THE Sham-i-Hamdard held this month chose to discuss the newly-established Urdu university. The participants were asked to offer suggestions, if they had any, for making this experiment successful. But the participants liked more to discuss the government’s reluctance in promulgating Urdu as an official language, as demanded by the constitution, than to offer suggestions in respect of the university.

In fact, while Urdu quarters, in general, and those belonging to Anjuman-i-Tarraqi-i-Urdu, in particular, are very exuberant at the establishment of this university, some people are a bit skeptical in this respect. For instance, the literary journal Sareer has, in its latest issue, questioned the advisability of this step in a situation where Urdu has not been thought fit to be adopted as an official language.

But I have something else to say. From what I heard in the heated discussion of Sham-i-Hamdard and what I read in the Sareer article, I arrived at the conclusion that Urduwallahs have a short memory. They very well remember Usmania University for adopting Urdu as the medium of instruction in higher education. Along with it, they also remember the translation bureau allied to it. But they have forgotten the first experiment in this respect.

Usmania University was established in 1918. But long before it, we had an institution known as the Delhi College, which for the first time made the experiment to adopt Urdu as the medium of instruction for higher education. The success of this experiment can be judged by the kind of scholars it produced during the brief span of its existence.

Let me give here a brief introduction to this college for the benefit of those interested in seeing higher education imparted in Urdu.

Delhi College was established in Delhi in 1825. That was the first institution of modern education in the Mughal capital. Bengal had already achieved this status, thanks to the strenuous efforts of Raja Ram Mohan Roy who had launched a strong movement in favour of modern education. In Delhi, it was the first cradle of modern learning, which bore in its womb the seeds of a new age. It had to face great resistance on the part of the Delhi elite, more particularly the Muslims. Deputy Nazir Ahmad’s father, admonished him, said: “O my son, it is better to die than to have English education.” But the rebel son refused to listen to his father. The other rebellious young man was Zakaullah, later known as Munshi Zakaullah Dehlvi, who reached there with an immense appetite for modern learnings.

Soon, the institution attracted the attention of the learned men of Delhi. The two eminent scholars, Mufti Sadruddin Azurda and Maulvi Imam Bakhsh Sehbai, chose to work as teachers here.

This institution possessed a few distinctive features, which helped it gain the privilege of heralding a new age in this part of the world. Firstly, it distinguished itself as a meeting-point of the East and the West. It was for the first time that the Eastern learnings and the modern knowledge from the West were taught under the same roof.

It gained additional distinction by adopting Urdu as the medium of instruction. All subjects, including modern sciences, were taught here in Urdu. This gave rise to the necessity of translating books from English into Urdu. So a translation society was organized under the auspices of the college.

The society managed to get more than one hundred books translated into Urdu in its early period. The translators were either teachers of the college or their students, and the translation covered a variety of subjects such as history, geography, philosophy, mathematics, chemistry, botany, medicine, surgery, economics, the arts and literature. The quality of the translation can well be judged from Nazir Ahmad’s translation of the Indian Penal Code, the terms of which as translated by him are still in currency.

The Delhi College soon reaped a rich harvest of scholars such as Munshi Zakaullah, Deputy Nazeer Ahmad, Moulvi Mohammad Baqar, Maulana Mohammad Husain Azad, etc. Their role in movements led to a new era that is well know to us.

The college came to a sad end in 1857, when all its European teachers were killed by the freedom fighters. With much ado, it was revived in 1864. But in the changed circumstances, it was divested of much of its distinctive character. Most of all, Urdu had lost its place, giving way to English. This adversely affected its translation programme. However, in spite of all that, the college attracted attention and made progress. But Dr Leitner developed a malicious attitude towards it. Through an intrigue, he had it closed in 1877.

Urdu in the Delhi College underwent a test and came out successful. It proved its capability to cope with modern learning. It served well as a medium for transmitting modern scientific knowledge to its seekers. But it was through the programme of translations that it developed this capability.

So, from the Delhi College, we learn that in case we adopt Urdu as a medium of instruction, the programme of translation will become essential. That is what the Urdu university needs most. And the success of this programme depends on the competence of the translators. So what the Urdu university needs in the first instance is an exhaustive and well-planned programme of translations and along with it, a team of efficient translators.