This is a slightly modified version of Appendix V in my Zikri Mir TheAutobiography of an Eighteenth Century Poet New Delhi Oxford UniversityPress forthcoming the accompanying translated port ID: 393731
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.. Mir and His Patrons*Ba poet was an occupation in the pre-modern times, no differentfrom soldiering or accountancy. Poets and patrons sought out each otherwith certain well-understood expectations.[Poets] provided companionship, served as confidants, wrote commemo-rative verses, acted as poetic mentors or ustd, even composed verses in thename of the patron and defended his reputation through their writThe patron É found pleasure and pride in the poetÕs company and verseand in having him identified with [him] rather than with some [rival].There were many shared traditions between the poets and their patrons,including many implied or overt obligations to each other. Honor begothonor, loyalty received loyalty. Just as the patron assured the physicalwell-being of the poet, so did the poet contribute to the perceived sense ofprosperity of the patron.1ZM not only identifies MµrÕs various patrons but also providesinteresting information concerning his relations with them. Further infor-mation on these matters is also available in MµrÕs poetical works, par-ticularly in several topical poems. *This is a slightly modified version of "Appendix V" in my Zikr-i Mir: TheAutobiography of an Eighteenth Century Poet (New Delhi: Oxford UniversityPress, forthcoming); the accompanying translated portions of Mµr's narrative arealso from the same. In the following, ZM refers to the Persian original, Zikr-eMir; "Narrative A" to the first version of ZM, completed ca. , and "NarrativeB" to the final version, completed ca. .1C. M. Naim, ÒMughal and English Patronage of Urdu Poetry: A Compari-son,Ó in The Powers of Art: Patronage in Indian Culture, Barbara S. Miller, ed.(Delhi: Oxford University Press, ), p. . entirely credible. As he tells it, he left , the new rising star on DelhiÕs horizon. This employment 2This poem is generally regarded as directed against a notorious official atLucknow. My reasons to link it to MµrÕs first job are as follows. The poemÕs HulsR® deals with the salaries of an army, while the Huls R® of Lucknow was em-ployed in the revenue department of the Navb. The poemÕs Huls engages infisticuffs with Rohillas and Chelas (Royal Slaves)Ñthey are almost exclusivelyidentified with Delhi. The disputed amount is quite small: one hundred and tenrupees unpaid over several monthsÑthat was the sort of salary most poets re-ceived in Delhi. Lastly, Mµr by invoking the names of theEmperor, the Vazir, and someone named Alµ Muammad KhnÑhardly neces-sary in Lucknow where only ¥afu d-DaulaÕs name would have sufficed. must have occurred not too long after Nagar MalÕs major promotions inwas ÒaccidentallyÓ trampled todeath by his own elephant, in a conspiracy that may have also involved 3Pr®m Kishår Firqµ, Vaq-e ¥lam Shhµ, Imtiyz Alµ Khn Arshµ, ed.(Rampur: The State Library, ), p. . to its first ÒcompletionÓ 4The four mukhammas are: (Jis kis kå khud kar® gumrh, ( Mushkil apnµhuµ jå bd-o-bsh, ( Dastkhaµ fard k sunå avl, and ( Qbil hai m®rµ sair k®avr-e råzgr. The ma¡navµ begins: Ai j^ª j shahr m® t®r hµ daur hai. received him 5It may be useful here to have some sense of prices and salaries. A foot sol-dier earned ten to twelve rupees per month, while a laborer earned only tworupees. A woman servant was paid less than one rupee for the monthÕs work.While a single silver rupee in , Òa year of scarcity,Ó could buy kilograms ofwheat, the same quantity of moong dhal, . kilograms of ghee, or . of mustard oil. See Ashirbadi Lal Srivastava, Shuja-ud-Daulah, vol. II, (Lahore:The Minerva Book Shop, ), pp. Ð .6Richard B. Barnett, North India Between Empires: Awadh, the Mughals, andthe British (Berkeley: University of California Press, ), p. , Table .7Mirz Alµ Luf, Gulshan-e Hind (rpt; Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh UrduAcademy, ), pp. Ð claims that Saudused to get five hundred rupeesper month. Thus, even according to him, MµrÕs salary was less than SaudÕs. Calcutta but decided he was too old. The wits of Lucknow then con-; the others desired only 8¥zd, writing a few decades later, reports that whenever an English digni-tary visited Lucknow Mµr would be invited to meet him. But he always refused,saying, ÒThose who meet me do so out of their regard for either my family or mypoetry. The ¿ib cares nothing for the family, and he doesnÕt understand mypoetry. He would give me some reward, but I would only gain ignominy.