Firaq Gorakhpuri

Indian Urdu poet

Firaq Gorakhpuri
فراق گورکھپوری

Born| Raghupati Sahay[1]
(1896-08-28)28 August 1896
Gorakhpur, North-Western Provinces, British India
Died| 3 March 1982(1982-03-03) (aged 85)[1]
New Delhi, India
Pen name| Firaq Gorakhpuri فراق گورکھپوری
Occupation| Poet, writer, critic, scholar, lecturer, orator[1]
Language| Urdu, English, Hindi
Nationality| Indian
Education| M.A. in English literature[1]
Alma mater| Allahabad University
Genre| Poetry, Literary criticism
Notable works| Gul-e-Naghma
Notable awards| Padma Bhushan (1968)
Jnanpith Award (1969)
Sahitya Akademi Fellowship (1970)
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Raghupati Sahay (28 August 1896 – 3 March 1982), also known by his pen name Firaq Gorakhpuri, was an Indian writer, critic, and, according to one commentator, one of the most noted contemporary Urdu poets from India.[1] He established himself among peers including Muhammad Iqbal, Yagana Changezi, Jigar Moradabadi and Josh Malihabadi.[2][3]

## Early life and career

[edit]

Raghupati Sahay was born in Banwarpar village of Gorakhpur district on 28 August 1896 in a well-to-do and educated Kayastha family. He finished his basic education and then completed his master's degree in Urdu, Persian and English literature.[1]

Firaq had shown early signs of excellence in Urdu poetry and had always shown attraction towards literature. His contemporaries included famous Urdu poets like Allama Iqbal, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Kaifi Azmi and Sahir Ludhianvi. Yet he was able to make his mark in Urdu poetry at an early age.[1]

He was selected for the Provincial Civil Service (P.C.S.) and the Indian Civil Service (British India) (I.C.S.), but he resigned to follow Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement and for which he was jailed for 18 months. Later, he joined Allahabad University as a lecturer in English literature. It was there that he wrote most of his Urdu poetry, including his magnum opus Gul-e-Naghma which earned him the highest literary award of India, the Jnanpith Award, and also the 1960 Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu. During his life, he was given the positions of research professor at the University Grants Commission and Producer Emeritus by All India Radio. After a long illness, he died on 3 March 1982, in New Delhi.[1]

Gorakhpuri was well-versed in all traditional metrical forms such as ghazal, nazm, rubaai and qat'aa. He wrote more than a dozen volumes of Urdu poetry, a half dozen of Urdu prose, several volumes on literary themes in Hindi, as well as four volumes of English prose on literary and cultural subjects.[citation needed]

His biography, Firaq Gorakhpuri: The Poet of Pain & Ecstasy, written by his nephew Ajai Mansingh was published by Roli Books in 2015.[4] The book included anecdotes from his life and translations of some of his work.[5]

## Selected works

[edit]

* Gul-e-Naghma  گلِ نغمہ [4]
* Gul-e-Ra'naa گلِ رعنا
* Mash'aal مشعال
* Rooh-e-Kaayenaat روحِ کائنات
* Roop رُوپ (Rubaayi رُباعی )
* Shabnamistaan شبنمِستان
* Sargam سرگم
* Bazm-e-Zindagi Rang-e-Shayri بزمِ زندگی رنگِ شاعری

## Awards

[edit]

* 1960 - Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu
* 1968 - Padma Bhushan[6]
* 1968 - Soviet Land Nehru Award
* 1969 - Jnanpith Award (First Jnanpith Award for Urdu literature)[7][4]
* 1970 - Sahitya Akademi Fellowship
* 1981 - Ghalib Academy Award

## Death and legacy

[edit]

