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{{short description|Syncretic fusion of Hindu-Muslim cultures in Northern India}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
[[File:Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India - The emperor Jahangir celebrating the Festival of Holi with the ladies of the zenana - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|The [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] emperor [[Jahangir]] celebrating Holi with ladies of the [[zenana]].]]
[[File:Surahi in samrup rachna calligraphy.jpg|thumb|right|"Surahi" written in [[Samrup Rachna]] calligraphy used to write the [[Hindustani language]], the lingua franca of the [[North India|northern Indian subcontinent]].]]
{{Culture of India}}
'''''Ganga–Jamuni Tehzeeb''''' ([[Hindustani language|Hindustani]] for ''[[Ganges]]–[[Yamuna]] Culture''), also spelled as '''''Ganga-Jamni Tehzeeb''''', is the culture of the central plains of northern India,<ref name="Chari2018">{{cite news |last1=Chari |first1=Pushpa |title=Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb: Syncretic ethos in weaves and crafts |url=https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/ganga-jamuni-tehzeeb-syncretic-ethos-in-weaves-and-crafts/article24532379.ece |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |access-date=23 February 2020 |language=en |date=28 July 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6wRGDwAAQBAJ|title=Lives of Muslims in India: Politics, Exclusion and Violence|last=Shaban|first=Abdul|date=10 January 2018|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9781351227605|language=en}}</ref> especially the [[Doab#The Doab|doab region]] of [[Ganges]] (Ganga) and Yamuna rivers, that is a [[Religious syncretism#South and East Asian religions|syncretic fusion]] of [[Hindu]] cultural elements with [[Muslim]] religious elements.<ref name="Dhulipala2000">{{cite book |last1=Dhulipala |first1=Venkat |title=The Politics of Secularism: Medieval Indian Historiography and the Sufis |date=2000 |publisher=[[University of Wisconsin–Madison]] |page=27 |language=en|quote=The composite culture of northern India, known as the Ganga Jamuni tehzeeb was a product of the interaction between Hindu society and Islam.}}</ref><ref name="KBOL2000">{{cite book |title=Āzād Hindūstān, māz̤ī aur mustaqbil: rūdād aur maqāle, qaumī simīnār, munʻaqidah Jāmiʻah Hamdard, Naʼī Dihlī, 29-31 Agast 1998 |date=2000 |publisher=[[Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library]] |page=60 |language=en |quote=During their political rule, over a period of about 1000 years, both Hindus and Muslims lived together, shared each other's culture and gave rise to the emergence of a new type of Hindu-Muslim culture (Ganga-Jamuni Tahzib).}}</ref><ref name=oesterheld>{{citation|last=Oesterheld|first=Christina| title = Deconstructing" a 'Deconstructionist' Urdu Story: "Ek Kahani, Gangaa Jamni" by Kaisar Tamkeen|journal= Annual of Urdu Studies|volume=11|year=1996|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press}} Quote: " Ganga-Jamni may be translated as “two-colored” or “mixed” and is often used as an attribute of the composite north Indian culture, especially Indo-Muslim culture."</ref><ref name="ref57mapaf">{{Citation | title=Hindu, Sufi, or Sikh: contested practices and identifications of Sindhi Hindus in India and beyond | author=Steven Wesley Ramey | publisher=Macmillan, 2008 | isbn=978-0-230-60832-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BqUV3v57R0QC | quote=''... the continuing joint Muslim and Hindu participation in public festivals, relating it to "Ganga-Jamun Tahzeeb," the attitude of refined hospitality and harmonious relations that historically characterized this region ...''| date=15 September 2008 }}</ref><ref name="ref71puxod">{{Citation |title=Janata, Volume 62 |author= Socialist Party (India) | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Ig1DAAAAYAAJ |quote= ''... the ganga-jamuni tehzeeb (composite culture) regarded both religious communities as two eyes of a beautiful bride and their long history witnessed 'give-and-take', at many levels ...''|year= 2007 }}</ref><ref name=sync1>[https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/ganga-jamuni-tehzeeb-syncretic-ethos-in-weaves-and-crafts/article24532379.ece Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb: Syncretic ethos in weaves and crafts], [[The Hindu]], 18 July 2018.</ref>

