Language does not belong to a religion. Highlighting the contribution of non-mulsims to urdu. Enter taKhallus or name in the search box, or scroll down.
00-muKhtalif non-muslim
A collection of nazm/Ghazal of non-muslim poets where only one or two selections of each is included in the site.
aaftaab paanipati – lala anoop chand
(1897-xxxx) devout hindu, strong nationalist of a secular outlook. Contributed to newsmagazine, “sanaatan dharm prachaarak”, which was published in urdu!!!!! He wrote Ghazal in chaste urdu and many fiery nazm in urdu mixed with local dialect in support of the independence movement.
aatish bhavalpuri-devi dayaal
1915-1993, sonipat, haryana. Born Khairpur (now pakistan). Influenced by shu’ara-jaimini sarshaar, he began composing. Matured and received recognition in bhaavalpur. Editor of ‘naya jiivan’, lecturer of urdu chhoTuram aarya college. Started and edited a magazine, ‘paiGhaam’, staunch secularist throughout his life.
aazad – jagan nath
(1918-2004), miyaaNvaali (now in pakistan) son of another great poet, tilok chand mahroom. Wrote with much passion about hindu-muslim and India-pakistan accord. Composed tributes and several Ghazal in the style of Ghalib, several biographies of mohammed iqbal. Lover of urdu.
aazim-gurvindar siNgh kohli
(1952-living), dehli. Industrialist, deeply interested in urdu shaa’eri. He started composing in 1994 and only subsequently learnt to read and write urdu. Collection published in 1998.
aKhtar – hari chand
(1901-1958), hoshiarpur, punjab. Moved to India 1947. MA in English Lahore. Journalist. Makes fun of orthodoxy and the power structure in delightful and sarcastic ways.
amn – gopi nath
1898-1983, lakhnau. Freedom fighter. Gandhian. Communal harmony. Composed Ghazal, nazm, bhajan , marsia, salaam.
arsh malsiani – panDit baalmukund
(1908-1979) son of labhuram josh malsiani from malsian (now in Pakistan). Succeeded josh malihabadi as Editor of ‘aajkal’. Liberal, communal harmony.
ashok-ashok lal
(xxxx-living) dehli. urdu poet, playwrite, screen writer, theatre director. One of three sons of vinod lal taalib – direct descendant of hargopal tufta, shaagird of Ghalib.
Collection of poems is titled ‘raushnaaii’.
Collection of poems is titled ‘raushnaaii’.
bahaar – ameer chand
(1925-xxxx). 8 collections of Ghazal, nazm, rubaaii and poetic translations of English poems. Taught English at ludhiana and rohtak goverment colleges.
bahaar – manohar lal
(1912-????), hyderabad, father, rai shahed lal taught him urdu and farsi at home. Collection ‘bahaaristan’ 1977. Retired as a high-level official in the Dept of Agriculture.
bedaar – kripaal siNgh
(1916-1977), shaiKhupura. No family background in shaa’eri. College in lahore, fled to paTiaala and finally became lecturer. Collection 1977.
betaab – priitpaal singh
(1949-xxxx) pooNch, kashmir. MA, LLB. kashmir (state) administrative service. Director, Food and Supplies. 9 collections of verse.
brahman-chandr bhan
(1574-1662) was a companion/friend of daara shikoh. Served in shahjahaaN and auraNgzeb’s courts. High post. Mostly faarsi, beginnings of urdu Ghazal.
chaand – mahendra pratap
(1935-????) karoR lal eesan then ambaala. MA in urdu and Library Science. Assist Librarian, Kurkshetra University. “A Bond of Love – My Passage to Pakistan”.
chakbast – panDit brij narain
(1882-1926) kashmiri panDit, lukhnow. Learnt arabi, farsi and ursu from maulvi. Later lawyer. Very politically aware. Communal harmony.
dakkani hindu
darshan – sant darshan singh
(1921-1989) rawalpindi faarsi, urdu and English. Wrote respectfully of all religions. Retired as deputy secretary finance government of India.
dilgiir-lala chhannu lal
1781-1848. lukhnau. Prolific marsia composer but much of his work is reported lost.
dinesh-dinesh kumar bansal
(1977-living). kaithal, haryana. kurukshetra univesity. haryana department of education. Interested in Ghazal from childhood. Heard them avidly on TV and radio. First composition in 2005. Received much encouragement, but then got busy in building a career. Started again in 2014. Participated in mushaa’era, published in magazines. Collection published in 2018.
