'Sare Jahan se Accha Hindustan Hamara' is one of the most enduring and beloved patriotic songs in India. Also known as Tarana-e-Hind (Anthem of the People of Hindustan), it holds a special place in the history of the Indian independence movement.
When Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian cosmonaut to travel to space in 1984, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi asked him how India looked from space. He famously replied by quoting this poem: 'Sare Jahan Se Accha'.
The song was written by the renowned Urdu poet and philosopher Muhammad Iqbal (also known as Allama Iqbal) in the year 1904.
It was originally published in the weekly journal Ittehad on 16 August 1904. The following year, Iqbal recited it publicly for the first time at Government College, Lahore.
The poem was written during the British Raj as an ode to undivided India. It beautifully celebrates the cultural, geographical, and historical greatness of the Indian subcontinent.
The most famous lines are: Sare jahan se accha Hindustan hamara Hum bulbulein hain is ki, yeh gulsitan hamara (Better than the entire world is our Hindustan, We are its nightingales, and it is our garden abode).
Interestingly, while Muhammad Iqbal wrote this highly secular and patriotic song for a united India in 1904, his political views changed drastically later in life. By the 1930s, he became a strong proponent of the Two-Nation Theory and is today considered the spiritual 'Father of Pakistan'.
While Muhammad Iqbal wrote the lyrics, the famous, energetic marching tune that the Indian Armed Forces play today was composed by sitar maestro **Pandit Ravi Shankar** in 1945.
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