Thomas Carlyle popularised the theory that the history of the world was but the biography of great men and that it was their genius and skill that won great men power. Many disagreed, including Herbert Spencer, who argued that great men were the products of their societies and social conditions.

But there can be no denying that by reading about a great man’s (or a great woman’s, for that matter) life, one can learn a lot about their lives and genius as well as the times and the societies in which they lived. In other words, the history of the world may or may not be made of biographies, but biographies and autobiographies do make a part of history.

Biography and autobiography: pre-Independence era

Biography as a modern literary genre arrived quite late on Urdu’s literary scene. It emerged under the influence of English literature in the post-1857 era. Though some earlier Urdu tazkiras [histories of Urdu poetry and poets] and religious works did offer biographical glimpses, biography did not make it to the literary canon of Urdu until Altaf Hussain Hali penned Hayaat-i-Sa’adi (1886), Urdu’s first, modern biography. Hali’s other biographical works, Yadgar-i-Ghalib (1897) and Hayaat-i-Javed (1901), along with Shibli Nomani’s Seerat-un-No’man (1891), Al-Farooq (1899) and Seerat-un-Nabi, are other landmarks in the history of Urdu biography. Syed Sulaiman Nadvi, Ghulam Rasool Mehr, Qazi Abdul Ghaffar and Abdul Majid Daryabadi are some prominent biographers whose works appeared in the first half of the 20th century and left a mark. But many feel that Urdu biography is yet to surpass the standards set by the two literary colossi, Hali and Shibli, who pioneered the genre.

As for autobiographies, Jafer Thanesari’s Tavareekh-i-Ajeeb (1884), a slim volume famously known by the title Kaala Paani, is Urdu’s first-ever autobiography. Though Mir Taqi Mir’s autobiography Zikr-i-Mir, written in Persian, had appeared in the last decades of the 18th century, surprisingly it did not inspire others to write an autobiography in Urdu for the next 100 years or so. After Kaala Paani, Zaheer Dehlvi’s Dastan-i-Ghadar (1910), Khwaja Hasan Nizami’s Aap Beeti (1919) and Sir Raza Ali’s A’amaal Nama (1943) are works that merit a revisit.

Part six of the series exploring Pakistani Urdu writing over the past 70 years

Post-Independence

Abdul Majeed Salik’s Zikr-i-Iqbal (1955) is one of the earliest Urdu biographies written in Pakistan. Despite some errors, the book offers glimpses of Allama Muhammad Iqbal’s life and personality and describes some aspect of the social and political environment of Iqbal’s era. The errors were discussed and corrected by latter-day scholars. The subject of many biographies penned after Independence was often a historical or literary figure, such as Naqi Muhammad Khan Khorjavi’s Hazrat Ameer Khusrau (1956), Sabir Ali Khan’s Sa’adat Yar Khan Rangeen (1956), S. M. Ikram’s Yadgar-i-Shibli (1971), Mumtaz Hussain’s Ameer Khusrau Dehlvi (1975) and Afsar Amrohvi’s Mushafi: Hayaat-o-Kalaam (1975).

Zinda Rood in three volumes (1979, 1981, 1984) by Iqbal’s son Javed Iqbal is by far the best of Iqbal’s biographies, though this, too, could not escape the wrath of some researchers and scholars for certain aspects.

Among biographies that kicked up controversies is Waheed Qureshi’s Shibli ki Hayaat-i-Mu’ashiqa (1950), a brief work analysing Shibli’s psyche and highlighting his “fondness” for Atiya Fyzee, though later many scholars and Fyzee herself denied any romantic or intimate relationship between the two. Despite Qureshi’s sympathetic and academic point of view, the book sparked a renewed interest in Shibli’s love life and in addition to critical articles a new biographical work Shibli ki Rangeen Zindagi (1952) by Muhammad Ameen Zubairi discussed Shibli’s “romantic” life. Unlike Qureshi, Zubairi was unsympathetic though he believed it was only “Platonic love” — a claim not sufficiently substantiated.

It is no wonder that Iqbal attracted many Pakistani biographers for his role in the creation of Pakistan and many aspects of his life have come under discussion, not to mention the hundreds of other books discussing his thought and poetry. Daana-i-Raaz (1979) was planned to be a detailed biography, but only the first volume could be published as the author, Syed Nazeer Niazi, passed away in January 1981. But many of the biographical books and articles written on Iqbal repeat known facts, and only a few shed new light on his life. Muhammad Hamza Farooqi’s Hayaat-i-Iqbal ke Makhfi Goshe (1988) brought to light some new and rare information about Iqbal’s friends, social life, correspondence and published works. Farooqi’s research is based on reports, articles and editorials published in Inqilaab, a newspaper published from Lahore.

