ایہام کی بندش سے تازہ خیال کی وسعت تک: مغلیہ عہد میں ایہام گوئی سے تازہ گوئی کی طرف ادبی و لسانی منتقلی

FROM THE CONSTRAINTS OF IHAM TO THE EXPANSION OF FRESH THOUGHT: THE LITERARY AND LINGUISTIC TRANSITION FROM IHAM-GOI TO TAZA-GOI IN THE MUGHAL ERA

Abstract

This study examines the literary and linguistic transition from Iham-Goi (ambiguity and double meaning) to Taza-Goi (freshness and innovation of thought) in Urdu poetry during the Mughal period. Iham-Goi played an important role in the formative development of Urdu ghazal by introducing verbal ingenuity, multiple meanings, wordplay, and semantic possibilities. However, its prolonged dominance gradually transformed these features into stylistic constraints, compelling poets to seek alternative modes of poetic expression. The study argues that the emergence of Taza-Goi was not merely a reaction against Iham-Goi but the result of both internal literary necessities and external political, social, cultural, and linguistic changes. Particular attention is given to the role of Mirza Mazhar Jan-e-Janan in the reform of poetic language and to the subsequent contributions of Shah Hatim, Mir Taqi Mir, Mirza Sauda, Khwaja Mir Dard, Qaim Chandpuri, and other poets. The study also explores the influence of Persian poetic traditions, the declining influence of Wali Dakhni, the development of a distinct linguistic identity among the poets of Delhi, and the changing cultural environment following Nadir Shah’s invasion. It demonstrates that Taza-Goi expanded the expressive possibilities of Urdu poetry by encouraging clarity, fluency, eloquence, imaginative depth, thematic diversity, and the use of various poetic devices beyond the obligatory practice of Iham. Consequently, the transition from Iham-Goi to Taza-Goi contributed significantly to the formation and maturation of classical Urdu ghazal.