Twilight of the Sultanate c16.s6.5

c16.s6.5

The development of Urdu was very gradual and imperceptible. Hindi and Urdu are of the same parentage and in their nature they are not different from each other. Urdu, under the patronage of Muslim kings, sought inspiration from Persian while Hindi continued to draw from its original fount Sanskrit.¹¹⁰ Khwājā Bandā Nawāz Gīsū-darāz (1321-1422), who lived in the Deccan, was the first writer of Deccan Hindi. His inspiring prose work, the *Mirātul 'Āshiqīn*, is replete with Arabic words, and is looked upon as the earliest work in the Urdu form of Hindi. Persian words are found interspersed in the writings of Kabīr and Jaisī also, and the foundations of Urdu were laid during our period of study.