Who was poet Tribhuwan Nath Zutshi from Kashmir?

By B.Revti

Famous Persian and Urdu poet, Tribhavan Nath Zutshi, `Zar’, had his roots in Kashmir.  Born in 1871 at Meerut, his intellectual capabilities had helped him in carving a niche for both himself and his son, Dr. Anand Mohan Zutshi “Gulzar”.

Popularly known as  Allama Pandit,  Tribhuwan  Nath Zutshi “Zar”  Dehlivi  was also  known to the people  and his admirers  as  Yaadgar-e-Daag, for his quality as a  poet and Urdu and Persian scholar of par excellence.

Tribhavan Nath Zutshi “Zar” Sahab’s ancestors had come from Kashmir to Delhi during the rule of Mughal Emperor Jahangir (1605-1627).  However, somehow, they could not stay for a long time in the imperial city and again went back to their native place in Kashmir. In the Mutiny of 1857, this Zutshi family moved to Meerut from Delhi where Tribhuwan Nath was born in 1871.  His father was Prithvi Nath Zutshi and his mother was Shyam Rani. 

Bazar Sita Ram of Chandni Chowk, Delhi

The Zutshi family then again shifted back to Delhi in their ancestral haveli in Bazaar Sita Ram, Chandni Chowk from Meerut where Tribhuwan Nath had his early schooling.  Sita Ram was one of the members of Zutshi clan and it was after his name that that a bazar of Chandhi Chowk was named.

 Tribhuvan  had a great inclination towards learning Urdu and Persian language right from his childhood days.  As per family traditions, he learnt Urdu, Arabic and Persian language under the able guidance of Maulvi Rahim Baksh who used to live at Shahji Ka Chatta at that time and later on became Sir Rahim Baksh and Prime Minister of Bhawalpur State.  This Bhawalpur state acceded to Pakistan after the partition of the country in 1947.

Zutshi-Daag meeting

Between 1882 and 1883, young Tribhuwan Nath used to go to Hakim Ajmal Khan’s house to take medicines for his ailing father where the famous Urdu poet of those days, Nawab Mirza “Daag” also used to come almost daily to play “Chauser”.

These frequent meeting at the residence of Hakim Ajmal Khan brought Tribhuwan Nath Zutshi very close to the famous poet “Daag” and very soon he became a most favourite “Shagird” of “Daag”.

Even as  Tribhuwan Nath started composing Urdu poetry from a very young age under the able guidance of “Daag”, he soon blossomed into a well refined Urdu poet with no match among the other contemporary Urdu poets of his times in Delhi.

nitially, he started composing his poems under the pen name or ‘takhallus’ “Shameem” mainly based on romanticism.  But after meeting Pandit Amar Nath Madan “Sahir”, who was living in Bazaar Sita Ram around 1924 and was mainly doing the translation work of Hindu religious books in Urdu, his whole concept towards life was changed.

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Use of `Zar’ as a penname

He then started composing Urdu couplets under a new pen name “Zar” containing high philosophical thoughts.  Due to his profound knowledge of Arabic and Persian language, people used to call him as Hazrat Maulvi out of sheer respect.  He composed over a lakh of Urdu couplets and translated all the three “Geetas” in poetic form in chaste Urdu under the penname ` Zar’. 

Tribhuwan Nath did his Matriculation from Mahendra College, Patiala around 1887 where his uncle Rai Bahadur Manohar Nath Zutshi was posted as a judge.  He did his F.A. and B.A. subsequently from Government Azad College, Lahore and studied Arabic and Persian in St. Stephen’s College Delhi and then in Oriental College Lahore under the guidance of Mohammad Hussain.

After completing his studies, Tribhavan Nath started his service as an Accountant in Lahore around 1894.  Later,  he took up a job as a Lecturer in an Engineering College at a place Gujrat in Punjab, which has become now a part of Pakistan.  There, he had a row over some trivial matter with the Principal of the college who was an English man.  In a fit of rage, he slapped the Principal of the college.  This ugly incident became a turning point in his life, as he had to resign from his job in 1924.  Consequently, he came back to Delhi where he joined the Indraprastha College Delhi in 1931 as a teacher of Urdu and Persian language from where he retired in 1956 at the ripe age of 85 years.  From 1924 to 1931, he served as an Associate Professor in Delhi University.

Coronation of King George V

Tribhuwan Nath Zutshi had the proud privilege of attending the special Darbar in Delhi in 1911 in which the coronation ceremony of King George V took place.  He married twice. Tribhuwan Nath’s first wife died at young age. His second wife was Raj Dulari who was also a poet of repute and was known as `Victoria Ji’.  Her pen name was “Bezaar.  Victoriaji had four sons and two daughters.  The sons were Jag Mohan, Ratan Mohan, Jawahar Mohan and Dr. Anand Mohan whereas Brij Rani and Anila were her daughters.  The most peculiar characteristic of this Zutshi family is that it produced five reputed Urdu poets.

 In 1937, Delhi Literary Society gave him the title `Kadre-ul-Kalam Allama-e-fun’ in recognition to his outstanding contribution in promoting Urdu, Arabic and Persian language. The Ministry of Education of the Central Government gave him scholarship until his death for his valuable work in the field of Urdu literature.

He died in Delhi in his ancestral Haveli in Bazaar Sita Ram on 7 October 1965 after a prolonged illness at the ripe age of 94 years. To commemorate his death, a special number of Nidai Itihad in Urdu edited by Warsi Aziz was brought out on 1 November 1965.

He made a distinct place for himself in the field of Urdu poetry writing and literature by sheer hard work and dedication.  The lovers of Urdu literature in the subcontinent still take his name with great respect and admiration for his valuable contributions as a poet and as a teacher of Arabic and Persian language. 

His son Jawahar Mohan Zutshi now lived in Rajaji Puram, Lucknow and another son, Dr. Anand Mohan Zutshi “Gulzar” who was  himself an internationally by renowned Urdu poet, was known as  Gulzar Dehlvi, 93,  who passed away on 12 June 2020 at his Noida home.