SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This thesis consists of a critical edition of the Urdu poetical works, excluding only the marsiyas, of the eighteenth century Indian poet, Sauda. The edition comprises: (1) Preface, which justifies the need for the work undertaken and explains the method in which the subject has been treated. (2) Introduction, which gives the political, religious, moral, social and literary background of the eighteenth century, an account of Sauda's life, an assessment of his mind and character, some details of his works and their compilation and publication, a discussion of his views on poetry, an assessment of his own erotic, encomiastic, satirical, didactic and elegiac poetry, and, finally, a brief account of his importance in and influence on Urdu poetry. (3) Notes on the MSS. used to form the Text, (4) The Text with notes recording the rejected variants found in various MSS., indicating which of the items are missing from the published editions and certain manuscripts, suggesting wherever possible the approximate dates of composition of poems and giving brief information on the themes and subjects of the poems. (5) Appendices on (i) Sauda's Urdu, (ii) Glossary of obsolete and difficult words, and (iii) Interpolated items in the published editions of Sauda's works. (6) Bibliography.