Wikijunior:Languages/Urdu

What writing system(s) does this language use?
Urdu is written in the Perso-Arabic Script, and has many letters common with Arabic and Persian. It is written from right to left. However, Urdu is often written in the Latin alphabet in text messaging and e-mails.

How many people speak this language?
There are estimated to be about 60 and 70 million native speakers of Urdu. There were 52 million in India per the 2001 census, some 6% of the population approximately 10 million in Pakistan or 7.57% per the 1998 census and an additional 100 million people. who can speak it as a secondary language. It is also closely related to the language Hindi, and speakers of the everyday forms of the languages can usually understand each other.

Where is this language spoken?
Urdu is widely spoken in Pakistan and India, though it also has large number of speakers in the Middle East, United Kingdom, and North America.

What is the history of this language?
Urdu is believed to have evolved from contact between the local Indo-Aryan (prakrith, a localized form of Sanskrit) speaking population and the people of the Persian/Arabic speaking nations who invaded and ruled the Indian sub-continent for almost 1000 years since the attacks of Ghaznavi in early 10th Century. Urdu evolved in the Indian sub-continent from various local dialects such as Prakrit and Brij Bhasha with outside influences from the Arabic, Persian, and Turkish languages.

Who are some famous authors or poets in this language?
Urdu is rich in both prose and poetry. Some famous poets who wrote in Urdu are Allama Muhammad Iqbal, Mirza Ghalib, Mir Taqi Mir, and Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Allama Muhammad Iqbal is recognized as the national poet of Pakistan.

What is a simple song/poem/story that I can learn in this language?
In Urdu

میں اکیلا ہی چلا تھا جانب منزل مگر .

لوگ ساتھ آتے گئے اور کارواں بنتا گیا

Urdu Version (English Text)

main akela hi chala tha jaanib-e-manzil magar

log saath aate gaye aur kaaravaan bantaa gayaa

Translation

I had started all alone towards the destination but

People kept joining and it became a caravan.

(According to the Indian Urdu newspaper Pindar,

the couplet is by Majruh Sultan Puri.)