UPHESC Assistant Professor Urdu 2025 PYQs

Concept: This celebrated Sufi ghazal is by Siraj Aurangabadi (1715–1763).

1. Its radif "rahi" and the theme of self-annihilation in love (be-khabari) are his hallmark.
2. Wali Dakani and Wajhi are earlier; Mir is a Delhi poet with a different idiom.

Short trick: "Khabar-e-tahayyur-e-ishq sun" = Siraj — "the lamp" of Aurangabad.

Concept: Mulla Wajhi, poet of the Qutb Shahi court of Golconda, wrote both.

1. Qutb Mushtari (1609) — masnavi on the love of Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah.
2. Sab Ras (1635) — allegorical prose, the first literary prose book of Urdu (Dakhni).
3. Ghawwasi wrote Saif-ul-Mulook o Badi-ul-Jamal and Tuti Nama.

Short trick: Wajhi = one masnavi (Qutb Mushtari) + one prose (Sab Ras).

Concept: Wajhi's masnavi Qutb Mushtari was completed, by the poet's own closing verse, in 1018 AH ("sana yak hazar aur athara"), in twelve days.

1. 1018 AH began on 6 April 1609 and ended in March 1610, so the work dates to 1609 CE — the year standard histories of Urdu literature give.
2. 1608 (D) is a year too early; 1611 is the year of Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah's death; 1655/1659 are far too late (Wajhi's Sab Ras itself is of 1635).
3. Since the correct year, 1609, is not among the options, no option is right as printed — the question is treated as a bonus.

Short trick: Qutb Mushtari = 1018 AH = 1609 CE; Sab Ras = 1635.

Concept: Khoob Tarang (1578) by Shaikh Khoob Muhammad Chishti of Ahmedabad is a Sufi masnavi in Gujri.

1. It explains mystic ideas in rhymed couplets — the masnavi form.
2. It is one of the main works of early Gujri (Gujarati Urdu).

Short trick: Long narrative/teaching poem in couplets = masnavi.

Concept: Chiragh-e-Dair is Ghalib's Persian masnavi (108 couplets) in praise of Banaras; its Urdu verse translation is credited to the Banaras Ghalib-scholar Prof. Hanif Naqvi.

1. Ghalib wrote it in 1827 while staying in Banaras on his way to Calcutta.
2. Hanif Naqvi (BHU) is known for his research on Ghalib (e.g. "Ghalib: Ahwal-o-Aasaar").
3. The other professors are known as critics, not for this translation.

Short trick: Banaras poem → Banaras scholar (Hanif Naqvi).

Concept: Mir Hasan's Sehr-ul-Bayan (1785) is called the "crown" of Urdu masnavis.

1. Story of Prince Benazir and Badr-e-Munir; natural language, vivid scenes of Awadh society.
2. Critics (Azad, Hali) ranked it above all other masnavis.

Short trick: "Sehr-ul-Bayan" = magic of expression = sartaj.

Concept: Fort William College, Calcutta, was founded in 1800 by Lord Wellesley.

1. Purpose: to teach Indian languages to East India Company officers.
2. John Gilchrist headed the Hindustani department; Mir Amman, Hyder Bakhsh Haidari, Sher Ali Afsos etc. wrote simple Urdu prose there.

Short trick: Fort William = 1800 = start of the 19th century of Urdu prose.

Concept: Abru is the pen-name of Najmuddin Shah Mubarak (d. 1733), a leading poet of the iham (pun) school of Delhi.

1. He was popularly known as Shah Mubarak.
2. Mirza Nausha is Ghalib's nickname; "Mirza Khan" is Daagh's name (Nawab Mirza Khan).

Short trick: Abru = Shah Mubarak; Ghalib = Mirza Nausha.

Concept: Governor-General Lord Wellesley founded Fort William College (1800).

1. Gilchrist ran its Hindustani department but did not found the college.
2. Garcin de Tassy was a French orientalist; Bentinck came later (1828–35).

Short trick: Founder = Wellesley; Urdu work = Gilchrist.

Concept: Insha Allah Khan Insha wrote Rani Ketki ki Kahani deliberately without any Arabic-Persian (or foreign) word.

