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{{short description|Early term for the Hindustani language}}
{{Distinguish|Rekhta (website)}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2019}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Rekhta
| region           = Around [[Delhi]]
| script           = [[Perso-Arabic script|Perso-Arabic]] ([[Urdu alphabet]])<br />[[Nagari script|Nagari]]
| era              = 13th-18th centuries<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rekhta.org/CMS/FAQ|website=rekhta.org|title=Frequently Asked Questions|quote=Rekhta is the old name of Urdu. Amir Khusrau, the late 13th Century poet wrote in Rekhta. It changed its name many times and came to be known as Dakkani, Gujari, Hindavi, etc at various points of time. Mir and Ghalib also wrote in Rekhta, which later came to be known as Urdu in the late 19th Century.}}</ref>
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]
| fam3             = [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]]
| fam4             = [[Central Indo-Aryan languages|Central Zone]]
| fam5             = [[Western Hindi]]
| fam6             = [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]]
| isoexception     = historical
| image            = Ghalib poem in Nastaliq.jpg
| imagecaption     = The poem of [[Ghalib]], the notable poet of the 'Rekhta' dialect
| notice           = Indic
| glotto           = rekh1239
| glottorefname    = Rekhta
| nativename       = {{Nastaliq|ریختہ}} <br> रेख़्ता
}}

'''''Rekhta''''' ({{langx|ur|{{Nastaliq|ریختہ}}}} {{IPA|ur|ˈreːxtaː|}}; {{langx|hi|रेख़्ता}} {{IPA|hi|ˈreːxtaː|}} ''Rekhtā'') was an early form of the [[Hindustani language]]. This style evolved in both the [[Urdu alphabet|Perso-Arabic]] and [[Nagari script]]s and is considered an early form of [[Urdu language|Standard Urdu]] and [[Hindi language|Modern Standard Hindi]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00urduhindilinks/workshop2012/bangha_rekhta.pdf|title=Rekhta: Poetry in Mixed Language, The Emergence of Khari Boli Literature in North India|publisher=[[Columbia University]]|access-date=23 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328003510/http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00urduhindilinks/workshop2012/bangha_rekhta.pdf|archive-date=28 March 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kumar |first=Kuldeep |date=2017-12-14 |title=Understanding Rekhta |url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/understanding-rekhta/article21665319.ece |access-date=2025-04-07 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref> According to the Pakistani linguist and historian [[Tariq Rahman|Tariq Rehman]], Rekhta was a highly [[Persianized]] variant of Hindustani, exclusively used by poets. It was not only the vocabulary that was Persianized, but also the poetic metaphors, inspired by Indian landscapes and seasons, were abandoned in favor of the Persian ones i.e. ''bahār'' (spring) replacing ''barsāt'' (rainy season).<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Rahman |first=Tariq |title=From Hindi to Urdu: A Social and Political History |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-19-906313-0 |language=English}}</ref>

