The Rhetorical Aspects of the Urdu Ghazal

The Urdu ghazal is truly an Indian invention. Although initially it borrowed themes and legendary references from the Persian and Arab cultures, with the passage of time it became the mirror-image of blended Indian culture. The chapter explains how the ghazal incorporates Indian mythologies like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, social and geographical features like rivers, festivals, customs and rituals, flowers and flowering trees, birds and animals, seasons and climate, cities and places, and finally music and ragas.