Mahjoor
Ghulam Ahmad Mahjoor
(1885-1952)
Mahjoor has a place of honor among the poets of Kashmir. He is especially
noted for two things. First, he introduced a new style into Kashmiri poetry.
Second, he introduced a new thought into Kashmiri poetry.
Mahjoor wrote poems of freedom and progress in
Kashmiri. These songs awakened the sleeping Kashmiris. He came with a new
voice and a new (literary) form.
Mahjoor was a poet of 1ove and communal harmony.
In his earlier days, he used to write only love poetry, but (later) he
also wrote forceful poems about freedom.
Mahjoor's real name was Ghulam Ahmad. But as a
poet, he adopted the pen name 'Mahjoor'. He was born in eighteen hundred
and eighty-five in Metragam. He has written poetry in Persian and Urdu
as well.
Mahjoor worked as a patwa:ri: (pathva:r') in Kashmir.
Along with his official duties, he used to write poetry in Kashmiri. Mahjoor
had his first Kashmiri poem published in 1918. After this, he composed
poetry only in Kashmiri. His songs became very popular. He wrote on such
topics as love, communal harmony, and social reform, and also wrote on
the plight of the Kashmiris. He wrote about youth, the flowers of Nishat
Garden, a peasant girl, a gardener, the golden oriole, and a Free Kashmir.
At that time, such songs were unknown in Kashmiri poetry. It was Mahjoor
who gave these to us.
Mahjoor was sixty-seven years old when he passed
away in 1952. The death of Mahjoor was a great loss to both the Kashmiri
language and (Kashmiri) poetry. But, Mahjoor's songs are still on the lips
of every Kashmiri. Through these songs, his name will live forever.
The above text is reproduced from:
An
Introduction to Spoken Kashmiri
by Braj B. Kachru
Department of Linguistics, University of Illinois
Urbana, Illinois 61801 U.S.A.
June, 1973
The tomb of Mahjoor
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