The 13th century [[Indo-Persian culture|Indo-Persian]] Muslim poet [[Amir Khusrau]] used the term ''Hindavi'' ({{langx|fa|ھندوی|lit=of ''Hind'' (hindustān) or ''India''}}) for the 'Rekhta' dialect (the ancestor of Standard Urdu), the Persianized offshoot of the Apabhramsa vernacular [[Old Hindi]], towards its emergence during the era of [[Delhi Sultanate]],<ref>{{cite book|editor=Kathleen Kuiper|year=2011 |title=The Culture of India|publisher=[[Rosen Publishing]]|language=en|isbn=9781615301492|page=80|quote=Hindustani began to develop during the 13th century AD in and around the Indian cities of Dehli and Meerut in response to the increasing linguistic diversity that resulted from Muslim hegemony.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World |author1=Keith Brown |author2=Sarah Ogilvie |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-08-087774-7 |publisher=Elsevier |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=F2SRqDzB50wC |quote=Apabhramsha seemed to be in a state of transition from Middle Indo-Aryan to the New Indo-Aryan stage. Some elements of Hindustani appear ... the distinct form of the lingua franca Hindustani appears in the writings of Amir Khusro (1253–1325), who called it Hindwi[.]}}</ref><ref name="tariqrahman"/><ref>{{cite web|title=All writings of Amir Khusraw|url=https://www.rekhta.org/poets/ameer-khusrau/all|website=rekhta.org}}</ref> and gave shape to it in the Muslim literature, thus called "the father of [[Urdu literature]]".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dKnXAAAAMAAJ&q=father+of+Urdu+literature+amir+khusrow|title=Famous Indian sages: their immortal messages|last=Bhattacharya|first=Vivek Ranjan|year=1982|publisher=Sagar Publications|language=en}}</ref> Other early Muslim poets, includes [[Baba Farid]], who contributed in the development of the language.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Masica|first1=Colin P.|title=The Indo-Aryan Languages|year=1993|page=54|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521299442}}</ref> Later from the 18th century, the dialect became a literary language and was further developed by the poets [[Mir Taqi Mir|Mir]] and [[Mirza Ghalib|Ghalib]] in the late [[Mughal empire|Mughal]] period, and the term eventually fell out of use and came to be known as [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]], by the end of the century.<ref name="tariqrahman"/><ref name=HT>{{cite news|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/art-and-culture/sept20-meerbirthday/story-AhLZW0eOZ4fZNYnDMNUSBL.html |title=Meer Taqi Meer: 10 couplets we can use in our conversations |author=Sweta Kaushal |newspaper=Hindustan Times (newspaper)|date=20 September 2015|access-date=18 July 2020}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
''Rekhtā'' (from [[Persian language|Persian]] verb {{Wikt-lang|fa|ریختن}} {{IPA|fa|ɾeːxˈtan|}}) means "scattered" but also "mixed".<ref>{{ELL2|Hindustani}}</ref> The name was given to an early form of courtly literature in [[Delhi]], where poems were made by combining Persian and early Hindustani (referred to as Hindavi or [[Dehlavi dialect|Dehlavi]]). Sometimes this was done by writing some lines of the poem in Persian, and others in ''Hindavi''. Alternatively, both [[Persian language|Persian]] and ''Hindavi'' could feature in a single line.<ref name="tariqrahman">{{Cite book|last=Rahman|first=Tariq|url=http://www.tariqrahman.net/content/hindiurdu1.pdf|title=From Hindi to Urdu: A Social and Political History|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2011|pages=29–31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010094507/http://www.tariqrahman.net/content/hindiurdu1.pdf|archive-date=10 October 2014}}</ref>

== Origin and usage ==
[[File:Amir Khusro.jpg|thumb|[[Amir Khusrau]], a 13th-century Urdu poet.]]
Rekhta arose in a period marked by extensive cultural interactions due to invasions, trade, and the establishment of Islamic courts in North India. As Persian became the language of administration, literature, and elite society under the [[Delhi Sultanate]] (1206–1526), and later the [[Mughal Empire]] (1526–1857), it began to interact with local vernaculars. The result was a blend that facilitated communication across classes and communities. Rekhta was the literary manifestation of this blend, gaining traction particularly in the courts of [[Delhi]], [[Agra]], and later [[Lucknow]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Bangha |first=Imre |title=Early Hindi Epic Poetry in Gwalior |date=2014-10-13 |work=After Timur Left |pages=365–402 |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199450664.003.0013 |access-date=2025-04-07 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Story of Rekhta |url=https://www.rekhta.org/urdu-resources/the-story-of-rekhta-2 |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=Rekhta |language=en}}</ref> 

The literary form of Rekhta was often composed in Perso-Arabic script (Nastaʿlīq) and occasionally in Devanagari, depending on the poet and regional influence. It was predominantly used in [[Ghazal|Ghazals]], [[Masnavi|Masnavis]], and [[Qawwali|Qawwalis]], often conveying themes of love, loss, spirituality, and philosophical musings.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-12-28 |title=Understanding Rekhta in Hindi: A Deep Dive into Urdu Poetry - ViperCircle |url=https://vipercircle.com/rekhta-in-hindi/ |access-date=2025-04-07 |language=en-US}}</ref> While spoken ''Hindavi'' (or ''Hindavi boli'') served as the [[Lingua franca]] of North India, Rekhta emerged as a refined, urbane variant used for high literary expression. <ref>{{Citation |last=Bangha |first=Imre |title=Early Hindi Epic Poetry in Gwalior |date=2014-10-13 |work=After Timur Left |pages=365–402 |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199450664.003.0013 |access-date=2025-04-07 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>

Some scholars see Rekhta as part of a broader Indo-Persian cultural synthesis that defined much of medieval Indian literature. Persian was the prestige language, but Rekhta allowed Indian poets to write in a hybrid that could appeal to both elite and common audiences. This made it a unique cultural bridge across linguistic and religious communities.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Misra |first=Salil |date=2020 |title=HINDI’S QUEST FOR NATIONAL IDENTITY: A Story in Three Stages |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27130928 |journal=India International Centre Quarterly |volume=47 |issue=1/2 |pages=164–187 |issn=0376-9771}}</ref>

As ''Hindavi'' began to evolve into a literary language in the 18th century, the new term Rekhta carried over to describe this language. It denoted the Persianized, "high" form of ''Hindavi'' used in poetry, as opposed to the speech of the common population. The word was used alongside names like Urdu and Hindi. Its usage in this sense lasted into the 19th century, as evidenced by a ''[[Sher (poem)|sher]]'' of [[Mirza Ghalib]]:<ref name="tariqrahman" />