K. Warikoo, Professor at the Centre for Inner Asian Studies at [[Jawaharlal Nehru University]] describes the concept as one exemplifying communal harmony and a shared culture between the Hindus and Muslims of India:<ref name="Warikoo2010">{{cite book |last1=Warikoo |first1=K. |title=Religion and Security in South and Central Asia |date=2010 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-89020-8 |page=86 |language=en}}</ref>
{{quotation|''Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb'' compares the Hindu-Muslim harmony and friendship to the holy confluence of India's major rivers - the Ganga and Yamuna. It assumes a peaceful merging of Hindu and Muslim culture and lifestyle in Banaras as expressed in their friendships, joint festivities and interdependence. As such, the ''Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb'' reminds people of the incomparable unison they share across religious communities. This in turn sets a parameter for the people to uphold the religious peace. The metaphor is especially popular in the intellectual discourse as it coincided well with the Nehruvian rhetoric of a composite culture.<ref name="Warikoo2010"/>|author=|title=|source=}}

Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb, a poetic [[Awadhi language|Awadhi phrase]] for a distinctive and syncretic Hindu-Muslim culture, is reflected in the [[Hindu–Islamic relations#Similarities|fused spiritual connotations]], forms, symbols, aesthetics, crafts and weaves, for example Kashmiri Muslim carpet makers feature [[Durga]] in their patterns, Muslim sculptors making [[Durga Puja|idols of Durga]], and Hindu craftsmen create the [[Muharram]] [[Ta'zieh|tazia]].<ref name=sync1>[https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/ganga-jamuni-tehzeeb-syncretic-ethos-in-weaves-and-crafts/article24532379.ece Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb: Syncretic ethos in weaves and crafts], [[The Hindu]], 18 July 2018.</ref><ref name=sync2/> This [[religious syncretism]] based on the [[vasudhaiva kutumbakam]], [[Unity in diversity#India|unity in diversity]] and [[Multiple religious belonging|multi-communitarianism]] is a result of centuries of [[Interfaith dialogue|interfaith exchange]] and [[Religious toleration|accommodation]] among [[Indian religions]] (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism) and foreign origin religions (Muslim and Christian) where in India communities preserve own cultural and religious identies while facilitating the shared celebration of festivals, customs and traditions.<ref name=sync2>[https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/standpoint-understanding-ganga-jamuni-tehzeeb-how-diverse-is-the-indian-multiculturalism-1995684 Understanding Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb: How diverse is the "Indian multiculturalism"], [[Daily News and Analysis]], 15 June 2014.</ref> The shared Indian national identity is separated from the personal religious identity where nation and common social good comes first above the personal religion.<ref name=sync2/>

Various iconic people of several religions related to the [[Bhakti movement]], a medieval initiative for the revival and recontextualisation of ancient [[Vedic civilization|Vedic traditions]],<ref name=karen15>Karen Pechilis Prentiss (2014), The Embodiment of Bhakti, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195351903}}, pages 15-16</ref> are example of this tehzeeb.