faakir – sudarshan kaamra
1934-2008, lyricist, poet, progressive, secular, short Ghazal.
falak – munshi heera lal
1920?-1982?, mid-level clerk in dehli court system. diivaan published posthumously by devoted shaagird. beKhud dehlavi was his mentor.
firaq gorakhpuri – raghupati sahay
(1896-1982) pre-eminent urdu shaa’er, scholar of farsi and sanskrit. Nominated to ICS but chose to participate in the freedom movement. Later he chose an academic career, teaching English at Allahabad University. firaq composed 4 Ghazal in the style of mir taqi mir and 5 in the style of Ghalib.
gopal – prem gopal mittal
(1901-1993) migrated from lahore to dehli is 1948. Editor, writer and critic in addition to poet. He has written eloquently about communal harmony, univeral love and Reason.
gulzar – sampooran s kalra
(1936-living) popular poet, lyricist, film-maker and writer. Lover of urdu. Best known for producing a TV serial on Ghalib.
gulzar dehlavi – panDit anand mohan
(1926-2020) a fiery, liberal, secular poet who reaches across to write and recite about communal harmony. He also does not hesitate in speaking ‘truth to power’.
haajir dehlavi-raghunath siNgh
(1884-1922). Father, grandfather poets, scholars of urdu, faarsi. Started composing at the age of 13-14. diivaan published posthumously.
jagdish sahay saxena
(xxxx-xxxx) collection published 1974. Reported active in mushaa’era circuit. Several Ghazal in the zamin of Ghalib.
jigar barelavi-shyaam mohan lal
1890-1976 Ghazal, nazm, rubaaii, masnavi and critical treatises as well as linguistic and literary style, and autobiography. Traces his ustaad tradition through his father to Ghalib.
John Robert Paul nadir
josh malsiani – panDit labhu ram
(1884-1976) from malsian, now pakistani, migrated to India a little before partition/independence. He has written with great feeling about communal harmony and about the loss of his homeland – pakistan. His son, baalmukund arsh malsiani was also a well recognized poet.
kaifi – brij mohan dattatreya
(1866-1955) kashmiri panDit, scholar of arabi, faarsi, sanskrit and urdu. urdu lover. Wrote a short history of the evolution of the language.
kaifi dehlavi – munshi chandra bhan
(????-1941) Ghazal in classical style on classical themes. nazm on nationalistic and communal harmony themes. Taught faarsi.
kaNval – kaNval laal sharma
1921-xxxx, professor Gandhi Memorial National College, ambaala later aatmaram sanaatan dharm college, dehli.
kausari-chaudhri dilluram
(1882-1936) was a practicing vaishnavi hindu who wrote a lot about islamic figures. hisaar district of present day haryana. Collected from magazines and published in a booklet, some posthumously.
kausari-chaudhry dillu ram
kavita – kavita kiran
(1963-living), hyderbad, maraaThi. Grew up in an urdu loving atmosphere. Lessons in Ghazal viTThal rao. Four collections of kalaam.
Khayaal-chandrbhan
1946-xxxx-hoshaNgabad, madhya pradesh. Fascinated with urdu poetry, read in local library in devanagiri, memorized a lot of Ghazal and nazm, started composing. Taught himself reading and writing urdu, and after college, went to dehli, working in a petrol pump. He took a nazm to raam chandr muztar, chief editor of ‘milaap’ and became his shaagird. Participated in mushaa’era, published a collection and got started on a journalism career. Worked for urdu dailies – savera and qaumi aavaaz and later chief editor of hindi weekly bhaavya Times, dehli.
lata haya
maGhmuum – krishn gopal
(1916-xxxx) aTak in pakistan later in panjab and haryana government positions moving up the ranks. Ten collections of Ghazal, rubaaii and nazm.
mahroom – tilok chand
(1887-1955) and his son jagan nath azad are an illustrious father-son team of urdu shu’ara. miaNvaali (now in pakistan), they migrated to India in 1948, after unsuccessfully trying to remain in lahore.
mashriqi – sardar genDa siNgh
(1857-1909), roopaR, panjab. English and faarsi in middle school, family finances prevented schooling. Learnt urdu on his own. diivaan by grandson 1989.
mazhar-premchand srivastav
xxxx-xxxx, jabalpur. PhD. Principal, Commerce College. Chair, anjuman-e taraqqi-e urdu. Leading role in naagarik Ghalib shataabdhi samiti, 1969.
