رسالہ مناظرہ میر سید شریف (فورٹ ولیم کالج، کلکتہ کا ایک غیر مطبوعہ رسالہ )

Abstract

Fort William College, Calcutta was not just a college where the officers of EIC were educated but it was an institution which set the tradition of enlightenment for the Urdu prose especially. Along with the syllabus books, students of oriental languages pursued the ways by which they could learn more than routine scheme of syllabus. For this purpose native teachers were appointed for their tuition and coaching. Although Mazhar Ali was Munshi in the Persian Department but also associated with a student Jonathan Lovett of the same department. Mazhar Ali also translated a brief journal in Urdu on the request of his student under the title of Risālah Munāzarah Mir Sayyid Sharif in 1802 or 1803. This journal focuses on the concerns of Logic and on the rules of Munāzarah (argumentation/ debate). Unfortunately this journal was never published, neither from the Fort William College nor by an individual.

In this article, for the first time, the critical text of this journal is presented along with a brief introduction of Jonathan Lovett and Mazhar Ali. A glossary of some terms and words is also including at the end of the article.

Keywords: Mazhar Ali, Jonathan Lovett, Mir al-Sharif al-Jurjani,

     Fort William College, Calcutta