https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Hafiz_Mehmood_Khan_ShiraniHafiz Mehmood Khan Shirani - Revision history2026-07-31T20:56:29ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Hafiz_Mehmood_Khan_Shirani&diff=501811&oldid=prevVivek.Dantkale at 19:10, 22 March 20262026-03-22T19:10:54Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Indian researcher and poet}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2018}}<br />
[[File:Prof. Hafiz Mahmood Shirani.jpg|thumb|Prof. Hafiz Mahmood Shirani, A renowned scholar of Arabic, Persian & Urdu literature. (Source: Arabic Persian Research Institute, Tonk, Rajasthan)]]<br />
'''Hafiz Mehmood Shirani''' (5 October 1880 {{endash}} 15 February 1946) was an Indian researcher and poet during the [[British Raj|British era]].<ref name=InternetArchive>{{cite web|website=Internet Archive website|title=Punjab Mein Urdu by Hafiz Mehmood Khan Shirani - a literary criticism (in Urdu language)|author=Mian Noor Hassan|url=https://archive.org/details/PunjabMeinUrduHafizMehmoodKhanShirani}}</ref><ref name=Dawn/><ref name=UrduPoint/> <br />
<br />
He was the father of famous Urdu poet [[Akhtar Sheerani]] (1905 {{endash}} 1948).<ref name=UrduPoint/> <br />
<br />
==Life and career==<br />
Mehmood Khan Shirani was born on 5 October 1880 in [[Tonk, India|Tonk]], [[Rajasthan]], [[British India]].<ref name=Dawn/><ref name=UrduPoint/> He memorized the Quran at a young age and then first learned the basics of Persian language.<ref name=UrduPoint/> Then he finished his basic early school education in [[Jodhpur]], [[Rajasthan]] in 1898.<ref name=UrduPoint/> After that, he went to [[Lahore]] to do his ''Munshi Alam'' degree in 1899 followed by a ''Munshi Faazal'' degree in 1901.<ref name=UrduPoint/><br />
<br />
His son, Muhammad Dawood Khan, later to become a notable Urdu poet by the professional name [[Akhtar Sheerani]] (1905-1948) was born on 4 May 1905 in his native town Tonk, Rajasthan.<ref name=UrduPoint/><br />
<br />
Mehmood Shirani started teaching Urdu at [[Islamia College, Lahore]] in 1921.<ref name=Dawn/><ref>{{cite book|last1=By Mohan Lal|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Sasay to Zorgot via Google Books|year=1992|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|pages=4020|isbn=9788126012213|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KnPoYxrRfc0C&q=Hafiz+Mehmood+Khan+Shirani&pg=PA4020}}</ref><ref name=UrduPoint/> <br />
<br />
In 1928, he started teaching at [[Oriental College, Lahore]]. He retired from his teaching profession in 1940. He was a researcher and his "Punjab Mein Urdu" theory and later published book made him famous.<ref name=Dawn/><ref name=InternetArchive/><br />
<br />
==Death==<br />
Hafiz Mehmood Khan Shirani died on 15 February 1946 in his native town of [[Tonk, India|Tonk]], [[Rajasthan]], [[British India]].<ref name=Dawn>{{cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/968795/was-urdu-born-in-punjab|author=Rauf Parekh|title=Was Urdu born in Punjab?|date=8 February 2010|newspaper=Dawn newspaper|archive-date=21 October 2025|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251021234002/https://www.dawn.com/news/968795/was-urdu-born-in-punjab|access-date=21 October 2025}}</ref><ref name=UrduPoint/><br />
<br />
== Works ==<br />
=== Books ===<br />
**''Punjab Mein Urdu'' (1928)<ref name=Dawn/><ref name=UrduPoint/><br />
**''Tanqid-e-Sherul [[Ajam]]'' (1942)<ref name=UrduPoint/><br />
**''[[Ferdowsi|Firdausi]] par char Maqale''<br />
**''Rise and progress of Mohammedanism''<br />
**''Maqalat-e-Hafiz Mahmood Shirani'' (1948) (later, after his death, 10 editions of this book were published in Pakistan from 1966 to 2007)<ref name=UrduPoint/><br />
**''Khaliq-e-Bari'' (1944)<ref name=Dawn/><ref name=UrduPoint/><br />
<br />
=== Articles ===<br />
