The Urdu Ghazal Podcast (TUGP), Season 5 Episode 1: Sauda
Description
Mirza Mohammad Rafi Sauda (1713-1781) belonged to a family of traders who had migrated to India from Afghanistan. Because of his father's influence in the social circles, Sauda had easy access to nobility and social prestige that others longed for. But this situation didn’t last long. When Delhi came under attack, the family had to find a new place to live. Nawab Asifuddaulah patronized Sauda and was rewarded with an annual stipend of six thousand rupees. Sauda wrote in Persian before coming to Urdu. The Persian literary tradition helped him acquire a tone and tenor, which he adopted to his benefit for writing his poetry in Urdu. He practiced various forms of poetry like panegyric, satire, and elegy and emerged as one of the foundational poets of Urdu Ghazal.
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