MARCH 18 Persian Influence on Indian Culture

MARCH 18 Persian Influence on Indian Culture Persian influence on Indian Culture is a vast subject with many sides to it. Here I should like to deal very briefly with just one aspect of it, that is, the role of Persian sayings and poetry on Indian society, and in particular their moral impact. Last November on a return journey from Baroda to Delhi by a morning flight of Indian Airlines I happened to make the acquaintance of a fellow passenger, an elderly Hindu. He turned out to be Mr. Muchkund Dubey, formerly, of the Indian foreign service and now living in Delhi. As usual on such journeys, I had taken my pen out of my bag and had begun to write. Mr. Dubey asked, “Are you writing in Urdu or Persian?” I asked him whether he knew Persian. He replied in the affirmative and said that he had been to Iran. I asked him if he could quote some Persian saying from memory. He thereupon wrote down this saying of Shaikh Saadi: Cheguna shukr nemat guzaram, ke mardum Azari nadaram. (How can I ever thank God that I am bereft of all power to torment people.) This small anecdote reminds us of a whole generation of literate Hindus and, Muslims who, in days gone by, were generally acquainted with Persian. Wise Persian sayings and couplets were always on people’s lips, and were repeated in gatherings, just as happens today with English sayings. Persian had been dominated in India for about 700 years before it was ousted by the English language, soon after the arrival of the British. This dominance was due to Persian being the language of all the Muslim conquerors who came to India, with the exception of Mohd. bin Qasim. Since, perforce, the public followed the example of the kings, Persian language and cultured flourished. The influence of this historical process can still be seen even today in different forms. For instance the words of greetings, like ‘Khush Amded’ or the phrases used in parting like ‘Khuda Hafiz’ are direct legacies of Persian culture. During this period, Persian culture became so popular that people memorized innumerable sayings and couplets, which had the effect of