**''[[Yusuf and Zulaikha|Eusuf va Zulekha]]-e Firdausi<ref name="UrduPoint" />''<br />
**''Firdausi ka mazhab<ref name="UrduPoint" />''<br />
**''Hijv [[Mahmud of Ghazni|Sultan Mahmood Ghaznavi]]''<br />
**''Farsi Shayeri aur unki qadamat irtebate Aruz''<br />
**''[[Ghalib|Mirza Ghalib]] ka kalam (Urdu-[[Persian language|Farsi]])''<br />
**''[[Mathnawi|Mathnavi]]-e Arwatul Wasqi of Shahabi''<br />
**''[[Hindustan]] mai [[Mughal Empire|Mughlon]] se qabl farsi Adab''<br />
**''Khazain-ul Futuh az [[Amir Khusrau|Amir Khosrau]]''<br />
**''Number of papers on [[Daqiqi]] and [[Qabus-nama|Qabusnama]]''<br />
<br />
== Origin of Urdu ==<br />
Hafiz Mehmood Shirani is credited with the theory that [[Urdu]] was born in [[Punjab]]. He claimed that since [[Mahmud of Ghazni]] had conquered [[Lahore]] and Muslims stayed there for some 200 years before invading [[Delhi]] in 1193, Urdu must have taken shape during that period and, in a way, the Punjabi language gave birth to Urdu. The theory goes that the Muslims brought Urdu language from Punjab to Delhi with them.<ref name=Dawn/><ref name=InternetArchive/><br />
<br />
Two centuries later, Sherani claimed that Muslim conquerors brought the language to Delhi with them.<ref name=Dawn/><ref name=InternetArchive/> He listed some similarities between Urdu and Punjabi.<ref name=InternetArchive/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Dildār ʻAlī Farmān Fatiḥpūrī, Dild−ar ʻAl−i Farm−an Fatiḥp−ur−i|title=Pakistan movement and Hindi-Urdu conflict|year=1987|publisher=Sang-e-Meel Publications, 1987 - Foreign Language Study - 406 pages|page=24|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wc61AAAAIAAJ&q=hafiz+mehmood+khan+sherani}}</ref> <br />
<br />
Shirani was not the first to reach this conclusion, preceded by linguists such as [[Suniti Kumar Chatterjee]], T. Graham Bailey and [[Mohiuddin Qadri Zore]]. However Shirani was the first to deeply research the theory.<ref name=Dawn/><ref name=InternetArchive/><br />
<br />
== Teacher ==<br />
An article named <nowiki>''Urdu Tahqeeq Ka Muallam e Awwal''</nowiki><ref name=UrduPoint>{{Cite web|last=Butt|first=Muhammad Usman |date=27 April 2021|title=Urdu Tahqeeq Ka Muallam e Awwal (First Teacher of Research on Urdu language - Hafiz Mehmood Khan Shirani) (original article in Urdu language)|url=https://www.urdupoint.com/daily/column/muhammad-usman-butt/33129/urdu-tehqeeq-ka-mualaam-awal.html |access-date=21 October 2025|website=Urdupoint.com website|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230829103012/https://www.urdupoint.com/daily/column/muhammad-usman-butt/33129/urdu-tehqeeq-ka-mualaam-awal.html}}</ref> written by Muhammad Usman Butt, critically analyzed the contributions of Shirani in the field of Urdu linguistics and research.<br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
<br />
==External links==<br />
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Hafiz Mehmood Khan Shirani}}<br />
<br />
{{Authority control}}<br />
<br />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shirani, Hafiz Mehmood Khan}}<br />
[[Category:1880 births]]<br />
[[Category:Urdu-language Indian poets]]<br />
[[Category:1946 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Urdu-language writers from British India]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Urdu-language writers]]<br />
[[Category:Literary critics of Urdu]]<br />
[[Category:Urdu-language essayists]]<br />
[[Category:Urdu-language letter writers]]<br />
[[Category:People from Tonk district]]<br />
[[Category:Urdu-language theologians]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian poets]]<br />
[[Category:Linguists of Urdu]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian educators]]<br />
[[Category:Writers from British India]]<br />
[[Category:Rajasthani people]]<br />
[[Category:Academic staff of the Oriental College, Lahore]]<br />
[[Category:Academic staff of the Government Islamia College]]</div>Vivek.Dantkale