Idara-e-Adabiyat-e-Urdu: The Ebbs and Flows of Urdu and the Deccani Identity in Hyderabad

Aiwan – e- Urdu (abode of Urdu) which houses the Idara-e-Adabiyat -e -Urdu (office for promotion of Urdu literature) is a building which stands in Punjagutta, the bustling city centre of Hyderabad. The Hyderabad city is currently known as an information technology hub, housing the India offices of global tech giants like Google, Apple etc. The Idara with its distinct dome, stands tall among commercial enterprises and malls, as a reminder of the historical transformations to the city. Idara functions as a library, and an archive of rare Deccani manuscripts. In its heyday the Idara was a centre for knowledge and Urdu literary production, today in the tech-based knowledge economy, it stands anachronistically in the city. It is often misunderstood to be a mosque due to its Persianate architecture.

Twentieth Century Hyderabad, the Asaf Jahi Capital, was a centre for construction of new modes of being, and citizenship around the cultural geography of the Deccan region in the south of India. Working in this context, the Idara was founded by Dr. Syed Mohiuddin Qadri Zore, a modernist intellectual, linguist, poet, as a centre for fostering Urdu literary production and a distinct regional Deccani identity. Fondly known as Baba – e – Deccan, Dr. Zor championed a historically situated Deccani identity consisting of shared cultures and communities intertwined with the Urdu language. The story of Zor, and the Idara, serve as entry points into understanding the changing status of Urdu, Muslims, and heritage in Hyderabad, in the context of the city’s changing political-economy, from being a monarchy, to a democracy, and then a player in the global knowledge economy.

Through ethnography of the Idara, and a historical study of the institution, the paper examines the interlinkages between language, region, and identity, in the context of changing economy of knowledge.