Pandit Brijnarayan ‘Chakbast’: The Nationalist Urdu Poet
Pandit Brijnarayan was born in a Kashmiri Brahmin family in the Rath haveli locality of Faizabad on January 19, 1882,. When he was five, his father Pt. Udit Narayan Chakbast, a deputy collector and poet, passed away.
Chakbast’s maternal uncle Pandit Lalta Prasad then shifted his sister and nephews to his home in the Kashmiri locality of Lucknow. In 1905 he graduated from Canning College in Lucknow and in 1907 received a degree in law. He apprenticed with eminent lawyer Shahanshah Hussain Rizvi.
He had shown a strong interest in poetry even as a child; read his first poem at a conference of Kashmiri pandits. This attracted eminent Congress leaderlawyer-litterateur Pt. Bishun Narayan Dar’s attention, he introduced the young man to his mentor
Marhamatuddaula ‘Hakeem’. As a student Chakbast wrote incisive articles about renowned Urdu poets ‘Hali’, ‘Iqbal’, ‘Daag’ and also a long poem against the then Viceroy Lord Curzon. These works earned him a coveted place in Urdu literature.
First and foremost Chakbast was a nationalist poet . Written in the refined Urdu of Lucknow, his poetry reflected contemporary political situation and yet it is not dry. He glorified India’s history, natural wealth, culture and mythology, was also strongly influenced by Mir and Ghalib. His ‘KhakeHind’, ‘Vatan ka Rag’, ‘Hamara Vatan’ and ‘Awaaze-qaum’; the elegiac mersias for Mahadev Govind Ranade and Gopal Krishna Gokhale; snippets from the Ramayana are particularly notable.
In addition to being a poet, Chakbast was also a highprofile writer and critic. In 1905, when Chakbast was only twenty-three years old, leading critic and social chronicler Muhammad Abdul Haleem ‘Sharar’ raised objections about Pandit Dayashankar Nasim’s ‘Gulzare-Nasim’ to which Chakbast gave a very apt, scholarly reply. This literary debate later published as ‘Maraka-e-Sharar-oChakbast’, established
Chakbast as a critic.
In 1918, he started a monthly magazine ‘Subah-eUmmeed’ which was mainly political but also had a strong literary section. Edited by Chakbast and managed by Pt. Kishan Prasad Kaul, ‘Subah...’ ran for about four years. On February 12, 1926, Chakbast was returning from Rae Bareli; ha had a stroke in the train and died a few hours later. His last rights were held at Lucknow, the town mourned a loved son, all courts remained closed in his honor. Poets wrote mersias and elegies. His writing was published posthumously as ‘Subah-e-watan’.