Book Review: The Last Musha'irah of Dehli
The twilight Delhi of the later Mughals, decadent in statesmanship, devastated by marauders, declining in history, still managed to leave behind something more durable than marble and sandstone: a magnificent body of Urdu poetry and prose.
Book Information
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Mushairah is a poetic symposium where poets gather to perform their work. Drawing upon living memories, manuscripts and other documents, The Last Mushairah of Dehli, originally written by Mirza Farhatullah Baig Dehalvi in Urdu as Dehli ki Akhri Shama and later translated into English by Akhtar Qamber is a fictional account of what purports to be the last great Mushairah held in Delhi under the patronage of Bahadur Shah Zafar, in the residence of Karimuddin, the man from Panipat.
Divided into four broad chapters spanning across Preamble, The Plan, Preliminary Arrangements and The Mushairah, this book takes the reader to 19th Century India, introduces to the great poets of the era who participated in the Mushairah and recited their works. This book is not a collection of couplets only. We meet the poets in person, and as persons. We observed how they talk, dress and gossip. The reader learns how a Mushairah was arranged, the grandeur of the court and contemporary etiquette and court decorum.
I came across the book as a reference while I was reading Ghalib: The Man, The Times. Purchased it. Read it. Loved the effort. A painting from Mughal era (Courtesy National Museum, New Delhi) is perfect for this book. Font is easy to read. However, as it often happens with first hand narratives, sometimes the reading feels bit monotonous.
This is good book, if you are researching on the culture and custom of the era and this is a definite buy if you are interested in Urdu poets of 19 the century India. The book is available at amazon
or at flipkart, if you are living in India.
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4 Thoughts:
Nice review. It's nice to find another reviewer who's interested in world history. I'm now following your blog. :)
Would you mind checking out mine?
http://bound2astound.blogspot.com
I enjoyed your review:) I am now a follower of yours:) Stop by and say hello! I have coffee;)
BookJunkieMom @ Rainy Day Reviews!
BookJunkieMom.blogspot.com
@BookJunkieMom
Wow! What a fascinating book. Excellent review. I'm going to look this book up.I've always been fascinated by history and lore of other cultures and especially eastern ones.
Nice to hear that you liked my review. Although monotonous at times, this is indeed a good book to get glimpses of the socio cultural atmosphere of the era.
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