Mahjoor

Mahjoor Biography

Mahjoor - Wordsworth of Kashmir was undoubtedly the greatest and the most popular poet of Kashmir. Lived in the Kashmir valley in an era of bloodshed and partition, his work was acknowledged by his contemporaries, Rabindranath Tagore and Iqbal. With the death of this popular romantic poet in the year 1952, the romantic era of Kashmiri literature came to an end. Apart from his poetry works in Kashmiri language, he also wrote in Persian and Urdu languages.

He played a significant role in the expansion of Kashmiri poetry and also introduced a new style of writing. Mahjoor, along with his contemporaries - Zinda Kaul, Abdul Ahad Azad and Dinanath Nadim were the great Kashmiri writers of the 20^th century. He revolutionized the traditional forms of nazm and ghazal through his poetry works. Hindi film - Shayar-e-Kashmir Mahjoor starring Balraj Sahni is a biopic of this legendary poet. The movie was released in the year 1972.

His real name is Peerzada Ghulam Ahmad, born in Kashmir in the year 1885. His father was a scholar of Persian language. His village Mitrigam belonged to Srinagar district. Once he happened to visit the poet Shibli Namani at Punjab and inspired by his writings, Peerzada Ghulam Ahmad also started writing poetry with the pen name – Mahjoor. After his intermediate studies in his native place, he moved to Punjab where he came into contact with many eminent poets of his time. He returned to Srinagar in 1908 and started writing poetry.

A romantic poet of Kashmiri language, he also wrote about freedom and progress in Kashmir, nationalism etc. Youth, the flowers of Nishat Garden, peasant girls, gardeners, the golden oriole etc were his common themes for writings. His poems were later compiled by New Delhi Sahitya Academi, 1988 and also J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages in 1989.

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Updated: March 06, 2016