meeta – ameeta parsuram
(1955-living) practicing psychologist with an inherited taste for urdu. Went back to school after graduation to learn it. Beautiful woman’s perspective in her Ghazal.
mohan – krishn mohan lal bhaaTia
(1922-2004) taKhallus krishan mohan. sialkot. Formal education English and faarsi. Indian Revenue Department. Twenty eight books.
mona – Elizabeth Kurian
1949-living poet in malyalam, English. Learnt urdu late by correspondence course. Ghazal favourite genre. Four books.
mulla – panDit anand narain
(1901-1997), a kashmiri panDit, lukhnow, high court judge, lok sabha and rajya sabha , liberal thinker. communal harmony, urdu lover.
munavvar lakhnavi – bishweshvar parshad
(1897-1970) scholar of arabi, faarsi, urdu, and hindi. His father, dwarka prasad ufaq. Both translated hindu religious texts into urdu.
muztar – raam avtaar gupta
(1936-xxxx) was a well recognized poet in both urdu and hindi. His compositions are classical romantic in their themes.
muztar-ram krishn
1927-1984) buland shahr. Adopted by a childless uncle and aunt, but they died while he was still very young. Not interested-lost inherited lands to squatters. Undergraduate in faarsi punjab university and advanced studies with the Iranian Cultural House in dehli. Worked for milaap, dehli, an urdu daily newspaper/magazine. shaagird of firaq gorakhpuri.
naaz dehlavi – sher singh
(1897-1962) was an observant orthodox jain. Wrote Ghazal in chaste urdu and odes to jainism in urdu/hindustani mix.
naazli-nalini vibha
1954-living, PhD in music. Teaches music at the postgraduate college, hamiirpur, himachal pradesh. Learnt urdu, composes in both hindi and urdu with two books in each language.
nadir shahjahaNpuri – John Robert Paul
(1890-1963) Christian Missionary heritage. Chose to continue to stay in India. divaan of over 400 Ghazal.
naGhma – roopa mehta
(xxxx-living), saurashTra, mumbai. zulm of love told from a woman’s point of view. Answer to the incessant depiction of the (female) beloved as the oppressor.
naqsh-mahesh chandr
1928-1980 meeraTh and dehli. Sub-inspector in the dehli transport corporation. Four collections of Ghazal and qitaat. No bio sketches in any of his publications, however there is a reference to a TV interview in which he was asked when he got time to compose. After a moment of thought he replied, I do it constantly – on or off the job. No indication of how he became interested in urdu.
naseem – panDit daya shankar kaul
(1811-1845) has many Ghazal to his credit in spite of his short life-span. But he is most known for his masnavi, an epic fairy tale of gul-e bakaavali and prince taaj-ul-mulook.
nazar – munshi naubat rai
(1864-1923), lukhnow. Well recognized poet with a published diivaan and the editor of several literary magazines including adeeb.
neeraj – gopal das
1925-2018. Poet, lyricist, professor of hindi, progressive, padma shri and padma bhushan
noor – kishan bihaari srivastav
(1926-2003), born and grew up in lucknow. In a lot of his work, he gracefully reaches across communal lines both in the social/political and religious fields. He also was a great lover of urdu.
noor-pannalal srivastav
xxxx-xxxx, jabalpur. BA LLB. Ex Mayor. Past President anjuman-e taraqqi-e urdu. Leader in Ghalib shataabdhi samiti.
parvez-prakaash naath
1930-xxxx, amritsar district. BA (1953) and MA (1960) in urdu from punjab university. Learnt faarsi as a part of his BA curriculum. He started composing verse at an early age with first publication in a magazine in 1956. He worked for the central government in the accountant general’s office. There are at least four collections of doha, nazm and Ghazal.
qamar jalalabadi-om prakash bhanDaari
(1916-2003) with a family background of retail grain trade and farming and no tradition in music or poetry, he acquired a taste for urdu shaa’eri and started working for magazines after completing high school. sahir ludhianavi invited him to a mushaa’era in lahore where he was hired by a film company. Worked for the lahore film industry before moving to pune and later mumbaii with much success as script, dialogue and songwriter.
