Understanding the Mughal Book of War:

A Translation and Analysis of Abu’l-Fazl’s

Preface to the Razmnama
by
Razieh Babagolzadeh

B.A., Arak University, 2010

Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Arts

in the
Department of History
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

 Razieh Babagolzadeh 2015

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
Fall 2015
Approval

Name: Razieh Babagolzadeh

Degree: Master of Arts (History)

Title of Thesis: Understanding the Mughal Book of War: A Translation

and Analysis of Abu’l-Fazl’s Preface to the Razmnama

Examining Committee: Chair: Roxanne Panchasi

Associate Professor

Derryl MacLean
Senior Supervisor
Associate Professor

Luke Clossey
Supervisor
Associate Professor

Thomas Kuehn
Supervisor
Associate Professor

Azadeh Yamini-Hamedani
External Examiner
Assistant Professor
World Literature Program
Simon Fraser University

Date Defended/Approved: December 16, 2015

ii
Abstract

The Mughal emperor Akbar (1542-1605) commissioned the translation of a number of

texts from Sanskrit into Persian, one of his most ambitious projects being the
Mahabharata, India’s celebrated epic. Akbar called this the Razmnama or ‘Book of War’
on account of the great conflict at the heart of the narrative. In 1587 he asked his
courtier Abu’l-Fazl ibn Mubarak to write a Preface to the Razmnama. This thesis is a
study of that Preface. My thesis is divided into several parts. To begin, I look at Abu’l-
Fazl and the Translation Bureau, the department set up by the Mughals to undertake
translation work. I then turn to the sources that document the translation of the
Mahabharata and identify the translation team. After reviewing the scholarship on Abu’l-
Fazl’s Preface, I turn to my larger aims: a translation and analysis of the Preface in order
to understand Abu’l-Fazl’s relationship to his tasks as a writer and his relationship to the
Persian version of the epic. My aims also embrace allied problems, namely Abu’l-Fazl’s
understanding of the social groups for whom the translation was intended and his
relationship to emperor Akbar.

Keywords: Sixteenth century India, Mughal Empire, Emperor Akbar, Translation,

Abu’l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, Razmnama, Mahabharata

iii
Dedication

For Akbar, uncle and martyr. He would have appreciated this.

iv
Acknowledgements

In the course of my MA and the writing of this thesis I am grateful for the patient help and
advice I have received. I wish to express sincere gratitude to my senior supervisor, Dr.
Derryl MacLean, who has patiently met with me on many occasions and commented in
depth and in detail on the research topic I have undertaken. In my time at Simon Fraser
University, I benefitted from interactions with many students and professors. I cannot
name them all but I would like to thank members of my supervisory committee Dr. Luke
Clossey and Dr. Thomas Kuehn for their patience and assistance. I am grateful to Dr.
Michael Willis who provided photographs of the Razmnama manuscript in the British
Library, London. I would also like to extend my appreciation to M.I. Salehimoghadam
who took considerable time in helping me dissect some of the difficult passages in the
translation. Finally, I could not close without mentioning my family, whose support and
encouragement this would not have been possible without.

v
Table of Contents

Approval .............................................................................................................................ii 
Abstract ............................................................................................................................. iii 
Dedication .........................................................................................................................iv 
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... v 
Table of Contents ..............................................................................................................vi 
Abbreviations ................................................................................................................... vii 
Note on Conventions and Transliteration ........................................................................ viii 

Chapter 1.  Introduction ............................................................................................... 1 

Chapter 2.  Translation of the Preface to the Razmnama ....................................... 25 

Chapter 3.  Commentary and Analysis ..................................................................... 73 

3.1.  Writing for the ‘Lord of the Age’ .............................................................................. 74 
3.2.  Reading the Razmnama......................................................................................... 93 
3.3.  Positioning the Mahabharata in and Outside Time .............................................. 102 

Chapter 4.  Conclusion ............................................................................................ 110 

Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 119 

Primary References ...................................................................................................... 119 
Secondary References.................................................................................................. 119 

vi
Abbreviations

AA A’in-i Akbari, by Abu’l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, 3 vols., translated by H. Blochmann

and H. S Jarrett. Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1873-1948.
AN
Akbarnama, by Abu’l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, 3 vols., translated by H. Beveridge,
Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1907-1939.

BL British Library

JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society

JRAS Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society

MT Muntakhabu-t-Tawarikh: By 'Abdul Qadir bin-Muluk Shah Known as al-

Badaoni, 3 Vols., translated by George S. A. Ranking, Wolseley H. Lowe, and
Wolseley Haig. Calcutta: 1884-1925. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers &
Distributors, 1990.

vii
Note on Conventions and Transliteration

This thesis follows the transliteration conventions of the International Journal of

Middle Eastern Studies but without diacritical marks, see
http://ijmes.chass.ncsu.edu/authorresources.htm. Persian words are transcribed
according to the system used by Iranian Studies. For Indian names and places, a
simplified system is also used. All words that have entered common English usage are
spelt as they appear in dictionaries. In all languages, the titles of works and technical
words are given in italics as they stand. Citation follows The Chicago Manual of
Style (16th ed.)

viii
Chapter 1.
Introduction

After a long period alone with my heart, I understood

that one must write as though one is in the time of utter happiness
Abu’l-Fazl, Preface 1

Islam arrived in South Asia in the eighth century and the Sultans of Delhi
established themselves as a viable power on the northern plains of India by the close of
the twelfth. The Tughluqs developed the first genuinely pan-Indian Islamic kingdom, not
matched until the sixteenth century when the Mughals formed a powerful and enduring
empire. Akbar (1542-1605) was the third ruler of the dynasty, succeeding his father
Humayun in 1556.2 He ascended the throne aged thirteen and ruled under a regent,
Bayram Khan, for five years before claiming power and embarking on campaigns of
expansion that took the frontiers of his kingdom to Afghanistan in the north, the Godavari
River in the south, Bengal in the east and Sind in the west.

Although earlier Muslim rulers had engaged with their non-Muslims subjects in a
number of significant ways—notably in the Deccan and in Malwa—Akbar is remembered
as the first king who was courageous enough and powerful enough to cross the social

1
See chapter two, p. 5.
2
Among many histories of the Mughals used here for basic information, see the relatively
recent Harbans Mukhia, The Mughals of India (Malden, MA and Oxford: Blackwell Publishing,
2004).

1
and religious borders of his kingdom in a substantial and sustained way.3 While
remaining Muslim, Akbar aimed to resolve the complex issues surrounding his Muslim
and non-Muslim subjects and their interactions. Under Akbar’s influence, the early
Mughal court developed a lively literary culture that aimed to understand the indigenous
traditions of the Indian people, albeit through a Persianate lens. The stage was set in
1582 when Persian was declared the official language of the court: members of the
imperial bureaucracy were required to learn Persian, including a large useful number of
Hindus who sought employment in the government.4 As part of a policy of peace for all
(sulh-i kul), and the implementation of Persian as the ‘language of empire’, a number of
works in different languages were translated into Persian with the support of the king.
These works allow for an understanding of the Mughal milieu, especially the translations
of Hindu works from Sanskrit. These were built out of the linguist and textual materials of
both traditions and document the exchange between them. As something new, at least
on the scale of resources devoted to their preparation, the translated Sanskrit texts are
part of the dynamic literary landscape that was emerging at the time in northern India.

The Mughal court was multi-lingual. The royal library (kitab khana) of the
Mughals, now dispersed, had books in many languages including Turkish, Arabic and
Persian.5 Sanskrit manuscripts were also present.6 This means that these languages

3
A useful overview from a literary point of view for this MA thesis is Carl W. Ernst, “Muslim
Studies of Hinduism? A Reconsideration of Arabic and Persian Translations of Indian
Languages,” Iranian Studies 36 (2003): 173-95. For the Deccan, see Richard M. Eaton, “The Rise
of Written Vernaculars: The Deccan 1450-1650,” in After Timur Left: Culture and Circulation in
Fifteenth Century North India, eds. Francesca Orsini and Samira Sheikh (New Delhi: Oxford
University Press, 2014), 111-29. For Malwa, Norah M. Titley, The Niʻmatnama Manuscript of the
Sultans of Mandu: the Sultan's Book of Delights (London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2005). For the
literature on pre-Mughal engagement with Indian sources, see Ashok Kumar Das, Paintings of
the Razmnama: The Book of War (Ahmedabad: Mapin, 2005), to which should be added a
number of works such as Sriramula Rajeswara Sarma, Thakkura Pheruʼs Rayanaparikkha: A
Medieval Prakrit Text on Gemmology (Aligarh: Viveka, 1984). Pheru was the mint master in the
Khalji court.
4
See Muzaffar Alam, "The Pursuit of Persian: Language in Mughal Politics," Modern Asian
Studies 32 (1998): 317-49.
5
Some account of the books is found in Pramod Chandra and Daniel Ehnbom, The Cleveland
Tuti-Nama Manuscript and the Origins of Mughal Painting (Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art,
1976) and Jeremiah Losty, The Art of the Book in India (London: British Library, 1982).

2
were understood and read, at least by some. The first Mughal emperor Babur (1483-
1530) wrote his memoirs, the Baburnama, in Chagatay Turkish and also knew Persian.7
There can be little doubt that most people had some speaking ability in the local
vernaculars. Persian speakers and authors had been in India from an early time, a
famous example being Amir Khusrau of Delhi (d. 1325).8 Over the centuries, a local or
regional form of the Persian language developed, and Indo-Persian culture, with many
Turkic elements, flourished during the period of the Delhi Sultanate (1206-1526).9 At the
same time there was contact with the Persian of Central Asia and Iran, especially
Safavid Iran during Humayun’s period of exile there. Turkish had come to India with the
medieval Turkic dynasties (the Tughluqs being prominent among them) but despite an
ethnic presence and contacts with central Asia, dialects of Turkish did not thrive in India.
A working knowledge was maintained, however, as shown by a Turkish grammar and
vocabulary, explained in Persian, with a panegyric in prose and verse to Muhammad
Shah (1702-48) to whom the work is dedicated.10

In many parts of India during Akbar’s reign there was an inclination away from
Sanskrit toward local vernaculars, often developed through the first step of vernacular

6
In the court-sponsored A’in-i Akbari (hereinafter AA), Abu’l-Fazl mentions that Akbar’s library
held numerous Sanskrit texts, see A’in-i Akbari, 3 vols., trans. H. Blochmann (Calcutta: Asiatic
Society, 1873- 1948), vol. 1, 103.
7
See Stephen Frederic Dale, The Garden of the Eight Paradises: Babur and the Culture of
Empire in Central Asia, Afghanistan and India (1483-1530) (Leiden: Brill, 2004).
8
Amir Khusrau was practised in the many styles of Persian poetry which were developed in
medieval Persia. He soon became an iconic figure in the literary and cultural history of the Indian
subcontinent. See, Sunil Sharma, Amir Khusraw: The Poet of Sufis and Sultans (Oxford:
Oneworld, 2005).
9
Muzaffar Alam, The Languages of Political Islam: India 1200-1800 (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 2004), 119; also see A. Rashid, Society and Culture in Medieval India, 1206-1556
AD (Calcutta: Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay, 1969).
10
Charles Rieu, Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts in the British Museum, London, 3 vols.
(London: British Museum, 1879-1883), 2:512, no. Add 16,759. Rieu’s catalogue is hereinafter
cited as Rieu, Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts. The dictionary dedicated to Muhammad Shah is
not alone; for other dictionaries and a philological study of fifteenth-century material: Dilorom
Karomat, “Turki and Hindavi in the World of Persian: Fourteenth and Fifteenth Century
Dictionaries,” in After Timur Left: Culture and Circulation in Fifteenth Century North India, eds.
Francesca Orsini and Samira Sheikh (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2014), 130-65.

3
commentaries on older texts.11 Concurrently there was a great devotional or bhakti
movement sweeping through central and northern India.12 This religious movement
sought expression through the Hindi language, notably the Braj dialect, and culminated
in texts by Tulsi Das that are still sung and regarded as inspired. These literatures were
not, however, the focus of reproduction and translation into Persian at the Mughal court
in the time of Akbar.13 Rather, the desire was for a rendering of a special sort, namely,
the creation of a unique Indo-Persian literature, drawing on the Sanskrit classics, most
notably the Mahabharata. The translation of the Mahabharata was commissioned by
Akbar and the text was named the Razmnama by him. The extensive Preface to the
translation was composed by Abu’l-Fazl, one of the king’s most prominent courtiers. It is
my goal in this MA thesis to explore this Preface. It is a unique document in the literary
history of Persianate India and its importance and reason for selection may be summed
up as follows: (a) the Preface enjoys a singular position in the translation literature as the
only contemporary account that is part of a translation that documents the translation
process; (b) it outlines the reasons why the translation was undertaken; (c) it describes
the potential readers of the translation and addresses their likely criticisms; (d) it
analyses the difficulties of dealing with text sources and their interpretation, and finally;
(e) it reflects on the challenges faced by an individual charged with the task of writing the
introduction to an extensive work that was of particular interest to the king. In addition,
and perhaps because of the king’s interest, Abu’l-Fazl builds his Preface round his
eulogist vision of kingship, embodied in the person of emperor Akbar. This gives the
Preface historical and political importance beyond its literary core.

11
Deven M. Patel, "Source, Exegesis, and Translation: Sanskrit Commentary and Regional
Language Translation in South Asia," JAOS 131 (2011): 256-66.
12
A useful introduction is Heidi Pauwels, In Praise of Holy Men (Groningen: Egbert Forsten,
2002), more recently see Imre Bangha, “Early Hindi Epic Poetry in Gwalior: Beginnings and
Continuities in the Ramayan of Vishnudas,” in After Timur Left, eds. Orsini and Sheikh, 365-402.
13
The translation of Tulsi Das seems to come much later: Rieu, Catalogue of Persian
Manuscripts 2: 56, no. OR 1249, dated 1804 is the oldest copy I have traced so far. An abridged
version of the Ramayana of Valmiki and Tulsi Das in Persian was published in the late nineteenth
century: Parameshri Sahaya Masrur and Lalah Chanda Mal Chand, Vazifah-yi Faiz (Agra:
Matba’-yi Mufid-i Am, 1893), not available to me.

4
Abu’l-Fazl ibn Mubarak

The ancestors of Abu’l-Fazl were from Yemen in Arabia and were part of the
Quraish tribe of the prophet Muhammad.14 His grandfather, Shaikh Khizr, lived in Sind
but moved to Nagaur, a city in Rajasthan known as a Sufi centre. It was in Nagaur that
Abu’l-Fazl’s father, Shaikh Mubarak, was born in 1506. He was learned in metaphysics
and the philosophical thoughts of Ibn Sina, and the Ishraqi wisdom tradition.15 A notable
scholar himself, Shaikh Mubarak ran a school of philosophy in Agra that attracted
notable scholars from outside India and his two sons, Abu’l-Fazl and Faizi, were both
highly educated as a consequence. Faizi was the eldest son and excelled in the art of
poetry, elegant prose and philosophy.16 He had composed over one hundred poetic
works while at the court of Akbar and soon earned the title of the Malik al-Shu'ara (king
of poets).

Abu’l-Fazl, the second son, was born in 1551 and, it is said, could read and write
Arabic by the age of five. The unique atmosphere in his father’s house allowed him to
amass an unusual amount of general knowledge. His devotion to learning was
astonishing to his contemporaries: he would critically study all the works available to him
and soon formed an independent judgement. By fifteen he had acquired an
understanding of the Ishraqis, Sufi thought, and the subtleties of the Greek philosophers
whose works had been translated into Arabic.17 Shaikh Mubarak moved to Agra in 1543
and set up a madrasa there, his special field of instruction being philosophy. He
attracted a number of scholars, including the celebrated ‘Abdul Qadir Bada’uni,18 and

14
See R. M. Eaton, “Abu'l-Fazl Allami,” Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. 1, Fasc. 3, pp. 287-289,
which my comments draw on.
15
A school of philosophical and mystical thought, founded by Suhrawardi (1155-1191), with
Graeco-Oriental roots built on a critique of Aristotelianism and advocating a Neo-platonic method
that considered philosophy more than rational inquiry. Ishraq is commonly used to refer to the
‘internal illumination’ or acquisition of knowledge based upon a mystical unveiling (kaslif). See
Mehdi Amin Razavi, Suhrawardi and the School of Illumination (Richmond: Curzon Press, 1997).
16
AA, 3: 469.
17
Saiyid A. A. Rizvi, Religious and Intellectual History of the Muslims in Akbar's Reign (New
Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, 1975), 91.
18
A. S. Bazmee Ansari, “Abd-al-Qader Badaʾuni,” Encyclopædia Iranica, Vol 3, Fasc. 4, pp.
364-365.

5
entered into service at court. After an audience with Akbar he seems to have realised
that the emperor was receptive to suggestions and open to changes in policy. Realizing
that the court was the best place to introduce reforms and strengthen the cause of faith
as he saw it, Shaikh Mubarak endeavoured to carve out a place in the royal circle for
Abu’l-Fazl and his burgeoning talents.

The Mubarak family, however, had difficulty when faced with traditionally minded
contemporaries. Shaikh Mubarak—who expressed in a discussion his views in favour of
the Mahdavi teachings of Muhammad Jaunpuri—suffered immensely because he
became known by the ‘ulama as a supporter of heresy. Conspiracies were hatched
against the Mubarak family and they were driven out of Agra. It was then, perhaps, that
Abu’l-Fazl realized the true underlying problems of the empire, as he himself saw the
need for religious toleration and the peaceful coexistence of religious groups. According
to Bada’uni and other learned men at the court, “Shaikh Mubarak, in as far as he
pretended to be a Mahdavi, belonged to the class of innovator, and was not only himself
damned, but led others to damnation.“19 This attitude deeply impacted Abu’l-Fazl as he
and his family were in fear of victimization by the orthodox jurists and their allies. This
continued until a senior noble at the court of Akbar came out to support Mubarak and
asked: “Has the world come to an end or is the Day of Resurrection at hand that in his
court malicious fanatics have their way and good men are confounded?“20 Friends of the
Mubarak family also began to intercede and described Shaikh Mubarak as a man of
piety and humble resignation. As a result, Akbar summoned him to court and he soon
introduced his sons Abu’l-Fazl and Faizi, their capabilities having already been brought
to the king’s attention through Mirza ‘Aziz Koka.21 Abu’l-Fazl subsequently presented to
the emperor commentaries on the Ayat al-Kursi and Sura al-Fatiha on separate
occasions and gained Akbar’s appreciation.22 He was soon an active participant in the

19
Bada’uni, Muntakhabu-t-tawarikh, 3 vols., Trans. George S. A. Ranking, Wolseley H. Lowe
and Wolseley Haig (New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, 1990). (hereinafter MT) For
this citation see vol. 2: 199
20
AA, 3: 505.
21
Also known as Kotaltash. He was the foster brother of Akbar and remained one of the
leading nobles at the court.
22
MT, 2: 199.

6
well-known debates at the Ibadat khana or ‘House of Worship’ where he came into
contact with Hindu philosophers who considerably influenced his thought. He particularly
refers to Madhusudana, about whom I give some detail below.23 Abu’l-Fazl also
conversed with Zoroastrian religious leaders, Jesuit missionaries and developed a
friendship with the Jains. It was with an air of contempt after hearing the discussions at
the Ibadat khana and the disparity of views among the ‘ulama about their own faith that
Akbar decided to be free of their influence. He was quoted as saying to Shaikh Mubarak
“Since you are my teacher why do you not free me from dependence on these Mullas?“24
It is in this light that Abu’l-Fazl mentions in the A’in-i Akbari that justice was the way
forward for the establishment of peace and prosperity in the empire.25 As Blochman
says: “Abu’l-Fazl led his sovereign to a true appreciation of his duties and from the
moment that he entered the court, the problem of successfully ruling over mixed races ...
was carefully considered, and the policy of tolerance was the result.“26

Abu’l-Fazl had obtained a systematic grounding in Arabic philology and literature, as

noted above. In the debates at the Ibadat khana the traditional Arabic phrases that the
‘ulama quoted to support their arguments were shown to be unsound and the ‘ulama
soon found they were no match for Abu’l-Fazl’s intellect and quick wit. He confronted
ancient prejudices without committing himself to any particular position. Abu’l-Fazl was,
in Rizvi’s estimation, an outstanding intellectual figure, and a versatile scholar who was
cosmopolitan in his outlook and even-handed in his dealings with the religious
communities of India.27 During his time at the court of Akbar, Abu’l-Fazl composed a key
work that has already been cited: the Akbarnama. This is a comprehensive and
invaluable source for the history of Akbar’s time. It consists of three volumes and is a
record of Akbar’s ancestors through to the reign of to Humayun and continues in depth
up to Akbar's 46th regnal year (1602). The A’in-i Akbari, the third volume of the

23
See section ‘translation team’ in this chapter; further detail about the Ibadat khana is also
given below.
24
MT, 3:33.
25
AA, 1:12
26
AA, 1: xxix
27
Rizvi, Religious and Intellectual History, 123.

7
Akbarnama, is three volumes in itself. It contains an administrative account of Akbar's
empire and the apparatus of the court. Abu’l-Fazl’s close links to Akbar ultimately led to
his death in 1602. He was assassinated at Antri, near Orccha, in a plot contrived by the
Mughal Prince Salim—later emperor Jahangir—who was impatient for the throne.

Akbar’s Translation Bureau

To produce the translations from Sanskrit and other languages, Akbar

established a house of writing (maktab khana) where court historians and scholars were
instructed to translate works into Persian.28 Aside from the inter-religious debates
sponsored by the emperor, the Translation Bureau is the most well-known product of the
social and cultural interactions fostered by Akbar. He had ordered the translation of
various works of a technical nature, such as texts on astronomy and mathematics, but
the largest and most ambitious undertaking was the translation of the Indian epics.29 The
Translation Bureau was at its most active in the 1580s with a focus primarily on the
Ramayana and Mahabharata. I will turn to the inception and completion of these projects
below.

From an early age Akbar had spent his time learning how to become a skillful
ruler and, by some reports, with less-than-diligent tutors, he had little opportunity to
develop his reading and writing skills. Although this led to him being illiterate (a point
directly addressed by Abu’l-Fazl as we shall see in chapters two and three), he was
always on a quest for knowledge and had books regularly read out to him.30 Among the
works that caught his interest were legends and works of history.31 He also had the
verses of Persian poets such as Rumi, Hafiz and Firdausi read aloud to him.32 Among

28
The Translation Bureau of Akbar is discussed in Rizvi, Religious and Intellectual History (all
of chapter six is relevant).
29
N. S. Shukla, “Persian Translations of Sanskrit Works,” Indological Studies 3 (1974): 179.
30
Akbar’s illiteracy discussed in Ellen Smart, “Akbar Illiterate Genius,” in Kaladarsana, ed. J.
G. Williams (Leiden: Brill, 1981), 99-107.
31
Rizvi, Religious and Intellectual History, 205.
32
Despite Akbar’s love of Rumi, and a deep appreciation of him also by Abu’l-Fazl, a complete
Mathnavi was not available in India, see Muzzafar Alam, “Mughal Philology and Rumi’s
Mathnavi,” in World Philology, ed. Sheldon Pollock et al (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University
Press, 2015), 178-200.

8
his known favourites was the Hamzanama, an Arabic collection of tales narrating heroic
exploits of Amir Hamza, the uncle of the Prophet Muhammad. In fact Akbar enjoyed the
book so much that he commissioned large illustrated pages of it.33 With Akbar’s interest
broadening alongside his intellectual and religious hunt for knowledge, he began
commissioning translations of a wide range of texts into Persian.

In 1574 Akbar appointed ‘Abdul Qadir Bada’uni to his court as a historian and
translator, asking him to translate the Thirty-Two Tales of the Throne (Simhasana
Dvatrimsika). This was a thirteenth-century Sanskrit tale that took the throne of the
legendary king Vikramaditya as its focus. According to the story, there were thirty-two
little statues round the base of the throne and when king Bhoja of Malwa attempted to sit
on the throne each statue took turns to pose a difficult question for Bhoja to answer.34
After Tales of the Throne, Akbar ordered Bada’uni and Shaikh Bhavan to translate the
Atharva Veda (Bed Atharban), an anthology of hymns, incantations, and magical spells
of great antiquity. Its translation went on until 1583 when it was abandoned.35 Around the
same time, Akbar’s widening curiosity led him to create the Ibadat khana at Fatehpur
Sikri, his new capital. This became a meeting place where spiritual leaders and people of
different religious beliefs—including Hindus, Jains and even Catholic Jesuits—would
gather for discussion, creating an opportunity for a vigorous exchange of views in
theological and philosophical matters.36 By the late 1580s Akbar appears to have
become an avid supporter of religious tolerance, aiming to solve the issues surrounding
religious diversity and conflict in his empire. This lead him to creating a new association,

33
See John William Seyller and W. M. Thackston, The Adventures of Hamza: Painting and
Storytelling in Mughal India (Washington, DC: Freer Gallery of Art, 2002).
34
There was a long interest in Bhoja and his legacy, see R. B. Golzadeh, "On Becoming
Muslim in the City of Swords: Bhoja and Shaykh Changal at Dhar," JRAS 22 (2012): 115-127.
35
See MT, 2: 212. In M. Athar Ali, “Translations of Sanskrit Works at Akbar’s Court,” Social
Scientist 20 (1992): 39 where the problems encountered by the translators are explained.
36
An early study is Vincent Smith, "Akbar's ‘House of Worship’, or 'Ibadat-Khana’," JRAS
(1917): 715-722 but more recently see Syed Ali Nadeem Rezavi, “Religious Disputations and
Imperial Ideology: The Purpose and Location of Akbar’s Ibadatkhana,” Studies in History 24
(2008): 195-209. On the Jesuits, see Gauvin A. Bailey, The Jesuits and the Grand Mogul:
Renaissance Art at the Imperial Court of India, 1580-1630 (Washington, D.C.: Freer Gallery of Art
and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 1998); Pierre Du Jarric, Akbar and the Jesuits: An Account of the
Jesuit Missions to the Court of Akbar, trans. C.H. Payne (New Delhi: Asian Educational Services,
1996).

