>Al-khataei at 05:21, 25 March 2021

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{{short description|18th-century poet and scholar}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2017}}
{{Infobox scholar
| name = Azad Bilgrami
| image =
| imagesize =
| alt =
| caption =
| othernames = Ghulam 'Ali Azad Bilgrami
| birth_name = 
| birth_date = 29 June 1704<ref>Encyclopedia of Islam, Vol I. p. 104, Printed in Lahore, 1964</ref>
| birth_place = [[Bilgram]], [[Mughal India]] now [[Uttar Pradesh]], India
| death_date = 15 September 1786<ref>Encyclopedia of Islam, Vol I. p. 106, Printed in Lahore, 1964</ref> (aged 82)
| death_place =
| death_cause =
| era =
| alma_mater =
| school_tradition =
| main_interests = Arabic, Persian and Urdu
| principal_ideas =
| major_works = Yad-i-Baiza, Ma asir ul-Kiram Tarikh-i-Bilgram, Sarw-i-Azad
| awards =
| influences = Mir Abdul Jalil of Selsibil, Mir Saiad Muhammad, Muhammad Hayat
| influenced = Nasir Jang
| footnotes =
}}

'''Azad Bilgrami''' (29 June 1704 – 15 September 1786) was a scholar of [[Arabic]], [[Persian language|Persian]] and [[Urdu]] languages in 18th century [[India]]. The King of Yemen [[Al-Mansur al-Husayn II|Husayin II]] had acknowledged his poetic qualities and accorded him the title of Hassan Al-Hind.<ref>[http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/2004/16-31Mar04-Print-Edition/1603200444.htm Seminar on Maulana Azad Bilgrami]</ref><ref>[http://www.salaam.co.uk/knowledge/biography/viewentry.php?id=422 Biographical Data]</ref><ref>[http://www.urducouncil.nic.in/urdu_wrld/u_auth/index_all.htm Urdu Authors] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301184839/http://www.urducouncil.nic.in/urdu_wrld/u_auth/index_all.htm |date=1 March 2012 }}</ref>

== Early life ==
His original name was Mir Ghulam Ali Husaini Wasiti, although he is best known as Ghulam 'Ali Azad Bilgrami. He was born in [[Bilgram]], India, a small town in the Indian state of [[Uttar Pradesh]]. He gained a reputation for possessing command over all topics of literature and learning. He was instructed in language by Mir Abdul Jalil of Selsibil; in [[prosody (linguistics)|prosody]] and literature by Mir Saiad Muhammad; in the Koran by Muhammad Hayat; and in all excellences{{Vague| date= January 2013}} by 'Abdul Wabhat Tantawi.{{Citation needed|date=August 2013}} According to the Masalati Shuara, he studied eloquence with Muhammad Aslam Salim and Shaikh Saad Ullah Gulshan of Ahmedabad.<ref name="Gazetter of Aurangabad">Gazetter of Aurangabad – H. H. The Nizam's Government 1884 pg 415–427</ref>
As a youth he left Bilgram and stayed for two years in [[Delhi]]. He visited [[Lahore]] and [[Multan]] and made acquaintance with scholars of these cities, and lived for five years in the province of [[History of Sindh|Sind]]. He then traveled to the cities of [[Mecca]] and [[Medina]], where he devoted himself to religious studies particularly specializing in [[Six major Hadith collections|Sihah-i-Sittah]] i.e. six books of traditions of [[Muhammad al-Bukhari|Muhammad Ismail Bukhari]], [[Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj|Muslim Nishapuri]], [[Ibn Majah]], [[Abu Dawood|Abu Daud]], [[Al-Tirmidhi|Abu Isa Tirmizi]] and Abu Abdul Rehman Nisai.<ref name="Dictionary of Indo-Persian literature">Dictionary of Indo-Persian literature – pg 101</ref>

== Life in Aurangabad ==
He returned from [[Hijaz]] to India and lived in the city of [[Aurangabad Maharashtra|Aurangabad]], [[Deccan Plateau|Deccan]] till his death. [[Nasir Jang Mir Ahmad|Nasir Jang]] and other nobles of the [[Nizam]]’s state were his devotees but he avoided worldly favours and preferred a life of piety and poverty. Azad was a poet and a biographer of poets. He was the friend of [[Shams ud Daula Shah Nawaz Khan|Shah Nawaz Khan]], and when the latter was murdered, he collected his friend's manuscripts ([[Ma'asir al-umara]]) which were scattered in all directions, and published them.<ref name="Gazetter of Aurangabad" />