{{Nastaliq|ريختہ کے تُم ہی اُستاد نہیں ہو غالِبؔ}} <br>     {{Nastaliq|کہتے ہیں اگلے زمانے میں کوئی مِیرؔ بھی تھا}}

{{Verse translation|Rēk͟htē kē tum hī ustād nahī̃ hō ġālib,
Kahtē haĩ aglē zamānē mē̃ kōī 'mīr' bhī thā|You are not the sole grandmaster of Rekhta, Ghalib
They say, in the ages past, that there was one (called) [[Mir Taqi Mir|Mir]]}}
{{IPA|[ɾeːxt̪eː keː t̪ʊm hiː ʊst̪aːd nəɦĩː ɦoː ɣaːlɪb]|lang=ur}}

{{IPA|[kɛht̪eː hɛ̃ː əɡleː zəmaneː mẽː koiː miːɾ bʰiː t̪ʰaː]|lang=ur}}

By the eighteenth century however, the term ''Rekhta'' had largely fallen out of use and terms like ''Hindi, Hindustani'' and ''Urdu'' were favored.<ref name=":0" />

=== Zehal-e-Miskin ===
{{see also|Hindustani classical music}}
''Zehal-e-Miskin'' is the first [[ghazal]] in [[Urdu literature]], written by [[Amir Khusrau]], through combining the [[Old Hindi]] language [[Braj Bhasha]] and [[Persian language|Persian]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Read full ghazal by Ameer Khusrau |url=https://www.rekhta.org/ghazals/ze-haal-e-miskiin-makun-tagaaful-duraae-nainaan-banaae-batiyaan-ameer-khusrau-ghazals#:~:text=Attributed%20to%20Amir%20Khusrau,%20this%20is%20the%20first,a%20stable%20for%20a%20host%20of%20Qawwali%20singers. |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=Rekhta |language=en}}</ref> This Persianised combination was later known as Rekhta (the ancestor of Hindustani language).<ref>{{cite web|title=ze-haal-e-miskin makun taghaful durae nainan banae batiyan|url=https://www.rekhta.org/ghazals/ze-haal-e-miskiin-makun-tagaaful-duraae-nainaan-banaae-batiyaan-ameer-khusrau-ghazals|website=[[Rekhta (website)|Rekhta website]]|quote=Attributed to Amir Khusrau, this is the first ever Ghazal written in Rekhta. The first line of which is in Persian whereas the second is in Hindvi. An extremely popular romantic Ghazal, it has long been a stable for a host of Qawwali singers.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Translating Amir Khusrau's 'Zihaal-e-Miskeen', The Ghazal Of Ghazals|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/culture-society/translating-amir-khusrau-s-zihaal-e-miskeen-the-ghazal-of-ghazals-news-57560|website=Outlookindia.com|date=3 February 2022 |quote=Any translation can be endlessly improved upon, but especially of the ghazal “Zihaal- e-Miskeen” by Amir Khusrau. It is composed in two languages, Persian, and Brij Bhasha — also called “Hindavi” and considered to be an archaic form of what later became Urdu.}}</ref> The poem effectively conveys the agony experienced due to the distance from the beloved. This sentiment is skillfully portrayed through a remarkable fusion of both languages, resulting in a harmonious blend that enhances the overall impact of the poem.<ref>{{cite web|title=Zehaal-e-Miskeen -~Amir Khusrau|url=https://blindtobounds.blog/2011/08/03/zehaal-e-miskeen-amir-khusrau-farid-ayaz-co/|website=blindtobounds.blog|date=3 August 2011 |quote=Zehaal -e Miskeen is a master piece written in both the languages in Persian (bold) and Brij Bhasha (italics). In the first verse, the first line is in Persian, the second in Brij Bhasha, the third in Persian again, and the fourth in Brij Bhasha. In the remaining verses, the first two lines are in Persian, the last two in Brij Bhasha. The poem expresses the agony of separation from the beloved,  in both the languages with a superb fusion…which to my understanding signifies how different yet similiar [sic] is the expression of the agony of separation amongst the elite ( representing Persian) and the common man ( through Braj Bhasha).}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Dobhashi]]
* [[Persian and Urdu]]
* [[Rekhti]]
* [[Urdu poetry]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Urdu topics}}
{{Central Indo-Aryan languages}}

[[Category:Dialects of Urdu]]
[[Category:Hindustani language]]
[[Category:Languages attested from the 13th century]]
[[Category:Central Indo-Aryan languages]]