Modern poets in Kashmiri Literature is said to have commenced with the works of Ghulam Ahmad Mahjoor. His works are said to have brought about a Renaissance in the filed of Kashmiri poetry. There were, however, some other poets apart from Mahjoor whose works can be categorised as modern. Pandit Nand Lal Koul alias Nanna is a modern poet and a dramatist. He infused a new spirit in Kashmiri Language. Some of his works such as Satach Kahawat (The Touchstone of Truth) Dayya Lol (Love of God) Ramun Raj (Ram Rajiya), Prahlad Bhagal (Bhakt Prahlad) have been published. Most of his works are translations from Urdu but done excellently. Another modern poet is Mana Ju Attar of Buhori Kadal, Srinagar. He has versified Sirimad Bhagwat Purana into Kashmiri verse and it has been published. During this very period, Pandit Narayan Joo Khar of Mattan translated Srimad Bhagavad Gita in to lucid flowing Kashmiri verse, and has composed a few other poems. Pandit Zinda Koul alias `Masterji` was a sound critic of Kashmiri poetry and a poet himself. His poem Magburia Lacharya is a praiseworthy piece.

From 1925 to 1947 A. D. Kashmiri literary activity was at its lowest ebb. It was Ghulam Ahmad Mahjoor and Mirza Ghulam Hassan Beg `Arif, the two stalwarts of the modern age, who kept Kashmiri poetry alive. There were, no doubt, other Kashmiri poets like Ghulam Rasool `Nazki`, Pandit Dina Nath Chikan `Mast Kashmiri`, Pandit Dina Nath `Nadim` and others who composed fine pieces of poetry in the Urdu language but not in the mother tongue. Nazki and Nadim, however, switched on to Kashmiri just after Independence.

Mirza Ghulam Hassan Beg `Arif, an M. Sc. in Zoology, did not bypass the emotional aspects or deeper problems of life which became the subject of his songs, even when he was holding a high rank in the executive set-up of Maharaja`s rule. In his Kham Seer (Raw Brick) he brings home to the readers that the un-burnt brick grows firmer after passing the process of burning in a kiln. In the same way a human being can grow to perfection by burning in the fire of toil and hardship. Arif`s conception of the greatness of the destiny of man is obvious not only here but also when the Namaz-i-Janaza (The Funeral Prayer of Muslims) is the subject of his verse. He is re-assured of the greatness of Man before whom the angels go prostrate when he sees the Musalmans praying towards `kaba` in front of the corpse of a dear one. Yet another of his poems, a stirring elegy on the death of a dear child, from the mouth of a Pundit lady is stirring.

Ghulam Ahmad `Mahjoor` earned popularity and fame during his life time. His songs are enriched with beautiful similes and metaphors and are famous even outside Kashmir. His lyrical, patriotic and political poems have won him great laurels. He had the honour to be declared the greatest poet of his time by the Government of Kashmir. The beauty of Mahjoor`s poetry lies in its music and refined sentiment rather than in the depth of thought. A compilation of his works named Kalam-i-Mahjoor (in more than 9 parts) and Payam-i-Mahjoor have been published, and it is said that nearly one lakh copies were sold within a short period.

Mahjoor`s younger contemporary, although he did not come into lime-light during his life-time, was Munshi Abdul Ahad `Azad` of village Ranger near Badgam town. His poems show depth of thought, observation and taste. Mahjoor is a nationalist who longs for liberty and passionately prays for the prosperity of his native-land, but `Azad` is a socialist who craves for a new era of universal equality and fraternity. He is a progressive poet, a creation of modern times and thoughts. Temples and mosques bear the brunt of his fury. He would smash all those idols of religion which do not stand for the unity and service to humanity. He bitterly condemns `pride of birth`, which hampers the progress of nations. He wishes young men to push forward by sheer dint of merit.

A large number of discerning critics acclaim Azad as a poet of a great merit than `Mahjoor`. His works Kalam-i-Azad, Payam-i-Azad and Sangarmala have been published. His manuscript volume on systematic history of Kashmiri Literature entitled Tarikhe-Adbiyat-i-Kashmir, in Urdu language, which was in possession of the Kashmir Government, has now been published by the Akadami of Arts and Letters of Kashmir. This work should establish Azad`s status as a leading exponent of Kashmiri poetry and literature as a whole. He not only was a poet but also a critic of modern Kashmir. Be it a Ghazal or a simple poem on any subject, `Azad` has brought in it the theme of suffering humanity. Even in his beautiful poem Aabshar (water fall) he has not been able to restrain feelings for the suffering humanity.

Until the advent of freedom in 1947, the younger generation of Kashmiri poets was strongly influenced by the social and political movements of the other parts of India. Nand Lal Ambardar`s and Gulam Ahmad Fazil`s poems entitled Kraal Kuor (The Potter`s Daughter) and Kana door (The Ear-pendent) are a clear picture of change that had overtaken these poets. These poems, although romantic, are free from the old diction of Gul-o-bulbul (The flower and the nightingale). The Pakistani invasion on 24th October 1947 ushered in a new period of literature in Kashmir. In order to perform their duty towards their motherland, new poets, prose composers, playwrights and artists burst upon the scene to encourage and infuse their brethren in arms, and they overnight produced beautiful national literature. The younger poets of the preceding period joined the new ones with themes relevant to the life and death struggle of the Kashmiris which was thrust upon them by this armed onslaught.

To mention a few `Mahjoor, `Aaif, `Asi (Abdul Sattar), Nadim, Ambardar and others guided this new age towards the right direction. Some of the short plays and poems of this short period had new rhetoric eloquence, passion and patriotism, a wide socialistic landscape, new metres and rhymes. The leaders of this Renaissance were nearly all well educated and well-read and their compositions bear an impact of Urdu and English literatures and modern thoughts. The foremost leaders of this Renaissance are Dina Nath `Nadim`, Noor Mohamad `Roshan`, Amin `Kamil` and some others. They were followed by the younger poets like Gulam Rasool `Santosh`, Gulam Nabi `Khaya`, Rahman `Rahi`, Muzzafar Azim, Makhan Lai `Bekas`, Gulam Nabi `Firaq` and Chaman Lal `Ghaman`.

Dina Nath Nadim introduced new forms like the opera and the sonnet in the Kashmiri language. Besides this, he introduced or rather adopted a number of new words to the vocabulary of the Kashmiri language. On the other hand Rahman Rahi was successful in giving modern intellectual thought content to the Kashmiri Ghazal. `Nazki`, who switched over to Kashmiri, produced a good piece of poetry entitled `Narmkod Nania`, which is a valuable addition to the Kashmiri poetry and is in quatrains, i.e., stanzas of four lines.

Thus discussed above is the flow of modern Kashmiri poetry from Mahjoor right down to the post independent poets of later periods.