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Dhakaiya Urdu, also known as Sobbasi and  Khosbasi, is a dialect of Urdu that is native to Old Dhaka and its immediate surrounding areas in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is spoken by the city's Sobbas, Khusbas community, Nawab Family, and other native communities. The usage of the language is gradually declining due to negative perceptions following it being forced upon the people of erstwhile East Bengal.[1] Dhakaiya Urdu is one of the two dialects of Urdu spoken in Bangladesh; the other one being the Urdu spoken by the Biharis and Stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh.

Dhakaiya Urdu
Sobbasi, Khosbasi, Nawab Barian Urdu
Region	Old Dhaka
Ethnicity	Dhakaiyas
Era	16th century-present
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Central Zone Western Hindi Hindustani Urdu Dhakaiya Urdu
Writing system	Bengali script Urdu alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–

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Features

The dialect differs from Standard Urdu as it takes a number of loanwords from Eastern Bengali, which the dialect's source of origin is geographically surrounded by. The intonations, aspirations and tone of the language is also shifted closer to Eastern Bengali than Standard Urdu. It is described to be a fairly simpler language than Standard Urdu.[1]

English	Standard Urdu	Dhakaiya Urdu	Eastern Bengali (Vangiya)
this	ye (یہ)	e	e (এ)
he	vo (وہ)	o	o (ও)
too/also	bhī (بھی)	bī	-o (-ও)
very	bahot (بہت)	k͟hūb (خوب)	khub (খুব)
for what?	kis liye (کس لئے)	kā(h)e-ke liye (کاہے کے لئے)	kisher laiga (কিসের লাইগা)
help	madad (مدد)	sāhāijo (ساہائجو)	shahayjjo (সাহায্য) / môdod (মদদ)
understand	samajhnā (سمجھنا)	būjhnā (بُوجھنا)	bujha (বুঝা)
use	istamāl/istemāl (استعمال)	byabahār (بیَبَہار)	bêbohar (ব্যবহার) / estemal (এস্তেমাল)
my/mine	merā (میرا)	hāmār (ہامار)	amar (আমার)

Writing system

Dhakaiya Urdu currently does not have a standardised writing system as it traditionally formed the diglossic vernacular, with standard Urdu forming the codified lect used for writing. Recently, Dhakaiya Urdu is being written in the Bengali script and also in Urdu [ Nastalik ] script by organisations "Dhakaiya Movement", "Dhakaiya Urdu Zaban" [Dhakaiya Urdu Language] and "Dhakaiya Urdu Learning Center” aiming to preserve it.[note 1][2][3]

History

During the Mughal era, the Bengal Subah was famed for being the wealthiest and industrially the most developed place in the world and having waved the proto-industrialization, its economy showed signs of Industrial revolution.[4] The city of Jahangirnagar (now Dhaka) was the province's capital in the mid-eighteenth century and Urdu-speaking merchants from North India started pouring in. Eventually residing in Dhaka, interactions and relationships with their Bengali counterparts led to the birth of a new Bengali-influenced dialect of Urdu.[5] The descendants of these settlers came to be known as Khusbas (other names included Sukhbas and Subbas) which meant the happily settled. The Bais and Bara panchayets, used to converse in this language.[6] Their Urdu language also influenced the language of the Bengali Muslims in Old Dhaka which came to be known as the Dhakaiya Kutti language[7] and vice versa. However, Abdul Momin Chowdhury denied the contribution of Urdu as the source of this language. Because the language was not born yet.[8]

The late 18th-century in Dhaka hosted the migration of Mirza Jan Tapish and other Urdu poets from Delhi migrating to the urban hub after an invitation from Shams ad-Daulah, the Naib Nazim of Dhaka. Poetry and literature in Standard Urdu grew popularity in Dhaka with the presence of organisations such as the Anjuman-i Taraqqi-i Urdu and the patronising of it by Dhaka's Nawabs, Sardars and Zamindars such as Khwaja Abdul Ghani and Mir Ashraf Ali. The 19th-century poet Mirza Ghalib of Agra was a close friend of Dhaka's poet Khwaja Haider Jan Shayek. The collaboration between Ghalib and Shayek was collected and compiled by Hakim Habibur Rahman, a later Urdu poet of Dhaka, in his book Inshaye Shayek. Habibur Rahman was a prominent Dhakaiya physician and litterateur whose most famous books include Asudegan-e-Dhaka and Dhaka Panchas Baras Pahle. He was the editor of Bengal's first Urdu magazine, Al-Mashriq in 1906. He later collaborated with Khwaja Adil in 1924 to found another monthly journal called Jadu. His works are celebrated for preserving Urdu, Persian and Arabic literature, compiling them into his Thulatha Ghusala.[9]

Shortly after the Bengali Language Movement of 1952, Urdu culture decreased significantly with many Urdu-speaking families switching to speaking Bengali to avoid controversy. During the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, a number of Urdu-speaking families subsequently migrated to Pakistan. As a result, the use of Urdu has become very limited to a few families and a community south of the Dhaka railway line. Furthermore, the new nation of Bangladesh deemed their newly founded nation on Bengali culture, which would later alienate the other ethnolinguistic communities of the country.

