While it tends to be dominated by poetry, especially the verse forms of the ghazal (غزل) and nazm (نظم), it has expanded into other styles of writing, including that of the short story, or afsana (افسانہ).

Amir Khusrau, who lived in the thirteenth century, wrote and gave shape to the Rekhta dialect (the Persianized combination of Hindavi), which was the early form of Modern Standard Urdu.

[16] During the nineteenth century, the centre of Urdu literature shifted from Delhi as most literary men migrated to other parts of India like Hyderabad, Patna, and Lucknow.

[27] Ghalib, better known for his poetry, also wrote a considerable amount of Urdu prose during his lifetime which includes his collection of letters and three short pamphlets entitled Lataif-i-Ghalib, Tegh-i-Tez, and Nama-i-Ghalib.

[29] The development of Urdu prose for practical purposes can be traced back to the establishment of the Fort William College in Calcutta in 1800 which was founded to instruct British officers of the East India Company in Indian vernacular languages.

He gathered a group of Indian scholars at the college who went on to write books for the use of fresh officers and also created a standard prose for Urdu and Hindi.

[31] Syed Ahmed Khan, the leading figure of the Aligarh Movement, was also a voracious writer and journalist who wrote various books from theological to historical subjects.

His major theological work, Al-Khutbat al-Ahmadiya fi'l Arab wa'I Sirat al-Muhammadiya (A Series of Essays on the Life of Muhammad and Subjects Subsidiary Therein), was published in 1876.

[39] Other major writers during this period include Sudarshan, Mohammad Mehdi Taskeen, Qazi Abdul Gaffar, Majnun Gorakhpuri, Niaz Fatehpuri, Krishan Prasad Kaul, and L.M.

[45] The publication of Angarey, a short story collection by Sajjad Zaheer, Rashid Jahan, Mahmud-uz-Zafar, and Ahmed Ali in 1932 marked the beginning of the Progressive Writers' Movement that went on to substantially influence the content of Urdu literature for the next two decades.

[47] Krishan Chander realistically portrayed life in his novel and stories such as Ek Gadhe ki Sargushisht, Shikast, Zindagi ke Mor Par, Hum Waishi Hain, Anna Datta, Kalu Bhangi, and Paude.

[48] Another leading writer of this period was Saadat Hasan Manto who wrote elaborately drawn stories like Khol do, Toba Tek Singh, Mozelle, and Thanda Gosht.

[49]} Amir Khusrau exercised great influence on the initial growth of not only Urdu literature, but the language itself (which only truly took shape as distinguished from both Persian and Old Hindi during the late 13th century).

While the couplets that come down from him are representative of a latter-Prakrit Hindi bereft of Arabo-Persian vocabulary, his influence on court viziers and writers must have been transcendental, for a century after his death Quli Qutub Shah was speaking a language that might be considered to be Urdu.

Muhammed Quli Qutub Shah had the distinction of being the first Saheb-e-dewan Urdu poet and is credited with introducing a new sensibility into prevailing genres of Persian/Urdu poetry.

Most of the narrative dastans were recorded in the early nineteenth century, representing the inclusion of 'wandering' motifs borrowed from the folklore of the Middle East, central Asia and northern India.

These include Bagh-o-Bahar (The Garden and Spring) by Mir Amman,[69] Mazhab-i-Ishq (The Religion of Love) by Nihalchand Lahori,[70] Araish-i-Mahfil (The Adornment of the Assembly) by Hyderbakhsh Hyderi, and Gulzar-i-Chin (The Flower Bed of Chin) by Khalil Ali Khan Ashq.

However, the partition of India had a great impact on the novel, bringing up questions of identity and migration as can be seen in the major works of Abdullah Hussain and Quratul Ain Haider.

The most significant novels of the current generation of Indian novelists in Urdu, which demonstrate a new confidence in contemporary life, are Makaan by Paigham Afaqui, Do Gaz Zameen by Abdus Samad, and Pani by Ghazanfer.

These Urdu novels further impacted significant works such as Andhere Pag by Sarwat Khan, Numberdar Ka Neela by S M Ashraf and Fire Area by Ilyas Ahmed Gaddi.

Paigham Afaqui's second major novel, Paleeta, was published in 2011 and depicts the tension of the political sickening of a common Indian citizen in the six decades after India's independence.

Bewildered by the disappointing state of democracy and the transformation of Indian society into a mental desert the central character dies after leaving behind his writings which catch fire.

Writers like Ghulam Abbas, Manto, Rajinder Singh Bedi, Krishan Chander and Ismat Chughtai, to name but a few, turned the short story into a major genre of Urdu literature.

An entirely different approach is seen in the collection of short stories T'abir by Moinuddin Jinabade and Taus Chaman Ka Maina by Nayyer Masood.

Urdu drama evolved from the prevailing dramatic traditions of North India raas as practiced by exponents like Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Awadh.

Sayeed Alam is known for his wit and humour in plays like Ghalib in New Delhi, Maulana Azad and Big B. Danish Iqbal's Dara Shikoh, directed by M S Sathyu, is considered a modern classic for its use of newer theatre techniques and a contemporary perspective.

His other plays are Sahir, on the famous lyricist and revolutionary poet; Kuchh Ishq kiya Kuchh Kaam, a Celebration of the Faiz's poetry, featuring events from the early part of his life, particularly the events and incidents of pre-partition days which shaped his life and ideals; and Chand Roz Aur Meri Jaan, another play inspired from Faiz's letters written from various jails during the Rawalpindi Conspiracy days.

Unlike the writers of the previous generation, Sayeed, Shahid, Iqbal, and Zaheer do not write bookish plays but rather their work is a product of a vigorous performing tradition.

Afaqui and other writers refused to be identified by any movement and displayed complete independence in using personally developed styles and techniques for writing novels and explored their own philosophy and vision of life.

The first play of the genre was written and published by the Pakistan research-writer, poet, lawyer and columnist Mujtaba Haider Zaidi in December 2008 under the title Mazaron Ke Phool (i.e.