Agra, Jan 11 A pioneer in giving shape to Urdu poetry but forgotten by successive generations, Mir Taqi Mir was remembered and eulogised by aficionados of Urdu literature at a seminar and mushaira on his 200th death anniversary on Sunday.

The event was organised by the Uttar Pradesh Urdu Academy and the Urdu Association at St John's College here.

Academy president Tarrannum Akeel said Mir had never been given his due, and termed him a poet, who was neither Hindu or Muslim, but sang of the human values that appealed to a much wider audience.

She said Urdu was not a language of Pakistan or Persia but of India and Indians. "There is 'sharafat' (honesty) and 'nazakat' (delicate nature) in the language patronised by the royalty."

Born in Agra in 1723, Mir left for Delhi and then settled in Lucknow after Ahmad Shah Abdali's plunder of Delhi. The event left a permanent mark on him, giving a tinge of melancholy to his poetry. He died in 1810.

Mir introduced a local Hindustani flavour to Persian imagery and idiom and evolved a medium of expression that was simple and effortless. Speakers said he was undoubtedly the principal poet of what is called the Delhi school of Urdu.

The Taj city has links with some of the greatest poets in Urdu such as Mir, Mirza Ghalib and Nazeer Akbarabadi, but the city has lost all interest in Urdu poetry, said scholars.

"It is sad but a fact that the Bollywood music and poetry has overtaken us and we tend to overlook the pristine glory and purity of the works of the masters," Syed I. Jafri, a scholar, lamented.