9
called the Din-i Ilahi or ‘Faith of the Divine,’ an amalgam of practices including elements
of Islamic Sufism, Hinduism, Christianity, Jainism, and Zoroastrianism.37 In this context,
but for reasons that are not explicitly stated in the sources, Akbar became interested in
the Sanskrit epics and related works, ordering translations of the Mahabharata, the
Ramayana, the Harivamsa Purana, and the Kathasaritsagara.

The Mahabharata

The most ambitious undertaking of the Translation Bureau was India’s celebrated
‘national epic’, the Mahabharata, named after Bharata, the legendary emperor who
founded the Bharata dynasty and established a mighty kingdom. His realm was called
Bharatavarsha, the ‘country of Bharata’, a term that became a name for India itself. The
core Bharata story is known to have existed in about the first century CE, but a number
of stories and poems were added to it over time, until it became the great story—the
word maha means ‘great’—in the fourth or fifth century.38 As it stands now, the
Mahabharata is a vast work, filling nineteen volumes in the printed Sanskrit edition.39 For
this reason and for its content too, the Mahabharata is rightly called an ‘epic.’ It shares
this term with its sister text the Ramayana. Regional variants of both are many, and
commentaries and derivative stories are found all over Asia. The secondary literature on
the epics is vast and written in several European and Indian languages.40

37
The foundational study is Makhanlal Roychoudhury, The Din-i-Ilahi; Or, The Religion of
Akbar (Calcutta: University of Calcutta, 1952), often reprinted and now in a fourth edition. For a
more recent assessment, Heinrich von Stietencron, “Planned Syncretism: Emperor Akbar’s
Religious Policy,” in Hindu Myth, Hindu History, Religion, Art, and Politics (Delhi: Permanent
Black, 2005), 173-93 and Aziz Ahmad, “Din-I Ilahi,” in The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., ed. P.
Bearman et al (Leiden: Brill, 2011). Insight into how the later Mughals regarded the new faith is
found in Z. U. Malik, “The Eighteenth Century View of Akbar,” in Akbar and His Age, ed. Iqtidar
Alam Khan (New Delhi: Northern Book Centre, 1999), 249-53.
38
Dieter Schingloff, “The Oldest Extant Parvan-List of the Mahabharata,” JAOS 89 (1969):
334-38.
39
The Mahabharata, 19 vols., edited by V. S. Sukthankar et al, (Pune: Bhandarkar Oriental
Institute, 1933-1966). A long project of translation was started by J. A. B. van Buitenen and
continues under James L. Fitzgerald and others.
40
John Brockington, The Sanskrit Epics: A Comprehensive Guide to the Mahabharata (and
the Ramayana) and Scholarship on them (Leiden: Brill, 1998).

10
 Like any text that is so big, old and complex, there has been a long history of
engagement, commentary, and translation. Perhaps the most well-known extract from
the Mahabharata is the Bhagavad Gita. This is a poetic and philosophical work of great
importance that has circulated separately for many hundreds of years. In a recent book,
Richard Davis has explored the history of the Gita charting how it came to be composed,
how it was transmitted, and what it meant to successive generations of readers.41 How
the understanding of the Gita has evolved, and how the text has prompted response,
also holds true, I think, for the Mahabharata, the container in which the Gita has been
transmitted down the ages. The key point for this MA thesis is that like the Gita, the
Mahabharata was an active text in the Mughal period, sufficiently known to draw the
attention of the royal court and to inspire translations.

James Fitzgerald, a leading authority on the Mahabharata, has outlined how the
epic justifies itself in three ways: (a) as a work providing a vision of the ultimate reality as
the supreme god Vishnu; (b) as a sacred scripture (or Veda) which was endorsed,
possessed and supported by Brahmins, the priestly class; (c) as a law-book (sastra)
which supported royal action after the example of Krishna—an incarnation of Vishnu
himself.42 This places the work in religious terms: it is the ultimate point of reference.

Source Materials

The translation of the Mahabharata was commissioned by Akbar in 1582 and

finished in 1584.43 Bada’uni informs us that Akbar bestowed the title Razmnama or ‘The
Book of Wars’ on the translation and that “Shaikh Abu’l-Fazl … wrote a preface of the

41
Richard H. Davis, The Bhagavad Gita: A Biography (Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press,
2015).
42
James L. Fitzgerald, “India’s Fifth Veda: the Mahabharata’s Presentation of Itself,” in Essays
on the Mahabharata, ed. Arvind Sharma (Brill: Leiden, 1991), 150-70.
43
This is according to the calculations of Ali, “Translations of Sanskrit Works,” 41, citing the
account and dates given by Bada’uni. Rizvi, Religious and Intellectual History, 210 says the
project started in AH 990/CE 1583 without citing his source (990 = 1582-83). Yael Rice, “A
Persian Mahabharata: The 1598-1599 Razmnama,” Manoa 22 (2010): 126 says the process took
four years to complete, from 1584-1588, perhaps including everything up to Abu’l-Fazl’s Preface,
but even then 1587 seems more likely based on the evidence I have found, see immediately
below.

11
length of two quires (juzv) for that work.”44 With his characteristically critical attitude,
Bada’uni could not help adding that this was “contrary to the dictates of the commentary
on the Ayat al-Kursi that he had composed.”45 The tone of this remark adds weight to his
testimony that Abu’l-Fazl wrote the Preface. Any doubt in the matter of authorship is
removed by Abu’l-Fazl himself who plainly says in the introduction to the Razmnama that
the task was assigned to him: “they have designated me, despite the fact that I have lost
the techniques of speech, as the author of this essay and I have been given permission
from the court of the king to speak properly and appropriately about the subject.”46

Aside from the Preface, the process of writing down the translation of the
Razmnama in Persian was entrusted to Naqib Khan. A short biography of him is given
below.47 According to several manuscripts of the Razmnama, he took one and a half
years and finished the task in Sha‘ban AH 992 (August-September, 1582 CE).48 He was
helped in the matter by Mulla Shiri, Muhammad Sultan Thanesari, and Bada’uni.49 Then
the poet Faizi—Abu’l-Fazl’s elder brother—was asked, as Bada’uni reports, “to convert
the rough translation into elegant prose and verse, but he did not complete more than
two sections.”50 That was in year AH 990/1582 CE.51 Rizvi has noted that it is difficult to

44
MT, 2: 331. Shailesh Zaidi, Hinduism in Aligarh Manuscripts: Descriptive Catalogue of
Persian Mss. of Maulana Azad Library, A.M.U., Aligarh (Delhi: Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public
Library, Patna, 1994), 1 states Abu’l-Fazl wrote his introduction in 1587 and thereafter Akbar
bestowed the title, but does not cite a source for this information. He appears to be following
Rizvi, Religious and Intellectual History, 212.
45
MT, 2: 331.
46
See translation in chapter two, p. 2.
47
See section ‘translation team’.
48
Rieu, Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts, 2: 57, no. Add 5638-5640. These volumes date to
1761-63 CE. H. Ethe, Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in the Library of the India Office, 2 vols.
(Oxford: University Press, 1903-37) 1: 1087, IOL no. 1944, also mentions Naqib Khan and the
time he took. As Ethe notes, this manuscript is almost identical to IOL no. 1943 which dates to
1737 so it seems likely that IOL no. 1944 is also of the mid-eighteenth century. The India Office is
now merged with the British Library, but the numbers have been retained.
49
See AA, 1: 105. MT, 2: 329-31. Abu’l-Fazl’s full statement on the matter is given below.
50
MT, 2: 329.

12
determine the share of the contributors, and that “on the whole, the work is not
disjointed. It seems that Naqib Khan finally rewrote it to make it a unified whole.”52 This is
a plausible explanation but it seems to me that Faizi’s work was never incorporated. This
is supported by a manuscript, India Office no. 1945, which consists of the first two
Parvans of Faizi’s poetical paraphrase.53 As Ethe notes, “part of the same flowery
translation by Faizi” is preserved also in manuscripts at Oxford.54 It therefore appears
that the Faizi version was transmitted separately, quite apart from any editing by Naqib
Khan of the parts by different contributors.

The imperial copy of the Razmnama, made with many miniature paintings,
seems to be the one kept in the Palace at Jaipur.55 Internal evidence from the paintings
shows that it was well underway by 1584, the year in which Daswant, a gifted artist and
court favourite, committed suicide.56 Scribal notes in the margins, studied by art
historians, indicate paintings continued to be made for the manuscript until December
1586.57 Abu’l-Fazl’s Preface came after this. The date of the Preface is shown by the
following remark about Akbar embedded in the Preface itself: “His good fate is strongly
determined because from the beginning of his reign, which is now thirty-two years, every
other king, scholar, sage, or even the common man who have thought about opposing

51
AH 990 fell in a single western year. Rizvi, Religious and Intellectual History, 210 cites “India
Office Ms. 761” for this date, but that manuscript is of the Anwar-i Suhaili and has no reference to
Faizi. Rieu, Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts, 2: 57 says the epic was turned into elegant prose
by Faizi, citing: “A’in-i Akbari, Blochmann’s translation, 104” but this too seems incorrect. The text
actually says: “The Lilawati, which is one of the most excellent works written by Indian
Mathematicians on Arithmetic, lost its Hindu veil, and received a Persian garb from the hand of
my elder brother, Shaikh 'Abdul Faiz-i Faizi.” This refers to the Lilavati, for which see Ethe,
Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in the Library of the India Office, p. 1112, IOL no. 1998. In any
event, Faizi’s poetic work on the Razmnama was begun AH 990 because Bada’uni mentions this
under his account of events in that year.
52
Rizvi, Religious and Intellectual History, 210.
53
Ethe, Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in the Library of the India Office, pp. 1087-88, IOL
no. 1945.
54
Ibid., p. 1088.
55
For which see Das, Paintings of the Razmnama.
56
Ibid., 12. As Das notes, the death of the artist is reported by Abu’l-Fazl.
57
Ibid., 13.

13
him, have lost.”58 Taking this evidence and adding thirty-two years to the date of Akbar’s
accession gives 1587. Later in the Preface, Abu’l-Fazl also makes this statement about
the king: “He is an intelligent person who is conscious of everything from the time he was
a year old child until now—in his mid-forties—and God-willing he will have the prospect
to live even longer because of the order he brings to the world.”59 This is not precise, but
if we take Akbar’s year of birth in 1542 and add 45 years we arrive again at 1587. Any
question about the date is removed by a statement in the final part of the Preface where
Abu’l-Fazl refers again to regnal year 32 and states the equivalent is AH 995.60 After the
Preface was complete, it was transmitted with copies of the Razmnama, some of which
were being illustrated by court artists into the 1590s.61

The Jaipur copy of the Razmnama is out of reach and the text has not been
available to scholars for more than a century. Therefore we depend on other copies, of
which there are many, some from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but most
from the eighteenth.62 Drawing on a number of these manuscripts, S. M. Reza Jalali
Naini and N. S. Shukla prepared an edition that was printed in Tehran between 1979
and 1981.63 My translation of Abu’l-Fazl’s Preface uses this edition and throughout I refer
to this as the “printed text.” The page numbers of the printed text are inserted into my
translation to allow the translation to be positioned against that text.

58
See translation in chapter two, 18. Rizvi, Religious and Intellectual History, 212 notes the
year as 995/1587 but does not cite his source. Humayun died in January 1556. Thirty-two years
after that gives January 1588 but with the Hijri years being slightly shorter, late 1587 is likely,
therefore, I agree with Rizvi.
59
See chapter two, p.13.
60
See chapter two, p. 22 and chapter three, where the date is analyzed.
61
Audrey Truschke, “The Mughal Book of War: A Persian Translation of the Sanskrit
Mahabharata,” Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 31 (2011): 507;
Das, Paintings of the Razmnama, 16 deals with the paintings, some dated as late as 1617.
62
The Jaipur Razmnama may not, of course, have Abu’l-Fazl’s Preface. The last date we
have for activity in the royal Razmnama is late 1586, while the Preface was written starting in
1587. It is possible, therefore, that the Preface was finished too late for inclusion and so was
transmitted only with subsequent copies. This may have encouraged the supplementation that is
evident in the later parts of the text, for which see below.
63
S. M. Riza Jalali Naini and N. S. Shukla. Mahabharat: buzurgtarin manzumah-ʼI kuhnah-I
mawjud-I jahan bih zaban-I Sanskrit (Tihran: Kitabkhanah-ʼi Tahuri, 1979-81).

14
 In addition to the printed text, I have also used a manuscript in the British Library
for comparison because it is the oldest copy available and was not used by Naini and
Shukla. While the discussion of specific differences and choices of words are found in
the notes to my translation, here I would like to make some general observations about
the British Library manuscript. This copy was collected by N. B. Halhed (1751-1830).
After a period in India, during which time Halhed wrote A Code of Gentoo Laws (1776)
and A Grammar of the Bengal Language (1778), he returned to England in 1785. The
British Museum purchased his collection of manuscripts on his death in 1830. The
Razmnama was registered under the numbers Add. 5641-5642.64 With the separation of
the British Museum and British Library in the 1970s, the Razmnama went to the British
Library but kept the same numbers.

The work is in two volumes and dates Zulhijjah AH 1007 (= June/July 1599 CE).
The first volume has Abu’l-Fazl’s Preface and Parvans or chapters 1-11 of the Persian
translation. The text has a later table of contents and synopsis of the whole work in
Persian, with references to the folios of the British Library copy. According to the
colophon at the end of the table of contents, it was compiled by Basant Rae, son of
Kasiram, son of Raemal, a Kayath in the service of Shaistah Khan in the year AH
1098.65 Shaistah Khan, known as Mirza Abu Talib, was the maternal uncle of Aurangzeb
and subadar of Bengal from 1664 to 1688. The additional text was added at the end of
this period. The important thing about Shaistah Khan was that his grandfather was Mirza
Ghiyas Beg (d. 1622). He emigrated to India from Iran after 1577 and rose to high office
under Akbar. Given that the British Library Razmnama belonged to his grandson
Shaistah Khan, and that this family never fell from favour (and thus retained their
possessions), its may be that the British Library copy of 1599 was made for Mirza

64
Rieu, Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts, p. 2: 58; Jeremiah P. Losty, The Art of the Book in
India (London: British Library, 1982), 47.
65
Rieu, Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts, p. 58. A copy, number 1929 in the India Office
Collection, was based on British Library no. Add. 5641-5642. It has the table of contents by
Basant Rae and was finished in 1774 by a scribe working for the East India Company. The
manuscript belonged to Sir Charles Wilkins, the early Sanskrit scholar. See Ethe, Catalogue of
Persian Manuscripts in the Library of the India Office, 1: 1082 (no. 1929). The fact that this copy
was based on Add. 5641-5642 is shown by the date AH 1007 which has been taken from the
original, as Ethe notes. Thus Add 5641-5642 seems already to have been in the collection of
Halhed by the time no. 1929 was made.

15
Ghiyas Beg and his family and thus an elite copy, made for an important noble. This
suggestion gains some credence given that Bada’uni reports that once the imperial
Razmnama had been completed and embellished with illustrations in many copies, “the
nobles too were ordered to have it transcribed by way of obtaining blessings.”66 This is
further corroborated by Abu’l-Fazl’s report that Akbar ordered a copy of the Razmnama
sent to Prince Murad in 1591.67 The British Library copy appears, therefore, to be one of
these elite versions.

The main difference between Abu’l-Fazl’s Preface in the printed text and the
British Library manuscript is that the manuscript is shorter. It ends after briefly setting the
stage with the key characters, starting with Bharata. Abu’l-Fazl then mentions Kuru—the
king who gave his name to Kurukshetra or the ‘field of Kuru’ near Thanesar—followed by
Vichitravirya. The latter had two sons, Dhritarashtra and Pandu, the two sides (Kaurava
and Pandava) that eventually fell out and ended up at war.

At the end of his brief summary, Abu’l-Fazl says: “He had two sons with the
names of Dhritarashtra and Pandu and you will read his strange life story in this book.”68
This is where the Preface in the manuscript of 1599 ends. A number of possibilities
present themselves. One is that this is an abbreviated version, i.e. that the British Library
copy was a short copy, made for Mirza Ghiyas Beg. Why he might have had a short
copy is something about which we can only speculate. However, the fact that this copy
has a decorated title page but no miniature paintings supports the idea that it is an
abbreviated version, made with a minimum of expense. A second possibility is that the
British Library copy was based on an imperfect copy that was missing the later sections
of Abu’l-Fazl’s introduction. This is not a compelling explanation because the text of the
1599 copy does not break off in an unnatural or illogical way, and it seems unlikely that a
copy made as early as 1599 would have been based on an imperfect text. The third
possibility is that the British Library copy represents the actual state of Abu’l-Fazl’s
introduction in 1599 and that the further text given in the printed edition (and manuscripts

66
MT, 2: 319-21. Cited in Ali, “Translations of Sanskrit Works,” p. 40, whose translation we
follow.
67
Das, Paintings of the Razmnama, 11.
68
See translation in chapter two.

16
on which it is based) was added at a later time. In favour of this interpretation is the fact
that Abu’l-Fazl’s literary reputation increased after his death in 1602. Subsequent
copyists may have incorporated material from elsewhere to elaborate the introduction
and added further summaries of the story that were thought to be necessary or helpful to
readers. And indeed this is what happened to the 1599 copy in the late 1600s when a
detailed table of contents was added, as just noted above. A similar summary is found in
the printed text which gives an account of the story Parvan by Parvan.69 A close reading
of the later sections of the introduction in the printed text shows some breaks and
repetitions, which also point to parts being added. The most notable is where the story is
summarised and it is said that: “after thirty-two years Yudhisthira, with the aid of divine
intervention, came to realize the unfaithful nature of this world.” He then made
preparations to leave his cares behind and journey to the hereafter. We are then told:
“All these adventures are meticulously mentioned in this book,” and we are given a verse
by way of conclusion. The story then starts all over again, and this time it says:
“Yudhisthira ruled for thirty-six years.”70 This repetition and direct disagreement
regarding the number of years—within the space of a few lines—can only be explained
by the fact that we are reading a text that has been brought together from a number of
different sources. Further problems are noted in my notes to the translation. I think it is
reductionist and a little early to dismiss all the material in the introduction that does not
appear in the British Library manuscript. At this point we are unlikely to be able to
answer the question fully until the Jaipur copy from the 1580s is available for study, or
review all the surviving manuscripts available and compare them, something beyond the
scope and aims of this MA thesis. For the sake of completeness here, I am including the
full translation of the printed edition.

Translation Team

Although Abu’l-Fazl enjoyed a reputation as a translator after his death, he did

not, actually know Sanskrit and he did not translate the Mahabharata. He admits this—
more or less—in his introduction to the Razmnama. He first says: “Since I did not have

69
The translation of this summary is given in chapter two.
70
See the translation in chapter two, p. 33 where the contradiction is noted.

17
the facility and wealth, I asked some … real men of letters to take on the responsibility of
expressing this very long narrative and asked them to commit to the assistance of
fulfilling such a great goal.”71 Then later, in his description of the justification for the
translation, he makes this statement: “There is,” Abu’l-Fazl says, “no other book more
comprehensive and well-known and detailed than this one. Indeed, all astute
intellectuals and language experts have gathered and unite to pursue the task of
translating such a book skillfully and justly.”72 Bada’uni also refers to the translation
team. In his account of how he became involved, he mentions that Akbar “became much
interested in the work, and having assembled some learned Hindus, he gave them
directions to write an explanation of the Mahabharata, and for several nights he himself
devoted his attention to explaining the meaning to Naqib Khan so that the Khan might
sketch out the gist of it in Persian.”73

The names of those in the team are not given in the running text, but in the
colophon of the Razmnama preserved in the British Library (Add. 5638-41, folio 481b),
the following statement is found: “Naqib Khan, son of Abd al-Latif al-Husaini, translated
[this work] from Sanskrit into Persian in one and a half years. Several of the learned
Brahmans, such as Deva Misra, Satavadhana, Madhusadhana Misra, Caturbhuja and
Shaikh Bhavan read this book and explained it in Hindi to me.”74 This is confirmed in the
text itself where the Indian interlocutors are referred to directly, as noted by Audrey
Truschke.75 What this means is that the Sanskrit was explained by learned Brahmins to
Naqib Khan in Hindi and that he then wrote down what he had heard in Persian.

71
See chapter two, p. 2.
72
See chapter two, p. 18.
73
See MT, 2: 330.
74
The passage noted first in Rieu, Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts, 2: 57, and later in Rizvi,
Religious and Intellectual History, pp. 209-10, who reads the names, without citing his manuscript
source, as “Debi Misra, Satuwani, Madhusudhan Misra, Chaturbhuj Misra and Sahikh [sic]
Bhawan.” In Ali, “Translations of Sanskrit Works,” 41, the transcription of the names is garbled, as
noted by Das, Razmnama, 11, but Das does not advance the identifications. The most recent
assessment (still with gaps) is Truschke, “The Mughal Book of War,” 507.
75
Ibid., 108.

18
 Naqib Khan was not, therefore, the translator, at least in the modern sense of a
single author—as I am, for example, the translator of Abu’l-Fazl’s Preface for this MA
thesis. Rather he was the leading member of a team of experts working to Akbar’s
orders.76 He was, in any event, the grandson of the famous historian Mir Yahya of
Qazvin and the son of Mir Abd al-Latif.77 The latter left Iran for the court of Humayun
because he was persecuted as a Sunni, but arrived in AH 963 after Humayun’s death.
He was well received by Akbar who made him his tutor. His son Mir Ghiyas al-din ‘Ali
became one of Akbar’s favourites and the king conferred on him the title of Naqib Khan
in AH 988/1580-81 CE. This was just before Akbar commissioned the translation of the
Mahabharata. According to Rieu, the Tazkira al-Umara or ‘History of Notables’ (BL Add
16,703) reports that Naqib Khan was the translator of the Mahabharata. Abu’l-Fazl gives
a first-hand acknowledgement in the A’in-i Akbari. The Mahabharata, he says, is “one of
the ancient books of Hindustan,” and “was translated from Hindi into Persian by Naqib
Khan, Maulana Abd al-Qadir Bada’uni and Shaikh Sultan Thanesari. It comprises some
one lakh couplets. His Majesty named this ancient epic the Razmnama.”78

Other than Naqib Khan, the Indian scholars named in the British Library colophon
are not easy to identify, although the listing has been noted on several occasions
without, however, much effort made to identify the individuals.79 Shaikh Bhavan is the
best known, having assisted Bada’uni in the attempt to translate the Atharva Veda.80 He
came from the Deccan and converted to Islam and, according to Truschke, appears in
several Persianate histories of the period.81 Caturbhuja could refer to the same

76
Ali, “Translations of Sanskrit Works,” 40, gives Bada’uni’s critical account of further
individuals involved and what they were able to achieve.
77
The information here is drawn from Rieu, Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts, 2, 57.
78
See AA, 1: 105. Bada’uni confirms this, as noted above.
79
For example Najaf Haider, “Translating Texts and Straddling Worlds: Inter-cultural
Communication in Mughal India,” in The Varied Facets of History: Essays in Honour of Aniruddha
Ray, ed. Ishrat Alam and Syed Ejaz Hussain (Delhi: Primus Books, 2011), 115-24, and Ali,
“Translations of Sanskrit Works,” 41.
80
As mentioned above.
81
Truschke, “Naqib Han, Razm-nama,” in Perso-Indica, http://perso-indica.net/work/razm-
nama (retrieved July, 2015). Further biographical information about Shaikh Bhavan is in Ali,
“Translations of Sanskrit Works,” 38-39.

19
Caturbhuj Das who made a separate translation of the Thirty-Two Tales of the Throne in
addition to that prepared by Bada’uni. This work was called Shahnama; there is a
manuscript of this text in Oxford.82 Deva Misra (or Debi Misra) and his area of knowledge
can be identified thanks to the following remark by Bada’uni:83

At other times, a Brahmin of the name of Debi was pulled up the

wall of the fort, sitting on a charpai, till he arrived near a balcony
where the emperor used to sleep. Whilst thus suspended, he
instructed His Majesty in the secrets and legends of Hinduism,
in the manner of worshipping idols, the fire, the sun and stars,
and of revering the chief gods of these unbelievers, as Brahma,
Mahadev, Bishn, Kishn, Ram, and Mahamai, who are supposed
to have been men, but very likely never existed, though some,
in their idle belief, look upon them as gods, and others as
angels. His Majesty, on hearing further how much the people of
the country prized their institutions, commenced to look upon
them with affection.

