Syed Mohiuddin Qadri Zore was an Indian writer, scholar, poet, literary critic, historian, and social reformer. He is best known for his pursuit of the rejuvenation of Urdu language and literature, writing 61 books in his lifetime, generating a major foundation of the Urdu literature now taught in all schools throughout India. Recognized as the first Urdu linguist, his writing ranged from short stories to novels to poetry, social commentary, scholarly criticism, and linguistic analysis. Along with his written legacy, one of his greatest contributions to revitalizing Urdu was his establishment of the organization Idare Adabiyaat e Urdu dedicated to the recovery, restoration, and digitalization of aging and disentegrating texts, books, and manuscripts, which are used in research of the ancient language. He also helped to found the Abdul Kalam Azad Oriental Research Institute, and a still-published Urdu magazine, known as Sabras.
Biography
Syed Mohiuddin Qadri Zore was born in Hyderabad, India in December 1905. He completed his early education there, attending Madrasa-e-Darool Uloom City School, followed by further studies at Usmania College, where he obtained an M.A. with distinction in Linguistic Sciences in 1927. Due to his exemplary performance as a student, he was sent to London, England on a fellowship by the ruler of Hyderabad in 1929, where he completed his Ph.D in Linguistic Sciences. He continued his study of linguistics in Paris in 1930 for some time before returning to India. Upon his return, Zore served as Principal of the Chaderghat Government Degree College, head of the Urdu department at Osmania University, and head of the Urdu Department and Dean of Faculty at Jammu and Kashmir University. Zore wrote many articles and books on Urdu language and literature, including Tillsm-e-Khayaal, Sayr-e-Golconda and Golconda ke Heeray. His poetry includes Hubbe Tarang,gulzaar-e-Ibrahim and Dakkani Adab ki Tareekh. In addition, Kulliyate Mohammad Quli Qutb Shah, Hayat-e-Mir Muhammad Momin, Dastane-adab Hyderabad, Tazkira makhtutat Urdu Vols. II and III, Talib-o-mohni, Maani sukhan, are notable contributions among his works as well. Hindustani Lisaniat, "the Languages of India", throws light on the interesting aspects of the evolution of the Indo-European group of languages. His English composition, Hindustani Phonetics, is a significant work on linguistics. Kuliyat-eMuhammad Quli Qutb Shah, the manuscript was edited and published with a preface by Mohiuddin, Qadri Zore in 1940 A.D. The Kuliyat contains a number of poems written by the Sultan on the occasion of ceremonies and festivals such as Idd-ut-Fittar, Milad-un-Nabi, Mirag and Basant. It is these poems which are valuable for the study of the cultural life of the people of Golconda. Zore was married to Tahniath Unnisa begum, daughter of Nawab Raffat Yaar Jang of Hyderabad, India, and she was the first female Sahiba-e-Dewaan Naatgo Urdu female poet. The most famous of her three books is Sabro Shukar. They had nine children, including four daughters and five sons. Zore died in September, 1962 at Srinagar, Kashmir, and is buried at Khaniyar Shareef there. His family still lives in their ancestral house, Tahniath Manzil, at Hyderabad, beside the Idare Adabiyat-e-Urdu. Idare Adabiyat-e-Urdu is a center for Urdu learning, museum and library built on land donated by Zore's wife. He had four daughters and five sons. Among all, his oldest daughter Tahzeeb Zore who was known to inherit his major scholarly potential was Masters in Linguistic sciences and topped in Arabic Language in Osmania University and soon became a Lecturer at Osmania University in 1960. She got married on 7 May 1961 to Dr. Yahya Ali Ahmed Farooqui son of Dr. Zore's colleague Lateef Ahmed Farooqui, Professor of Linguistic division - Persian at Osmania University, Hyderabad and moved to Pakistan in 1964. Likewise, his second daughter Towquir Zore was married to Major Abdul Qayum in Pakistani Army. His youngest daughter Tasneem Zore was graduated in Architectural sciences and was married to an Architect, a British citizen and was moved to England. Dr. Zore's sons stayed in Hyderabad and remain affiliated with his scholarly legacy and work.
