Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu (Hind) The Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu (Hind) has enjoyed a glorious history as a premier nationalist organization and literary institution. It has never had any political affiliation and has tirelessly worked to build bridges between Urdu and Hindi which collapsed when the Urdu-Hindi controversy erupted in the 19th century. The Anjuman owes its origins to the All India Muslim Educational Conference, set up in 1882 by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan as part of the MAO College movement, which also established Shoba-i Taraqqi-i Urdu as a literary arm of the movement. The Shoba has later rechristened Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu, and noted writer and orientalist Allama Shibli Nomani became its Secretary while Maulana Abul Kalam Azad became Assistant Secretary. From 1903 until the mid-1980s, the Anjuman was the only prominent Urdu organisation that campaigned to establish other organizations in India. Concerning promoting Urdu as a commonly spoken and functional language, the Anjuman played a positive and decisive role in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. The Anjuman grew to acquire the status of a nationalist organization, maintaining close relations with national leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, C. Rajagopalacharia, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Dr Zakir Husain, along with a galaxy of Urdu and Hindi writers – Premchand being the most prominent name among them.The Anjuman’s contribution to Indian society, mainly its linguistic diversity, continued unabated during the difficult post-Partition years through the promotion of the Urdu language and literature along secular lines, thereby helping maintain India’s composite Ganga–Jamuni culture. The Anjuman continues its honourable tradition of working as the most effective organization for promoting the Urdu language with a nationwide spread of 650 branches—in nearly every city and the town where a substantial Urdu-speaking population lives or which has a historical connection with Urdu—headed by state secretaries. Post-1947, the Anjuman forced the central and state governments to establish state Urdu academies, introduce Urdu in the university system and establish other relevant departments and institutions. The predecessor organization of the NCPUL, the NCPUL itself, and Maulana Azad National Urdu University are the results of the Urdu movement initiated and led by the Anjuman.The country has not witnessed any other instance in which a linguistic movement by a single organization has achieved such success through peaceful means. During the 140 years of its existence, the Anjuman has published several hundred books of very high scholastic standard. Its library boasts a collection of rare books and manuscripts, some as old as 600 years, which are of great value to scholars and researchers from Indian and foreign universities, not to mention Urdu writers, poets and journalists. The website www.atuh.org keeps you abreast of all its new ventures.