The other names in the list are difficult to identify apart from Madhusudana.84
Clues about him are found in the A’in-i Akbari. In the first volume, Abu’l-Fazl gives a long
table of the learned people of his time. Among the first class of holy men, who
“understand the mysteries of both worlds,” he includes a series of famous people. As
might be expected, many are Muslim saints, but in the first class he includes the

82
Eduard Sachu and Hermann Ethe, Catalogue of the Persian, Turkish, Hindustani, and
Pushtu Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library: Part I: the Persian Manuscripts (Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1889) no. 1324. Bada’uni’s translation of the text, not traced so far, is reported as missing
from the royal library at an early stage.
83
See MT, 2: 258. Also noted in Rizvi, “Dimensions of Sulh-i kul (Universal Peace) in Akbar's
Reign and the Sufi Theory of Perfect Man,” in Akbar and His Age, ed. Iqtidar Alam Khan (New
Delhi: Northern Book Centre, 1999), 18 without, however, citing Bada’uni.
84
Those that can be identified are mentioned in Dinesh Bhattacharyya, “Sanskrit Scholars of
Akbar’s Time,” Indian Historical Quarterly 13 (1937): 31, cited in Sanjukta Gupta, Advaita
Vedanta and Vaisnavism: The Philosophy of Madhusudana Sarasvati (London: Routledge, 2006),
6.

20
following Indians: “13. Madhu Sarsuti. 14. Madhusudan. 15. Narain Asram. 16. Hariji
Sur. 17. Damudar Bhat. 18. Ramtirth. 19. Nar Sing. 20. Parmindar. 21. Adit.”85

In this list, number 14. Madhusudan is the well-known Vedanta scholar

Madhusudhana Sarasvati. Valerie Stoker gives further information about him. He was
from Bengal but lived in the city of Varanasi, where he authored the Advaitasiddhi in c.
1585. This responded to a work from south India by an author named Vyasatirtha. As
Stoker says: “That Vyasatirtha’s criticisms of these rival Vedanta systems proved incisive
is evident in the fact that for the duration of the sixteenth century, and even into the
seventeenth, both direct and indirect responses to his works were being composed, not
only in south India but as far north as Varanasi.”86 The philosophical content of the
debates is less historically important for my MA thesis than the fact that this example
shows how the Brahmins of India had networks covering wide areas. Learned individuals
were able to get hold of the manuscripts that interested them from almost anywhere,
showing that there was an on-going and lively discourse among philosophers outside the
Mughal court.87

Status of Scholarship

The status of scholarship on this topic can be divided in two strands: that dealing
with the Preface itself, and that dealing more generally with the Mahabharata and other
translations. In terms of the first strand—the writing on Abu’l-Fazl’s Preface—the seminal
discussion is found in Saiyid A. A. Rizvi’s Religious and Intellectual History of the
Muslims in Akbar's Reign, already cited several times in this chapter.88 In the context of
his description of the Translation Bureau, Rizvi devotes four pages to the Preface, giving

85
See AA, 1: 538-547.
86
Valerie Stoker, “Polemics and Patronage in Sixteenth-Century Vijayanagara: Vyasatirtha and
the Dynamics of Hindu Sectarian Relations,” History of Religions 51 (2011): 131.
87
Gupta, Advaita Vedanta, 5 expresses surprise at the distance: “Varanasi, the accepted
place of activity for Madhusudhana, is far removed from Vijay Nagar… it is plausible to think that
the fame of these two great scholars [Madhava and Sayana] may have taken a long time to reach
Varanasi.” The career of Shaikh Bhavan, who came from the Deccan, shows that such movement
was entirely possible and that people moved over great distances.
88
I will not list early notices, for which see Ernst, “Muslim Studies of Hinduism,” 174. Those
items dealing specifically with the Razmnama not mentioned by Ernst are given in my
bibliography.

21
a summary of its key points, but necessarily simplifying Abu’l-Fazl’s thinking and omitting
many details.89 Rizvi also gives a translation of a short passage (dealing with the
translation team), but his source for the Persian is a Razmnama printed in Lucknow by
the Nawal Kishore Press.90 Published in 1975, Rizvi’s book has become a landmark
study that has shaped much subsequent scholarship on the Translation Bureau and the
Razmnama. Indeed later writers have normally followed Rizvi’s analysis due to his well-
balanced treatment.

The only scholar otherwise who has dealt with Abu’l-Fazl’s Preface is Carl W.
Ernst. In a wide-ranging article called “Muslim Studies of Hinduism? A Reconsideration
of Arabic and Persian Translations of Indian Languages,” Ernst revisited the sources,
and for the Razmnama used the Tehran edition of 1979-81, the same edition used as
the basis for the translation given here in chapter two. Ernst offered a translation of
several passages from Abu’l-Fazl’s Preface and used these to advance his
reassessment of translation literature in the Indian milieu. The specific passages are
noted in chapter two, and I will return to them again in chapter three.

Ernst’s study, published in 2003, is more than a systematic re-examination of the

Razmnama and related sources. He attempts to move beyond the terms of reference
framed by Rizvi and specifically questions the understanding of the translations as
expressions of a ‘liberal outlook’ or exercises in ‘religious tolerance’.91 The emphasis on
the idea that the translations were meant to build bridges between the Hindus and
Muslims and to address Akbar’s goal of reducing religious factionalism, while certainly
true, may be traced long before Rizvi.92 But as Ernst says:

Abu al-Fazl was interested in the philosophical and

religious content of the epic, from the perspective of an
enlightened intellectual whose cosmopolitan vision had

89
Rizvi, Religious and Intellectual History, 207-210.
90
Ibid., 208.
91
As in, for example, John F. Richards, The Mughal Empire (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1993), 36-40.
92
As in Yael Rice, “A Persian Mahabharata: The 1598–1599 Razmnama,” Manoa 22 (2010):
126.

22
 moved him out of a strictly defined Islamic theological
perspective. But I think it is fair to say that this intellectual
project was thoroughly subordinated to the political aim of
making Akbar’s authority supreme over all possible rivals in
India, including all religious authorities. The translation of
the Sanskrit epics was not an academic enterprise
comparable to the modern study of religion; it was instead
part of an imperial effort to bring both Indic and Persianate
culture into the service of Akbar.93

The view that the translation project can be seen as an instrumental policy, and
part of an imperial ambition to legitimize Akbar as king, and the Mughals as an Indo-
Persian power, is also seen in an article published by M. Athar Ali in 1992.94 Ali closely
examined the evidence in the Persian texts and offered new observations on the date of
the translations and the contributions of those involved. The value of this essay is
underlined by the fact that it was reprinted in Akbar and his Age in 1999.95

After a considerable hiatus, Audrey Truschke entered the field with a new study
of the Razmnama.96 Extending the work of Ernst, who she cites, Truschke has argued
that the translators of the Razmnama approached the Mahabharata as a mixture of
imaginative history, political advice, and a great story that resonated with the Indo-
Persian literary tradition of the time, and, concurrently, served as a vehicle for imperial
ideology. Truschke has also published articles on Sanskrit-Persian grammars, the Jain
responses to the debates at Fathepur Sikri, and Brahmanical accounts of their
engagement with the Mughals. These articles are listed in my bibliography and cited in
those places where the information is relevant to my discussion.

93
Ernst, “Muslim Studies of Hinduism?,” 182.
94
Ali, “Translations of Sanskrit Works,” 38-45.
95
The paper is reprinted exactly, and under the same title, in Akbar and His Age, ed. Iqtidar
Alam Khan (New Delhi: Northern Book Centre, 1999), 171-80.
96
See Truschke, "The Mughal Book of War,” 506-520. This article was published in 2011.

23
Aim of the Present Work

While the publications outlined above shed valuable light on Akbar’s Translation
Bureau and the Razmnama, we are left asking how Abu’l-Fazl positioned himself in
relation to the translation and how he approached his task as the author of the Preface.
Abu’l-Fazl’s understanding and representation of the social groups for whom the
translation might have been intended, and his relation to Akbar as his king and patron,
also remain key questions. These can only be answered by a close examination of Abu’l-
Fazl’s Preface. To answer these questions I have, as a result, provided a translation in
chapter two, and a commentary and analysis of themes in chapter three. The justification
for my focus on this material is given above at the start of this chapter. To that I only add
the comment of Audrey Truschke who has observed: “Most Indo-Persian translations are
severely understudied; many moulder away in manuscript libraries, unpublished and in
want of sustained philological attention.”97 This explains the scope and aims of the
present MA thesis. Abu’l-Fazl’s text is barely studied—as shown in the survey of the
relevant literature just given—and it has never been translated into English or any other
language. This means that historians without Persian have resorted to English
translations of the small parts available, while even those with Persian tend to be
deflected by Abu’l-Fazl’s difficult and complex literary style.

By way of clarification and conclusion, I should note that my research questions

do not embrace an exploration of the complex religious fabric of the Mughal empire or
the general nature of translation activities in the Islamic world. My concern is simply with
what Abu’l-Fazl says in his Preface. This approach means that I take Abu’l-Fazl’s writing
as an indication of what he and the court thought about the Razmnama translation. As a
prominent courtier under Akbar, and as the king’s chronicler and avid supporter, Abu’l-
Fazl is an important source. He is not, of course, the only source, but in view of his close
connection to Akbar and his involvement and knowledge of court activities, his account
provides a point of departure for a host of contexts that can be left for those in the future
to explore.

97
See Truschke, “Indo-Persian Translations: A Disruptive Past,” Seminar 671 (July
2015). (http://www.india-seminar.com/2015/671/671_audrey_truschke.htm)

24
Chapter 2.
Translation of the Preface to the Razmnama

[page1] Oh, You! The one by whom the whole world is intoxicated,
All desperately on their way to seek you,
With many writing boards gone black and many pens broken,
None could manifest your actual essence (‫ )نقشی ننگاشتند‬as it is.1
Alas! Alas! The drop of existence (‫ )ذر ٔه امکان‬is lost in the desert of astonishment and
darkness. Many friends would talk about the possibility of the mercy of the sun and
would step from the abyss of decay and bewilderment into the peak of insight and
highness above the sky. These very people would brag about their imaginary treasure of
knowledge which possesses no value in all existence (‫ )وجود‬and would describe it as
precious wealth of the world of possibility (‫ )امکان‬and count it as grand attributes of the
highness of the holy spirit of God.
Oh, You! The one to whom both worlds are devoted,
All that is or is not praise You,
Thoughts alone do not lead us to you,
No one but you is aware of your mystery,
Swear to our feebleness,
We must admit our insufficiencies,
You who grants life to all creatures,
On your path, there is nothing we can pursue but being a slave of yours!
It is the custom of humble people of need (‫ )خاکيان شاھراه‬to consider all things that they
have acquired from the book of perfection and knowledge (‫)کتاب الکمال و باب المعرفه‬,
according to their sight, wisdom, strength, and ability, as free from any deficiency.

1
It is in this opening quatrain that Abu’l-Fazl sets the context of the preceding essay. You here
refers to God, and the quatrain is about the pursuit of knowledge about man’s existence.

25
[page 2] They attribute all their knowledge to God’s domain, realm and oneness and
name it as praising of Him. Sadly, it seems that these kinfolk’s tradition and duty has
been to proceed in this way—step by step—and to write down all the words that come
out of their mouth with all thirty-two teeth. And all of a sudden they were soaked in sweat
from embarrassment and the whole world mortified. Though more contemplation was
made to this end, they ended up in silence again.
No one, not even the sage (‫ )دانا‬nor the vagrant (‫ )اوباش‬was aware,
That the alligator came crawling as blind as a bat.
To those divinely selected, topiaries of the land of morals (‫)چمن پيريان رياحين اخالق‬, openers
of our eyes to creation’s mysteries, eternal praise be to them. Those who at this court of
greatness have forgotten their books of knowledge and instead led a life of ignorance
and talk of nonsense:
Those intoxicated folks who have lived pleasurably,
Those who even without any wine, can be drunk,2
Do not seek righteousness and wisdom from them,
Since they are the fellows who have thrown books into the fire.
After all the words I have written to punish prying people and also after appreciating all
the equity (‫ )انصاف‬I have used in wisdom’s realm, I have been judicious and avoided
exaggeration (‫)در محکم ٔه عقل بی مزاحمت‬3 and for the sake of the honesty I had with myself,
they have designated me, despite the fact that I have lost the techniques of speech, as
the author of this introduction. I have been given permission from the court of the king to
speak properly and appropriately about the subject. In the meantime, I have been given
the permission to express some specific concepts which I have learned in true mystical
schools (‫ )مدرسه تحقيق‬and which were hidden in the unconscious. I have praised God for
all these things and made myself ready for this goal. Since I did not have the facility and
wealth, I asked some poor folks (‫ )دست کوتاه بنان‬but who were real men of letters ( ‫خام ٔه شکافته‬

2
See chapter three for a discussion of the groups referred to here.
3
In the printed text this sentence is written as “‫ ”انصافی که بی مزاحمت اوباش وھم دادم‬and “‫( ”وھم‬wahm)
can be translated as “imagination,” and is one of the mental faculties (he has been judicious
without exaggeration in imagination). However in the manuscript the phrase is written as “ ‫انصافی که‬
‫ ”بی مزاحمت اوباش وھم و آدم‬meaning the sentence is left without a verb. The difference between the
two texts can be due to a misreading, resulting in a misspelling.

26
‫ )زبان‬to take on the responsibility of expressing this very long narrative and asked them to
commit to the assistance of fulfilling such a great goal.
[page 3] Oh God, the divine being, enlighten me with rays of knowledge,
Fix my broken heart without Your passion and love,
It is very rude of me to ask for closeness,
If You are pushing me away, still keep an eye on me.
To all the sharp, accurate and insightful people who are already aware4 of God’s
effective wisdom (‫)حکمت بالغه‬5 and are explorers of perplexing issues, it is no secret that
regarding divine discourse, from the time news of those living were heard and the life of
those diseased have been written down, they have been blinded and silenced.
Therefore, all their efforts have aided in the destruction of the meadows of the “self” and
their attempts to water the desert (of “self”) have been in vain and senseless. If, by
chance, a frustrated person was enlightened and given the hidden truth of creation, he
would be silenced as soon as he opened his mouth to reveal the truth. This is due to the
harm caused by the effect of this wine-like power or sometimes the shrewdness of
people of the age. Since the existing people of the time have betrayed him, either out of
credulousness or benevolence or sometimes bad intentions and egocentricity, it led him
to a path of non-existence and therefore made a forgotten feature out of him.6 Because
all the kings of the country, who are the lords of the world (‫)اساطين عالم‬, oftentimes thought
that the appearance of such a man was a conspiracy against their kingdom and the
order of the common people, they paid no heed to any other advice on the issue. If by
any chance, they were informed of differing ideas, they considered it dispensable and
part of a religious matter (‫ )معامالت دينی‬by those who were deceivers on issues of fatwa
and affairs of jurisprudence (‫)متغلبان منصب فتوی و متعلقان امور فقاھت‬. These leaders of masters

4
In the printed text the word “‫ ”واقفان‬is used, which means “aware,” however, in the manuscript
the original word is “‫ ”واصالن‬which can be translated as “connectors or those who join (put
together) reason and sense.” Within context, the word from the manuscript seems more
meaningful as the text is in fact talking about those people who try to use both their reasoning
and emotions to reveal the truth.
5
Manifest wisdom (hikmat al-baligha) is beneficial or effective knowledge that leads to action
and right conduct in manners. In the Qur'an (54:4-5, 16:125) the Prophet is asked to call people
to the way of God with hikmah.
6
Abu’l-Fazl may be referring to his experience as a courtier at Akbar’s court, as the courtiers,
for a variety of reasons, have led him to be neglected at the court of Akbar.

27
of imitation and who are mere symbols of ignorance and folly, would cause him (the
frustrated person) to withdraw from the sharp criticism of those vain and worthless
people. Today is marked by the emergence of God’s esoteric name (‫)اسم الباطن‬7 and
revelation of God’s all-covering grace (‫)رحمت فيض عام‬, [page 4] according to God’s insight
and divine inspiration to a great number of people. This is the king, the world of the soul
and the soul of the world, namely, the ‘lord of the age,’ (‫ )پادشاه زمان‬whose graceful being
is articulated in this text. Therefore, only a person who is insightful enough and a truth-
seeker at heart can be properly granted high levels of understanding and can acquire
accurate knowledge and consequently transfer this grace to the common and the elite
alike.
The earth is honoured to be embellished with the vitality of his throne (‫)تخت‬,
Fulfilling the greatness of this promise as the crown of the sky (‫)تاج زاسمان‬.
It is no secret to intellectual and astute people that whenever this happens to a person of
common nature, it could either lead him to non-existence or else the whole issue would
turn to be quite the opposite. Thus one must be obedient to it and today which is a day
of victory, blossoming of knowledge and insight, and a time to renew the system of
creation, one should notice that oracular mercy and grace (‫ )فيض غيبيه‬have been
bestowed upon the heart of the ‘lord of the age’. It is obvious that time has come for the
inwardly-blind8 people of the whole universe to be given sight and time for the dead
heart of nature to be given life and in this way, the true essence of the kingdom and the
throne9 would be determined and specified. Since the king has had a great fate and had
been granted a good countenance, he has also been given precious spiritual leadership
(‫ )سلطنت معنوی‬ability as well, which is well worth his kingdom and the whole divine realm

7
Some custodians of the religious sciences have been entrusted with God’s “inner name” (ism
al-batin)—as opposed to (ism al-zahir) “exoteric name”—which allowed them to penetrate the
inner thoughts of individuals. Ism al-batin can be referred to those learned in “the secret of the
souls” (asrar al-nufus) and refers to esoteric knowledge, such as that of Akbar.
8
I have used the word “inwardly-blind” for “‫ ”کوردرونان‬which means those who are blind in mind
and heart. However, in the manuscript the word “‫ ”دردنان‬is used which can come to mean “the time
has come for all blind people to gain sight.”
9
In the printed text we have the word “‫ ”سر‬used for the word “throne,” which means above.
However, in the manuscript the word “‫ ”سرير‬is used which literally means throne.

28
(‫)لوای ظل الھی‬. This is a gift to the chosen one (‫ )برگزيد ٔه خدا‬which is indeed deeply rooted,
coming from centuries ago and presently being established in his kingdom.10
In praise of the great Lord Abu’l-Muzaffar Jalal al-Din Muhammad Akbar,
The warrior king whose kingdom may God make eternal (‫)خلد ﷲ ملكه‬,11
In God’s greatness, one is deeply astonished to mention a name of such greatness, who
is the leader of all men of God (‫ )پيشوای خدا شناسان‬and preceptor (‫ )مقتدای‬of all guide seekers
in Him.12 Even if one tries hard to pay proper tribute to him, one could not do so
perfectly. [page 5] If one’s diction is permitted to be used to describe in detail this
absolute guide (‫ )ھادی علی االطالق‬and leader, one would be ashamed realizing the true
nature and truth of this fact;13 moreover, he is ashamed [at the extent of] of his own [lack
of] common sense and conduct.14 This is because, whatever others say or write [about
him] will be coloured by their own mood and talent and thus neither be appropriate for
the highness of the one to whom the tribute is paid, nor reflect any of his benevolence
and graciousness which is known to all the sacred ones in the heaven. Therefore, the
proper praise will be expressed simply by those living on this dusty earth.
I know nothing about praising Him,
[But] the thought of such an endeavor is perpetual,
My body is poorly-dressed and my soul is like the Messenger’s soul,
On the surface I feel like a snowstorm, but deep in my heart, like the River Nile,
Just as the earth needs rain,

10
Here Abu’l-Fazl is describing the foundation of Akbar’s rule and the establishment of his
kingdom as created through his special leadership qualities and descent, see chapter three for
further details.
11
This sentence does not appear in the manuscript and can be viewed as a later insertion
signaling the next section which is, in essence, praise of the king. “‫ ”خلد اﷲ ملکه‬meaning may God
preserve his kingdom, see Hans Wehr and J. Milton Cowan, A Dictionary of Modern Written
Arabic: (Arabic-English) (Ithaca, N.Y.: Spoken Language Services, 1994): 294.
12
Abu’l-Fazl views Akbar as the leader of, not only his own empire, but of the whole world:
Akbar is a universal king who holds importance second to God, and perhaps uses an intended
pun on “greatness” with the word Akbar meaning ‘great’.
13
Abu’l-Fazl means that it is impossible to fully describe the greatness of the emperor and it is
when one attempts to do so that he realizes and is embarrassed to learn that Akbar’s greatness
cannot be condensed into words, primarily because it is grander than one perceives.
14
Meaning that the common man cannot completely fathom or verbalize the true essence and
greatness of Akbar and any effort to do so would be in vain.

29
The mind and soul need knowledge.
I wish all those similar in mind to Plato, and those who are wise like Aristotle, could bear
the responsibility of this vital matter in order to reach some understanding regarding the
height of the essence of this very splendid man, and therefore remind people of the
greatness of his being and legitimacy (‫)حقيقت او حقانيت‬.15 Or, I wish all groups of people,
young and old, could delve deep into thought so that collectively they could compose
something that is appropriate for the court of the king and would be subject to
commendation (‫)ثنا خوانی‬.
How may my feeble hands ever reach perfection?
The passage of time even causes the vitiation of jewels.
Eventually, after a long period of time spent alone with my heart I understood that [for
such an endeavor] one must write as though you are in the time of utter happiness and
understand the status of the deputy of God (‫ )خليفة ﷲ‬and write in a way that would
embellish your phrases and express your obedience.16
If one is to be eulogized by some words of admiration and praise,
You are the one truly deserving all that.
Thus, some of those naturally inclined to the pursuit of meanings (‫)تجرد منشان معانی‬, who
could imitate some discourse, brought an end to that notion [of discourse] in a way which
seems sanctified (‫ )تقدس‬and mature (‫)بالغ نظر‬.
Who is he, of whom I am talking so furtively?
Permit me to state one hundred [more] cultured details about him,
[page 6] He is the king for whom,
I come out of my secret guise and talk.

15
I have chosen to translate “‫ ”حقانيت‬as legitimacy, because within this context Abu’l-Fazl
seems to be expressing the great qualities of the emperor in order to express sincere validation
for his role as king of the empire. The word “‫ ” حقيقت‬seems to separate the idea of authenticity and
truthful-being from the word “‫” حقانيت‬, which refers to a larger issue concerning Akbar and his
realm as a whole.
16
Here Abu’l-Fazl could be referring to the method used to write a preface for such a grand
project and the importance of “muqaddimah” as a tool for highlighting important themes to be
discussed or worthy of notice by both the commissioner and writer. It is also a reference to the
style of embellished writing as being an indication of those serving of it. The approach here, and
above, where Abu’l-Fazl states that whatever others say or write [about him] will be “tinged” by
their own mood and talent,” is remarkably modern in that it states all writing is subjective.

30
He is the gem of the crown of all kings, the qibla of those conscious of God ( ‫قبل ٔه خدا‬
‫)آگاھان‬,17 the light of all nights, hope for the whole generation of mankind, the highest rank
of nobles, crowned victor of Qur’anic justice (‫)نصرت قرآن عدالت قرين‬,18 the sovereign of the
seal of the state (‫)خاتم دولت فرمانروايی‬, ink of the sword of conquest, a unique exemplar
among all exemplars, the secret in the written lines of all the names of God, the revealer
of hidden secrets (‫)اسرار غيبی‬, a companion to secluded people, the servant of the only
divine being (‫)بند ٔه يگان ٔه معبود‬, an astute person of sensitive moments, the owner of all
coinage in the imperial treasury,19 the artist of imaginary innovations, healer of beautiful
faces, painter of all the colours in the mirror of concepts, the essence of the formality of
wise sayings, the complete organizer of senses and wisdom, the record-book of
craftsmen now and forever, the moderator of imperial customs, giver of bread to all
mankind, deputy of people in front of God, keeper of all wishes and dreams, solver of all
problems, the guard of divine treasures, comfort for the whole universe and all ages,
organizer of the whole world from ground to sky.
Fury will stop the whole process of creation,
Justice (‫ )عدل‬will enslave and enchain tyranny (‫)ظلم‬,
Even the hardest stones will be softened by the strength of blood-shed,
The mercy of the lion will calm everything down,
Present age will not tolerate soft and tough behavior,

17
The word qibla indicates the direction to which Muslims turn at prayer. For those like-minded
people, Abu’l-Fazl seems to be saying, Akbar is the direction to which those conscious of God
should turn, as they know the truth of things as they really are and understand the true essence
of their king and his intentions and are able to express their “admiration and praise” of him.
18
Akbar is described as the one who has brought about the victory of the Qur'an which is to
be just. Justice is a central theme in the Qur’an and its importance can be understood from these
lines, “Do not let hatred for a people incite you into not being just” (Surat al-Maida, 8). In parallel
to that, the emperor through the translation of the Mahabharata seems to be a perfect example in
the eyes of Abu’l-Fazl in bringing justice to the diverse population of Akbar’s realm.
19
The symbol of sovereignty in the Mughal Empire were reflected in the authority of the coin.
The successful operation of coin minting within a political structure created an excellent
opportunity for transactions with experts, such as bankers and money changers. In turn this
encouraged the money market to flourish, which in turn would attract business. This surge of
business activity in turn would make the ruler less dependent on foreign sources of funds for the
financial support of his rule. See J. S. Deyell and R.E. Frykenberg, "Sovereignty and the "SIKKA"
Under Company Raj: Minting Prerogative and Imperial Legitimacy in India" Indian Economic &
Social History Review 19 (1982): 1-25.