Often described as a wealthy and closed-off community, speakers of the dialect honour the Dhakaiya Urdu poets of the past in privacy within their mushairas. Other modern examples of usage include the University of Dhaka's dwindling Urdu department as well as the Urdu sermons and Islamic lectures given in Dhaka.[10][1]

Due to globalization in the culture and entertainment sector, many Hindi words have entered the language today.[8]

Nazir Uddin, a Bangladeshi Canadian health & safety professional, and Muhammad Shahabuddin Sabu, an Associate Professor of Zoology at Savar Government College, released a 59,380-word Bengali-Dhakaiya Sobbasi bilingual dictionary published by Taqiya Muhammad Publications in 2021. It was said that 15,304 Sobbasi words were of Bengali origin.[2] On 15 January, the book launch took place at Aziz Market in Shahbag.[3]

Poets

These Dhakaiya poets wrote in Standard Urdu:

• Mirza Jan Tapish (d. 1814)
• Mahmud Azad
• Ghaffar Akhtar
• Agha Ahmad Ali (1839-1883)
• Ubaidullah Al Ubaidi Suhrawardy[note 2] (1834-1885)
• Khwaja Ahsanullah (1846-1901)
• Munshi Rahman Ali Tayesh (1823-1908)
• Nawab Syed Muhammad Azad (1850-1916)
• Khwaja Muhammad Afzal (1875-1940)
• Hakim Habibur Rahman (1881-1947)
• Reza Ali Wahshat (1881-1953)
• Syed Sharfuddin Sharf Al Hussaini (1876-1960)

Media

The language flourished in the media during the 20th century cinema. Khurshid Alam and Sabina Yasmin sang a song, Matiya Hamar Naam, in this dialect for the Bangladeshi film Jibon Niye Jua which released in 1975 after the Independence of Bangladesh.

See also

• Dhakaiya Kutti
• Bengali Language Movement
• "Dhakaiya Urdu Jaban" and “Dhakaiya Movement” Channels

Notes

Pioneer Public Groups “Dhakaiya Sobbasi Jaban” renamed as "Dhakaiya Urdu Jaban" [Dhakaiya Urdu Language], “Dhakaiya Movement” and  recently "Dhakaiya Urdu Learning Center” all created by Nazir Uddin, consistently writing this dialect of Urdu [Dhakaiya-Urdu]  using both Bengali and Urdu scripts; with the objective to promote and preserve it. There are two video channels named "Dhakaiya Urdu Jaban" and “Dhakaiya Movement” are also available for practicing, promoting and preserving Dhakaiya-Urdu Language.

Khawja Javed Hasan, a British Citizen, Sales and Marketing professional and a descendent of the Dhaka Nawab Family, further boosted these promoting and preserving activities by conducting various seminars and symposiums in Dhaka Bangladesh. Under his leadership, he almost solitarily and courageously accomplishing & flourishing "Dhakaiya Urdu Language" remarkably well.

Rafiqul Islam Rafiq, a Bangladeshi Citizen and author of many books and articles mainly on Dhakaiya Urdu Language and Culture, has an incredible contribution to reviving "Dhakaiya-Urdu" through various activities and programs.

Barrister Sadia Arman, a Lawyer at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, poet, author and a renowned person of the Dhakaiya Community;  and  Dr. Mohammad Golam Rabbani,  a reputed  Professor at the Department of Urdu, University of Dhaka and Chairman of the "Center for Literature & Research", have their various active roles in promoting and reviving Urdu / Dhakaiya Urdu in various occasions,  seminars and symposium etc.

References

Further reading

• Kaniz-e-Butool (2012). "Urdu". In Islam, Sirajul; Miah, Sajahan; Khanam, Mahfuza; Ahmed, Sabbir (eds.). Banglapedia: the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Online ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Banglapedia Trust, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. ISBN 984-32-0576-6. OCLC 52727562. Retrieved 25 October 2022.

• Various Articles , videos etc. in Pioneer public groups "Dhakaiya Sobbasi Jaban" renamed as "Dhakaiya Urdu Jaban" [means Dhakaiya Urdu Language], "Dhakaiya Movement" and "Dhakaiya Urdu Learning Center”.

• Dhaka Shahore Urdu Sangskrti [ Urdu Culture in Dhaka City] ISBN 984-8319-38-7, published on February 2006;authored by Rafiqul Islam Rafiq
• Legal Perspective to Practise One Own Language [ Dhakaiya- Urdu ] : Barrister Sadia Arman, Adv. Supreme Court. Bangladesh
• Evolution of Dhakaiya-Urdu Language : Dr.Nusrat Fatema, Professor of Islamic History and Culture,  Dhaka University.
• Nearly Extinct Dhakaiya-Urdu Language, the Way Out Of It: Dr. Mohammad Golam Rabbani,  Professor Department of Urdu, Dhaka University  
• History of Urdu Language : Asiful Islam, at Dhakaiya-Urdu Jaban  [ Dhakaiya-Urdu Language ].

• Bangal Mein Urdu : Wafa Rashedi, Hyderabad, Pakistan (1955)
• A History of Urdu Literature : TG Baily
• History of Urdu Literature : Rambabu Saxsina, Lucknow.

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