== Etymology ==
"Ganga-Jamni" [[Hindi]], literally, "mixed," "composite," "alloy,"<ref name=mcgregor>{{citation|last = McGregor|first=R. S.|title=Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary|chapter=गंगा-जमनी = mixed, composite, of whitish grey colour, made of alloy, an alloy|page=248|publisher=Oxford University Press|year =1993}}</ref><ref name=chaturvedi>{{citation|chapter=गंगा-जमुनी = made up of two colours or two metals (like gold and silver)|last=Chaturvedi|first=Mahendra|title=A Practical Hindi-English Dictionary|location=Delhi|publisher=National Publishing House|year=1970}}</ref><ref name=dasa-shabkosh>{{citation|quote=गंगाजमुनी (p. 1190) गंगाजमुनी— वि० [हिं० गंगा + जमुना] १. मिलाजुला । संकर । दो- रंगा । २. सोने चाँदी, पीतल ताँबे आदि दो धातुओं का बना हुआ । सुनहले रूपहले तारों का बना हुआ । जिसपर सोने चाँदी दोनों का काम हो । ३. काला उजला । स्याह सफेद । अबलक ; 2) गंगाजमुनी (p. 1190) गंगाजमुनी २— संज्ञा स्त्री० १. कान का एक गहना । २. वह दाल जिसमें अरहर और उर्द की दाल मिली हो । केवटी दाल । ३. जरतारी का ऐसा काम जिसमें सुनहले और रुपहले दोनों रंग के तार हों । ४. अफीम मिली हुई भाँग । अफीम से युक्त भाँग की सरदाई (बनारस)|last=Dasa|first=Syamasundara|title=Hindi sabdasagara, Navina samskarana|location=Kasi|publisher=Nagari Pracarini Sabha|year=1965–1975 |language=hi}}</ref> "Tahzeeb", Urdu, via Arabic: تہذيب tahẕīb edification, refinement, polish, culture.

==Revolutionary role of bhakti movement==
[[Surdas]], [[Guru Nanak]], [[Ravidas]], [[Kabir]], [[Bulleh Shah]], [[Tulsidas]], [[Gusainji]], [[Ramananda]], [[Eknath]], [[Tukaram]], [[Mirabai]] were some of the [[Bhakti movement#Poets, writers and musicians|prominent contributors]] of bhakti movement. One of the best examples of syncretic faith is captured in one of Kabir's [[Doha (Indian literature)|doha]] (verse), ''"some chant [[Allah]], some chant [[Rama|Ram]], Kabir is a worshiper of true love and hence reveres both."''

{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Devanagari
!Nastaliq
!Roman
!Translation
|-
|कोई जपे रहीम रहीम
कोई जपे है राम