31
The cosmos will not conceal the truth from majority nor the minority (‫)قليل و کثير‬.20
He is the owner of power who simultaneously rules over many vital and different issues,
which indeed need separate time, energy, and wisdom. He conducts state matters
confidently and executes them well. He replies to all the responsible subordinates who
are busy in the court, in a very convenient manner, as if all his attention had been on
that very matter and he had been thinking about it all the way through.
The king who is candid in his court and with his men,
Will be able to think better and not surrender to doubt and illusion (‫)وھم‬,
He will be capable of revealing the truth now and hereafter,
He is the one who knows about the use of proper language and is able to develop it.
[page 7] He is a creator who is so skilled in putting in order the affairs of the Kingdom
and fulfilling his role in [controlling all rules and regulations] of the caliphate (‫)نقوش خالفت‬.
According to the understanding of scholars and the wise who have thought about this
matter, it is astonishing to think how the former kings (‫ )سالطين ماضی‬may have reigned
over the country without such commands and orders.21
The whole universe is under his [Akbar] kingdom and protection,
The whole providence of earth is based on his order and command,
If his highness does not give permission to all creatures to move,
Not a single word will be uttered from the depth of their being.22
He is patient enough to do whatever task is required of him, despite the fact that he has
many men and subordinates, who are qualified and quite efficient in their fields, to carry

20
Abu’l-Fazl is referring to cosmology: the concept of the revelation of the truth of life and the
universe. According to him, the truth is out there to be found, perhaps referring to Akbar’s reign
as the time for the ushering of a new revelation.
21
This is a direct contrast, and so veiled criticism of the earlier political set up in India: i.e. the
Sultans of Delhi. Abu’l-Fazl is praising centralised power in the person of the king. For more on
the Sultans of Delhi see: Satish Chandra, Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals (New
Delhi: Har-Anand Publications, 1997).
22
This is a clear statement of absolute power of the king, again in contrast to the court of
nobles under the Sultanate who placed and removed Sultans and were known for their intrigues.
22
Akbar was the first Mughal king to make the institution of kingship divine in theory as well as
in practice. Owing to its divine origin the kingship acquired was to be used for the welfare of the
state and its people. See K. N. Chitnis, Medieval Indian History (New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers &
Distributors, 2003): 60-63. In the A’in-I Akbari Abu’l-Fazl describes the idea of kingship as being
further characterized by paternalism, benevolence, unselfishness, justice, and impartiality. AA, 1:
3-4.

32
out the tasks. But he remains faithful and committed and is assured that the outcome of
these highly-important issues matter. Therefore, it is not fair to pay less attention to
some aspects and cease to pursue them.23
The power of all cosmos is relying on his person,
The treasures of both worlds are measured by his justice,
Not living whimsically nor greedily,
He has assumed the burden of two worlds,
The common people are unaware of his burden,
And traitors are all oblivious [as though asleep] while he is awake and aware.
His complete power and strength is evident in the large number of formal tasks he
undertakes and in fact he has given some form of spiritual unity (‫ )وحدت معنوی‬to them; and
thus, it has made him an innovator in all aspects and also one in search of God’s
satisfaction and lasting awareness.
He is the one in possession of the royal throne,
He is the one confirmed and certified by God,
There is no science (‫ )علم‬without him at the core,
There is no fortune without his interference.
His wisdom is ample, in a way that he does not need exceptional knowledge in order to
carry out important and complicated deeds and in issues relating to finance, he needs no
agent, minister, or consultant. [page 8] All managers and executives of the age take
their necessary commands, which may be in detail or in general and which are
instructive for all, from his inborn capabilities that make him aware of all hidden secrets.
Oh, you, the one by whom the whole universe is honored,
You are more than all creation and less than the creator,
You are the one whose existence gives credit to all beings,
Your shadow is like God’s grace spread over the age.
He is intelligent enough not to be distracted when it comes to any form of power and
high rank, which is suggested by the [past] greatness and might of his government.24 All

33
great men and all tyrants of the age melt away by observing him and drown in the sea of
fear.
Eternal bliss lies in his surroundings,
All celestial difficulties (‫ )نوايب فلکی‬are hidden and covered due to his opposition,
If he grants a glance into one’s eyes, he would see embarrassment,
And if he wishes to implement his policies upon a rock,
Due to his command, the dust of the rock would turn into mandragora (‫)مھر گياه‬,25
And huge stones would turn to ashes due to his strength.26
Despite being in his youth and experiencing all sorts of pleasures and victories, he is still
a pure hearted person always at war with his instincts, thus preventing his body from
being immersed in mere material pleasure. He endeavors hard to do away with tyrants of
the country and take into service some spiritual men (‫)روحانيت‬.
Wisdom seems to have raised him soul-wise,
Soul seems to have raised him, character-wise.
He is attached to religion (‫)دين‬, and has inborn and divine characteristics and innate
moods of inspiration which many other gifted people and critics of human attribute lack.
Despite all this, he is still seeking perfection.27
He possesses everything, though quite innocently he makes requests of others.

24
The word “‫ ”ناصيه‬in the printed text, is written as “‫ ”ماضيه‬in the manuscript (perhaps a scribal
error) and means “forehead.” I have based my translation on the wording of the manuscript,
“‫ ”ماضيه‬which means all actions done in the past and this relates contextually to Akbar’s history in
governing his empire.
25
Mandragora is an ancient medicinal plant that was believed to have medicinal and magical
effects. It was known to induce passion as well as conception. See, Howard R Turner, Science in
Medieval Islam: An Illustrated Introduction (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997), 153.
26
This qasida presented here by Abu’l-Fazl is from Anvari (1126–1189). Anvari was a Persian
poet and learned in astronomy. His poems were collected in a Divan, and contain panegyrics and
eulogies amongst other works. His panegyric in honor of the ruler of Khorasan, Sultan Sanjar
(1117–1157) gained him royal favor, allowing him to enjoy the patronage of two of Sanjar's
successors.
27
Abu’l-Fazl is perhaps referring to the insan-e kamil or “perfect man” which originates in the
Qur’an and Hadith. According to Oliver Leaman, The Qurʼan: An Encyclopedia (London:
Routledge, 2006), it means the “person who has reached perfection,” referring to the prophet
Muhammad.

34
He is an instrument of knowledge (‫—)دانش دستگاھی‬without any exaggeration in my
expression—who, although, never acquired any form of scientific preparation (‫)مقدمات علمی‬
or was never schooled officially (‫)تحصيل معلومات رسمی‬, whenever he begins to pay heed to
a scientific matter exceptional in its type and accuracy, [page 9] he later declares such
sophisticated statements with his ‘tongue that interprets the unseen’ (‫)زبان غيبی ترجمان‬, that
scholars of the time and cultivators of wisdom (‫)حکمت پروران‬, who had burnt the midnight
oil (‫ )دود چراغ خورده‬and studied in deep contemplation, fail to comprehend. Therefore they
engage themselves in the task of finding an answer worthy of respect.
He is the king who has been trained by the teacher of the heart,
And is guided by his mind in order to understand,
For experts in the field of research, it is totally worth,
Developing the divine sciences out of his intellect (‫)زعقل او‬.
He is a unique person of grand nature (‫ )فطرت بلند‬who behaves, with all craftsmen and
artists that have made an outstanding contribution to their profession, in a way that
shows he possesses great knowledge on the given subject. He speaks so subtly and
precisely that to the so-called experts it seems he has been training in these fields for
years.
He is a judicious man, who knows everything from the beginning of time to eternity,
Every inch of him is art and every single word beset with wisdom.
He is so sensible that due to his grand taste, he conducts every task with the help of
unique experts, and therefore, he collects all professions together around himself, which
is indeed unlikely for a king to do so. And so, he has invented many things at which all
craftsmen look in amazement.28
All artists and craftsmen who face him,

28
In the AA, 3: 314 Abu’l-Fazl writes, “Artists of all kinds are constantly employed at the
Imperial Court where their work is subjected to the test of criticism.” Naturally the fame of Akbar’s
court attracted to it master craftsmen and artists from all parts of his dominions and further. He
also invited foreign craftsmen to train Indians in new styles and techniques.

35
Are stunned, and speechless as (their own) hammers.29
He is the chosen one (‫ )برگزيده‬who, from the beginning of his youth, holds [within him] the
book of life (‫ )صحيف ٔه زندگانی‬and is influenced by factual reasoning (‫)عقل ھيوالنی‬. The light of
truth and guidance shines from his forehead and the effects of the merits of his piety
emerge from the fate of his horoscope (‫)زايچ ٔه اقبال‬. And when there is no standard
language to describe something, he uses exquisite words, symbols, and descriptions
that originate from only him. Such accounts are narrated in detail by [those] respected
and virtuous [men] of God.
[page 10] His universal protection (‫ )جھان پناھی‬is eternal,
May his kingdom (‫ )پادشاھی‬last forever,
He is so pure in essence that when in his embryonic stage (‫)زمان جنينی‬, he was a unique
jewel originating inside the womb and blessed with life. A light radiated from the
forehead of the blessed and chaste Maryam Makani and it was so luminous that when
people saw it they thought a light was being shone on her.30
He is the one who spreads light to enlighten the world,
He is also much endeared and loved by all creation.
He is a pious man who seeks divine grace and acceptance and due to his aspirations
and great ambitions, he is respected by the young and the old, the poor and the rich, the
noble and the ignoble whether in public or in private. He is always in their hearts. His
magnificence, sobriety and dignity is both formal and spiritual. He is always in search of
the truth in every drop of existence.
Oh, great king, we wish your kingdom to last forever,

29
In the printed text, the phrase is written as “‫ ”شمع سان‬while in the manuscript it is “‫”تيشه سان‬.
This simile means “like a candle” or as in the manuscript “like a hammer” and both are
speechless. The difference in readings could be attributed to the difficulty in understanding the
original text. Abu’l-Fazl seems to mean that craftsmen become “mute like a tool,” just like their
own hammers: the hammer cannot do anything—or make a hammering noise—without the
craftsman and in Abu’l-Fazl’s comparison the craftsman is as silent as his own tool without the
animating force of the king.
30
The mothers of the Mughal emperors were held in the highest respect and many of them
were given lofty titles. Akbar’s mother Hamida Banu Begam was given the title of Maryam Makani
meaning ‘Mary of both worlds’ or ‘occupying the place of the virgin Mary’. A light was said to have
emanated from her face before Akbar was born. Annemarie Schimmel, Corinne Attwood and
Burzine K. Waghmar, The Empire of the Great Mughals: History, Art, and Culture (London:
Reaktion Books, 2004): 63, 147, 143.

36
May your life be eternal like the course of creation,
All wishes which pass through our thoughts,
Lie close to you, like a royal bride (‫)عروس ملک‬.
He is the fighter who undertakes the defeat of anger and lust, which are the source of all
fights and conflicts in the world and responsible for the destruction of good deeds and
honesty, and he is able to dominate them and bring them under his control. 31
The whole world is under his control and command,
The whole cosmos is dependent on his order on issues of good and evil,
Fate asked him for protection and safety,
Destiny gave him its leash, asking him to take it wherever he wished.
He is a being of grace, and has always been generous, lavishly giving away many
treasures to the people of his age, and in this way, he has never let a needy person
request for anything.
Wherever there is discourse on the truth of the rain,
Those short-sighted imitators, due to brevity,32
[page 11] would say that clouds get their water from the seas,
And then, wind will devote itself to the process and rain is produced,
This is by its own virtues a legend, that is it, and no more needs to be said,
It is like the fact that when one is embarrassed, one’s palms sweat.
He is benevolent to all strangers and due to his unique training, just like when
alchemizing (‫ )کيمياه‬soil, he aids people who are in the state of unhappiness in attaining a
good fortune.
Soil turns to gold only as a result of your grace,
Poison turns sweet as a result of your reflections,
The land on which you trod will become wealthy and full of treasures,
The heart in which you dwell will be fortunate and lucky.

31
I have based my translation here on the manuscript as the printed version only includes
these lines: “‫ ”صف شکنان معارک فرمان خود ساخته‬as opposed to the longer “ ‫صف شکنان معارک جھان و مراد‬
‫تابع حکم و بنده فرمان خو ساخته افکنان ميدان صالح و‬،‫” سدادند‬.
32
The line in the printed text is “...‫ ”تقليديان مختفی از روی اختيار‬and is translated as “various imitators
would say with authority…,” while the same line in the manuscript is “‫"تقليديان مختصر از روی اختصار‬,
which I have translated as “those short-sighted imitators would say due to brevity”.

37
He is the brave-hearted who has conquered many lands on his own and with few
companions and has changed the whole world in a single moment.
He is indeed the whole world inside his hidden cover,
His pure heart encompasses many universes in one.
Alone and single-handed, he has been able to fight all other kings,
That makes him both a king and a hero.
He is a knowledgeable person, who has decreased the rank of many of his nobles who
lacked in high intelligence, until they gained a good understanding of the truths and
subtleties of government (‫)حقايق و دقايق حکمی‬.33
Words are not sufficient enough to be able to praise our king,
Alas, the castle is too high and the ladder too short to let one enter it.
To reach his grace’s frescoes and his altar of greatness,
Our rope of knowledge is too short.
He is the handsome34 person to whom all great masters of inner and outer (‫)صوری و معنوی‬
peace and harmony are associated. He is on [such] a [grand] journey that all of God’s
creatures seek guidance from him in the heuristic path of ethics (‫)اخالق‬. 35
Pious educators deserve good merit,
From merely being in your council and company.36

33
In the printed text, it reads “‫ ”حقايق علمی و دقايق حکمی‬however, the word “‫ ”علمی‬meaning scientific
is not used in the manuscript. I have based my translation on the text of the manuscript as Abu’l-
Fazl seems to be speaking about the nobles at Akbar’s court who lacked intelligence specifically
in the field of government, who were required to know both the truth and details of Akbar’s
government.
34
From his early youth Akbar displayed an extraordinarily appealing personality. Akbar’s
persona was imposing and attractive beyond the usual hagiography and image-making clinging to
any ruler or leader. Thus, one of his greatest admirers and his eldest son, Salim, later known as
Jahangir described his father’s appearance as “inclining to be tall; he was of the hue of wheat; his
eyes and eyebrows were black, and his complexion rather dark than fair..., his august voice was
very loud, and in speaking and explaining had a peculiar richness. In his actions and movements
he was not like the people of the world, and the Glory of God manifested itself in him.” Cited in
John F. Richards, The Mughal Empire (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 44-45
35
I have based my translation here with help from Lynette G. Mitchell and C. P. Melville, Every
Inch a King: Comparative Studies on Kings and Kingship in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds
(Boston: Brill, 2013).
36
The complete version of this short verse is not in the printed text and I have used the
manuscript edition for translation here “‫”سزد ز حاشيه مجلس تو بردارند معلمان ادب کارنامه اخالق‬. It

38
[page 12] He is grave and very gentle and is always cautious with maidens and is in no
way lost in lust for them. He does not pay attention only to their appearances and has in
several instances also prevented lustful men from being overly desirous of them. He
insists that if such an incident occurs37 to the inhabitants of his guarded kingdom
(‫)محروسه‬, he would evidently not marry any of those girls because, common people (‫)رعايا‬
have rights over them.38
I would not call it purity (‫)عفت‬, because what I have witnessed with my senses,
Is one hundred times more pure than that.39
He is the owner of all things valuable and in a single glance he can purify any impure
golden iron that salespeople of the age have given to him. Also, due to his sacred
attention, the corrupt inner nature of many people have been stripped away,40
uncovering their true nature, and thus allowing them to swim in the sea of knowledge. All
those, who wandered on the dark path of imitation (‫)تقليد‬, were left astonished. One must
be grateful that they have now found a leader for their group (‫)قافله را رھبری پيدا شد‬.
He is the one who is always seeking guidance and many people who were lost in the
darkness of their path have been guided toward their true purpose and direction, only by
virtue of his divine grace (‫)برکت الھيه‬.41
He is the leader of every group,

emphasises Akbar’s authority on issues relating to ethics, referring perhaps to the knowledge of
action based on akhlaq (morality), which emerges from the company of the king.
37
Referring to the men lusting for maidens.
38
According to Abu’l-Fazl in his A’in-i Akbari, Akbar had mentioned on numerous occasions
that “had I formerly possessed the knowledge which I now have, I would never have chosen a
wife for myself; for upon old women I look as mothers, on women of my age as sisters, and on
girls as daughters.” According to Abu’l-Fazl “If any well-known courtier wanted to have a virgin
they should first have his Majesty's permission,” and if they failed to do so “they would be
punished and censured.” AA, 1: 192, 211.
39
Abu’l-Fazl does not mention a subject for this verse, but it is clear from the preceding lines
that he is referring to Akbar and his qualities of virtue and purity.
40
The phrase in the printed text, “‫ ”درون خرابان معمور بيرون‬has the word “‫ ”خرابان‬omitted from the
manuscript. The sentence would be incomplete without the word, which means corruption and
follows the word ‫ درون‬which means inner.
41
In the printed text, we have the phrase “‫ ”بميامن برکات او‬while the same phrase in the
manuscript appears with an extra word “‫ ”الھيه‬changing the phrase into “‫”بميامن برکت الھيه او‬. This
changes the sentence from “by virtue of his grace” to “by virtue of his divine grace.”

39
He is the center of all things certain,
All innocent entities that dwell high above the skies,
Shine brightly before his eyes,
He is the axis of everything in the universe,
The whole universe revolves around only him.
He is of such high ranks that due to his graceful perception of reaching perfection, many
wild animals, in seeing his power and greatness, become tame. Many foolish (‫)استعداد بی‬
people, after having been in his company, have stepped away from the swamps of
humanity and worldly pleasures.
He is a very kind-hearted person. When people of different groups, particularly children,
lay eyes upon his handsome appearance (‫)جمال‬, such calmness and trust takes over
them, that no other being can bring this serene and unruffled feeling to them.
Oh to exist! Live a pleasurable life,
As he is all kindness and mercy, both in body and soul,
[page 13] He is a highly attentive person, who through his spiritual connection ( ‫روابط‬
‫)معنوی‬, can resolve the most complex issues.
He is the goal to which all efforts are intended,
And the strength for survival,
But in terms of sovereignty,
He is indeed the head [for the body] of his kingdom,42
The universe is abundant while you are the king,
The country is serene and peaceful while you are ruling it.
Your every breath is influential as you can cure many diseases that other physicians
may not have been able to, and this is merely because you have paid particular attention
to the given matter. I should mention that I have personally witnessed on several
occasions that he found the remedy for an illness that aided in the patient’s swift
recovery.

42
This section has come in two different forms in the printed text and the manuscript. In the
printed text, it appears as “‫ سری‬،‫ بر تن دولت‬،‫ رايی‬،‫ در روان ملک‬،‫ دلی‬،‫ ”در سر ھمت لقايی در بر قوت‬which I have
found difficult to render into English in terms of the style and seemingly inappropriate commas. I
have used the manuscript version for translation here and it reads, “ ‫ در‬،‫ ولی‬،‫ بقايی دربر قوت‬،‫در سر ھمت‬
‫ سری‬،‫ بر تن دولت‬،‫”روان ملک رانی‬

40
His mercy (‫ )مرحمتش‬has healed our wounds,
He has been consolation for our somber hearts.
His speech is profound. He knows many languages and speaks with each person with
their own form of speech. He also blends some Indian language which he managed to
learn though his Turk ancestry and creates new and unusual meanings and concepts.
You must ask him the secrets of all connoisseurs,
Since he is the one who knows the language of birds, other than Solomon.43
He is the asylum of sanctity (‫)واليت پناه‬, and although he hides himself in cloaks and
covers, some of his perfect disciples (‫ )مريدان کامل اخالص‬who by virtue of their attention,
talents and good manners, have managed to notice these qualities in him. It is apparent
sometimes that he, despite being involved with mundane activities, is in fact, meditating
deeply and reflecting on God’s infinite nature and is thereby flying high in unification with
Him.
We are the trainees of the kindness he bestows upon us,
During a feast, we crave to be in seclusion with him,
Let us not base our judgement on superficial things,
Let not our guise of unity turn into multiple forms.
[He is the only guide who trained professionals and spiritual followers consider as
possessing divine talent and skill. Therefore, he trains his sincere followers through the
most dependable sources, that is, the four constituents of sincerity (ikhlas), so that they
can reach their goals in the guidance meetings of the king at his court. In compassion,
make me one of your own; make me a dancer in your joyous gathering place. Bestow
goodness onto me from (the four folds of) your ample virtue, allow me to smell the scent
of the four gardens of sincerity.]44

43
The Qur’an recognizes Solomon (‫ )سليمان‬as a prophet and divinely-appointed monarch. He
was a king of ancient Israel as well as the son of David and believed to be a wise and just ruler.
He is believed to have been bestowed God-given gifts and talents, including the ability to speak
to animals. For more see the chapter on Solomon in Brannon M. Wheeler, Prophets in the Quran:
an Introduction to the Quran and Muslim Exegesis (London: Continuum, 2002).
44
This paragraph in the manuscript is not provided in the printed text. This paragraph seems
to take on a different Qur’anic tone compared to the lines preceding and following it. “The four
constituents of sincerity” and “the four gardens of sincerity” seem to echo the declaration of Gods
unity in the 112th Sura in the Qur’an, called “Surat al-Ikhlas” which consists of exactly four ayats. I

41
[page 14] It is true that on several occasions some [supposedly] devoted followers of the
lord of the state and government failed to obey and acknowledge him, or due to their
short-sightedness and lack of providence would tend to oppose him and act in haste.
These followers were not granted permission to enter the court and were witness to the
king’s dislike of secret wrongdoings, as that is not something a true king would do. Do
not fool others as deceiving is not a rule of chivalry.
Dear God, let me appreciate his efforts which are indeed immense.
He is a wealthy man, whose eternal destiny is compliant with his rational policy ( ‫تدبيرات‬
‫ )عقلی‬and on his determination (‫ )اراده‬no other image is engraved but God’s and in his
hope no other meaning and purpose is found but God.
Fate would act in the way you desire,
The state would govern the country as you wish,
To prove the claim that there is no one like you,
Your face [alone] stands as evidence.
He is the one whose nature is enlightened (‫ )روشن ضميری‬and illuminates our hearts.
Although at times he may seem to be entirely engaged with dull and materialistic
pursuits (‫)امور ظاھری‬, he is in fact thinking about the concerns of the people of all different
groups (‫)طوايف انام‬. Many high-ranked scholars have stories to tell in relation to this.
Without exaggerating or flaunting, all that this great man of honesty (‫ )صادق‬and purity
(‫ )مخلص‬has declared is beyond the scope of books.
Your words cannot be written as stories,
Nor can they be expressed using all the languages of this world,
I have witnessed [in you] such magnificent faculties,
That cannot be found anywhere else.
He is an intelligent person who is conscious of everything from the time he was a year
old child until now—in his mid-forties—and God-willing he will have the prospect to live
even longer because of the order he brings to the world. He holds such magnificent
inner and outer qualities, that no biographer can fully describe and write down. He also

will not speculate as to why a later copyist decided to add/omit this section in the copying
process.

42
recalls a plethora of animal names, both wild and domestic; from elephants to sparrows,
he knows every one of them one by one.
[page 15] All entities in meadows, be it thorns or flowers,
Are filled with his understanding,
All creatures on grazing lands, including lions and elephants,
Are blessed with his mercy and compassion.
He is a man of stature, whose good manners and mild temper have attracted many
inhabitants of the earth, from the east to the west. Due to his grand qualities, many
people who had left their familiar territories and became forgotten foreigners were made
to feel at home.45
When the benevolent rush toward him,
Then the whole cosmos will also follow him,
When the taste of language can be acquired through praising him,
Then the leaves on trees would also open up and speak.
He is a pious and good-tempered person who knows all ‘the four-fold foundations of
ethics’ (‫)اصول چھارگان ٔه اخالق‬46 which only good-natured and hardworking people become
conscious of through years of effort and abstinence; and even then, they will have not
achieved much. What he has gained is empty of any sort of pompousness and in fact

45
Akbar attracted many foreigners to his empire from Persia and other parts of Asia.
Blochmann has calculated that three-fourths of the poets and more than one-third of the doctors
and musicians at Akbar’s court were foreigners. Cited in S. M. Edwardes and H. L. O. Garrett,
Mughal Rule in India (New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers and Distributors, 1995), 252. Akbar was
interested especially in promoting social, cultural and intellectual contacts with Iran by identifying
literati and persuading them to settle in India, where their presence would assist Akbar in re-
establishing the empire, that was once unstable. See Sheldon Pollock, Literary Cultures in
History: Reconstructions from South Asia (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003), 159.
46
Alfarabi (870-950 C.E.) regarded as one of the main founders of Islamic philosophy, is
known for his many interpretive works on Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy and his most
concise virtue catalogue is given in Fusul al-Madani (Aphorisms of the Statesman; trans, 1961).
According to Alfarabi, the four ethical virtues are moderation, courage, liberality (generosity) and
justice. He believes that religion and philosophy can be harmonized, and that the exercise of
virtue is in itself a spiritual act. See, Christopher Peterson and Martin E. P. Seligman, Character
Strengths and Virtues A Handbook and Classification (Washington, DC: American Psychological
Association, 2004): 49-50. Also, Al-Ghazali (1058-1111), a renowned Muslim theologian, jurist
and philosopher, defines the four principle virtues as being wisdom, courage, temperance and
justice and believed they are based on the analysis of the faculties of the soul. Mohamed
Ahmed Sherif, Ghazali's Theory of Virtue (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1975), 38.

