The Indo-Persian Literature of the Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts in the British Museum
The first exposure of British orientalists to Persian literature came through the medium of Hindustan, where the language of Persian had reigned supreme as the court language for centuries, producing a much vaster Persian literature than that in Iran. The Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in the British Museum by Charles Rieu, published in 1879-1883 is clear reflection of this, the majority of manuscripts – now held in the British Library – having their origin in India. This Catalogue provides a sweeping view of the range and diversity of Indo-Persian literary production, in all genres. It also illustrates British engagement with Indo-Persianate literary culture, with many works of Indian origin being either copies of earlier Mughal texts commissioned by British officials, or original works.
To deal with Indo-Persian in the British Museum’s Persian Catalogue necessarily takes us to the foundational texts of pre-modern Eastern Islamicate society, such as the Gulistan of Shaiykh Sa’di, which had circulation universally as part of the education of Muslims across pre-modern Iran, Central Asia and North India. Various manuscripts of these core texts of Persianate society were collected by Sir John Malcolm and other Persian scholars, from both Iran and India. For instance, Malcolm obtained from Iran (Add. 27,262) in 1810 an edition of Shaiykh Sa’di’s Bustan, the poetic masterpiece of the Shirazi poet. An Indian obtained example of such significant and renowned works is a copy of Jami’s Yusuf wa Zulaykha (Add.19,432)
In addition to the original texts of these widely read works, the British Museum’s Persian collection contains Indo-Persian renditions of the aforementioned. For example, it has an interesting 1815 prose version of Nizami Ganjawi’s Khusraw u Shirin (Add. 27, 270), which was requested by British military officers. The British Museum also has a comprehensive amount of manuscripts of Diwans of Indo-Persian poets such as those of Amir Khusraw and Bedil Dihlawi. The poetic works of Khusraw comprise one of the most common manuscipts in the British Museum’s Catalogue. Furthermore, the output of Iranian origin poets who migrated to India such as Talib Amuli, the poet laureate at the Mughal court, is also to be found.
In addition to the most universally enjoyed works of Persian literature, the catalogue of the British Museum has works which are more distinctly Indo-Persian, namely works that deal with India’s multi-religious and cultural environment. One such is a work commissioned by John Malcolm, written by a half Indian author Colonel James Skinner. The work bears the title Tashrih al-aqwam (Add. 27,255), concerning itself with the Hindu caste system. Similarly, works exist on the Sikh religion, one of which is a British commissioned Persian translation of a Punjabi life of the first Sikh Guru. (See Add. 24,414) An 1812 copy of the Dabistan, a famous Mughal text of comparative religion, is also housed in the British Museum’s collection. (See Add. 25,849) Here, the edition was commissioned by Lieutenant Rigby and written by an Indian Munshi. Similar to those on Indian religions, works on Indian ethnology and regions are very diverse. Serving as an example, there are several works that deal with Kashmir, for instance the Nawadir al-akhbar (Add. 24,029). This is a history of Kashmir until the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar.
In addition to works on the aforementioned themes, the Catalogue houses many works of Indo-Persian prose historical chronicling. The British Museum stores copies of some historical writings patronized by Akbar, often accorded the title of being the greatest Mughal monarch. One such instance is a Persian translation of the Baburnama, completed by the minister Abdur-Rahim Khan-i Khanan.(See Add. 25,416) Likewise, chronicles from the reigns of the other early Mughal emperors are abundant. As an example, there is an 1846 copy of the latter half of Muhammad Salih’s history of Shahjahan. (Or. 1670)
Following the decline of Mughal central authority over the subcontinent, the British Museum’s Persian Catalogue show a proliferation in more locally patronized Persian historical works. British engagement with Indo-Persian literary culture is arguably most pronounced in this area. British officials at North Indian courts employed Indians to write in Persian; for example, at the Lucknow court, Colonel John Baillie had Ghulam ‘Ali Nakavi produce a history of the rulers of the Oudeh up to his day, bearing the title of ‘Imad as-sa’adat. (Egerton, 1001) Finally, regarding what can be termed as the very last stage of Indo-Persian, before its original literary production was purely a thing of the past-apart from some notables such as Muhammad Iqbal-the British Museum Catalogue shows the originality of Indo-Persian literary production, even after the abolishment of it as a court language in 1837. Within this category of manuscripts is to be found a history of the Jhang region dating to 1862, commissioned by George Hamilton. (Or. 191) There is also a text called Makhzan al-Jawahir dating to 1847, (Or. 1784) which is a universal history extending to the Mughal period.