Ó SeeMuammad usain ¥zd¥zd Book Depot, ), p. .9Sadat Khn Nir, Taÿkira-e Khush Marika-e Zµb, Shamµm Anhånvµ, ed.(Lucknow: Book Depot, ), p. was writing some thirty-fiveyears after MµrÕs death and some fifty years after ¥afÕs. Huv kiy®hai zibas shikva-e falak tarµr]10Ñhas a curious history. Within the text itis addressed to Òthe VazirÓ but does not mention any name or anothertitle. It is included in a manuscript which was copied while Mµr had notleft Delhi. There it has the title: ÒIn praise of the Vazir of the RealmÓ [darmad-e vazµru l-mamlik]. Modern scholarship identifies the Vazir as 10The so-called Qaµda-e Riya is included in the manuscript Dµvn-e Mµr(dated A.H.) in the library of Idra-e Adabiyt-e Urd, Hyderabad. See Kalb-e Alµ Khn Fiq, ed. Kulliyt-e Mµr, vol. V (Lahore: Majlis-e Taraqqµ-e Adab, ), p. ; and Akbar aidarµ, ed., Dµvn-e Mµr, Nuskha-e Mamdbd(Srinagar: Jammu & Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, ), p. .11Mirz Muammad Rafµ Saud, Kulliyt-e Saud, vol. II, MuammadShamsu d-Dµn ¿iddµqµ, ed.(Lahore: Majlis-e Taraqqµ-e Adab, ), p. .12Quoted in Ni¡r Amad Frqµ, Talsh-e Mµr (New Delhi: MaktabaJmia), p. . The original source is a manuscript at the Aligarh MuslimUniversity Library. Rt kå mulaq nat^µ y jµ kå tb]Ñis quite modest in scale. It also contains a few lines thatcould be interpreted as suggesting that the poem was written in Delhi,then sent to Lucknow to be presented as a petition to the Navb. Its thirdcouplet reads:Har zam t^µ st^ apn® guftogKy kar shahr aur mai dånå kharbAll night long I kept talking to myself;What could I do, the city and I both weredesolate.For Mµr, Òthe cityÓ meant Delhi. It is hard to imagine that in theabove Mµr was simply being conventional or that he wrote the line inLucknow. This conclusion is strengthened a few lines later when an angeltells Mµr that generosity still lived in the form of ¥afu d-Daula, whoseÒthreshold is higher than the heavens,Ó and that ÒMµr would puff up withpride on his good fortune from an illness; another Õs annual cele- Navb].Ó13 Vazµr AlµÕs marriagein A.H. (Aug. ÐJuly ) is described in all accounts as thegrandest such event in the history of Lucknow. Ab lib estimates that ithad cost more than two million rupees. Mµr was present on the occasion,and fulfilled his duty as a poet. But how do we account for the otherpoem, entitled ÒOn the Marriage of ¥afu d-DaulaÓ?Since the two ma¡navµs are in the same meter, one possibility is thatthey actually formed one very long poem, and that some confusion bycopyists, or by Mµr himself, resulted in their being designated as separatepoems. This is the explanation offered by Kalb-e Alµ Khn Fiq, the edi-tor of the best edition of MµrÕs ma¡navµs. He also suggests a critical changein the second line of that poem which would make it mean ÒÕs marriage is that it shares a great many verses 13Abu Talib, History of AsafuÕd Daulah, W. Hoey, tr. (rpt; Lucknow: PustakKendra, ), p..14Kalb-e Alµ Khn Fiq, ed. Kulliyt-e Mµr, vol. VI (Lahore: Majlis-e Taraqqµ-eAdab, ), p. . The existing line reads: ¥afu d-Daula k ra± hai byhit should be: ¥afu d-Daula n® ra±y byh. The latter, in fact, could still mean, Ò¥afgot married.Ó after a disappointing audienceÑwhich suggest that the poem didnÕt Mµr was seated at Tasµns Mosque by the side ofthe road. When the NavbÕs [elephant] passed by everyone respectfullystood up. Mµr ¿ib, however, remained seated. The Navb turned toSayyid Insh, who was sitting with him on the elephant, and asked,ÒWho is this man, Insh, whose pride didnÕt allow him to stand up?Ó 15¥zd, pp. Ð .16The manuscript is in the library of the Mahrj, Mah-mudabad (Sitapur, India). See Akbar aidarµ., p. .