Mohtashim Kashani's Marsiya 'Dawazdeh Band'.

Tomb of Mohtashim Kashani in Iran

Dr.Mazhar Naqvi

Have you heard of ‘Dawazdeh Band’? The answer to the question will mostly be in negative. There is virtually no awareness about the first elegy (Marsiya) written in the history on the troubles and martyrdom of Imam Hussain in India now. This is quite surprising as the translation of Dawazdeh Band was also released in early 2015 both in Urdu and Hindi at the shrine of Qazi Nurullah Shustri in Agra. But since then, there has been no effort to ensure availability of the translated version of the elegy written Persian by 16^th century poet Mohtashim Kashani.

Mohtashim was born in 1500.His father was a prominent cloth merchant. He also began as a cloth merchant but lost interest in business after suffering a setback. He dedicated his life to composition of elegiac poetry. Mohtashim’s fame  today rests almost entirely on his elegy in twelve strophes (Davazdeh-Band) on the martyrdom of Imam Hussain at Karbala in 680 AD. This poem earned him tremendous popularity in his  lifetime. The contemporary literary biographer Awḥadi Balyani has remarked  “if his poetry were limited to this one work, it would be enough”.  E. G. Browne also  praises the work as  “true pathos and religious feeling” expressed in the “extraordinarily simple and direct” language of the poem.Even a Marxist critic like Jan Rypka is taken by its “charm of genuine sincerity and intimacy.” Recently, Karen Ruffle has pointed out how Mohtashim integrated the pre-Islamic Arabic tradition of women’s elegy into Muharram ceremonies that had received a new impetus under the  Safavid empire.

 The poem reached the peak of its popularity during the Qajar period, generating dozens of responses and imitations.So long as Persian remained a popular language, recital of Dawazdeh Band was an integral part of Muharram mourning in India. As the number of Persian knowing people dwindled, recital of Kashani’s elegy also lost touch with the Hindi-Urdu knowing generation and Dawazdeh Band became a thing of past.

Under such a situation,Prof. Syed Azizuddin Hussain Hamdani, Director of Rampur Raza Library and former Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Languages, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi felt the need of Urdu and Hindi translation of Kashani’s work so that a wider audience could understand the famous Marsiya. He fulfilled this need in the form of a book titled’ Dawazdeh Band-Mohtashim Kashani’ and released it at the famous Dargah of Shustri at the invitation of Maulana Shauzab Jarvali.

Prof. Azizuddin has included the Urdu translation done by his grandfather late Hakim Syed Riazuddin Hussain Hamdani in the book while Prof. Balram Shukla of Sanskrit Department, University of Delhi did its hindi translation. The translated version has a detailed introduction about the Marsiya. Another important aspect of his book is the replication of a historic manuscript present in the Rampur Raza Library. The translation by Dr. Balram Shukla is also a rare achievement of 21st century literature because his translation of the Persian Marsiya in Hindi is also in poetic form.

            

Imam Hussain was the grandson of Prophet Muhammad and he was martyred with his at Karbala by the forces of tyrant Caliph Yazid in 680 AD. Even his family members, including his six month old Hazrat Ali Asghar were not spared. The enemies also denied access to water to Imam and his band of followers. They killed him with three days of thirst and hunger. Imam had to suffer because he had preferred honorable death than to give seal of approval to Un-Islamic activities of Yazid. Since then, Karbala has been a favorite theme of poets to highlight not only the sacrifice of Imam but also use it as symbol against tyranny and injustice whenever it raises its head in any part of the world. Many poets have written Marsiyas to describe the tragic events of that battle. One of the earliest Marsiyas was written by Kashani in  16th century. Mir Anees and Mirza Dabeer, two famous Marsiya writers from India, took the art of Marsiya writing to its pinnacle in 18^th century Awadh. However, Kashani is a household name still in Iran and his tomb is frequented by his admirers regularly.(References available on request. Photo Courtesy-Google Images).