Politics, Public Issues and the Promotion of Urdu Literature: Avadh ...

ULRIKE STARK • 87October 1871 at the request of the Maharaja of Patiala. He died in 1876 atthe early age of thirty. 55A new era dawned for AA when, in 1870, Maulvµ Ghul≥m Mu√ammadKh≥n (d. 1904) assumed the editorship of the paper. A native of Delhi, hehad spent part of his youth in the company of the Nawab of Patauri andsubsequently gained experience as a journalist and editor in Meerut andother places. Ghul≥m Mu√ammad Kh≥n was a pupil of Mirz≥ Gh≥lib andcomposed poetry in Persian and Urdu under the pen name “Tapish.”During the eight years of his editorship AA thrived. 56 Relations betweenhim and Munshi Naval Kishore, which for the longest time had beenamiable, took a dramatic turn in 1876, when, after a supposedly seriousaltercation between the two men, Ghul≥m Mu√ammad Kh≥n was dismissed.What prompted the dispute is not known. It may have had to dowith Ghul≥m Mu√ammad Kh≥n’s editorial policy, notably his overt supportof Sir Sayyid A√mad Kh≥n’s reformist paper Tahÿµbu ’l-Akhl≥q which,as noted earlier, caused Munshi Naval Kishore some embarrassment. Atall events, it was none other than Sir Sayyid who personally came to theeditor’s rescue: in an article appearing in the Aligarh Institute Gazette of29 September 1876 he expressed his deep regret over Ghul≥mMu√ammad’s dismissal and pointed out that Naval Kishore had carelesslylet go of one of the most capable editors of his paper, to whom AA owedits entire success. 57The letter did not fail in its purpose: Ghul≥mMu√ammad was promptly reinstalled in his capacity as editor. Yet, he didnot remain with AA for much longer; several months later he decided toresign as editor and leave the paper for good. In May 1877 he informedthe readers of AA that having devoted all his energy to the paper for thepast eight years and having ruined his health and eyesight in the process,he was to quit AA and start his own paper Mushµr-e QaiΩar-e Hindinstead. 58There is a rather dubious claim, probably going back to Garcin deTassy, that, following Tapish, for a short period Maul≥n≥ Sayyid Amjad‘Alµ “Ashharµ” (b. 1851) took charge of the paper. 59 This claim is not sub-55 Garcin de Tassy, 1876, pp. 136–7.56 Apparently Munshµ Fid≥ ‘Alµ “‘Aish” was assistant editor at the time.N∑r≥nµ, p. 74.57 The article is reprinted in Khurshµd, p. 182.58 For Tapish, see ¿≥birµ, pp. 99–104.59 Ibid., pp. 104–6.