Ahmaq Phaphoondvi (1895-1957) was the alias of Mohammad Mustafa Khan, an Indian

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

, and

freedom fighter A freedom fighter is a person engaged in a struggle to achieve political freedom, particularly against an established government. The term is typically reserved for those who are actively involved in armed or otherwise violent rebellion. Termi ...

. He is known for his contributions to literature, especially his satirical

ghazals ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

targeting the

British Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Phaphoondvi spent many years in the Aligarh jail for his active participation in the struggle for independence, including the Swaraj Movement and his association with the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

Early life and Career

Ahmaq Phaphoondvi was born as Mohammad Mustafa Khan into a knowledgeable and respected

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

family from the

Yousafzai The Yusufzai or Yousafzai (, ), also referred to as the Esapzai (, ), or Yusufzai Afghans historically, are one of the largest tribes of Pashtuns. They are natively based in the northern part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ( Malakand, Dir, Swat, Shangl ...

tribe, Ahmaq's ancestors had migrated to the

Farrukhabad Farrukhabad is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Farrukhabad tehsil. This city is on the banks of river Ganges is from the national capital Delhi and from the state capital Lucknow. His ...

district during the

Mughal rule The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

. After his grandfather was hanged for his role in the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

against the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

, his father relocated to Phaphund. His father established a successful publishing press in 1862, which operated until 1921, when Ahmaq was jailed. Afterward, the press declined and eventually ceased. After the death of his father in 1912, he went to Madrassa-ul-Uloom in

Budaun Budaun (romanised: Badāʾūn or Badāyūn, ) is a medieval city and headquarters of Budaun district, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located about a mile east of the Sot river, and 27 km north of the Ganges, in the Rohilkhand ...

to learn

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

. Following this he went to the Tibbia College in Delhi, where he studied medicine for two and a half years.

Resistance and work

Poetry and jail

From a young age, he demonstrated exceptional talent and became a remarkable poet. In 1919 he was inspired by the

's work and joined their cause, as a result he was jailed by the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

in 1921. However, he continued to write from his cell in the

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Koil) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the capital, New Delhi. ...

Jail. His

have been compiled into several books, to name a few: ''Sang-o-Khisht'', ''Naksh-i-Hikmat'' and the well-known ''Josh-o-Amal''. An example of his poetry includes:

''"Look at the turmoil and the bloodshed among our people, The cleverness of the English mind is used up in all such schemes, this murder and mayhem, wars and battles, cruelties and malice, The country’s garden is barren, with nothing but dust and desolation" (Extract from: 'The cleverness of the English Mind', Original title: 'Angrezi Zehn Ki Tezi')''

Linguist

Ahmaq or Mustafa, was well versed in multiple languages, including:

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

. He had previously compiled several dictionaries, including Pali-Urdu, Sanskrit-Urdu, Persian-Urdu. In 1950, his former cellmate, Shri Narayan Prasad, suggested that he write an Urdu-Hindi dictionary, recognizing that many historical documents at the time were in Persian and Urdu and needed to be translated into Hindi. It took him three and a half year to compile this dictionary. It was published by the

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

Government and in service of the

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

Sampurnanand Sampurnanand (1 January 1891 – 10 January 1969) was an Indian teacher and politician who served as the second Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from 1954 until 1960, and later as Governor of Rajasthan. Serving for five years and 344 days, he ...

. The dictionary is still published and used in India.

Death

Ahmaq died on 8 August 1957, leaving behind a legacy of resistance, literary contributions, and dedication to independence. The poet Khalid Ahmad was his son, born to his second wife, Anwar Jahan Begum, who migrated to

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phaphoondvi, Ahmaq 1895 births 1957 deaths Urdu-language poets from India 20th-century Indian linguists Indian independence activists People from Farrukhabad