Hariyupiya that could have been Harappa

Imagining the past is no mean feat. Especially if it is the remote past. Even more so if it is a remote past that is less well preserved by peculiar climatic conditions than others. Or if it was less fortunate in escaping decimation from marauders and colonists. If the language of that bygone epoch remains one of the great enigmas of modern archaeology, linguistics and ancient history, then there is even more of a risk that anyone writing about it will be making the cardinal error of projecting her own imaginings of history or the lived reality of the present onto the ancient past. Therefore, any conscientious and rigorous writer of historical fiction makes every endeavour to be both well familiar with all extant serious research on the era, and to also consciously ensure that she doesn’t get carried away and write something out of character with our scholarly understandings of the time.

The year 2023 so far has been a good one for Urdu fiction in general and Urdu historical fiction in particular. Sahiwal-based Urdu scholar, academic and writer Hina Jamshed has penned a novel called Hariyupiya, published by Book Corner Jhelum, that I have just finished reading. Veteran writer Tahira Iqbal has also published a new novel called Harappa, published by the same publisher, that I have just started reading. Having focused in one of the six eras of my own novel Snuffing Out the Moon (translated as Chand Ko Gul Karen to Hum Janen) on the Indus Valley Civilisation, I was and am particularly intrigued to discover how these two novelists have envisioned and depicted Harappa and its civilisation.

Three things stood out for me as great positives in Hina Jamshed’s novel.

The first – essential for all good historical fiction – is her research. Living in close proximity to the site of the glorious ancient city, she appears to have dug deep into archives, secondary literature and relevant available texts and materials. This not only lends invaluable authenticity to what she writes – as can be easily discerned by someone who is familiar with the scholarly literature – but also appreciable texture, detailing and heft to her descriptions.

While research is an essential ingredient, imagination is equally, if not more, important. Because with limited historical understanding of the place and the era, it is imagination that must fill multiple gaps. This is the second aspect that I wish to highlight. It is apparent that Hina Jamshed has roamed frequently in the silent, mysterious streets of the ancient city, breathing in its atmosphere, listening to leftover whispers from bygone times, and sniffing the fragrance of bygone days. No wonder her storytelling is evocative.

Thirdly I wish to emphasise that for historical fiction it is very important to try hard and imagine things as they actually could have been, as opposed to how one wants them or would like them to be. Here too the novelist puts forth something that is compelling and persuasive. It is an imagined Harappa that is more likely to have existed than not.

Friday Times