Azad compiled his two diwans of poetry in Arabic and Persian. Among the works of lasting value were the dictionaries of poets.<ref name="Dictionary of Indo-Persian literature" />

== Works ==
* ''Yad-i-Baiza'' – Biographies of 532 poets.
* ''Ma asir ul-Kiram Tarikh-i-Bilgram'', which dealt with 80 sufis and 70 learned men of the author's home town.
* ''Sarw-i-Azad'' – sketches of 143 poets born in India.
* ''Khizanah-i-Amirah'' – notices of 135 poets famous for obtaining rich rewards from potrons. It also contained details of events to which Azad was eye witnesses.
* ''Rauzat ul Auliya'' – on lives of saints buried in [[Khuldabad]].
* ''Ghizlan ul Hind'' – a book on Indian womanhood as reflected in Persian literature.
* ''Anis ul Muhaqqiqin'' – on Indian saints.

Azad's skill as a poet, especially as a panegyrist of [[Muhammad]], has long been recognized. His one critically edited Arabic work, the ''Subhat al-marjan'' (The Coral Rosary), is approvingly cited for its praise of India, which describes India as the first domicile of [[Adam]] and for Azad's knowledge of Indian languages and culture, and for his literary-critical and poetic sensibilities.<ref>[http://syedakbarindia.blogspot.com/2004/07/india-is-land-of-prophets-say-muslim.html India is a land of prophets]</ref><ref>[http://www.markazulmaarif.org/onlinereading/HHAUFl/HHAUFl.htm India: The Land and its Excellence] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304212413/http://www.markazulmaarif.org/onlinereading/HHAUFl/HHAUFl.htm |date=4 March 2009 }}</ref>

The ''Miratu-l Khayal'' ("Mirror of fancy") by Shir Khan Lodi states that "the author of the Khazanahi A'amirah ... composed the Tazkirah at the request of his relation Muhammad Auladi Muhammad. Ibrahim Khalil gives the life of ' Azad in his Suhuf, and states that " up to the present time, which is the 7th year of Shah 'Alam, he is still occupied in the composition of Persian and Arabic poetry. His works are numerous, and among others, he has arranged three Tazkirahs of poets,-the first called Yadi Bayza; the; second Servi Azad; and the third Khazanahi Aamirah."{{Citation needed|date=August 2013}}

In the Khulasat ul 'Afkar, it is mentioned that "Azad was a distinguished poet settled at Aurangabad, where he was much honoured, and associated on friendly terms with the sons of 'Asaf Jah. He wrote a Persian diwan, and a book of Arabic elegies and mesnawis. His Tazkirahs are considered noble proofs of his proficiency in everything connected with prosody, versification, and composition, both in Persian and Arabic."<ref name="Gazetter of Aurangabad" />

== Recognition ==
His works in [[Persian literature|Persian]] and [[Arabic]] have been cited by scholars and historians since they appeared, although Azad's Persian works have received more scholarly attention than his Arabic ones.{{Citation needed|date= August 2012}} He was celebrated in India, Arabia, and Egypt for his learning and literature.<ref name="Gazetter of Aurangabad" />

He is buried near the [[Dargah]] of [[Sufi]] saint Amir Hasan Dihlawi Sijzi (d.1336) at [[Khuldabad]] near [[Aurangabad Maharashtra|Aurangabad]] in [[India]].

== See also ==
{{portal|Poetry}}
*[[Wali Mohammed Wali|Wali Dakhni]]
*[[Siraj Aurangabadi]]
*[[Sikandar Ali Wajd]]
*[[Sufi Saints of Aurangabad]]
*[[Khuldabad]]
*[[Urdu]]
*[[Urdu poetry]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Indian male poets]]
[[Category:Persian-language poets]]
[[Category:Indian Arabic-language poets]]
[[Category:Indian Muslims]]
[[Category:People from Aurangabad, Maharashtra|Aurangabad]]
[[Category:1704 births]]
[[Category:1786 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Marathwada]]
[[Category:18th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:Poets from Maharashtra]]
[[Category:18th-century male writers]]
[[Category:Urdu-language poets]]

Azad Bilgrami - Revision history

>Al-khataei at 05:21, 25 March 2021