Mohan Singh Diwana (Uberoi)
1899
– 1984
The first authentic literary historian of Punjabi literature, a researcher, poet, short story writer, and translator. He was well-versed in Punjabi, Urdu, Persian, English, and several other languages.
Dr. Mohan Singh Diwana was a renowned historian, critic, poet, and Sikh thinker of Punjabi literature. He was born on 17 March 1899 in Devi village of Gujarkhan Tehsil of Rawalpindi district. His father’s name was Munshi Sher Singh Uberai and he was born in the house of his mother Mai Moola Devi. Mohan Singh Diwana’s ancestral village was Sayyad, but since his father’s job was in Devi village, he lived there with his family; therefore, it is considered to be Devi village itself.
At the age of only six months, Mohan Singh Diwana’s mother passed away, after which his upbringing was done by his father alone.
Dr. Mohan Singh Diwana completed his primary education from his village Devi, and after that he completed his matriculation from Khalsa Middle School, Sayyad. He completed his F.Sc. from Dayal Singh College, Lahore, and B.A. (English Honours) from Government College, Lahore. Along with his studies, he also worked on many posts.
In the year 1931, Mohan Singh Diwana obtained the degree of Ph.D. related to Urdu poetry from Calcutta University, and in the year 1933 he obtained the D.Litt. degree from Punjab University by writing the history of Punjabi literature. He worked in the Punjabi Department of Punjab University, Lahore, and here he reached from lecturer to reader and up to the post of head of the department.
The greatest scholarly specialty of Mohan Singh Diwana was his linguistic multilingualism. He knew Sanskrit, Prakrit, Pali, Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, German, French, and Punjabi languages.
Dr. Mohan Singh Diwana’s most important and historical work is “History of Punjabi Literature (1100–1932)”, which is considered the first well-organized, scientific, and fact-based history of Punjabi literature. Through this book, he divided Punjabi literature into different periods and presented its development in a systematic manner.
Along with being a researcher, Mohan Singh Diwana was also a sensitive poet. In his poetry, romance, pain, philosophy, and serious feelings of the instability of human life are found. Dhoop Chhaan, Neel Dhara, Masti, Jagat Tamasha, Nirankari Sakhian, Patjhar, Masti, and Somras were his poetry collections. In his poetry, the inner confusion, separation, and spiritual search of modern man emerge prominently.
Apart from this, he also wrote short story collections titled Davinder Bateesi, Parandi, and Rang Tamase. Besides this, research books on linguistics and Gurmat knowledge such as Punjabi Bhasha te Chhand Bandi, Japji de Aadhar te Bhasha Vigyan te Gurmat Gyan, Punjabi Sahit da Sankhep Itihas, etc. were also published. A large amount of his literature is found written in English, Urdu, and Hindi languages.
In the year 2013, the Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, included him among the builders of Indian literature.
Dr. Mohan Singh Diwana passed away on 25 May 1984 in Chandigarh.