raahi – jamna parsaad
(1940-2017), aligaRh. Sahitya Akademi, UP, awardee. President, Progressive Writers’ Association. He specialized in composing in the style of Ghalib
raahi – raghubiir saran divaakar
(1914-1968), rampur. Born amroha, learnt urdu and faarsi at school. BA, LLB from meeraTh. District Information Officer, UP. shaa’eri was on top of this ‘day job’.
raaje barelavi-maaya khanna
(1942-xxxx) lukhnau. Educated and practiced as a physician. Early childhood in pune, where she started composing in maraThi and panjabi (her native language). A childhood friend introduced her to urdu and she fell in love with the language. She married into a well to do family in bareli and her husband was also very supportive of her literary activities. There are at least 4 collections to her credit.
rahbar – jitendra mohan sinha
1911-1993, bijnaur, UP, freedom fighter, school and college teacher.
rajesh reDDi
(1952-living), nagpur, mumbai. Fell in love with urdu Ghazal during in college. Worked for All India Radio. Three collections of his verse.
raNga – raNga chari
(1931-????). Clerk in a Junior Basic Training College. He learnt urdu and faarsi at home from his grandfather. Published diivaan in 1985!
rasaa – bharatendu harishchandra
1850-1885 – 3rd generation poet. High calibre Ghazal. Later turned bitterly anti-urdu.
rashk sukhdev sharma
1935-xxxx rural area of punjab, now in pakistan. Headmaster of a local school, MA in urdu. ustaad – raghubirdas sahir sialkoTi. I found only one book. The compliments in his book by dozens of other shu’ara indicate the widespread education in urdu among all communities – hindu, muslim and sikh.
ratan panDorvi- panDit dula ram
(1909-1990), paThaankoT. Books – urdu instructional texts, interpretation of Ghalib, literary history and criticism, rules of versification and more.
ravaaN – jagat mohan lal
(1889-1934) unnao and lucknow. arabi and faarsi in unnao. BA, MA and LLB in lucknow. Practiced law. Several collections of Ghazal and rubaaii to his credit. Composed bits of ramayan in urdu and a long tribute to gautam buddh.
rehaani-syed shafat hanson
(1912-????), lukhnau and hyderabad. urdu and faarsi in raampur and later in punjab university. Christian urdu poet who with conventional Ghazal as well as Christian devotional nazm. Pastor at the Methodist Church in hyderabad.
renu – renu verma
renu verma (1974-living), exquisite urdu compositionyet her 2018 book says that she does not know how to read and write urdu.
rishi – rishi paTialavi
baam dev sharma rishi paTialavi (1917-1999) was progressive poet writing with much feeling about communal harmony.
saahil – raam chandr varma
(1947-living) Dera Ghazi KhaaN and dehli. mechanical and telecom engineer. Retd as Asst Dir, GoI Telecoms. Interest in urdu maybe inherited.
saaqi – panDit javaahar naath
(1864-1916) kashmiiri panDit, family legacy of service starting with akbar. Long line of poets. shaagird of saalik and zaki, both shaagird of Ghalib.
saaqi-subodh lal
(xxxx-xxxx) one of three sons of vinod lal taalib, a direct descendant of hargopal tufta, shaagird of Ghalib. His father and then aalam fatehpuri were his ustaad. Worked as a high-level officer in the government and later as President of ZTV.
sahaab – shiv dayal
(xxxx-xxxx) No clear dates. First divan, 1971. shaagird mela ram vafa (1895-1980). Testimonials about 25 years of service to urdu show a young poet in the mid 1940s. Editor ‘milaap’ chandigaRh. Did not receive shaa’eri in viraasat but passed to his son, ashok narula, published his divan even before his father.
sahaab-ajay paanDay
(1969-living) ICS officer, commisioner GST, jhaarkhanD. Grew up in surroundings completely devoid of urdu. Read sahir, firaq and faiz in devanagiri and fell in love with urdu. Taught himself reading and writing and started composing at 16-17.
sahar – mohindar singh bedi
(1909-1992) had to migrate to the Indian side after partition. In his writings he has reached across religious lines and national boundaries, writing about peace and harmony and odes to islamic as well hindu figures. The character of his compostions have a ring of sincere devotion and inclusiveness.
sahir dehlavi – panDit amarnath
(1863-1962) deeply affected by the cultural degeneration after 1857 war, turned to mysticism in shaa’eri. Scholar of sanskrit, arabi and faarsi.
sahir hoshiarpuri – raamprakash ohaari
(1913-1972), MA faarsi lahore. Family business. shaagird of labhuram josh malsiani, specialized in Ghazal of short bahr/meter.