Firaq Gorakhpuri died on 3 March 1982 at age 85.[1] Firaq fought for secularism all his life and played a key role against the then government's effort to label Urdu as a language of the Muslims.[1] Firaq espoused a deep affection for Urdu and emphasised the importance of keeping Urdu in the collective linguistic awareness of India and the subcontinent. "Zubaan kisi qaum ki milkiyat nahin/ Jisne seekhi, usne kahi" (Language is not the prerogative of any particular society; the person who has learnt it, speaks it) was his statement.[8]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Remembering the greatest Urdu poet since Ghalib, Firaq Gorakhpuri. India Today. 3 March 2016
2. ^ Lucknow Christian Degree College to celebrate 150 years of glory. Times of India. 23 November 2012
3. ^ Peace was his obsession (IK Gujral used to quote Firaq Gorakhpuri) Archived 20 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine. tehelka.com. 5 December 2012
4. ^ a b c Books reflect a political fever. Times of India. 23 January 2015
5. ^ Naqvi, Saeed. "A Book On Firaq that Leaves One Thirsting for More". The Wire. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
6. ^ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
7. ^ "Jnanpith Laureates Official listings". Jnanpith Website. Archived from the original on 13 October 2007. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
8. ^ "The Relevance Of 'Firaq' Gorakhpuri In These Polarised Times". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 23 July 2024.

## External links

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Padma Bhushan award recipients (1960–1969)

1960|

* Haridas Siddhanta Bagish
* Rabindra Nath Chaudhuri
* Nilakantha Das
* Rajeshwar Shastri Dravid
* Kazi Nazrul Islam
* Hafiz Ali Khan
* Bal Krishna Sharma Naveen
* Ayyadevara Kaleswara Rao
* Acharya Shivpujan Sahay
* Vithal Nagesh Shirodkar

1961|

* Rustomji Bomanji Billimoria
* Seth Govind Das
* Verrier Elwin
* Niranjan Das Gulhati
* L. Venkatakrishna Iyer
* Rai Krishnadas
* Sumitranandan Pant
* Svetoslav Roerich
* Bhagwan Sahay
* Bindeshwari Prasad Verma
* Krishnasami Venkataraman
* Ardeshir Ruttonji Wadia

1962|

* Ramchandra Narayan Dandekar
* Prem Chandra Dhanda
* Asaf Ali Asghar Fyzee
* Bade Ghulam Ali Khan
* Daulat Singh Kothari
* Mithan Jamshed Lam
* Sudhansu Sobhan Maitra
* Sisir Kumar Mitra
* Tarabai Modak
* Niaz Fatehpuri
* Jal Ratanji Patel
* Narayan Sitaram Phadke
* V. Raghavan
* Dukhan Ram
* T. S. Soundram
* Mahankali Seetharama Rao
* Moturi Satyanarayana
* Sitaram Seksaria
* Santosh Kumar Sen
* Tarlok Singh
* Raja Radhika Raman Sinha

1963|

* Makhanlal Chaturvedi
* Omeo Kumar Das
* Nitish Chandra Laharry
* Badri Nath Prasad
* Kanuri Lakshmana Rao
* Rahul Sankrityayan
* Ramanlal Gokaldas Saraiya
* T. R. Seshadri
* Sardar Harnarain Singh
* Ramkumar Verma

1964|

* Sheikh Abdullah
* Nuruddin Ahmed
* Rafiuddin Ahmed
* Jacob Chandy
* Kunji Lal Dubey
* Tushar Kanti Ghosh
* Dara Nusserwanji Khurody
* Anukul Chandra Mukherjee
* Jnanendra Nath Mukherjee
* Bhola Nath Mullik
* R. K. Narayan
* Chintaman Govind Pandit
* Tribhuvandas Kishibhai Patel
* Bal Gandharva
* T. N. Ramachandran
* Khushwant Lal Wig

1965|

* Joginder Singh Dhillon
* Bhalchandra Babaji Dikshit
* Narasinh Narayan Godbole
* Nawang Gombu
* Sonam Gyatso
* Akbar Ali Khan
* S. L. Kirloskar
* Mohan Singh Kohli
* Harbaksh Singh
* P. O. Dunn
* Kashmir Singh Katoch
* Pratap Chandra Lal
* Ramaswamy Rajaram
* Mohammad Mujeeb
* Jayant Narlikar
* K. R. Ramanathan
* Satyajit Ray
* Triguna Sen
* Vrindavan Lal Verma
* Manikya Lal Verma