43
they have a divine aspect to them. His conduct is considered the best and the most
perfect of all.
The scale according to which his manner and conduct are calculated,
Must extend the scope of the earth and the sky.
He is a kind-hearted person who has no desire to kill and eat animals. Sometimes seven
long months pass before he eats meat and if it was not for the sake of gaining strength
and vigor, he would not be content to eat even then. In many meetings he has often
declared that human beings are really unfair to slaughter animals in order to feed
themselves, while there are many other sources of food.47
Even with the use of one hundred Qur’an’s (‫)بصد قرآن‬,
One could not reach the conclusion he has reached,
Through the four principles (‫ )چھار امھات‬and the seven worlds.48
His speech is very gentle and as soon as he notices a person whose father is not around
to offer kindness to him, he pays undivided attention to them. [page 16] People consider
him as their refuge and the king of the world (‫)شاھنشاه گيتی پناه‬. He provides support to
everybody and they see him as their grandfather due to his fatherly benevolence.
Praise to the mother of all time (‫ )زمادر دھر‬who has given birth to such a man,
Whose kindness is like that of a father for the whole universe.
His is a person of detached nature who rules many lands and kingdoms, and possesses
treasures that other kings wish to have even a portion of. He has everything in his
treasury, due to God’s greatness, yet he does not pay any notice or attention to them.

47
Akbar's vegetarian practices are touched on in AA, 3: 332 and MT, 2: 261; for further
discussion see chapter three.
48
In the cosmology of many religions including Islam, Catholicism, Judaism and Hinduism,
there is the belief that there are seven heavens above earth. According to the Qur’an and
Hadiths, Muhammad ascended to each of the seven heavens on his Mi'raj journey. This is when
God instructs Muhammad on Muslim prayer. The earliest account of this ascension was written
by Ibn-Ishaq (A.D. 702 to 768) in his biography on Muhammad. See J. R. Porter, “Muhammad's
Journey to Heaven,” Numen 21, Vol I (1974): 64-80 also Brooke Olson Vuckovic, Heavenly
Journeys, Earthly Concerns: the Legacy of the Miʻraj in the Formation of Islam (New York:
Routledge, 2005). The concept of seven heavens is also present in Hinduism, where the God,
Lord Vishnu, is believed to live in the seventh heaven. For a comprehensive introduction to
Hinduism see Axel Michael and Barbara Harshav, Hinduism: Past and Present (Princeton, N.J:
Princeton University Press, 2004). Here, Abu’l-Fazl is using universal religious references that
would appeal to a vast readership, which I shall expand on in the analysis.

44
Oh God, so long as the world continues to have water and colour,
As long as the world is able to rotate and pause,
Make the universe unique for this great king,
Ask every drop of existence to aid him in whatever pursuit he carries out.
He is of strong and respected descent (‫)نھال‬. He comes from a group whose people are
renowned for giving speech and also for being resilient before materialistic temptations
which has never prevented them from spiritual growth. There is no need to mention, as it
is obvious, that his body is a source of help and protection and with no doubt, his
position in stages of perfection, has reached the highest point. That is why one can
immediately differentiate his boundless heart and extraordinary speech from others.
Blessed be God (‫ )تبارک ﷲ‬for creating such a pure-hearted person (‫)گوھری پاک‬,
Because of his purity, even his body is considered holy (‫)تقدس‬,
When he is in a situation to be praised,
It is right to call the gem of the spirit (‫)گوھرجان‬, the dust of the body.49
His good fortune and fate is strongly determined because from the beginning of his
reign, which is now thirty two years, every other king, scholar, sage, or even the common
man who has thought about opposing him, has lost. [page 17] Every person
understands his (Akbar’s) true nature according to his own talent. When one attempts to
rise above his knowledge, one has willed wrongly and will be disgraced in front of
everybody and that will certainly be torture for them.
Oh great king, when you are infuriated and enraged,
The letter of death (‫ )نام ٔه آجال‬is removed from your dagger,
The earthly kingdom seeks repute in your service,
The luck of Jupiter (‫ )سعود مشتری‬is dependent on your character.50

49
Here Abu’l-Fazl uses the word “‫ ”گوھر‬skillfully, referring to the essence of the soul as a
gem—a rare quality that he believes was given to Akbar by God.

45
He is a man of countless attributes. Many wise men attempt to write about his
magnificent qualities, but their efforts are in vain as they are unable to list all of his
perfect traits.
Wisdom must be silent when it comes to him,
There must be less pretentiousness and more politeness,
Do you know who he is? His position is higher than a king and lower than a God.
He is the just Sultan (‫)سلطان عادل‬,51 the perfect reasoning, a definite reason to know God,
the final resolution of every benevolence, the leader of true paths, namely Abu'l-Fath
Jalal al-Din Muhammad Akbar Padshah Ghazi (‫) ابوالفتح جالل الدين محمد اکبر پادشاه غازى‬.52 May
his umbrella of protection, justice, and kindness spread over all who seek happiness
through determination. May he be safe and strong.

50
The late sixteenth century saw the near-simultaneous occurrence of two momentous
events: the ‘Grand Conjunction’ of Jupiter and Saturn in 1583 and the end of the first Islamic
millennium in 1591. In the same year, Akbar ordered the compilation of a universal history, the
Tarikh-i Alfi. The title, "The Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction” (‫ )صاحب قران‬refers to a ruler whose
horoscope features this conjunction, ushering a time of world-conquest and justice. See, Stephen
P. Blake, Time in Early Modern Islam Calendar, Ceremony, and Chronology in the Safavid,
Mughal, and Ottoman Empires (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013). Jupiter, is also
known in Hindu mythology as Brhaspati, and is a god and Vedic deity known for wisdom and
eloquence. For more information on Hindu Gods see: T. R. R. Iyengar, Dictionary of Hindu Gods
and Goddesses (New Delhi: D.K. Printworld, 2003).
51
Upheavals during the tenth and eleventh centuries led to a new wave of mirrors for princes,
written by government officials and religious scholars, defining the rules of good governance. In
Sunni political theory there came a shift in emphasis from the caliphate to the reality of the sultan
as the key figure in Muslim political order. An important treaty of this kind was The Book of
Government by Nizam al-mulk (d.1092). The text stresses that the sultan must do justice and
gives techniques towards that end. Al-Ghazali’s Book of Council emphasizes that “the ruler must
understand that God loves a just sultan,” and that the principle function of kingship is to establish
order in society and uphold the teachings of the true faith. Cited in Ira M. Lapidus, A History of
Islamic Societies (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), 231-232.
52
The word used is qhazi (‫)غازی‬, meaning those kings who exercise jihad on frontiers of dar
al-harb. When Babur entered India he began learning about the histories of that region and he
soon became familiar with certain archetypal ghazis who had raided the subcontinent before him.
This practice culminated in the climactic scene of the battle of Kahuna, after which Babur gained
control of Hindustan and assumed the title of ghazi. His reference was to the eleventh century
Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna, the ghazi king and first conqueror of India and possibly the Ottoman
Murad II. Babur was forced to present himself as a ghazi king in the same fashion as the
Ottomans and the Ghaznavids, because for political reasons he needed to associate himself with
the Sunni powers of high prestige in India. Abu’l-Fazl here reminds us that Akbar assumed that
title. Ali Anooshahr, The Ghazi Sultans and the Frontiers of Islam A Comparative Study of the
Late Medieval and Early Modern Periods (London: Routledge, 2009): 11-13.

46
Oh God, for as long as the skies continue to rotate,
Do not deprive this world of his majesty,
As the end of the world is hidden under the ring (‫)زير نگين با د‬, 53
May he hold the key of the world (‫ )کليد عالم‬under his sleeve.54
Due to his rightful guidance, the king of the believers of God and the leader of those lost
in the dark, brought about a new dawn and a new beginning. [page 18] Those poor
merchants with bags full in their hands felt embarrassed and remorseful. The group who
thought they were destined to eternal happiness—awakened from the ignorance in
which they had been living—began regretting the past times and became followers of
the Divine Lord (‫)ارباب حق‬. These people then turned toward the king for knowledge and
insight. The king is looking to correct every group of people, mainly out of his true nature.
Everyone—including those who are friends or enemies, relatives or strangers—are
always equally respected by him. Since that is the way all physicians act when facing a
physical ailment, why should he not be regarded as the head of all physicians, who tries
hard to cure the ailment of common people?55 In fact, for his own understanding, he
decided to explore the reason for the hostility that divided the Muslims, Jews and Hindus
and in doing so realized that their denial of one another was all too obvious.

53
The gem or jewel Abu’l-Fazl mentions here in this verse refers to the ring of Solomon, which
would allow him to imprison demons and help him in the building of Jerusalem. “My Lord, forgive
me and bestow upon me a kingdom such as none other after me will deserve. Surely, You are the
Bounteous Giver (Qur’an 38:35).” Joesphus, a first-century Romano-Jewish scholar, historian and
hagiographer, mentions that this legendary ring of Solomon derived its curative effects and power
from the secret name of God inscribed under its seal. For the comprehensive history of Solomon
and his life see Steve Weitzman, Solomon: The Lure of Wisdom (New Haven, CT: Yale University
Press, 2011).
54
The image of the key is used as a metaphor for wisdom. Solomon in his magical treaties
titled Key of Solomon believes that aside from knowledge, health and power, there is much to be
gained from learning the secrets of nature. He believed that this knowledge was hidden, and for
those who could access these secrets of life, could unlock the door of wisdom. This key
apparently revealed invisible forces in the natural world, like the blowing of the wind and the
movement of the stars, the untapped energy concealed within minerals and plants and the
miraculously self-forming machinery of the human body. Weitzman, Solomon (2011): 76-77.
55
Here Abu’l-Fazl compares the ignorance of the people as an ailment that a doctor, Akbar,
would be able to heal and enlighten. This idea of the king as the physician of the people can be
seen in Nasirean Ethics of Nasir al-Din Tusi (1201-1272), where he sets out to bring philosophy
and jurisprudence together. In his Akhlaq-i Nasiri, he states that the aim of political science is
equilibrium, like the analogy with medicine; the statesman is “the world’s physician.” See, Roy
Jackson, Fifty Key Figures in Islam (London: Routledge, 2006), 120-121.

47
Therefore, in realizing this, he decided to translate the authentic books of the different
groups (‫ )کتاب معتبر ٔه طايفتين‬into another language, so that both groups could have the
pleasure of benefiting from the perfect knowledge; thus forgetting their enmity and
hostility and seeking the divine truth.56 In this way, they could learn about their flaws and
shortcomings and therefore endeavor to correct their manners in the best way possible.
Also, there are some groups of people who are ignorant and excessive in amusement
and pleasure (‫)آدم ھرزه کار‬. People from different social groups have come along and
introduced themselves as scholars and have trained the masses under false teachings
and practices. In fact this pretentious bunch, whether due to their lack of knowledge or
foolishness, according to their lust and greed, have hidden the authentic books of
advice, words and teachings of sages and the weighty actions of the ancients, and
instead posed them in a different way. When books of different groups are translated in
a way that is simple, clear and pleasant, many credulous people will be able to reach the
truth and thus be saved from being misdirected and led astray by the false
interpretations of the interfering and ignorant people who pretend to be wise. Therefore,
it is an important task to translate the Mahabharata, which is about the many skills of
kings and covers many principles, including the smaller issues and beliefs, of India. In
fact there is no other book more comprehensive and well-known and detailed than this
one. Indeed, all astute intellectuals and linguists have gathered and united to pursue the
task of translating this book skillfully and justly.
[page 19] In addition, some biased, irreligious (‫ )بی ديانتی‬people and leaders of derivative
practice (‫ )پيشوايان اھل تقليد‬in India think their beliefs are the best ever. Therefore, they
consider their ridiculous views as free from any defect, and they keep imitating others
and instructing the gullible with their own teachings without pursuing any further study;
resulting in the distribution of false notions. They regard the true followers of
Muhammad’s religion, whose respectable views and the true essence of their sciences
they know nothing about, as owners of mere vain and senseless words and discredit
them completely. Due to his great wisdom, the king asked for the Mahabharata to be
translated in the best way possible, since it contains many points about these types of

56
Meaning that significance should be put on acquiring the knowledge of all different groups
and religions, as opposed to insisting on the importance of the beliefs of one group over another.

48
people. Translating this book will enable those extreme sceptics to adopt a moderate
attitude and it will also make the gullible feel embarrassed about what they believed and
therefore be led to the actual truth.57
Furthermore, common Muslim people who have not studied religious books ( ‫کتب آسمانی‬
‫ )ودينی‬carefully and have not paid attention to the ancient history of past times, including
that of the Indians and others, and have not pondered the sayings of their great men
such as Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq58 and Ibn ‘Arabi59 believe that human origin dates back
seven thousand years and consider all the improvements in scientific facts and
conceptions to be only seven thousand years old. Therefore, it was gracefully decided to
translate this precious book, which includes age-old facts about the universe and the
operation of the whole world and the people living in it, in a way that is easy to
understand. This is so that the foolish people could be chastised and distanced from
their false beliefs. Then, it would be evident for them that all these subtle facts and
figures—about which no one has a clue as to their origin—are indeed credible. Besides,
kings of all independent countries are particularly interested in learning the historical
matter [written in the Mahabharata], and the reason for this is that the logic embedded in
its history is in fact an instruction for everybody, making it very popular and enjoyable to
learn about the past. They need to understand the difference of the time and people of

57
This is an important paragraph for the context of the translation and is explored in chapter
three.
58
Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (702-765 AD) is the sixth Shia Imam and an important figure in the
development of early Muslim thought. He made major contributions to science, philosophy,
literature and ‘irfan (gnosticism). He adopted Taqiyya, a form of religious dissimulation, or a legal
dispensation whereby a believing individual can deny their faith when in fear or at risk of
significant persecution. See Moojan Momen, An Introduction to Shiʻi Islam: The History and
Doctrines of Twelver Shiʻism (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985) and Kazuo Morimoto,
Sayyids and Sharifs in Muslim Societies: The Living Links to the Prophet (London: Routledge,
2012).
59
Ibn Arabi (1165- 1240) is known as a scholar of Islam, Sufi mystic, poet, and a philosopher.
He was born in Andalusian Spain, the center of a flourishing and cross-fertilization of Jewish,
Christian and Islamic thought. Several hundred works have been attributed to him, of which
approximately 100 are in manuscript form. Ibn 'Arabi believes the “perfect man” (insan-i kamil) is
the complete image of this reality, and how those who truly know their essential self, know God,
that is, through self-manifestation one acquires divine knowledge. For more see Ibn al-
Arabi, Sufis of Andalusia: the Ruh al-Quds and Al-Durat Fakhirah (London: Routledge, 2008) and
Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Three Muslim Sages: Avicenna, Suhrawardi, Ibn ʻArabi (Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, 1964).

49
then and now, in order to value the present time, which should be spent on [learning
about] divine issues (‫)مرضيات الھی‬. [page 20] Therefore, it is no question for this great
man of knowledge [Akbar] to translate this book, as it consists of much information
surrounding this history. A group of linguists, who are known for being knowledgeable
and moderate people,60 have gathered, and translated the book mentioned here with
thorough and subtle attention in a way that all words and phrases are clear and
comprehensible. Thus, people of other groups have taken the responsibility to distribute
all of its volumes to different places61 and this person, Abu’l-Fazl Ibn Mubarak, who is
both curious and enthusiastic by nature, was appointed to write a sermon (‫)خطبه‬62 about
this translation. Due to the valuable nature of this task, the present writer has been very
eager to make observations on it and collect its true and valid background, and to also
make it clear from the beginning to end, for those inquisitive people who seek the truth in
order to quench their thirst for knowledge.
It is no secret to the commentators and critics of the new and old narratives that in Indian
families, whether they are of the wise, the abstinent or the ascetic, that they may all
disagree on issues related to how the universe has been created. Among these
disagreements, in this book we will encounter thirteen of the alleged bases for creation.
Although, if one treats the subject justly, there is no explanation which is devoid of
doubts, and they have all been denounced or rejected to some degree.
The starting point for the secret of creation,
Cannot be observed by human eyes,
God has not knitted63 this rope of fate in such an easy way,
That its roots are easily comprehended by individuals,

60
Akbar’s team of translators is discussed in chapter three.
61
Bada’uni mentions in his Muntakhab al-Tawarikh that copies of the book were sent to Amirs.
See chapter three.
62
Abu’l-Fazl refers to his Preface as a khutba, which is a form of public preaching in the
Islamic tradition, given especially in mosques. This means that Abu’l-Fazl viewed the Preface as
serving more than just an introduction and with larger spiritual objectives.
63
There are two different words used in the printed text and the manuscript for the word
‘knitted’. The difference may be based on the similarity of the two words “‫ ”بافت‬in the printed text
and “‫ ”تافت‬in the manuscript. The former means “knitting” and the latter means “forming.” For the
sake of clarity I have used the former for the translation of this line.

50
The clue of God’s power,
Cannot be found effortlessly by common people.
Pursuing the above issues is reason for some wise men to not doubt any further about
its validity, and in some ways it can be considered proof for those who easily and after
slight contemplation, dismiss it. [page 21] In some other ways, it is also very helpful for
sensible men to stop and muse over it and thereby welcome and accept it after deep
observation. This odd division [of the Mahabharata] is not concerned only with the
aforementioned issue, but also characterizes the many purposes that this book tries to
fulfill. It also consists of knowledge of Bhisma, providing ample points about the
principles of courtship and how a king must rule his land. 64 All of the good and pleasant
information that is mentioned here is gathered together and appreciated by many
experts. I must admit that it is not evident whether the problem [of the dismissal of the
Mahabharata text] is because of a partial understanding of the text or a lack of
knowledge on the part of translators, which would result in them writing things
incorrectly, merely out of comparison and incorrect guesses, or due to flaws in the
original text. The present author desired to spend some of his precious time to explain
this problem, but on second thought, decided not to write a lengthy and tedious speech.
Therefore, he has forsaken the idea and will explain only some of the points that are
appropriate and beneficial.
In this ancient valley of existence, who has gained more than just a name?
Who has been able to find out the essence of all movements?
To deliberate this hidden spell is erroneous,
Who has seen the beginning of the world and who has seen its end.
Biographers and historians all claim that according to Indian tradition, the cycle of the
creation of the universe consists of four periods. The beginning of the first period is
seventeen lakhs65 and 28,000 years and this period is called Satya Yuga.66 In this period

64
In the Mahabharata, Bhisma is the eighth son of Kuru King Shantanu and he devoted
himself to protecting the throne of Hastinapur. The Bhisma Parva, the sixth of eighteen books of
the Mahabharata, describes the story of Bhishma on his death bed, giving a discourse on moral
and social responsibility.
65
Indian word for 100,000.

51
all creatures in the world live in peace and comfort. The rich and poor live serenely
alongside all superior and inferior people and all seek honesty and good deeds in their
occupations. They all spend time meditating on divine issues and people typically live as
long as one Lakh.
[page 22] The second period is named Treta Yuga and lasts usually about twelve Lakhs
and 96,000 years. In this period, people’s lives are based on God’s satisfaction and they
live as long as 10,000 years.
The third period is called Dvapara Yuga and lasts eight Lakhs and 604,000 years. In this
period the way of life for people is based on good speech and good behavior and they
usually live as long as 1000 years.
The fourth period is known as Kali Yuga and lasts for four Lakhs and 32,000 years. In
this period the behavior of people is based on wrong doings and immoral deeds and
they live as long as one-hundred years. The rule is that the more this period lasts, the
more is added to the years of the Dvapara [the third period], and when the time of Kali
Yuga is more than the time of Dvapara, the latter will last longer and equal to the time of
Treta. And when the time of Kali Yuga is more than Treta it will be equal to the first
period, i.e. Satya Yuga. According to Indian calculations, the history of the reign of King
Akbar which is thirty-two years, is 509 years in Jalali and 956 years according to ancient
Persian calendar and in Greek it is 1909 and in the Indian calendar it is 1640, and in
Arabic 995 years. Therefore, 4680 years has passed over the Kali Yuga period. What a
wonder is the fact that the world is really old and decayed.
The origin of this ancient world is known,
There is not a single word written from the past,
Regardless of how much I search in the sky,
There is no sign of its beginning and its end.
All Indian scholars agree on the fact that there is no starting point for this world,
however, they believe that after the creation of the four well-known elements in the
world, the fifth—Akasa or empty space—was created. Even before the wise men of India

66
For the yuga system, see Heinrich von Stietencron, Hindu Myth, Hindu History, Religion,
Art, and Politics (Delhi: Permanant Black, 2005).

52
confirmed this, common people already agreed on this point that the sky was supposed
to be created out of this Akasa. [page 23] However, after summoning all experts and
intellectuals, it was agreed and announced that they do not believe in such a source of
creation for the sky and therefore they called that void space in the air Akasa, and put
forward the idea that things which are known as stars are in fact the holy essences of
great and sophisticated men who have soared above as a result of an abstinent and
ascetic life and long hours of prayer. Their lifestyle has made their figure illuminate,
become spiritual and so full of devotion that they could reach high ranks of existence
and therefore able to fly above the skies.67
There is a different meaning to every word,
There are different depths in every sea,
But nothing can untie this knot,
The one who knows how is yet another wonder.
The great Lord and creator created a concrete person of a pure race, who is called
Brahma, and though there are disagreements on the issue, he is said to be born out of
nothingness and is to be the tool for creation and a cause for the whole universe. As you
will notice in this book in detail, Brahma specifically created the human race from a
concealed place within and divided it into four groups: Brahmana (‫) براھمن‬, Ksatriya
(‫)چھتری‬, Vaisya (‫)بيش‬, and Sudra.68
Members of the first group were appointed as leaders and guides due to their efforts in
meditation, asceticism and for accepting limitations and observing all rules and
regulations.
Members of the second group were specified as leaders and governors of material
pursuits in order to bring peace and order to the whole world.
The third group was appointed to work in farms and markets and the like.
And finally the fourth group was appointed to be in different types of service. And in
pursuit of God’s validation (‫ )تا ييدات الھی‬and divine intuitions (‫)الھامات ربانی‬, the great
Brahma composed a book called Veda (‫)بيد‬, [page 24] which is filled with ample advice

67
This refers to the Indian idea that the stars are the essence of holy men who have risen up
to the heavens on account of their sanctity. This is found in astronomy where the constellation
known as the Great Bear in the west is referred to as the ‘Seven Sages’ in India.
68
For more on these four groups see chapter three.

53
about the correct path to daily happiness for all people. It is a divine scripture (‫)کتاب الھی‬
consisting of concrete logic, which includes principles on how to bring all creatures in
unity with each other and to put order among all groups. These different principles have
been divided into divine comprehensive categories. It is written in a way that even
common people are able to understand in each time period, from the past to the present,
and can therefore find the straight and true path.
This divinely related scripture is called Veda (‫ )بيد‬and contains one hundred thousand
Sloka (‫)اشلوک‬, which consists of four Carana (‫ )چرن‬and each Carana is no less than one
Aksara (‫ )اچھر‬to a maximum of twenty six Aksara. One Aksara is in fact one letter or
sometimes two to three. Experts and scholars in India agree that this strange collection
has lived for one hundred years outside of commonly recognized history, where every
year is three hundred and sixty days and each day is one thousand and four typical days
and each night is one thousand Caukadi (‫) چوکری‬.69
Respected Indian scholars have also concurred that since the beginning of this scripture,
many Brahmas have appeared in the world and lived in disguise and under cover. They
state that based on all that we have inherited from their biographies, the current Brahma
is believed to be the one thousand and first Brahma and he is fifty-one years old.70
Praise be upon him who is great and praise worthy. What a creation and creator! I am
astonished at hearing such narratives, so much so that I cannot easily express it and feel
a sense of enthusiasm that I cannot put in words.
I have a heart immersed in various thoughts and wishes,
That cannot escape the desire to search for wisdom and knowledge.
I am a man in awe in the garden of wisdom, who is wandering around spending many
years in the pursuit of knowledge, and though my mind may be defective I have always
searched for gems of insight in the garden of wisdom.71 [page 25] The further I go
through the pages of this book and other sources, comments and guidebooks, and the
deeper I go in its details and pages, the more bewildered and amazed I become. If I

69
See chapter three for an analysis of this passage about the poetic structure.
70
For the time system of Brahmas, see the analysis in chapter three.
71
“‫ ”بستان‬means garden, referring to the garden of wisdom and the world of knowledge around
us. In the printed text however the word “‫( ”دبستان‬school) is used meaning school of wisdom.