sahir sialkoTi-raghubir das
1906-1984. BA sanaatan dharm college lahore. milaap daily, lahore. During partition lost all his work. In India worked for magazines. A college friend had a few of his Ghazal saved. shaagird of josh malsiani. Collection published in 1959.
sarshaar – mahashai jaimini
1904-1984 rural punjab speaking local version of arya samaaji language. Learnt urdu as an act of rebellion to become a sahib-e diivaan
seemab baTaalavi- panDit dharamviir
1923-xxxx. baTaala. shaagird successively of tilok chand mahroom, jagan nath azad and brahmadatt huma. Impressed by seemab akharabadi and adopted his taKhallus.
shaa’eq-sardar udai siNgh
1895-1987 fariidkoT. Lawyer. Was active in the mushaa’era circuit around paTiala, amritsar and dehli. His collection was published in 1968.
shaad – murli dhar
~1910-1950. His diivaan ‘gul o anjum’ was published posthumously. shaNkar-shaad Memorial Trust organizes annual hind-pak mushaa’era.
shaad – naresh kumar
naresh kumar shaad (1927-1969) prolific poet, writer, translator. Member Progressive Writers’ Association. Socialist/Communist.
shaadaaN gwalieri-uma shaNkar
(xxxx-xxxx). I could not find anything about the poet other than that he grew up around bhopal and gwalior. His collection, published in 1984, does not have a single word about him. It was selected and published by the madhya pradesh urdu academy. My guess is that at the time of the publication of his collection, he was already a mature person.
shaarib – manohar lal
(1920-1962) learnt urdu, farsi and arabi at home. High School. Agriculture Department in hyderabad. Progressive Circle of shu’ara.
shafaq-gopal krishn batta
1933-xxxx, paTiala. MA urdu in addition to a medical degree. He practiced as a physician. Organized Indo-pak mushaa’era annually in ambala. Formed a society of poets who met regularly. Published three collections of his own poetry, one in devnagiri script.
shankar – shankar lal
~1880-~1952. shaNkar-shaad Memorial Trust organizes hind-pak annual mushaa’era. diivaan ‘dair o haram’ unavailable.
shauq – panDit jagmohan raina
(1863-xxxx) two volumes of his diivan, 1940 and 1947. With panDit brijkishan kaul beKhabar, two large volumes of urdu and faarsi selections of kashmiri panDits.
shifa dehlavi-prem lal
1914-xxxx) najafgaRh (near dehli. medical degree 1934. started practice. Learnt Russian and French took degrees in 1954. seven languages urdu, hindi, sanskrit, English and some German. urdu translations of classical Russian poems. interested in shaa’eri from childhood. memorized ash’aar of many masters. started composing and became shaagird of fazl-e ilaahi maKhmoor dehlavi. First publication was translation of Russian poems. His own collection published in 1959.
sho’la – dwarka das
1910-1983 lahore, later dehli. Very successful pharmacy business. No formal education. urdu lover.
suroor – durga sahay
(1873-1910) died young, probably because of excessive drinking. Tellingly, his books are named Khum-kada-e suroor, paimaana-e suroor, and Khum-Khaana-e suroor. He wrote about hindu religious themes also and moved easily and rhythmically between chaste urdu/farsi and hindi/khaRi boli.
talKh – manmohan shukla
(1931-2001), naagpur, maharashtra. At least six books of his collections of verse, but no bio. Probably an academic.
tarz – ganesh bihari srivastav
(1928-2008). BA LLB from lucknow. He worked in various legal and administrative positions. Started composing around 1949. Brother of kishan bihari noor.
vaqaar – rai kishan kumar
~1840-????, raja of muradabad, accomplished poet with two collections of Ghazal. Several in the zamin of Ghalib.
yakta-pramod lal
(xxxx-xxxx), dehra dun. PhD English literature. Taught various colleges in MP before settling down in dehra dun. One of three sons of vinod taalib, direct descendant of hargopal tufta, shaagird of Ghalib. Collection published in 2016.
zia-mahr lal soni
1913-1986, kapurthala, panjab. Even though he had no family tradition of urdu or shaa’eri, he fell in love with both at an early age and learnt at home from an ustaad. He got a BA and MA from Forman Christian College and served as student magazine editor. Worked at the Reserve Bank of India. He was a shaagird of seemab akbarabadi and has more than half a dozen collections to his credit.