1966|

* Babubhai Maneklal Chinai
* Puliyur Krishnaswamy Duraiswami
* Verghese Kurien
* Zubin Mehta
* K. P. Kesava Menon
* Mannathu Padmanabha Pillai
* K. Shankar Pillai
* Vikram Sarabhai
* Vinayak Sitaram Sarwate
* Homi Sethna
* Jodh Singh
* Haribhau Upadhyaya

1967|

* Mulk Raj Anand
* Tara Cherian
* Krishna Kanta Handique
* Akshay Kumar Jain
* Pupul Jayakar
* Ali Akbar Khan
* D. P. Kohli
* Ramanathan Krishnan
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* Datto Vaman Potdar
* B. Shiva Rao
* Khwaja Ghulam Saiyidain
* Mihir Sen
* Ravi Shankar
* M. L. Vasanthakumari

1968|

* Acharya Vishva Bandhu
* Prabhu Lal Bhatnagar
* Mary Clubwala Jadhav
* K. Shivaram Karanth
* Bismillah Khan
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* Benjamin Peary Pal
* Brahm Prakash
* Manikonda Chalapathi Rau
* C. R. Rao
* Radhanath Rath
* Mariadas Ruthnaswamy
* Firaq Gorakhpuri
* Shripad Damodar Satwalekar
* G. Sankara Kurup
* Periyasaamy Thooran
* Mamidipudi Venkatarangayya

1969|

* Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay
* Rahim-ud-in Khan Dagar
* Mohanlal Lallubhai Dantwala
* Keshavrao Krishnarao Datey
* Keshav Prasad Goenka
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* Prithviraj Kapoor
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* Krishna Kripalani
* Adinath Lahiri
* Gobind Behari Lal
* Kasturbhai Lalbhai
* Lata Mangeshkar
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* Saghar Nizami
* Nanasaheb Parulekar
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* Vitthal Laxman Phadke
* Raja Rao
* Niharranjan Ray
* Prafulla Kumar Sen
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* Naval Tata
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# Posthumous conferral

* 1954–1959
* 1960–1969
* 1970–1979
* 1980–1989
* 1990–1999
* 2000–2009
* 2010–2019
* 2020–2029

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Sahitya Akademi Fellowship

1968–1980|

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1968)
D. R. Bendre, Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay, Sumitranandan Pant, C. Rajagopalachari (1969)
Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, Firaq Gorakhpuri, Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar, Viswanatha Satyanarayana (1970)
Kaka Kalelkar, Gopinath Kaviraj, Gurbaksh Singh, Kalindi Charan Panigrahi (1971)
Masti Venkatesha Iyengar, Mangharam Udharam Malkani, Nilmoni Phukan, Vasudev Vishnu Mirashi, Sukumar Sen, V. R. Trivedi (1973)
T. P. Meenakshisundaram (1975)
Atmaram Ravaji Deshpande, Jainendra Kumar, Kuppali Venkatappa Puttappa 'Kuvempu', V. Raghavan, Mahadevi Varma (1979)

1981–2000|

Umashankar Joshi, K. R. Srinivasa Iyengar, K. Shivaram Karanth (1985)
Mulk Raj Anand, Vinayaka Krishna Gokak, Laxmanshastri Balaji Joshi, Amritlal Nagar, Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, Annada Shankar Ray (1989)
Nagarjun, Balamani Amma, Ashapurna Devi, Qurratulain Hyder, Vishnu Bhikaji Kolte, Kanhu Charan Mohanty, P. T. Narasimhachar, R. K. Narayan, Harbhajan Singh (1994)
Jayakanthan, Vinda Karandikar, Vidya Niwas Mishra, Subhash Mukhopadhyay, Raja Rao, Sachidananda Routray, Krishna Sobti (1996)
Syed Abdul Malik, K. S. Narasimhaswamy, Gunturu Seshendra Sarma, Rajendra Shah, Ram Vilas Sharma, N. Khelchandra Singh (1999)
Ramchandra Narayan Dandekar, Rehman Rahi (2000)