1. He announced that the tale would use "theth Hindi" only — no Arabic, Persian or Turkish words.
2. Sab Ras, Phool Ban and Karbal Katha freely use Persian-Arabic vocabulary.

Short trick: Insha's experiment = pure Hindavi tale.

Concept: Karbal Katha (1732) by Fazl Ali Fazli is regarded as the first prose book of North Indian Urdu.

1. It is a translation of Rauzat-ush-Shuhada on the events of Karbala.
2. Nau Tarz-e-Murassa (Tahseen), Darya-e-Latafat (Insha, 1807) and Ajaib-ul-Qasas (Shah Alam II) are later.

Short trick: First North Indian Urdu prose = Karbal Katha (1732).

Concept: Faryad-e-Daagh is Daagh Dehlvi's masnavi, about his love for the singer Munni Bai Hijab.

1. Gulzar-e-Daagh and Yadgar-e-Daagh are his diwans (ghazal collections).
2. Insha-e-Daagh is a collection of his letters.

Short trick: Faryad (complaint) = the love-story masnavi.

Concept: Masood Husain Khan (Muqaddima-e-Tareekh-e-Zaban-e-Urdu) held that old Urdu was formed directly under Haryanvi influence.

1. He located the birthplace in the Delhi–Meerut region where Haryanvi and Khari Boli meet.
2. Sherani = Punjab; Zor = Hindustani Lisaniyat (Punjab/Delhi region via Prakrit).

Short trick: Masood Husain Khan → Haryanvi.

Concept: Urdu belongs to the Indo-European family (Indo-Aryan branch).

1. Arabic is Semitic, Turkish is Turanian/Altaic, Tamil-Telugu are Dravidian.
2. Urdu borrows Arabic-Turkish words but its grammar is Indo-Aryan.

Short trick: Grammar decides the family: Urdu grammar = Indo-Aryan.

Concept: Naqsh-e-Farang by Qazi Abdul Ghaffar is a travelogue of his journey to Europe ("Farang").

1. Qazi Abdul Ghaffar is also known for Laila ke Khutoot and Majnoon ki Diary.
2. "Farang" = Europe — a hint that it is a safarnama.

Short trick: Naqsh-e-Farang = impressions of Europe = safarnama.

Concept: The passage is from Maulana Abul Kalam Azad's Ghubar-e-Khatir (letters written in Ahmednagar Fort jail, 1942–45).

1. The philosophic tone — restlessness is life, rest is death (the wave image) — is typical of these letters to Habibur Rahman Khan Sherwani.
2. Nairang-e-Khayal is Muhammad Husain Azad's; Si Para-e-Dil is Khwaja Hasan Nizami's.

Short trick: Prison letters full of philosophy = Ghubar-e-Khatir.

Concept: Sahil aur Samundar is the travelogue of Prof. Syed Ehtesham Husain (his journey to Europe/America).

1. Ehtesham Husain was a leading Marxist critic of Lucknow.
2. Shibli wrote Safarnama-e-Rum-o-Misr-o-Sham.

Short trick: Critic Ehtesham → travelogue "Sahil aur Samundar".

Concept: Urdu-e-Mualla (1869) is a collection of Ghalib's Urdu letters.

1. Ud-e-Hindi (1868) was the first collection of his Urdu letters; Urdu-e-Mualla followed.
2. His Persian letters are in Panj Ahang.

Short trick: Ud-e-Hindi + Urdu-e-Mualla = Ghalib's Urdu letters.

Concept: Si Para-e-Dil is a collection of essays (mazameen) by Khwaja Hasan Nizami.

1. Hasan Nizami was famous for short, lyrical essays on ordinary things (e.g. "Jhingur ka Janaza", "Diya Salai").
2. His other works include Begmat ke Aansu and Gadar ki Subh-o-Sham.

Short trick: Hasan Nizami = mazmoon-nigar → Si Para-e-Dil = essays.

Concept: Musafir ki Diary is the travelogue of Begum Hasrat Mohani (Nishatun Nisa), wife of Hasrat Mohani.

1. She accompanied Hasrat on his journeys and recorded them; her letters and travel accounts have been published together.
2. She is counted among the early women travel-writers of Urdu.

Short trick: Hasrat = traveller-politician; his wife wrote the "Musafir ki Diary".