780521299442.
- ^ Sweta Kaushal (20 September 2015). "Meer Taqi Meer: 10 couplets we can use in our conversations". Hindustan Times (newspaper). Retrieved 18 July 2020.
- ^ Hindustani (2005). Keith Brown (ed.). Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics (2 ed.). Elsevier. ISBN 0-08-044299-4.
- ^ a b Bangha, Imre (13 October 2014), "Early Hindi Epic Poetry in Gwalior", After Timur Left, Oxford University Press, pp. 365–402, retrieved 7 April 2025
- ^ "The Story of Rekhta". Rekhta. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
- ^ "Understanding Rekhta in Hindi: A Deep Dive into Urdu Poetry - ViperCircle". 28 December 2024. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
- ^ Misra, Salil (2020). "HINDI'S QUEST FOR NATIONAL IDENTITY: A Story in Three Stages". India International Centre Quarterly. 47 (1/2): 164–187. ISSN 0376-9771.
- ^ "Read full ghazal by Ameer Khusrau". Rekhta. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
- ^ "ze-haal-e-miskin makun taghaful durae nainan banae batiyan". Rekhta website.
Attributed to Amir Khusrau, this is the first ever Ghazal written in Rekhta. The first line of which is in Persian whereas the second is in Hindvi. An extremely popular romantic Ghazal, it has long been a stable for a host of Qawwali singers.
- ^ "Translating Amir Khusrau's 'Zihaal-e-Miskeen', The Ghazal Of Ghazals". Outlookindia.com. 3 February 2022.
Any translation can be endlessly improved upon, but especially of the ghazal "Zihaal- e-Miskeen" by Amir Khusrau. It is composed in two languages, Persian, and Brij Bhasha — also called "Hindavi" and considered to be an archaic form of what later became Urdu.
- ^ "Zehaal-e-Miskeen -~Amir Khusrau". blindtobounds.blog. 3 August 2011.
Zehaal -e Miskeen is a master piece written in both the languages in Persian (bold) and Brij Bhasha (italics). In the first verse, the first line is in Persian, the second in Brij Bhasha, the third in Persian again, and the fourth in Brij Bhasha. In the remaining verses, the first two lines are in Persian, the last two in Brij Bhasha. The poem expresses the agony of separation from the beloved, in both the languages with a superb fusion…which to my understanding signifies how different yet similiar [sic] is the expression of the agony of separation amongst the elite ( representing Persian) and the common man ( through Braj Bhasha).