54
make imperfect judgments, I will use a reasonable interpretation that is fair enough to
admit its faults, and if I happen to cross out some of the phrases and sayings that are
absolutely new and innovative, I am indeed the one to blame due to my own boldness,
which has driven me out of justice and on a path to the realm of harmful doings.
When a person who is really sincere and pure in his actions and understandings makes
the effort to study about his ancestors and searches deeply while testing his wisdom and
struggles with other wise groups, he will also be able to assure ignorant people of their
fallacy. Therefore many of those who act with wrong intentions will be oriented toward
the light and truth since the false statements will lose their validity and the only thing
which remains is remorse, humiliation, and mistrust.
So how can one trust in the knowledge he has gathered and not doubt what he has
learned? And how could he believe in the status of great leaders and (their)
predecessors and accept these representations as real in view of the fact that all these
things are actually in beautiful disguise and are nothing but sheer imitation? And when
one trusts them, will he not be humiliated and embarrassed among the wise and suffer
eternal torture? Therefore, it is much better to reject or acknowledge an idea, according
to the different understandings of various talented people in different times and then one
can come to the conclusion about which point is good and which is not.
There is nothing familiar coming from the secret world,
There is no sign coming from the absent world,
[page 26] The whole universe is rotating in seven circles,
No sound can be heard beyond all the seals.
Narrators of this story and local nobles relate the story in this way, that in the second half
of the Dvapara (‫ )دواپر‬period in India in the village of Hastinapura72 there was a master
named Bharata (‫ ) بھرت‬ruling gracefully and justly. After having ruled over the country
through seven generations of his family, Kuru was the elect, the eighth son who inherited
the throne, with a Persian name ‘Master Kuru’ (‫)کور‬. Two other names are associated

72
(‫ ) ھستناپور‬Hastinapura identifed as Hastinapur in Meerut district, Uttar Pradesh, where
archaeological excavations have been conducted. See Upinder Singh, A History of Ancient and
Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Education, 2009), 281.

55
with him, Kurukshetra (‫ )کور کھيت‬and Thanesvar (‫)تھانيسر‬,73 while his descendants are
known as Kaurava (‫)کوروان‬. After six generations of descendants, a child was born and
became the master of Kauravans and his highly praised name was Vichitravirya ( ‫بيچتر‬
‫)بيرج‬. He had two sons with the names of Dhritarshtra (‫ )دھرتر اشتر‬and Pandu (‫ )پاند‬and you
will read his strange life story in this book.74
Although Dhritarashtra (‫ )دھرتر اشت‬was the eldest son, he had not been chosen as the
master due to his lack of insight, instead all their descendants were called Pandava
(‫ )پاندوان‬after the younger brother’s name.
Let us not hide the fact that Pandu (‫ )پاندو‬had five sons. Three of them, Yudhisthira
(‫)جدھشتر‬, Bhimasena ( ‫) بھيمسين‬, and Arjuna (‫)ارجن‬, were born of a woman named Kunti
(‫ )کنتی‬and the other two, Nakula (‫ )نکل‬and Sahadeva (‫)سھديو‬, were given birth by a woman
named Madri (‫)مادری‬. In this book, when the Pandavas are mentioned, it is in fact
referring to these five brothers.75 Dhritarashtra had one hundred and one sons. One
hundred of them were Gandhari’s (‫ )گاندھاری‬sons and the oldest one was named
Duryodhana (‫) درجودھن‬. I should mention that all the names will be referred to in this
book. The other son, Yuyutsu ( ‫ )ججتس‬was given birth to by a common woman and when
we read about Kaurava (‫ )کوروان‬in this book, it is referring to these one hundred and one
sons.
[page 27] After Pandu passed away due to the fate of stars and God’s will, the family of
Dhritarashtra inherited the throne and ruled over the country. Although Dhrtarastra was
designated as the king, his sons, particularly Duryodhana governed the kingdom. Since
identifying enemies and destroying hostile intentions is the very basic rule of controlling a
country, Duryodhana always felt anxious and worried about the Pandavas and was
always plotting against them. When Dhrtarastra noticed their conflict had gone too far,

73
(‫ )کور کھيت‬Kurukshetra is the ‘field of Kuru’ identified as immediately east of the town of
Thanesar (‫ ) تھانيسر‬in Haryana district, north of Delhi. Thanesar is an important location, see R. C.
Agrawala, “Early History and Archaeology in Kuruksetra and Ambala Division,” in Haryana Past
and Present, ed. S. K. Sharma, 2 vols. (New Delhi, India: Mittal Publications, 2005), 41-82. In the
Mughal period it was an active center; an important monument is the tomb of Shaikh Chilli.
74
This is where the manuscript ends; the remaining text is only in the printed text. This later
part of the text is subsequent to the time of Abu’l Fazl and for the most part clearly not from his
pen, I have not given it detailed attention, as explained in chapter one.
75
The text is concerned here with the patronymic name Pandava, the ‘sons of Pandu,’
explaining that the five sons are all called Pandava despite their different mothers.

56
he decided to take action and resolve the issue before it worsened, so he ordered
houses to be built in the city of Varnavarta and allowed for Pandavas to dwell there in
the mere hope of diminishing their hostility and conflict.76 However, destiny does not
always follow logic and this trick did not work at all. Duryodhana ordered builders to
cover and seal Pandavas’ houses with tar and oil and then—with a small flame—set the
houses on fire, burning all the inhabitants. However, when there is divine intervention,
vengeance and envy will not be able to harm anybody.
Eventually, the Pandavas became aware of the whole trick and were ready to fight it.
Bhila (‫ )بھيل‬was a woman also living there with her five sons, in the same way the
Pandavas were. The Pandavas set that house on fire and left the city for the valleys and
deserts. Bhila burned with her sons and turned into ashes. Beholding this, Duryodhana’s
spies broke the news to him that it was the Pandavas who burned in the fire and this
brought joy and peace of mind to the king. But they were ignoring the fact that if God
intended to preserve his people, no one would be able to prevent it, as God’s will is
higher than any other power. When a person is nominated as the king and lord in his
destiny by God, no trick or plan and antagonism can harm God’s will-power.77
[page 28] After this, the Pandavas went through many hardships, which is narrated
extensively in the book and they settled in a city called Kampilya (‫)کنپال‬.78 In this city, the
governor had a kind attitude toward the newcomers and even let them all marry his
daughter. She belonged to them and each one of them could stay with the girl for
seventy-two days. Since at that time, unanimity and union were considered a precious
characteristic of the group, whatever one of the brothers wished to possess, he wished
for the other brothers to have as well. That is why these brothers decided to observe the
same law in matrimonial issues as well as in general, and due to God’s validation ( ‫بتأييدات‬
‫)الھی‬, it was evident from their faces that they possessed the sort of talent and gift to rule

76
Varnavarta is identified as the town of Barnava in Uttar Pradesh. See A. Ghosh, An
Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1990), 55.
77
This is a general statement about the king, and certainly refers to Akbar as ruling monarch.
But given the context is one of exile for the Pandavas, it could also allude to Humayun.
78
“‫ ”کنپال‬is identified as Kampil in Farukhabad district, Uttar Pradesh, see Upinder Singh, A
History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century (New Delhi:
Pearson Education, 2008), 281.

57
over the nation. God’s will was in fact evident in the way they lived and throughout their
generation, and whether young or old. Their bravery, gracefulness and ambition
increased by the day, until the time the other members of the family and their king,
Duryodhana, were awakened from ignorance and came to realize that the story of their
burning had been fabricated. Indeed, these well-known people were the same
Pandavas, who had changed their previous ways and, therefore, [the Kauravas] thought
it better to explore the facts. If all was true, they [felt] they must prevent the Pandavas
from going any further. Pretending to put aside enmities and problems, they thought it a
good idea to be friends and thereby make sure that no harm would be done toward
them.
After long discussions, and the careful attention the Kauravas paid to them, the
Pandavas were brought to Hastinapura, the capital city of the Kauravas. After they were
welcomed to the city, the Kauravas tried their best to be hospitable to their brothers.
Thereafter, they divided the lands equally in a brotherly way among each other. They
granted Indraprastha (‫)اندرپرست‬, which includes the city of Delhi, and also half of their
own lands, to the Pandavas and kept the other half to themselves.79 As a result, they
came to be on very good terms with each other. However, since it was destined for the
Pandavas to rule the world, they increased their power day by day and many people
started to join them and benefit from their graceful presence. Little by little their
popularity grew in a way that all the people of the Kaurava side were completely
obedient to them and would not deviate from their demands. [page 29] However, they
[the Kauravas] were still planning to play tricks on them and so they could not advance
themselves with this attitude. They were obedient in outward appearance but against
them in their minds and hearts. After a while, one of the Pandavas’ sons, Yudhisthira,
noticed all these games going on and came to the conclusion that it was time to perform
the special ceremony of the Rujasuya yajna (‫)جگ راجسوی‬.80 It should be noted that the

79
Indraprastha is identified as being under the site of the Old Fort in Delhi.
80
The rajasuya or royal consecration is a sacrifice (yajna) performed by ancient kings in India
who sought to transform themselves into powerful emperors. The story is told in detail in the first
parts of the Mahabharata. The main study is J. C Heesterman, The Ancient Indian Royal
Consecration: The Rajasuya Described According to the Yajus Texts and Annoted ('s-
Gravenhage: Mouton, 1957).

58
yajna is a particular ceremony in which the elites get together and dedicate special
prayers and gifts to the divine assembly. They made a big fire, with many fragrant things,
fruits and grains, that were put into the fire. They threw everything in the fire—which is
indeed the main element of all the features of the performance—and granted many
sacrifices and charities and therefore, recognized it as a tool to get closer to the great
Divine. And for doing this, there are many ways and means, which will be thoroughly
described throughout this book. One of the conditions in order to practice the Rajasuya
yajna ceremony is that some of the masters of different groups get together and prepare
all the materials and services for this great performance and then dedicate it to their
ancestors.
On the whole, with the confirmation of Yudhisthira, all four brothers of his were
determined to conquer the world from east to west and from south to north. And due to
Divine grace, this aim was soon accomplished. These four brothers by the aid of God’s
army were able to journey all over the world and meet up with many kings and governors
of different countries, such as Rome, Arab countries, Persian lands, and Transoxiana.81
They were able to collect many treasures and precious items and then prepared them for
the ceremony of Rajasuya yajna, and, as it was expected, it was done in the best way
possible.
If you are seeking pleasure in heart, avoid all pleasures,
Since the very pain you are suffering will be the cure [for all your torments].
Duryodhana, when observing all these treasures, wealth, and power, could not bear it,
and thus, the fire of jealousy, which had been hidden in him for years, suddenly erupted.
[page 30] He summoned all his cunning and wise men to prepare for battle and then
called upon the Pandavas. After holding their special ceremony of prayers, they began
their gamble on the path to failure. Out of envy, they played tricks at dice,82 and
committed every possible crime, eventually beating the Pandavas and unscrupulously
taking over all their belongings. When there was nothing left for the Pandavas, they
made a deal that if they—the Pandavas—could win this last game, they would be given
all they had lost. Otherwise, the Pandavas will have to eschew any sort of power and

81
This wide geographical horizon is not, of course, in the Mahabharata itself.
82
Pamsa (‫ )پانسه‬used here is the Hindi word for dice.

59
disguise themselves in poor outfits and live among wild animals in the desert for twelve
years. When this period terminates, the Pandavas will be permitted to come to the
civilized world, but for one year none would have the right to remind others who they
really were and where they were from. If anyone were to disobey this law, all of them
would have to return to their previous dwelling again for another twelve years.
It was the practice of the time to oppose the will of the head of state, and as the
Pandavas gave way to opposition, they were exiled to the desert.83
Much luck is hidden and covered,
Those who do not see them are considered wise.
**
Oh yes, why do you wonder about the world, since that is the way of the world,
When there is a nightingale, there will be an owl too, and after a song of mourning there
will come some joyful ones too.
Since it is the characteristic of any destined event to circumvent in egotism and
ignorance, Duryodhana began to rule independently, without worrying about any
disruptions and in complete unawareness.84 He had no idea what would come at the end
of the day. In any case, the Pandavas were faithful to their vows and went through their
vicissitudes with the help of the Divine power and then lived stealthily in the city of Virata
(‫ )بيرات‬for one year.85 Although, there were many tricks played on them, due to their
strong guard, none were successful. Many thoughts and plans were organized to
deceive them, but none worked. [page 31] After a lot of correspondence between the
two groups, Pandavas finally managed to convince the Kauravas of their honesty and
even accepted five conditions imposed on them. However, in the end, the Kauravas did
not give way to any peaceful action and thus both parties called for their armies and

83
This statement expresses a degree of surprise that people in ancient days would oppose
the kings placed over them by divine authority. Because the Pandavas do not resist improper
opposition, they go into exile.
84
The meaning here is that destiny will bypass egotism and ignorance. Duryodhana acts
according to his personal interests but is unaware that he will be overtaken by events he does not
understand.
85
Sanskrit Virata, identified as Bairat, Jaipur district, Rajasthan. Its early archaeology is
explored in Raymond F. Allchin and George Erdosy, The Archaeology of Early Historic South
Asia: The Emergence of Cities and States (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 244-
46.

60
decided to face each other somewhere near Kurukshetra and Thanesvar. After plenty of
marching and preparations, they began fighting, following the rules and rituals of battle in
their religion between two foes. They fought in a way that, even the well-known tale of
the battle between Sohrab and Rustam86 was a small event compared to their battle.
There have been many narratives about bravery and heroic actions of these strong men,
who had been able to fight even the wildest of animals.
Since the fate of deceivers has always been misery and indignity, therefore, it was
master Duryodhana and his men’s fate to face death and vanish from the earth
completely. Yudhisthira fought for eighteen days nonstop and emerged victorious over
his opponents. This event fell in the early years of the Kali age (‫)کلجگ‬.
Death pities none, destiny is not afraid to put anyone down,
The law of death is true for all people; it is not just a law for you and me alone.
Many storytellers claim that in this enormous battle, Kauravas’ army consisted of eleven
Aksauhini (‫ )کھوھنی‬and Pandavas’ army had seven. Based on an Indian explanation each
Aksauhini includes 21870 forces on elephants, and the same number of soldiers on
carriages and 60310 horseback riders and one Lakh and 9350 soldiers on foot. In this
strange war, which lasted for eighteen days, only eleven people survived in each group.
Four people from the army of Duryodhana survived and joined Yudhisthira’s army.
The army included Kripacarya (‫)کرپا چارج‬, the Brahman who was the respected master for
both parties and possessed the power to write eloquently, Ashvatthaman (‫ )اشوتھامان‬who
was the son of a doctor called Dronacarya (‫)دروناچارج‬. Dronacarya was indeed a true
scholar. [page 32] There were also, Kritavarma (‫ )کرت برما‬who was one of the Yadavas
(‫ )جادوان‬and a member of a group named Sanjaya (‫ )سنجی‬and a friend of Dhritarastra. In
naming others, one should mention Satyaki (‫ )ساتک‬too, who was a relative of the
Yadavas and was reputable due to his wisdom and maturity. There was also Yuyutsu
who was Duryodhana’s brother, though from a different mother and finally Krishna (‫)کشن‬
who was the lord of all the elites and a symbol of good deeds.

86
Sohrab and Rustam is a famous episode from Ferdousi's Persian epic Shahnameh where
the great warrior Rustam unknowingly slays his long-lost son Sohrab in combat. For an English
translation see Jerome W. Clinton, The tragedy of Sohrab and Rostam: from the Persian National
Epic, the Shahname of Abol-Qasem Ferdowsi (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1996).

61
It is such a great fortune that there was a son named Vasudeva Yadava (‫)بستديوجادو‬.87 His
place of birth was Mathura (‫)متھرا‬.88 King Kamsa (‫ )راجه کنس‬had ordered this boy killed
because astronomists had predicted that the birth of the eighth son in the family of
Vasudeva will cause his death. Therefore, Kamsa took Vasudeva and his wife, Devaki
(‫)ديوکی‬, into his own house and imprisoned them in a place where there were eleven
chained gates. He had commanded that every child born in this family must be executed.
Time passed until the eighth son was born. Due to divine grace and assistance, he was
released from those iron chains and was taken to the house of a layman called Nanda
(‫ )نند‬who sold milk and kept cows. The son was hidden for eleven years and eventually
was able to kill the so-called master, Kamsa, and granted the kingdom to Kamsa’s
father, Ugrasena (‫)اوگرسين‬. He himself was also contributing as part of the government.
Since he noticed that the people of the age lacked any sort of wisdom and effort, he
decided on reforming that state. Some of the greatest men of the time began to follow
him because of his inborn qualities and also observing divine intervention in whatever he
did. After thirty-two years, he parted from Nandagopala (‫ )نندگوپل‬and his house and
declared independence in Mathura.89 Many strange and exotic stories are told about him
and many new legends related to him.
There was a master named Jarasandha (‫ )جراسنده‬who came from another land intending
to murder him. Another master, Kalayavana (‫)کال جون‬, came from the west and was
master of Mleccha (‫)مليچھان‬, whose people believe in no deity and ritual. All these people
came with a giant army to defeat this man.90 [page 33] Some even say that a master
from Arabic lands was also a part of this. The so-called man could not bear all these
troops and fled to Dvaraka (‫)دوارکا‬, which is located beside the shores of Ahmadabad,

87
This section turns to the stories in the Harivamsa, literally the ‘lineage of Hari or Krishna,’ an
appendix to the Mahabharata.
88
This refers to the modern city, also called Mathura.
89
Nandagopala means the cowherd Nanda, referred to above.
90
Mleccha Farsi (‫ )مليچھان‬is a general term in classical India for non-Indic barbarians. The main
work is Aloka Parasher, Mlecchas in Early India: A Study in Attitudes toward Outsiders up to AD
600 (New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharial Publishers, 1991). Here the terms is assimilated into the
Indo-Persian understanding.

62
and lived a life of exile and anonymity for seventy-eight years.91 When he was 125 years
old, he said farewell and journeyed to the other world. The whole story will be told in this
book in detail.
After the killing of Duryodhana, victorious Yudhisthira came together with many of his
men and declared an independent government, becoming the king of the world. After
thirty-two years, Yudhisthira, with the aid of divine intervention, came to realize the
unfaithful nature of this world. As it is a quality of excellent and brave people, he then
began to detach himself from this materialistic world and sought isolation. With the help
of his four brothers, he was able to rise to a respected position and then journey into the
hereafter. All these adventures are meticulously mentioned in this book.
You may ask where those great kings are now,
The soil has been fertilized by their eternal presence.
***
Oh heart, you are well aware that mortality will come after life,
Why on earth do you have such far-reaching wishes?
You made your pledge with existence, not the other way around,
So, why are you complaining about the unfaithfulness of it?
To continue, the Kauravas and the Pandavas lived together and governed the country.92
Duryodhana ruled for thirteen years independently and after the war, Yudhisthira ruled
for thirty-six years. Collectively they ruled over the country for 125 years. In the end, they
had all gone and nothing was left of them, for the time of pleasure and prosperity had
come.
[page 34] Oh heart, who permitted you to settle down on earth?
Who asked you to embrace that dear body of yours?
Behold, you are standing as many people have left [this earth],
Now it is time for you to learn a lesson from all those bygones.

91
Dvaraka is identified here as “beside the shores.” Modern Dwarka is in Devbhoomi Dwarka
district, Gujarat.
92
The break in the text here, plus the return to the number of years ruled by Yudhisthira and
Duryodhana, suggests that this section has been appended to the core text at a later date, as
noted above. This is confirmed by the different number years assigned to Yudhisthira, which
contradicts the figure just given above.

63
Praise is to be paid to the Lord who is most graceful. Such a long and extended
narrative seems unlikely to have occurred in any period of history before. Neither has
there been such eloquent diction observed at any stage of the universe. If I claim that
this story is certainly true, I may be going beyond the world of possibilities and if I do
otherwise and claim this is all a legend, again I am off the mark.93 Although many
scholars with good taste will not give up denigrating its being a legend, it is only fair that
wise and incisive men would begin to think and bury all these poisonous thoughts and
possibilities. By far this is the fairest thing done, of course, with utmost precaution. If the
wise could pay detailed and long-sighted heed and gain ultimate and eternal insight, and
thus contemplate the issue and differentiate the whole condition, effort and nature of the
people of one era, the people of one community, one town and even one village, they
must also behold astutely the differences between human attributes in different ages and
hours and must be aware of the states of the remote past and different periods of time,
in a way that they can preserve in their minds and memories. For certain there are
thousands of such original legends, which are very easy to retell and cannot be a cause
of surprise since humans have become accustomed to the way of the world. In fact man
has been enslaved by it—the way of the world—and therefore man cannot serve
wisdom. Due to this deprivation, which is a result of an underprivileged status, he is not
able to recognize and point to the divine power. Therefore, man considers every small
original piece as done by creation and due to its repetitiveness and man’s clichéd
observation, does not give too much credit to it.
You must journey on this path and be guided only by your wisdom,
Since there are a plethora of treasures in it which you can obtain,
[page 35] If the truth is critical and sharp in your taste,
You should swallow it fully, as you will find it very sweet and tasty indeed.
You must take care of your insight by the virtue of courtesy,
Because the deceitfulness of the heart is evident when faced with corrupt insight.

93
These comments return to issues already addressed by Abu’l-Fazl early on in the
introduction and point to this section being a later addition. See additional notes below.

64
Narrators of the story state that after contemplating the old days, old times and old
generations, a child was born from the siblings of Arjuna.94 This child became the king
and was a very kind-hearted man of sound mind. He ruled over the people treating them
equally and spent his lifetime meditating. He wished to be informed about his people’s
reasons for fighting, all the details of that generation’s battles, all of the feasts and wars,
and all of the congenial speeches that relate to the state. He openly consulted with a
wise man and sage named Vaishampayana (‫ )بيشم پاين‬about this. The man told him that
Arjuna must ask one of his wise masters, Vyasa (‫)بياس‬, about this great story.95 Apart
from the reason that Vyasa had been participating in the so-called events, he was also
aware of the whole story and it is mostly due to him and his explanation that all the
events and occurrences of the time have been preserved. He knows everything about it.
Undoubtedly, he tried his best to write down whatever master Arjuna demanded. So, the
so-called master asked Vyasa to begin writing about the events so that later generations
could learn from it and use it as a precious tool. Vyasa began to carry out the task
despite his frail body and spiritual involvement. He wrote a story of much grandeur,
relating it to other occasions and pleasures, making it a treasure in terms of guidance
and for many people in the world to reach their goals. He wrote the stories in the format
of a book and thus called it Mahabharata. The general notions that were collected from

94
This paragraph and the following one give confusing information. The five Pandavas were
married to Draupadi and she is said to have had five sons with them, all killed in the Mahabharata
war. Abhimanyu was born to Arjuna separately but he too was killed in the war. Parikshit, born
after the war, survived and was the sole descendant. After Parikshit was killed by a snake, his
son Janamejaya was determined to avenge his death. His ‘snake sacrifice’ became a setting for
the telling of the Mahabharata story.
95
The fault here is that the section introduces a child of the generation of Arjuna who
supposedly asked about the Great War and associated events. As noted above, this cannot be
the son, but rather the grandson Janamejaya because it is in the context of his snake sacrifice
that the epic story is told. Here, however, the explanation reverts to Arjuna. Another reason for
questioning the originality of this paragraph is the derogatory tone: describing the events and
Arjuna “co-called” contradicts the more serious approach urged above.

65
people state that “Maha” (‫ )مھا‬means great and “Bharata” (‫ )بھارت‬means war and since
the book is indeed a story of a great war, the book was called “The Great War”.96
However, when all the elites and eloquent people got together and discussed the issue,
[page 36] They all agreed that Bharata does not mean war, and quite the contrary,
because the book is about the offspring of a well-rooted and long-established family
descending from a master called Bharata; therefore, the name of the book was
designated as so. The [last] “A” in Bharata stands for kinship and since it is common in
the Indian language too and it has some relation to war, the so-called masters believed
that the word “Bharata” means “war.”97 They considered this man, “Vyasa,” as a holy
man. Some other people assert that there is a certain person who is called upon to
rehabilitate his people, and some others assume that there is a person who dresses up
in different clothes and walks around in disguise and that he would appear soon. Since
many people are facing numerous difficulties, he has come from Brahma to solve their
problems and reveal the truth about everything. His story is written down in four books
(chapters): Rigveda (‫)رگه بيد‬, Yajurveda (‫)ججر بيد‬, Samaveds (‫)سام بيد‬, and Atharvaveda
(‫ )اتھير بن بيد‬which lexically means resolver and solver of all problems. Because he was
created among waters he is called “Dvaipayana” (‫)دوی پا اين‬.98 All of the legends relating
to this man are thoroughly mentioned in this book. All storytellers throughout time have
claimed that Vyasa wrote this strange book containing sixty parts and he wrote it when
he was beside the shores of a sea called Sarasvati (‫ )سرستی‬near Thanesvar and then had

96
This statement again points to it being a later addition and an attempt to explain the name
Razmnama at a time when its origin in the translation bureau was lost. The Razmnama being a
courtly creation, there could be no question of the name being a “general notion… collected from
the people.” This suggests that the explanation is a retrospective explanation imposed on a text
that was well known.
97
This curious etymology is out of step with the sophisticated and more careful thinking in the
early part of the introduction by Abu’l-Fazl.
98
Another false etymology attempting to explain the name Vaishampayana by relation to the
Sanskrit word paya, water. The fact that Abu’l-Fazl had Madhusudana, one of the greatest
Sanskrit scholars of the sixteenth century as a close colleague at court (see translation team, in
chapter three) suggests this cannot have been written by him. Another flaw is the contradiction
regarding the four Vedas, described by Abu’l-Fazl in the ‘Ain where he follows the generally
accept tradition: “A holy man named Vyasa divided this book into four parts to each of which he
assigned a separate name, viz., the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda and the
Atharvaveda.”

