PERSIAN POET PANDIT
TABA RAM TURKI ( 1776-1847 )
Sometime back , Shri
Surrinder Turki informed me that he
belonged to the family of Turkis living in Karan Nagar. He sent a mail
to me saying that he happens to
be a direct descendant of Pandit Taba Ram Turki. He has also confirmed that his
ancestors resided in Rainawari where from they moved out long back.
Coming to Pandit Taba Ram Turki , I need to add that this learned Pandit was a Persian poet of exceptional quality . His poetry books can be seen in some Central Asian countries . Nabi
Hadi's book titled 'Dictionary of Indo-Persian literature' Published in 1995 , specifically mentions his
name at page 134. A galaxy of Persian scholars are included in
this book .Another Book Published by Beta Script Publishing Titled ' Pandit Taba Ram Turki …ISBN
978-613-2-48456-7' deals exclusively with Persian poetry of Taba Ram Turki.
Ronald Cohn and Jesse Russel have jointly edited 84 page paperback book on life and works Pandit Taba Ram Turki published in 2013. This book, Published in English under ISBN - 10:5512054953 and ISBN - 13:9785512054956 is sold for US $27.95.
Pandit Taba Ram Turki
Wrote under the pen name 'Betab '. It was a practice
among Kashmiri Pandits to use Sun ( Aftab Ram
or Aftab joo ) , Moon ( Zoona Ded
or Zoona Maal ) and stars ( Tarakh Kak or Tarakh Joo ) as names .Taba is a short cut
for Aftab meaning the Sun , luminous and source of natural light.
Just across Jogi lanker bridge in Rainawari ,there used to be
a cluster of Turkis . They lived close to the old house of Pandit Sham Lal Saraf ( Minister in the first cabinet of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah ) . Many Turkis moved out to live in other areas of Srinagar city . A family moved to Punjab
much before 1947 in search of employment . Three or four families of Turkis continued to live in this area till January 1990. I happened to know the families
of Pandit Amar Nath Turki and Shri Makhan Lal
Turki .
Pandit Taba Ram belonged to this Turki clan of Jogilanker , Rainawari . I also had a friend cum school mate from this family . And Turkis from Rainawari , whom I knew , were
ignorant of their glorious ancestor ,Pandit Taba Ram Turki 'Betab'.
Pandit Taba Ram wrote
Masnavis ( long epic poems with historical or philosophical themes ). I am
informed that his Masanavis were prescribed in post graduation studies in the University of Tehran. He was a Persian
scholar who could also read and write Arabic. It is believed that he was a student of Pandit
Daya Ram Kachru (1743 A.D. to 1811 A.D.) another Arabic and Persian scholar from Kashmir . So was he very close to Pandit Birbal Kachru (1789 -
1859 A.D.) Persian scholar ,historian,
Poet and writer who wrote voluminous history of Kashmir In Persian .
Persian language attained the status of official language
during the Mughal rule ( 1586-1753 ) in
Kashmir. This status was retained the
during the Afghan rule (1753-1819) . This being so, many Kashmiri writers and scholars turned
towards Persian language and wrote / produced number of books on history, literature
and poetry . Though Ghani Kashmiri remains the
tallest and most popular Persian poet to this day in Persian literature yet
no less is the contribution of Pandit Taba Ram Turki to the Persian literature. His contribution has brought
forth noteworthy remarks from competent critics that in the mastery of
the Persian language , Pandit Taba Ram and some Kashmiri Pandits were second only
to the Persians.
J.K. Banerji in his book 'Encyclopaedia of Kashmir' chapter 16 ( From
the Cultural past to the Front ) writes :
"Outstanding among the Hindu Pandits who made important
contributions to Persian poetry may be mentioned the name of Pandit Taba Ram
Turki 'Betab' whose Jang Nama reached classic heights."
Noted historian and author Gwasha Lal Kaul Chapter 17 ( Cultural Heritage ) from the book “Encyclopaedia of Kashmir” writes this:-
"Jangnama by Taba Ram Turki stands on the
same footing as Shahnama of Firdausi".
Pandit taba Ram was a
Personal friend of Mulla Mohd Taufiq
( author Shahnama e Kashmir In Persian ). Mullah Muhammad
Taufiq belonged to the
family of Judoha,
and resided in
the vicinity of
Jamia Masjid, Srinagar .He was a pupil
of Mullah Sati,
and became a
well known poet of his time. Taufiq is regarded by some as next only to
Ghani. He occupied
the foremost position among
the poets of
the day. In
addition to his
Diwan, he has
written treatise titled 'Shaibt,
Sarufa, Bahi i Lavil'.
Poet , writer and scientists , Ayaz Rasool Nazki adds this :
"After his education, Taba Ram Turki was appointed a 'Kardar' and spent most of his service career at village Breng in Anantnag area. He was a frequent visitor to the darbar of Pt. Raj Kak Dhar who was himself a gifted poet and wrote under takhalus 'Farukh'. On one occasion , someone recited Mulla Tawfeeqs sher ....which was applauded by all . Raj Kak threw a challenge ...can anyone compose a better verse in same meter etc....Betab took the challenge and produced a master piece...he had put a condition that he will be suitably rewarded....Raj Kak ordered his men to deliver 100 kharwars of paddy at Betabs residence.And Tawfeeq Sher is...
Poet , writer and scientists , Ayaz Rasool Nazki adds this :
"After his education, Taba Ram Turki was appointed a 'Kardar' and spent most of his service career at village Breng in Anantnag area. He was a frequent visitor to the darbar of Pt. Raj Kak Dhar who was himself a gifted poet and wrote under takhalus 'Farukh'. On one occasion , someone recited Mulla Tawfeeqs sher ....which was applauded by all . Raj Kak threw a challenge ...can anyone compose a better verse in same meter etc....Betab took the challenge and produced a master piece...he had put a condition that he will be suitably rewarded....Raj Kak ordered his men to deliver 100 kharwars of paddy at Betabs residence.And Tawfeeq Sher is...
shikasta
rangiye man ba tabeeb dar jung ast
ilaje darde saram husne sandali rang ast
Betab sher is ......
siyah bakhtam wa
az bakhte khaesh khursandam
chara ki bakhte man wa zulfe yar hum rang ast..."
Mulla Taufiq and Taba
Ram would share ideas and poems by
seeing each other or through exchange of letters . He was a witness to defeat of Afghans and arrival of sikh forces of
Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Lahore . Defeat of Azim khan the Afghan governor in the battle at shopian ashmir has been versified
by him in his “Jangnama “. Betab also composed 'Ranjit Nama 'and 'Akbar Nama'
. Akbar Nama relates to Wazir Akbar Khan
or Amir Akbar khan ( 1816-1845 ), a Pashto speaking Afghan prince. He was a General and finally Emir for about three
years until his death. Apart from a valiant fighter , he was a lover of fine arts . Wazir Akbar Khan led the revolt
in Kabul against the British forces of William McNaughten, Alexander Burnes and Major-General William Elphinstone .
Pandit Taba Ram was was also summoned by Akbar Khan to Kabul and honoured for his skill as Persian poet . He also visited Lahore and was honoured by
Maharaja Ranjit singh in his Darbar where he also met the powerful and influential Raja Dina Nath , a Kashmiri Pandit and the Finance
Minister of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
In 1861, 14 years after his death,
a comprehensive Diwan of poems of
Pandit Taba Ram Turki was published .
(Avtar Mota )
CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.
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