Compared to biography, autobiography has been more popular in Pakistani Urdu literature and a large number were published by Pakistani writers, poets, journalists, politicians, civil servants, educationists, military men and businessmen. In fact, autobiography is one of the more popular literary genres in Pakistan and some, such as Qudratullah Shahab’s Shahab Nama, have became bestsellers running into several editions, which is a rare phenomenon for the Pakistani publishing industry.

Abdul Majeed Salik’s autobiography Sarguzasht (1954) depicts the social, political and literary milieu of the first half of the 20th century. Zafar Hasan Aibak was among the freedom fighters who had migrated from India during the British Raj. His autobiography Aap Beeti (1960) reveals more of some important historic secrets than his own life, but it also puts many records straight. Z. A. Bukhari’s autobiography is also titled Sarguzasht (1966). A poet, master-broadcaster, and a witty and learned man, Bukhari penned an absolute page-turner. It not only portrays vivid details from the early days of broadcasting in India, but also draws fascinating pictures of Pakistan’s infancy and an interesting history of Radio Pakistan.

Some other notable biographies by Pakistani writers are: Ishrat-i-Faani (Ishrat Rahmani), Rau Mein hai Rakhsh-i-Umr (Abdus Salaam Khursheed), Khoon Baha (Hakeem Ahmed Shuja), Chashm Deed (Feroz Khan Noon), Gard-i-Raah (Akhter Hussain Raipuri), Mitti ka Diya (Mirza Adeeb), Khadd-o-Khaal (Agha Babar), Khoe Huon ki Justuju (Shohrat Bukhari), Dil Bhatke Ga (Ahmed Basheer), Jahan-i-Danish (Ehsan Danish), Zarguzasht (Mushtaq Ahmed Yusufi), Na Mumkin ki Justuju (Hameed Naseem), Sham ki Mundair Se (Vazeer Agha), Silsila-i-Roz-o-Shab, (Manzoor Ilahi), Meri Zindagi ka Fasana (Sadiqul Khairi), Hayaat-i-Musta’ar (Jaleel Qidvai), Meri Zindagi ke Pachchattar Saal (Yousuf Bukhari Dehlvi), and Yad-i-Ehde-i-Rafta (Ibadat Barelvi) among others.

Few, however, could show the courage that Jean-Jacques Rousseau did in his Confessions. When Josh Malihabadi in his Yaadon ki Baraat and Kishwar Naheed in her Buri Aurat ki Katha did show some courage, they came under severe criticism from certain quarters. Javed Iqbal’s autobiography Apna Giraibaan Chaak was also criticised for frankness.

Urdu’s women writers have written some outstanding and gripping autobiographies. Adorned with the peculiar sensitivity and, at times, a feminist point of view, they include: Jo Rahi so Be Khabari Rahi (Ada Jafri), Hum Safar (Hameeda Akhtar Hussain), Buri Aurat ki Katha (Kishwar Naheed) and Gae Dinon ka Suraagh (Nisar Aziz Butt). Another autobiography by a woman, quite a good read, is Kitab-i-Zindagi by Qaiseri Begum. It created quite a stir when first serialised in the Urdu Dictionary Board’s journal Urdu Nama in the 1970s for its language and style. Qaiseri Begum, following in the footsteps of her maternal grandfather Nazeer Ahmed — the Urdu writer known for his colloquial style and Delhi parlance — recorded many interesting and traditional rites, rituals and superstitions of Delhi women of yesteryear. She spent her later life in Hyderabad Deccan and recorded that, too. Despite being an educated woman and a poet, most of her account concerns family and household. But it makes for good reading. Generally ignored by critics, the autobiography gripped readers when it appeared in the magazine and later in book form some 10 years ago from Karachi.

Qaiseri Begum’s biography was published posthumously (she died in 1976), but a large number of autobiographies were serialised in literary magazines and could not appear in book form. Among them was Shanul Haq Haqqee’s autobiography serialised in the literary magazine Afkaar.

It is strange that biography and autobiography, despite being twin genres, have grown discordantly. While autobiography has come of age, biography — one feels — is still in its crawling stage. The recent boom of autobiographies in Urdu is so huge that the thought of reading them all, let alone reviewing them, is overwhelming. Perhaps one of the reasons for the trend among writers to write a biography is that biography is much more demanding, while autobiography offers many opportunities for lovely little lies and self-glorification. But nonetheless, they are a helpful source of information.

The writer is a former chief editor of the Urdu Dictionary Board and now teaches Urdu at the University of Karachi

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, March 26th, 2017