66
a remarkable feast in which many various creatures were participating.99 This omniscient
and wise man distributed those sixty parts among people. Thirty parts were given to a
tribe named Devata (‫ )ديوتا‬that used to speak an Indian dialect called Svagaloka ( ‫سرگ‬
‫ )لوک‬and whose dwellings were beyond the skies.100 In addition, fifteen parts were given
to the inhabitants of Pitrloka (‫ )پتر لوک‬who also live not on earth but beyond it.101 Fourteen
parts were granted to Yaksa (‫ )جچھان‬and Raksasa’s (‫ )راکشسان‬people and also to the
Gadharva (‫ )گندھربان‬who are creatures that live in the heavens.102 [page 37] One part was
left for the use of human beings and this very part is written in eighteen chapters or
Parvans (‫ )پرب‬with a conclusion called Harivaṃsa (‫)ھر بنس‬. In this way he is deemed a
graceful man who allows people to benefit from his work.
The first Parvan is called Adiparvan (‫ )ادپرب‬and explains all the stories about the
Kauravas and the Pandavas. It also contains a whole list of chapters and table of
contents containing 8884 parts.
The second Parvan is called Sabhaparvan (‫ )سبھاپرب‬and is about the story of master
Yudhisthira who sent away his dear brothers to conquer the whole world and then the
story about the great ceremony of the Rajasuya yajna and the preparation of the
Kauravas made for the gambling game, and so on so forth. This Parvan contains 2511
parts.
The third Parvan is called Aranyaparvan (‫ )آرن پرب‬and some call it Vanaparvan (‫)بن پرب‬.
This is about the journey of the Pandavas into deserts for twelve years and the events
that occurred there. It consists of 11664 parts.

99
According to popular legend, Thanesar was built on the banks of the now vanished
Sarasvati River. The large water tank in Thanesar, a favourite pilgrimage site even in the Mughal
period, is probably the ‘sea’ referred to here.
100
This is a mixed up explanation: the gods indeed “live beyond the skies,” but they do not
speak “Svagloka.” This is a misunderstanding of Svargaloka, literally the “world of heaven,” in
which the gods live.
101
This is the world (loka) of the ancestors (pitri).
102
This refers to the demi-gods (Yaksha), demons (Rakshasa) and celestial musicians
(Gandharva). I have not been able to find the idea that the greater epic was divided among these
different worlds and different classes of beings in any other source.

67
The fourth Parvan is called Virata Parvan (‫ )بيرات پرب‬and it is about the Pandavas
returning back from the deserts and their hiding in a city called Virata. This section
includes 2050 parts.
The fifth Parvan is called Udyogaparvan (‫ )آدوگ پرب‬and is about the period when the
Pandavas appeared in public and sent messengers to the Kauravas in order to settle
down in peace. However, the latter did not accept their offer. A huge war began and the
Pandavas prepared a great army as both parties were present in Kurukshetra. This
chapter contains 6698 parts.
The sixth Parvan is called Bhismaparvan (‫ )بھيکم پرب‬and is about the battle and injuries of
Bhisma, the grandfather. As a result of that battle many of Dhritarashtra’s sons were
killed within ten days. The chapter contains 5884 parts.
The seventh Parvan is called Dronaparvan (‫ )درونه پرب‬and is mainly about the challenges
that Duryodhana faced with Karna (‫ )باکرن‬and then his designating Dronacarya (‫)دروناچارج‬
as the captain of his army, and also stories about his murder and another five-day battle
in which Bhisma suffered severe injuries. This consists of 8909 parts.
[page 38] The eighth Parvan is called Karnaparvan (‫ )کرن پرب‬and is about the further ten
days of the battle and the designation of Duryodhana as the captain of the army. It is
also about a great man of honour who was well-known as a sage and spiritual leader. It
also tells the story of how Yudhisthira fought and eventually fled and also the killing of
Karna by Arjuna. This part consists of 4964 parts.
The ninth Parvan is called Salyaparvan (‫ )شل پرب‬and it tells the story of Salya’s
captainship and his heroism and then his killing. This is followed by the story of
Duryodhana’s hiding in a pool and his killing. Then later it tells the story of the many
heroes who were killed during the eighteen-day battle in which the Pandavas, in the end,
reigned victorious. This Parvan is written in 1220 parts.
The tenth Parvan is called Sauptikaparvan (‫ )سوپتيک پرب‬and is mainly about the end of
the war and Kritavarman (‫ )کرت برما‬and some other heroes who were great swordsmen.
And also about Duryodhana’s fights, since he still had some power and energy, and his
attacks on the other army. It also tells of the Pandavas who were back home safe while
their five sons were killed. Only eight people from the Pandavas survived. The tenth
Parvan contains 870 parts.
The eleventh Parvan is called Striparvan (‫ )استری پرب‬and it narrates the weeping of
women from both parties over the dead bodies of their dear ones and their cursing of

68
Gandhari, Duryodhana’s mother. They prayed that after thirty-six years all her people
would disappear and all her family would die and she would die after suffering the worst
pains and disasters. It contains 775 parts.
The twelfth Parvan is called Santiparvan (‫)شانت پرب‬. After the victory, Yudhisthira began
to study about the status of this unfaithful world and asked to leave the life of power and
start a life of isolation and asceticism. Vyasa and Kershen (‫ )کرت برما‬tried to console him,
while Bhisma, who was still around, assisted them. Yudhisthira heard many pleasant
discussions and in this Parvan all of their fine discourses are mentioned. The principles
of courtesy and kingship are all taught in this section which consists of 14732 parts.
[page 39] The thirteenth Parvan is called Anusasana Parvan (‫ )آنوشن پرب‬or Dharma
Parvan (‫)دھرم پرب‬. It is about Bhisma and various charities and donations. It seems that
the twelfth and thirteenth Parvan should be put in one Parvan which is filled with
Bhisma’s advice and the ninth Parvan should be divided into two Parvans. There is no
pleasant speech heard from any Brahman on this issue. It is only based on the
understanding of the author of this section, which is mentioned in some versions of the
Mahabharata. However, instead of Duryodhana Parvan (‫ )درجودھن پرب‬there is a
Gadaparvan (‫)گدا پرب‬103 and has 8000 parts.
The fourteenth Parvan is called Asvamedhikaparvan (‫ )اشميده پرب‬and is about the horse
sacrifice and matters in relation to it. The reason for mentioning this is that after all the
advice Bhisma gave in his meeting with Yudhisthira, he passed-away and Yudhisthira
began to mourn heavily and wished to leave all his desires behind and instead live the
life of a single man. Vyasa said encouraging words to him and entertained him and
asked him to think about the many issues that are of significance in the case of being a
king. Therefore, he persuaded him to make sacrifices and conduct a great prayer
ceremony. In fact, he intended for these sacrifices to be a punishment for the bad deeds
done by the king. This Parvan consists of 3320 parts.
The fifteenth Parvan is called Asramavasikaparvan (‫ )اشميده پرب‬which is about the
isolation of Dhritarashtra and Gandhari, Duryodhana’s mother, and Kunti, Yudhisthira’s
mother, and their journey into the forest. They settled down in Kurukshetra where

103
This refers to the sixteenth Parvan, the Sanskrit word gada meaning club.

69
Vyasa’s home was located. Afterwards, they lived a life of poverty and the Pandavas
intended to visit them now and then. It consists of 1506 parts.
[page 40] The sixteenth Parvan is called Mausalaparvan (‫ )موسل پرب‬and is about the
anguish of the Radovas and Kershen in 320 parts.104
The seventeenth Parvan is called Mahaprasthanaparvan (‫پرب‬ ‫)مھاپرستھان‬ or
Mahaprasthanika parvan (‫ )مھاپرستھانيک پرب‬and mostly tells the story of Yudhisthira’s
isolated and secluded life with his brothers and the granting of all his lands to his people
and also their journey to the snowy mountains. It is written in 120 parts.
The eighteenth part is called Svargarohanaparvan (‫ )سرگاروھن پرب‬and is about the
praising of the Pandavas’ dead ancestors in the mountains and the raising of their
bodies to higher stages of creation and so on and so forth. It contains 209 parts.
And eventually the end of the book which is known as Harivaṃsa (‫ )ھربنس‬tells the story of
the Radovas. When master Janamejaya (‫ )جنميجه‬heard all these stories about his
predecessors, he demanded that there be a connection with the Radovas as well, and
so, Vyasa who knew the precise nature of their truth, added the last part of the book,
which is about the Radovas.105
Commonly, every section has 12000 parts and according to this kind of calculation every
Lakh has less than 1470 parts and if it is added to every part, it counts up to 18000 parts
exactly. Anyway, since these calculations are not deemed credible it is better not to trust
any of them. It is best to always keep in mind to follow one’s mere forward-looking
wisdom and hopefully it will lead to eternal and spiritual happiness.
Oh wise man, your way seems the best to take,
It is the right thing to ask the wise for direction not anybody else.
It can be no secret that from one hundred thousand verses (‫)اشلوک‬106 that is written in this
book twenty-four thousand verses relate to the war between the Pandavas and the
Kauravas, which serves as a very helpful instruction manual for those who wish to gain
knowledge in this area. [page 41] They will be able to learn a great deal about the many
teachings and techniques of war and also the many stories written as guidance, sermons

104
The text here refers to the Yadavas and Krishna.
105
As mentioned Radova means Yadava.
106
“‫ ”اشلوک‬refers here to the sloka, the most prevalent Sanskrit verse form.

70
and anecdotes about the feasts and wars of past times, which are of course regarded as
valuable. Now that we have a summary of the whole text, this detailed book will truly be
satisfying and enjoyable. Nevertheless, one cannot be content with this introduction and
should search for more detail in order to comprehend this book better. In this way, one is
able to differentiate between true sayings and false ones and one must be intelligent
enough not to be easily deceived by various colorful narratives, thus looking at the whole
issue as a thought-provoking matter. Sometimes, if it is required, one should even put
aside his senses and look to brotherly love and guide those who have been enslaved in
the prison of imitation (‫)زندان تقليد‬, that has blinded them in making no effort at all, and are
thus living ignorantly and do not believe in learning from the wise ones. The wise man
must awaken them and be like a crutch to them in order to help them walk properly in the
road to knowledge and thus make sure that he is blessed and guided. God forbids that I
interfere in His tasks. Only God is aware of everybody and He is the one who knows who
to feed and who to let alone. If God permits someone to search and find out for himself,
it is out of His great power and if He lets someone imitate others and have no inclination
to find out for himself, again it is out of His grace. We cannot be grateful for the former
nor can we be permissive of the latter. Oh my heart, whenever there is a benevolent
doctor to cure our sick body we are ignorant beside him and must not declare or
question anything. A drop of existence, which is the place for man’s essence in the
divine court, does not have the capacity or the privilege to display the commotion and
chaos.
In the whole universe, you are the only one deserving of the kingdom,
From the moment of creation to eternity,
You are the one who can open our eyes to the truth,
And you are the great writer of existence,
The mind which is seeking you is indeed ignorant,
The power of imagination seems lost in your path,
If you forgive and forsake all the guilty men on earth,
Your power will still remain untouched and impenetrable,
And if you burn all the sages in the fire,
Your justice will not be questioned and underestimated at all,
[page 42] Everything is precisely out of your fairness and justice,
All that you do is apply justice (‫ )عدل‬for all,

71
Nobody can blame or convict you for tyranny.

Now is the best time to condense our speech on the greatness of God and dedicate
some words about our young King who is the lord of our time.107 He has held me
responsible for conducting this huge task, which requires great skill and craftsmanship in
discourse and diction. Yet, if I wish to be fair, I would also forget the idea of praising him
too, since I cannot do justice to his stature as my pen drops and I am unable to work in
the proper way.
This very king will be the eternal lord of the world,
We hope he could achieve whatever he wishes.
May he enjoy a life of youth and prosperity,
May he find happiness in good fortune.

107
Again, another section that may sound like Abu’l-Fazl, but in my opinion is not. The
paragraph borrows a few ideas, but does not handle them elegantly. Moreover the wording “our
young king” is not appropriate and out of step with the attitude expressed above (see p. 13): “He
is an intelligent person who is conscious of everything from the time he was a year old child until
now—in his mid-forties—and God-willing he will have the prospect to live even longer because of
the order he brings to the world.”

72
Chapter 3.
Commentary and Analysis

The Preface to the Razmnama—given in its entirety in the preceding chapter—

provides a basis for a consideration of Abu’l-Fazl’s ideas about the Razmnama and its
purpose. His statements illuminate many issues and could prompt the exploration of a
wide range of historical and literary issues. However, within the focused scope of this MA
thesis, I have chosen to examine three specific themes that I think are of interest in
relation to Abu’l-Fazl and the text presented here in translation. These themes are: (1)
writing for the ‘lord of the age’; (2) reading the Razmnama; and (3) positioning the
Mahabharata in and outside time. I chart my exploration of what Abu’l-Fazl has to say
around these themes through commentary, a degree of paraphrasing, and analysis in
equal turns.

To understand Abu’l-Fazl’s approach to my three themes, I will follow the

organisation and content of his Preface. This falls into three parts, with each conforming
to one of the themes I have listed. In the first part, after some preliminary remarks about
writing, Abu’l-Fazl is concerned with the qualities of a great king and the personality of
Akbar. Thus my first section: “Writing for the ‘Lord of Age.’” In the second part of the
Preface, Abu’l-Fazl turns to the Mahabharata itself and gives a cryptic survey of those
people in India who might be critical of the translation and who, by implication, might
benefit from reading it. He also considers the problems a translator faces when
confronted with his source materials. This section I have called: “Reading the
Razmnama.” The third and final section of Abu’l-Fazl’s Preface provides the
chronological setting of the Mahabharata and maps its cosmological origin as scripture.
My third section is thus called: “Positioning the Mahabharata in and outside Time.” A
survey of these themes, taken together, feed into the research problems I posed in
chapter one, namely, how Abu’l-Fazl related himself to the translation, how he
approached his task as the author of the Preface, how he understood and represented

73
the social groups for whom the translation might have been intended, and how he
related to Akbar as his king and patron. I attempt to address these problems in chapter
four.

3.1. Writing for the ‘Lord of the Age’

This is the king: the world of the soul and the

soul of the world, the ‘lord of the age.’
Abu’l-Fazl, Preface 1

Abu’l-Fazl opens his Preface with some preliminary remarks on the problems of
writing. At first glance these remarks seem like a disjointed preamble to his main topic—
the greatness of emperor Akbar. But his remarks are, in fact, a four-pronged analysis of
the current situation in his world and an assessment of the problems that surround the
business of writing in which he is engaged. As we will see, Abu’l-Fazl sees Akbar, and
the new age his reign has ushered in, as a solution to the key issues that face Abu’l-Fazl
as a writer.

To begin, Abu’l-Fazl notes that the world yearns for the supreme deity and is
“intoxicated” by him. But God is beyond reach: “With many writing boards gone black
and many pens broken, none can manifest your actual essence as it is.”2 There is no
point trying to express the nature of God in words because he is indescribable. However,
as Abu’l-Fazl notes immediately, “many friends talk about the possibility of the mercy of
the sun and would step from the abyss of decay and bewilderment to the peak of insight
and highness beyond the sky.” These people “brag about their imaginary treasure of
knowledge.” However, this “possesses no value in all existence,” and, despite their
assertions, it does not have the attributes “of the highness of the holy spirit of God.”

To whom do these statements refer? This is an important historical question to

answer because Abu’l-Fazl has put it at the very start of his Preface. With no clues in the
Preface itself (a characteristic feature of Abu’l-Fazl throughout), we need to seek an

1
See chapter two, p. 4. The page references are to those embedded in the translation in
chapter two. An explanation of the apparatus is given in chapter one.
2
See chapter two, p. 1 and the quotes immediately below.

74
explanation outside the text. Clarification comes, in my view, from Bada’uni’s comments
about sun worshippers at the Mughal court. Of Raja Birbal he notes: “Birbal the Hindu
tried to persuade the king that since the sun gives light to all, and ripens all grain, fruits,
and products of the earth, and supports the life of mankind, that luminary should be the
object of worship and veneration.”3 Bada’uni goes on to say that “several wise men at
court confirmed what he [i.e. Birbal] said by representing that the sun was the chief light
of the world and the benefactor of its inhabitants, that it was a friend to kings and that
monarchs established periods and eras in conformity with its motions.” This role of the
sun in calendrical matters helps explain why Abu’l-Fazl is concerned with sun worship at
the start of the Preface.4 The calendars of India being defined by the sun’s movement,
as Bada’uni says, and with calendars being a long-standing concern of kings and the
state, Abu’l-Fazl is keen to discount sun worship before he moves on to his main
concern, a description of Akbar as the ‘lord of the age’ and a king who is ruling at a key
calendric moment, the dawn of a new millennium.5 This is why I believe that these
people at the royal court are the “many friends” that Abu’l-Fazl is referring to. Further
evidence comes from what Bada’uni goes on to say about the followers of Zoroaster who
came from Gujarat, and attracted Akbar’s attention, teaching him:

…the peculiar terms, ordinances, rites, and ceremonies of

the ancient Persians; so that at last he directed that the
sacred fire should be made over to the charge of Abu’l-Fazl,
and that, according to the fashion of the kings of Iran, in
whose temples blazed perpetual fires, he should take care
that it was never extinguished either by night or day—for that

3
See MT, 2: 261.
4
See the important study Stephen P. Blake, Time in Early Modern Islam: Calendar,
Ceremony, and Chronology in the Safavid, Mughal, and Ottoman Empires (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2013), reviewed in B. Rahimi, The American Historical Review 120
(2015): 361-362.
5
Sun worship is explored in Catherine Asher, “A Ray from the Sun: Mughal Ideology and the
Visual Construction of the Divine,” in The Presence of Light: Divine Radiance and Religious
Experience, ed., Matthew Kapstein (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004), 161-94.

75
 it is one of the emblems of God and one light from among
the many lights of His creation.”6

The reference to the fact that Abu’l-Fazl was put in charge of the flame helps
confirm that the people Abu’l-Fazl is criticising in the opening part of the Preface are
those who would make the sun a central and key feature of religious worship. Moreover,
the real light of the world seems to be Akbar. In his eulogy to the king—as we will see in
due course—he opens by portraying Akbar as the light of all nights. Akbar, Abu’l-Fazl
says, is the one who “spreads light to enlighten the world/He is also much endeared and
loved by all creation.”7 In any event, at this point in his opening remarks, Abu’l-Fazl
simply brushes these beliefs to one side, acknowledging the real issue that the “drop” of
human existence is lost in astonishment and darkness.

Leaving this subject, Abu’l-Fazl turns to what can be described, in broad terms,
as the written tradition—a body of knowledge transmitted in written form. Abu’l-Fazl’s
position is that while God is indescribable and beyond human words, “humble people of
need” have acquired understanding “from the book of perfection and knowledge,
according to their insight, wisdom, strength, and ability.”8 As with many of his comments,
Abu’l-Fazl’s is not explicit, so we are left speculating about the nature of the texts and
the text-holders that concern him. The fault here, in any event, is that such people
regard their understanding as free from deficiency, and “attribute all their knowledge to
God’s domain.” Their tradition and duty, he believes, has been to write down everything,
something he critically describes as “all the words that come out of their mouth with all
thirty-two teeth.” But this chatter comes to nothing, Abu’l-Fazl says. When they
contemplate on matters deeply, it is then that they are embarrassed and, despite every
effort, are obliged to fall silent.9 Within the context of early Mughal India in the sixteenth
century, this would appear to refer to the ‘ulama who based their authority on an

6
See MT, 2: 262.
7
See chapter two, p. 10.
8
See chapter two, pp. 1-2 as also the other quotes in this paragraph.
9
Abu’l-Fazl returns to this theme, see the next section.

76
encyclopaedic command of scripture and jurisprudence.10 In my view, Abu’l-Fazl is
here—as elsewhere—being purposefully vague to allow multiple readings of what he
has written. While this makes it difficult for us to hazard guesses about the groups that
he could be referring to, the deliberate ambiguity, in my view, appears to have been a
way of guaranteeing the longevity of the text so that his statements would not be dated
by changes in the immediate historical circumstances.

The next group Abu’l-Fazl calls attention to are those who are “divinely selected,”
but who have abandoned the written tradition entirely. These intoxicated mystics—again
not named specifically—open “our eyes to creation’s mysteries,” but despite their
revelations “have forgotten their books” and “led a life of ignorance and talk of
nonsense.” One should not seek righteousness and wisdom from them in Abu’l-Fazl’s
view, as they have thrown books into the fire.11 Abu’l-Fazl’s concern, and his basis for
criticism, is that without a textual foundation there is no way to judge mystical claims,
indeed for him such claims seem suspect.

The opening section of Abu’l-Fazl’s Preface—as outlined in the foregoing

paragraphs—thus sets out a fundamental conundrum with regard to the visible world,
writing, and sacred knowledge. In the first place, God is beyond words. Those who think
he can be seen visibly in material things—even the sun—are undone. For those heavily
involved in the written tradition, the situation is no better: writing down all the words in
the world will not help when matters are examined closely. Saints of high standing have
abandoned books entirely and enjoy mystic ecstasy, but their ways are not for us. The
heart of the matter—given that Abu’l-Fazl is the writer of a text and rejects claims that
have no textual footing—seems to be that writing is limited: new compositions cannot

10
As an aside, it may be noted that these comments are unlikely to refer to the Sanskrit-
knowing elite because, as is well known, they had a strong oral tradition and were not entirely
dependent on written texts. Insight into the complexity of theological and philosophical debate of
the time is reflected in C. Turner, Islam Without Allah?: The Rise of Religious Externalism in
Safavid Iran (Richmond, Surrey: Curzon, 2000). This deals with the Shi’a context and a different
‘ulama than in India but Turner’s work helps prevent a reductionist approach to the Mughal
setting.
11
See chapter two, p. 2. Given Abu’l-Fazl’s tendency to be deliberately vague, I am not
prepared to speculate if these lines refer to the Qalandaris or others. Abu’l-Fazl’s approach is
ambiguous and resists particularization.

77
advance understanding or achieve anything, and depending on physical things (and
pretending you have received divine mercy from them) is an illusion. The written tradition
as received, meanwhile, has limitations and does not grant insight. For a select few,
throwing out books entirely is all very well, but this is not a sensible or reliable way
forward.

Abu’l-Fazl does not address—at least not immediately—the problems he raises

in this assessment. Rather, he turns first to the job at hand: the Preface to the
Razmnama. Reflecting on what he has written—without, he adds, the aid of mystic
insight—he informs us that “they designated me, despite the fact that I have lost the
techniques of speech, as the author of this essay.”12 Moreover, Abu’l-Fazl says, he has
been given permission from the court of the king to “speak properly and appropriately
about the subject.” Noting that he has done some background research and uncovered
things “hidden in the unconscious,” Abu’l-Fazl then reports that he made himself “ready
for this goal.” But he cannot manage the whole task alone and acknowledges this fact:
“Since I did not have the facility and wealth, I asked some … real men of letters to take
on the responsibility of expressing this very long narrative and asked them to commit to
the assistance of fulfilling such a great goal.”13 This statement refers to the translation
team, discussed in chapter one.14

The Fate of the Learned Writers

After having described how the task of writing the Preface came to him, Abu’l-
Fazl turns to some reflections on the fate of learned men in society. No matter how
versed they might be, “sharp, accurate and insightful people,” he says, “have been
blinded and silenced.”15 All their efforts are in vain and even if somebody happened to
stumble on the “hidden truth of creation, he would be silenced as soon as he opened his

12
See chapter two, p. 2. Here “they” likely refers to Akbar, the plural used for royalty.
13
See chapter two, p. 2. This might be read as a reference to the narrative summary that is
appended to the Preface and is very prosaic in style compared to Abu’l-Fazl. However this cannot
be correct because the later portions show indications of being later in date, as explained in
chapter one.
14
See section on the ‘translation team’ in chapter one.
15
See chapter two, p. 3 as also the remaining quotes in this paragraph.