दास कबीर है प्रेम पुजारी

दोनों को परनाम
|کوئی جپے رحیم رحیم
کوئی جپے ہے رام

داس کبیر ہے پریم پجاری

دونوں کو پرنام
|Koi jape rahim rahim
Koi jape hai ram

Das Kabir hai prem pujari

Dono ko parnaam
|Some chant O Merciful [Allah]
Some chant Ram

Kabir is a worshiper of true love

And reveres them both
|}

==Regional practices==

===Awadh===
[[Nawabs of Awadh]] were fore-runners of this culture.<ref>[http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-descendants-of-nawabs-keeping-holi-traditions-alive-1238039 Descendants of Nawabs keep Holi traditions alive], [[The Indian Express]], Tue 10 March 2009, 15:35 hrs</ref> The region of [[Awadh]] in the state of [[Uttar Pradesh]] is usually considered to be the center of this culture.<ref name="ref44qicar">{{Citation | title=The foundations of the composite culture in India | author=Malika Mohammada | publisher=Aakar Books, 2007 | isbn=978-81-89833-18-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dwzbYvQszf4C | quote=... developed in Awadh as a genre of composite creativity. ... of multiple Indian cultural traditions and provided glimpses of the Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb of north India with Lucknow as its centre ...| year=2007 }}</ref><ref name="FE20040822" /> [[Allahabad district|Allahabad]], [[Lucknow]], [[Kanpur]],<ref>https://m.timesofindia.com/city/kanpur/hindus-form-human-chain-around-muslim-baraat-in-violence-hit-kanpur-escort-them-to-safety/amp_articleshow/72976520.cms</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121103220857/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-05-13/lucknow/28188578_1_bada-mangal-aliganj-hanuman-temple-prayers-and-prasad Festival has origin in city's composite culture], [[Times of India|TNN]], 13 May 2009, 06.52am IST</ref><ref>[http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=117450 Karbala revisited] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111173449/http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=117450 |date=11 November 2013 }}, [[Indian Express Group|Express News Service]], Saturday , 12 February 2005</ref> [[Faizabad]]-[[Ayodhya]],<ref name="FE20040822">[http://www.financialexpress.com/news/plaint-of-ayodhya/113041/ Plaint Of Ayodhya], [[The Financial Express (India)|The Financial Express]], Sunday, 22 August 2004 at 0000 hrs IST</ref><ref>[http://www.deccanchronicle.com/national/twin-towns-welcome-verdict-humility-grace-741 Twin towns welcome verdict with humility, grace], [[Deccan Chronicle]], 1 October 2010</ref> and [[Varanasi]] ([[Benares]])<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121103220902/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-09-25/varanasi/28102916_1_goddess-durga-special-puja-durga-puja An apt reflection of Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb], Naveen Kumar, [[Times of India|TNN]], 25 September 2009, 10.09pm IST</ref><ref>[http://www.thehindu.com/arts/crafts/article868711.ece Stories behind the masks], Shailaja Tripathi, NEW DELHI, 4 November 2010, [[The Hindu]]</ref> are a few of the many centers of this culture.

===Delhi===
{{unreferenced section|date=January 2021}}
[[Delhi]] has also historically been a prime example of the Ganga-Jamuna Tahzeeb; with its iconic [[Kauravi dialect|Khariboli]] dialect and being one of the literally centers of the [[Urdu]] language, there have been numerous poets such as [[Amir Khusrow]], [[Mir Taqi Mir]], [[Ghalib]], [[Mohammad Ibrahim Zauq]], [[Daagh Dehlvi]], [[Nida Fazli]] and many others. Delhi has also contributed to the music of the region, being the birthplace of [[Qawwali]] and the [[Delhi gharana|Delhi Gharana]].

===Hyderabad===
[[Hyderabad, Telangana|Hyderabad]], the capital city of [[Telangana]] in south-central part of the India, is also a big example of communal harmony where the local [[Telugu people|Telugu]] Hindus and [[Hyderabadi Muslims]] live with peace and brotherhood, where Hindu temples serve the [[Date palm|dry dates fruits]] to mosques for [[Iftar]] Muslim festival.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/150716/nation-current-affairs/article/ganga-jamuni-tehzeeb-helps-maintain-peace|title=Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb helps maintain peace|first=ayesha|last=minhaz|date=16 July 2015|website=Deccan Chronicle|access-date=24 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.siasat.com/news/ganga-jamuni-tehzeeb-temple-serving-iftar-dates-to-5-mosques-in-hyderabad-779534/|title=Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb: Temple serving Iftar Dates to 5 Mosques in Hyderabad|access-date=24 December 2019}}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Hindu–Islamic relations]]
* [[Hindu-Muslim unity]]
* [[Opposition to the partition of India]]
* [[Phool Walon Ki Sair]]
* [[Din-i Ilahi]]
* [[Inclusivism]], concept that all religions are at least partially true and none is untrue
* [[Sheilaism]], a term for an individual selecting strands of multiple religions
* [[Folk religion]], any flexible vernacular religion without a rigid doctrine
* [[Interfaith dialogue]], constructive interaction among various religions
* [[Religious pluralism]], tolerance for diversity of religions in a society
* [[Religious toleration]], respecting and upholding others' right to behold religion
* [[Multiple religious belonging]], a phenomenon that a person can belong to multiple religion is specially found among more tolerant societies such as Indian and Chinese origin religions

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Religion in India topics}}
{{Culture of Asia}}
{{India topics}}

[[Category:Hinduism in India]]
[[Category:Indian culture]]

Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb - Revision history

CleanupBot II at 05:26, 14 August 2023