2001–present|

Ram Nath Shastri (2001)
Kaifi Azmi, Govind Chandra Pande, Nilamani Phookan, Bhisham Sahni (2002)
Kovilan, U. R. Ananthamurthy, Vijaydan Detha, Bhadriraju Krishnamurti, Amrita Pritam, Shankha Ghosh, Nirmal Verma (2004)
Manoj Das, Vishnu Prabhakar (2006)
Anita Desai, Kartar Singh Duggal, Ravindra Kelekar (2007)
Gopi Chand Narang, Ramakanta Rath (2009)
Chandranath Mishra Amar, Kunwar Narayan, Bholabhai Patel, Kedarnath Singh, Khushwant Singh (2010)
Raghuveer Chaudhari, Arjan Hasid, Sitakant Mahapatra, M. T. Vasudevan Nair, Asit Rai, Satya Vrat Shastri (2013)
Santeshivara Lingannaiah Bhyrappa, C. Narayana Reddy (2014)
Nirendranath Chakravarty, Gurdial Singh (2016)

Honorary Fellows|

Léopold Sédar Senghor (1974)
Edward C. Dimock, Jr., Daniel H. H. Ingalls Sr., Kamil Zvelebil, Ji Xianlin (1996)
Vassilis Vitsaxis, Eugene Chelyshev (2002)
Ronald E. Asher (2007)
Abhimanyu Unnuth (2013)

Premchand Fellowship|

Intizar Hussain (2005), Kishwar Naheed (2016)

Ananda Coomaraswamy Fellowship|

Senake Bandaranayake, Chie Nakane, Azad N. Shamatov (1996)

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Jnanpith Award recipients

1965–1985|

* G. Sankara Kurup (1965)
* Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay (1966)
* Kuvempu and Umashankar Joshi (1967)
* Sumitranandan Pant (1968)
* Firaq Gorakhpuri (1969)
* Viswanatha Satyanarayana (1970)
* Bishnu Dey (1971)
* Ramdhari Singh Dinkar (1972)
* D. R. Bendre and Gopinath Mohanty (1973)
* Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar (1974)
* Akilan (1975)
* Ashapurna Devi (1976)
* Shivaram Karanth (1977)
* Sachchidananda Vatsyayan (1978)
* Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya (1979)
* S. K. Pottekkatt (1980)
* Amrita Pritam (1981)
* Mahadevi Varma (1982)
* Masti Venkatesha Iyengar (1983)
* Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai (1984)
* Pannalal Patel (1985)

1986–2000|

* Sachidananda Routray (1986)
* Kusumagraj (1987)
* C. Narayana Reddy (1988)
* Qurratulain Hyder (1989)
* Vinayaka Krishna Gokak (1990)
* Subhas Mukhopadhyay (1991)
* Naresh Mehta (1992)
* Sitakant Mahapatra (1993)
* U. R. Ananthamurthy (1994)
* M. T. Vasudevan Nair (1995)
* Mahasweta Devi (1996)
* Ali Sardar Jafri (1997)
* Girish Karnad (1998)
* Gurdial Singh and Nirmal Verma (1999)
* Mamoni Raisom Goswami (2000)

2001–present|

* Rajendra Shah (2001)
* Jayakanthan (2002)
* Vinda Karandikar (2003)
* Rehman Rahi (2004)
* Kunwar Narayan (2005)
* Ravindra Kelekar and Satya Vrat Shastri (2006)
* O. N. V. Kurup (2007)
* Akhlaq Mohammed Khan (2008)
* Amarkant and Shrilal Shukla (2009)
* Chandrashekhara Kambara (2010)
* Pratibha Ray (2011)
* Ravuri Bharadhwaja (2012)
* Kedarnath Singh (2013)
* Bhalchandra Nemade (2014)
* Raghuveer Chaudhari (2015)
* Shankha Ghosh (2016)
* Krishna Sobti (2017)
* Amitav Ghosh (2018)
* Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri (2019)
* Nilmani Phookan (2021)
* Damodar Mauzo (2022)
* Rambhadracharya and Gulzar (2023)

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