Editing Urdu (section)

=== Colonial India ===
Religious and social atmospheres in early nineteenth century India played a significant role in the development of the Urdu register. [[Hindi]] became the distinct register spoken by those who sought to construct a Hindu identity in the face of colonial rule.<ref name="Ahmad-2008" /> As Hindi separated from Hindustani to create a distinct spiritual identity, Urdu was employed to create a definitive Islamic identity for the Muslim population in India.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rahman|first=Tariq|date=1997|title=The Urdu-English Controversy in Pakistan|journal=Modern Asian Studies|volume=31|pages=177–207|via=National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Qu.aid-i-Az.am University|doi=10.1017/S0026749X00016978|s2cid=144261554}}</ref> Urdu's use was not confined only to northern India – it had been used as a literary medium for Indian writers from the Bombay Presidency, Bengal, Orissa Province, and Tamil Nadu as well.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ṭamil Nāḍū men̲ Urdū g̲h̲azal kī naʼī purānī simten̲ |url=https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/search?searchCode=LCCN&searchArg=2015305807&searchType=1&permalink=y |access-date=13 September 2020}}</ref>

As Urdu and Hindi became means of religious and social construction for Muslims and Hindus respectively, each register developed its own script. According to Islamic tradition, [[Arabic]], the language of [[Muhammad]] and the [[Qur'an]], holds spiritual significance and power.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Islam: an introduction|url=https://archive.org/details/islamintroductio0000schi|url-access=registration|last=Schimmel|first=Annemarie|publisher=State U of New York Press|year=1992|location=Albany, New York|isbn=9780585088594}}</ref> Because Urdu was intentioned as means of unification for Muslims in Northern India and later Pakistan, it adopted a modified Perso-Arabic script.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ahmad|first=Rizwan|date=2011|title=Urdu in Devanagari: Shifting orthographic practices and Muslim identity in Delhi|url=http://qspace.qu.edu.qa/bitstream/10576/10736/3/LIS%20paper%20proof.pdf|journal=Language in Society|volume=40|issue=3|pages=259–284|doi=10.1017/s0047404511000182|hdl=10576/10736|s2cid=55975387|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Ahmad-2008" />