78
mouth.” People fear the power of knowledge because they are shrewd, credulous, have
bad intentions, or are egocentric. Truly learned men—in which category Abu’l-Fazl
includes himself—have always been pushed to the margins, even by the state
authorities. "All the kings of the country, who are the lords of the world, oftentimes
thought that the appearance of such a man was a conspiracy against their kingdom and
the order of the common people.” Therefore, they paid no heed. Indeed, kings, when
confronted with “differing ideas,” considered them “a religious matter,” and set them
before the ‘ulama, here violently attacked as “deceivers on issues of fatwas and affairs of
jurisprudence.” These people, Abu’l-Fazl says, are “masters of imitation” and “mere
symbols of ignorance and folly,” who cause learned men to withdraw due to “the sharp
criticism of these vain and worthless people.”

While this wording certainly has a topical feel, at least for academic scholars if
not struggling students, in historical terms it would be hard to imagine a sharper attack
on the religious elite of the Mughal period. Although Abu’l-Fazl seems alone here in his
criticisms of the ‘ulama—he certainly cites no other authorities—we know from Derryl
MacLean that the Mahdavi millenarian movement founded by Sayyid Muhammad
Jaunpuri also had severe criticisms of the ‘ulama.16 They were, in the Mahdavi view,
morally incompetent, corrupted by worldly influence, and lacked a ‘masculine’
commitment to the truth. Akbar had a similar views and Bada’uni, himself an ‘alim, was
critical of the ‘ulama working for the state and taking the opportunity to amass vast
fortunes.17 But all these concerns are swept aside by new developments. Without so
much as an introduction, Abu’l-Fazl suddenly gives the bold answer to the problems he
has raised, and perhaps also to the criticisms of the Mahdavis: “Today is marked by the
emergence of God’s hidden names and the revelation of God’s all-covering grace.”18

16
MacLean, “Real Men and False Men at the Court of Akbar: the Majalis of Shaykh Mustafa
Gujarati,” in Beyond Turk and Hindu: Rethinking Religious Identities in Islamicate South Asia, ed.
David Gilmartin and Bruce B. Lawrence (Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2000), 199-
215. Given that Abu’l-Fazl’s father was accused of following the Mahdavis, as noted above in
chapter one, Abu’l-Fazl would have been familiar with Mahdavi tennents. The Mahdavis would,
however, have opposed the notion of Akbar as the spiritual pivot of the millennial age.
17
For example, see MT, 2: 311 where Bada’uni expresses shock and disapproval at the vast
wealth of Makhdum al-Mulk that was discovered when he died.
18
See chapter two, p. 3.

79
This will be revealed “to a great number of people,” in which group Abu’l-Fazl naturally
includes Akbar. Indeed, Akbar is the key player: he is “the world of the soul and the soul
of the world, namely, the lord of the age.”19 Akbar holds authority because he is
“sufficiently insightful and a truth-seeker at heart.” He has been “granted high levels of
understanding and can acquire accurate knowledge and consequently transfer this
grace to the common and the elite alike.” Abu’l-Fazl sums up the change with this verse:

The earth is proud to be embellished with the vitality of his throne,

Fulfilling the greatness of this promise as the crown of the sky.20

The word ‘throne’ appears to have a double meaning and allude here to the
throne of the king and the throne of God: with the sudden emergence of God’s hidden
names and the unfolding of God’s grace in the world, the two are parallel, perhaps even
conflated, and present here on earth.21 The emperor’s throne, in any event, is honoured
by the “greatness of this promise,” that is to say, the promise given in the Qur’an that the
Day of Judgement will indeed come.

These statements and this point of view—extreme by contemporary standards—

are put in context by the millennial preoccupations that dominated the Islamicate world
as the year 1000 in the Islamic calendar approached. The start of year 1000
corresponded to October 1591 in the current calendar, so the turn of the millennium was
slated to arrive just four years after Abu’l-Fazl began to write his Preface to the
Razmnama.22 The study of the millennial preoccupations of this time has been pioneered

19
See chapter two, p. 4.
20
Ibid.
21
The Taj Mahal, although some fifty years later and from the time of Shah Jahan, was
conceived as God’s throne in the garden of paradise, thus showing that God’s throne was a
known and present image for the Mughal emperors. See the study of inscriptions on the building,
in W. E. Begley and Z. A. Desai, Taj Mahal: The Illumined Tomb: an Anthology of Seventeenth-
Century Mughal and European Documentary Sources (Cambridge, Mass: Aga Khan Program for
Islamic Architecture, 1989).
22
See section ‘source materials’ in chapter one.

80
by Derryl MacLean and Carl W. Ernst.23 This line of research culminated in the book
Millennial Sovereign by A. Azfar Moin, published in 2012.24 This is now regarded as a
ground-breaking work, having drawn critical attention from Richard Eaton, Andre Wink,
and Audrey Truschke.25 Moin’s book struck a cord on account of its comprehensive
review of primary sources and its ambition to subvert the standard modes of scholarship
on Safavid Iran and Mughal India. The book also triggered a cross-cultural study of
sacred kingship by Alan Strathern.26 Moin’s work should be read in tandem with Lisa
Balabanlilar’s Imperial Identity in the Mughal Empire, also published in 2012.27 Both
interventions into the Persianate world attempt to break the ‘regional studies’ approach
that has divided the study of Iran and India. In different ways, both also attempt to show
that new forms of royal power were articulated, developed and projected through courtly
rituals, astrology, prognostication and mystical sainthood, subjects that tend to be
marginalized in the histories of the Timurid, Safavid and Mughal dynasties. These
developments have been carried further in a careful comparative study of time and time-
keeping in the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires, published by Stephen P. Blake in
2013.28 Taken together, the historiography as it has developed encourages us to read
Abu’l-Fazl’s extended praise of Akbar with interest and attention, and this is one reason
why a full translation of Abu’l-Fazl’s text is given here in chapter two.

23
Derryl MacLean, “The Sociology of Political Engagement: The Mahdawiyah and the State,”
In India's Islamic Traditions, 711-1750, ed. Richard M. Eaton (New Delhi: Oxford University
Press, 2003), 150-68, first published in French in 2000; also from 2000, MacLean, “Real Men and
False Men at the Court of Akbar,” and Ernst, “Muslim Studies of Hinduism?” published in 2003
and discussed in chapter one.
24
A. Azfar Moin, The Millennial Sovereign: Sacred Kingship and Sainthood in Islam (New
York: Columbia University Press, 2012).
25
Eaton in Journal of Interdisciplinary History 44 (2013): 289-291; Wink in American Historical
Review 118 (2013): 1148-1149; Truschke in International Journal of Middle East Studies 46
(2014): 809-811.
26
Alan Strathern, “Drawing the Veil of Sovereignty: Early Modern Islamic Empires and
Understanding Sacred Kingship,” History and Theory 53 (2014): 79-93.
27
Lisa Balabanlilar, Imperial Identity in the Mughal Empire: Memory and Dynastic Politics in
Early Modern South and Central Asia (London: I.B. Tauris, 2012). Reviewed R. B. Golzadeh,
BSOAS 76 (2013): 540-41.
28
Blake, Time in Early Modern Islam.

81
 Abu’l-Fazl’s praise of Akbar is convoluted and difficult, made more so by the
poetic selections he has inserted throughout. It would be a simple matter to dismiss this
as a panegyric of little substance, but given what has been just said, the text is important
for the ways it shows how Abu’l-Fazl understood and articulated his vision of the king.29
How we should judge Abu’l-Fazl’s writing has been a subject of long-standing
discussion, if not from the time of the first translation of the A’in-i Akbari, then from the
analysis published by Peter Hardy in 1985.30 Since that time the tendency—led by
Ernst—has been to read Abu’l-Fazl as an author who interpreted Akbar’s position as
king in terms of the Neo-Platonist metaphysics of Ishraqi illuminationism and the Sufi
doctrine of the Perfect Man.31 This metaphysical apparatus was invoked, Ernst notes,
not simply for philosophical consistency, but essentially to undergird the political
authority of Akbar in an eclectic fashion. These ideas anticipate, by more than a decade,
Moin’s elaborations in Millennial Sovereign.32 Moin discussed the illuminationist
philosophy of Suhrawardi (d. 1191) in relation to the Mughals, and this too was
anticipated by Ernst in an article on Faizi and his illuminationist interpretation of the
Vedanta school of Indian philosophy.33 Meanwhile, in the context of comparative
literature, there has been a belated move toward taking the panegyric more seriously as
a form.34

29
Annemarie Schimmel, Corinne Attwood, and Burzine K. Waghmar. The Empire of the Great
Mughals: History, Art, and Culture (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2005), 33 gives a useful if
dismissive overview.
30
Peter Hardy, “Abul Fazl's Portrait of the Perfect Padshah: A Political Philosophy for Mughal
India—or a Personal Puff for a Pal?" in Islam in India: Studies and Commentaries, 2 vols., ed.
Christian W. Troll (New Delhi: Vikas, 1985), 114-137.
31
Ernst, “The Limits of Universalism in Islamic Thought: the Case of Indian Religions,” in
Universality in Islamic Thought: Rationalism, Science and Religious Belief, ed. Michael G. Morony
(London: I. B. Tauris, 2014), 201; the same ideas earlier in Ernst, “Muslim Studies of Hinduism?”
p. 179.
32
See, for example, Moin, Millennial Sovereign, pp. 36, 209.
33
Carl W. Ernst, “Fayzi's Illuminationist Interpretation of Vedanta: The Shariq al-ma'rifa,”
Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 30 (2010): 156-64. Vedanta was
known to and discussed by Abu’l-Fazl in the A’in-i Akbari, see AA, 3: 158.
34
See Rebecca Gould, “The Much-Maligned Panegyric: Toward a Political Poetics of
Premodern Literary Form,” Comparative Literature Studies 52 (2015): 254-88.

82
In Praise of Akbar

Having declared—as noted in the previous section—that the day has arrived for
the revelation of God’s secret names, Abu’l-Fazl elaborates his millennial vision. “Today
is,” he says, “a day of victory,” characterized by the “blossoming of knowledge and
insight.”35 The whole “system of creation” will be renewed. Grace and special insight
have been “bestowed upon the heart of the lord of the age” —Akbar—and the “time has
come for the narrow-minded to see,” and for “the whole universe to be given sight.” Even
the “dead heart of nature will be given life.” In my opinion, this clears the way for Abu’l-
Fazl’s writing of the Preface to the Razmnama. All the difficulties connected with writing
with which he opens—the impossibility of making a contribution, the smug fallacies of
those believing in material things as manifestations of the divine, the slavish
dependence on the written tradition, the foolishness of those who resort to mysticism,
the inevitable obstructions thrown down before men of insight—all are swept away in a
single instant by a new and powerful king, and the dawning of the new millennium.

The new age is rich in promise. On the level of government, the “true essence of
the kingdom and the throne” will be appropriately fixed because “the king has a great
fate and has been granted a good countenance.” Akbar has also been given precious
ability in spiritual leadership, which Abu’l-Fazl says, is well worth his kingdom and the
whole divine realm. This is “a gift to the chosen one which is indeed deeply rooted,
coming from centuries ago and presently establishing his kingdom.”36 Here Abu’l-Fazl is
describing the foundation of Akbar’s rule and the establishment of his kingdom based on
his qualities of leadership and his traits as a great ruler. He is also referring to Akbar’s
descent from Timur and Genghis Khan.

The mention of Akbar’s lineage provides a platform for Abu’l-Fazl to present his
central statement about the king. That we are turning to the panegyric proper at this
point is signalled by a verse inserted into the the text that continues the millenarian
vision by calling on God to keep Akbar’s kingdom “as heaven.”

35
See chapter two, p. 4 as also the further quotes in this paragraph.
36
Ibid.

83
 In praise of the great lord Abu’l Muzaffar Jalal al-Din Muhammad Akbar,

The warrior king whose kingdom God may keep as heaven.37

Embarking on the panegyric, Abu’l-Fazl opens with a sentence that involves a

play of words on ‘great’—the literal meaning of Akbar’s name—and describes Akbar as
the leader of all men and the preceptor of all seekers. Thereafter Abu’l-Fazl does not
continue with his chosen theme, but again hesitates, reverting to a version of the
problems with which he opened his Preface.38 At this point he is concerned with his own
diction and worried that it is not up to the task. It is, he says, impossible to describe the
depth and greatness of the king and, if other people try, what they write will be “tinged by
their own mood and talent.” After reflecting in several verses on the greatness of his
subject, and impossibility of doing real justice to it, Abu’l-Fazl presents us his working
method: “Eventually, after a long period of time spent alone with my heart, I understood
that [for such an endeavour] one must write as though you are in the time of utter
happiness, understand the status of the deputy of God, and write in a way that would
embellish your phrases and express your obedience.”39 It is this method—getting in the
right frame of mind, allowing oneself to be open to inspiration, and writing in an elaborate
way without showing arrogance—that will allow him to overcome the moods and limited
talent that might otherwise colour the final product. After expressing these concerns,
Abu’l-Fazl proceeds with a frank observation in verse, one that signals he knows his
style is a little contrived.

Who is he, of whom I am talking so furtively?

Permit me to speak more about his qualities,

He is the king for whom I come out of my secret guise and talk.40

37
Ibid.
38
See the opening remarks in this chapter.
39
See chapter two, p. 5.
40
See chapter two, pp. 5-6.

84
 He then starts on his long description of the king and his superlative qualities.
While this covers a number of pages, the opening paragraph is, I think, the most
important for summing up his vision of Akbar as the ‘lord of the age’.

He is the gem of the crown of all kings, the qibla of those

conscious of God, the light of all nights, hope for the whole
generation of mankind, the highest rank of nobles, crowned
victor of Qur’anic justice, the sovereign of the seal of the
state, the ink of the sword of conquest, a unique exemplar
among all exemplars, the secret in the written lines of all the
names of God, the revealer of hidden secrets, a companion
to secluded people, the servant of the only divine being, an
astute person of sensitive moments, the owner of all coinage
in the imperial treasury, the artist of imaginary innovations,
healer of beautiful faces, painter of all the colours in the
mirror of concepts, the essence of the formality of wise
sayings, the complete organizer of senses and wisdom, the
record-book of craftsmen now and forever, the moderator of
imperial customs, giver of bread to all mankind, deputy of
people in front of God, keeper of all wishes and dreams,
solver of all problems, the guard of divine treasures, comfort
for the whole universe and all ages, organizer of the whole
world from ground to sky.41

Note that this paragraph is key in that it maps the king’s foundational claims:
these qualities of Akbar are the basis on which his power and authority rest. The phrase
about the “ink of [imperial decree on] the sword of conquest” is a cryptic (and
incomplete) metaphor drawing on traditions about ink and blood. That the ink of a

41
See chapter two, p. 6.

85
scholar is holier than the blood of a martyr is a longstanding if debated saying.42
Sidestepping questions about the transmission of this Hadith, the point here is that while
Akbar used military power as king, his rule is not one of brute force. His “sword of
conquest” is not stained with blood, but marked by the ink of imperial decree. The
question of good government is a central concern of Abu’l-Fazl. Taking the abstractions
given in the paragraph just quoted, Abu’l-Fazl turns to a number of particulars, beginning
with the running of the state. Akbar is able, Abu’l-Fazl says, to work simultaneously on
“many vital and different issues,” each of which require “separate time, energy and
wisdom.”43 No details escape him, and he is “candid in his court and with his men.” This
allows them to think clearly and “not surrender to doubt and illusion.” The court, in other
words, is not a place of whispers and intrigue. Notably Abu’l-Fazl adds that Akbar
“knows about the use of proper language and is able to expand it.” This appears to
reference the institution of Persian as the official language of court and Akbar’s ability to
expand its usage.44 Persian had, of course, been the language of state since the
thirteenth century, but we know from Abu’l-Fazl that day-to-day parlance was carried out
in the vernacular. The humdrum speech of everyday life does not seem, however, to be
a worthy language for the golden age that was about to come. Rather, a more elevated
and classical language was called for, especially in matters at court.

The king is also skilled, Abu’l-Fazl reports, at putting things in order by

“controlling all rules and regulations.” While this draws on a popular theme in the ‘Mirror
for Princes’ literature that reaches back to influential classics like the Siyasatnama and
Qabusnama, in the context of Abu’l-Fazl’s Preface this appears to refer to the wide-
ranging reforms that were instituted with regard to property and tax collection in Akbar’s

42
Despite being cited at an early date, the isnad or chain of transmission for this Hadith is
regarded as unsound in conservative circles. It was judged, for example, as fabricated by al-
Khatib al-Baghdadi (d. 1071 CE). For a useful summary see: http://islamqa.info/en/11920
(retrieved September, 2015).
43
See chapter two, p. 6. Similar views are expressed by Abu’l-Fazl in opening of the AA, 1:
11, under his discussion of the royal household.
44
See Muzaffar Alam, "The Pursuit of Persian,” and discussion above in chapter one.

86
time.45 The reforms and increased order cause Abu’l-Fazl to reflect historically:
“According to the understanding of scholars and the wise who have thought about this
matter, it is astonishing to think how the former kings may have ruled over the country
without such commands and orders.”46 This underplays the centralisation of power under
Akbar and his emergence as a powerful monarch. There was resistance to absolutism,
as Abu’l-Fazl’s wording actually hints, and which Ali Anooshahr’s reading of Bada’uni
shows clearly.47 For Abu’l-Fazl, however, centralised power is only a source of good:

The whole universe is under his [Akbar’s] protection and kingdom,

The whole providence of earth is based on his order and command.

If his highness does not give permission to all creatures to move,

Not a single word will be uttered from the depth of their being.48

Abu’l-Fazl hastens to add that Akbar is not corrupted by absolute power, that he
is committed and responsible, that he takes his duties seriously, and that he is not driven
by whimsy and greed. In other words, equity (insaf) informs Akbar’s exercise of power.
He assumes, moreover, great burdens even though his subjects and enemies are
unaware. He is not swayed by the trappings of rank and power, thus “great men and all
tyrants of the age melt away by observing him and drown in the sea of fear.” And despite
his youth, his experience of pleasure and his many victories, Akbar is not a voluptuary:

45
These are set out by Abu’l-Fazl in the A’in-i Akbari, which maps the new monetary,
organizational, and regional structure envisaged under Akbar. The ‘Mirror for Princes’ literature is
extensive, see on the Siyasatnama, for example, the translation of Hubert Darke, The Book of
Government (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1960), reprinted most recently in 2000, and
Marta Simidchieva, “Kingship and Legitimacy in Nizam al-Mulk’s Siyasat-nama,” in Writers and
Rulers: Perspectives from Abbasid to Safavid Times, eds. Beatrice Gruendler and Louise Marlow
(Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 2004), 97-131.
46
Rizvi, Religious and Intellectual History, 208 understands this as Abu’l-Fazl saying “that it
was only after they [the rules] were promulgated that the consciousness grew that kings were not
well advised to rule without them.”
47
Ali Anooshahr, “Mughal Historians and the Memory of the Islamic Conquest of India,”
IESHR 43 (2006): 274-300.
48
See chapter two, p. 7.

87
“He is still a pure-hearted person always at war with his instincts, thus preventing his
body from being immersed in mere material pleasure.”49

Given these and other superlative characteristics, Abu’l-Fazl has to deal with the
king’s illiteracy, something that must have been judged a serious flaw at the time.
Admitting that Akbar was never schooled officially, Abu’l-Fazl describes Akbar’s
knowledge as commendable, systematic, and accurate. Whenever the king turns his
attention to a new subject “his meticulous attention to detail is indeed excellent.” And
when Akbar pronounces on a particular theme, his words are so profound that “sages
and all experts in the field of discourse, who had burnt the midnight oil and spent years
on studying and contemplating, are not able to understand.”50 As a consequence, they
“feel committed to finding an answer and expressing it in a way that is pleasing for him.”

Turning from learned matters to the arts, Abu’l-Fazl says that Akbar speaks to
artists and craftsmen “so subtly and delicately that the so-called experts believe he has
been trained in these fields for years.” Due to his sensibility and his “grand taste,” he has
assembled all the professions around him, but “despite the presence of so many experts
he has invented many things at which all craftsmen look in amazement.”51 This seems to
indicate that many of the innovative changes that we see in Mughal architecture—the
city of Fatehpur Sikri being a prime example—were due to Akbar’s intervention and
direction. Abu’l-Fazl’s description of the collection of artistic talent is testified
independently by the new style of court painting which shows that artists were drawn
from many centres, both Persian and Indian, to create a syncretic style that was unique
to the Mughals.52 The drive to collect talent and create something new can be read as
repeating the precedent set by Timur—Akbar’s ancestor—in the building and decoration

49
See chapter two, p. 8.
50
See chapter two, p. 9.
51
Ibid.
52
The strands of influence are explored in Pramod Chandra, Tuti-Nama (Graz: Akad. Druck-
und Verlagsanstalt, 1976).

88
of Samarkand. Ibn ‘Arabshah gave a first-hand account of this that is worth quoting in
view of the fact that Akbar was attempting to replicate Timurid precedent:53

And he took from Damascus learned men and craftsmen and

all who excelled in any art, the most skilled weavers, tailors,
gem-cutters, carpenters, makers of head-coverings, farriers,
painters, bow-makers, falconers, in short, craftsmen of every
kind, and collected Ethiopians … and he divided these
companies among the heads of the army and ordered them to
lead them to Samarkand.54

Abu’l-Fazl then sums up his coverage of the arts and crafts with this verse:

All artists and craftsmen who face him,

Are stunned, and speechless as (their own) hammers.55

This needs to be understood metaphorically. A hammer is a noisy tool, but it is a

dead weight, and it will do nothing, without the animating hand of the craftsman who
wields it. In the presence of Akbar, Abu’l-Fazl is saying, craftsmen become as inert and
silent as their own tools. The idea of the king as an animating force in everything is a
recurrent them in the Preface, as the verse cited above clearly shows: “If his highness
does not give permission to all creatures to move/Not a single word will be uttered from
the depth of their being.”

Leaving the issue of craftsmanship behind, Abu’l-Fazl turns to the matter of

Akbar’s deference to others, especially elders, his “unique and exclusive manners” and
the freshness and subtlety of his words. In summary, “His universal protection is eternal,”

53
The literature on Timurid patronage is well developed, see W. M. Thackston, A Century of
Princes: Sources on Timurid History and Art (Cambridge, Mass: The Aga Khan Program for
Islamic Architecture, 1989) and Thomas W. Lentz and Glenn D. Lowry, Timur and the Princely
Vision: Persian Art and Culture in the Fifteenth Century (Los Angeles: Los Angeles County
Museum of Art, 1989).
54
Ahmad Ibn ʻArabshah, Tamerlane or Timur the Great Amir, translated by J.H. Sanders from
the Arabic Life by Ahmed Ibn Arabshah (London: Luzac, 1936), cited in Michael Shterenshis,
Tamerlane and the Jews (London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2002), 68.
55
See chapter two, p. 9.

89
says Abu’l-Fazl, “May his kingdom last forever.” If this seems to verge on the divine,
Abu’l-Fazl removes any doubt with a series of remarks that compare Akbar to Jesus. He
was so “pure in essence … when in his embryonic stage,” that “a light radiated from the
forehead of the blessed and chaste Maryam Makani—the Mary of both worlds.”56 This
title refers to Akbar’s mother, the title having a double meaning that implies she is akin to
the Virgin Mary. This is not as exceptional as it first seems. Jesus appears often in
Persian poetry and mystical thought, as explored by Annemarie Schmmel.57 For Abu’l-
Fazl, Akbar shares the same grace as Jesus. This vision of the king accounts, in my
opinion, for the images of Akbar with a halo that appear in Mughal painting.58 While the
halo itself may have been inspired in part by European religious prints that came to the
Mughal library and were copied there by local artists (as known from surviving
examples), Abu’l-Fazl has his own explanation and elaborates this in the A’in-i Akbari.

Royalty is a light emanating from God, and a ray from the sun, the
illuminator of the universe, the argument of the book of perfection,
and the receptacle of all virtues. Modern language calls it farr-i
izidi (the divine light), and the tongue of antiquity called it kiyan-i
khura (the sublime halo). It is communicated by God to kings
without the intermediate assistance of anyone, and men, in the
presence of it, bend the forehead of praise toward the ground of
submission.59

56
See chapter two, p. 10, also further comments there.
57
Annemarie Schimmel, Jesus und Maria in der Islamischen Mystik (Munchen: Kosel, 1996)
not available in Canada, but see her “CHRISTIANITY vii. Christian Influences in Persian Poetry,”
in Encyclopedia Iranica, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/christianity-vii (retrieved October
2015).
58
Moin, Millennial Sovereign, has explored the symbolism of the paintings, especially those of
Jahangir. But Moin points out (p. 80) that the halo appears around ‘Ali in paintings from the
fifteenth century, and examples can be found even earlier in Mongol manuscripts: See Oleg
Grabar, and Sheila Blair, Epic Images and Contemporary History: The Illustrations of the Great
Mongol Shahnama (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980). This thesis is not an art
historical study and sidesteps the historiography of that discipline and the problems of influence.
A useful study is, nonetheless, Pedro de Moura Carvalho and W. M. Thackston, Mirʼat al-Quds a
Life of Christ for Emperor Akbar: a Commentary on Father Jerome Xavier's Text and the
Miniatures of Cleveland Museum of Art, Acc. no. 2005.145 (Leiden: Brill, 2012).
59
See AA, 1: iii.

90
Abu’l-Fazl then closes his treatment of Akbar’s gracious manners, benevolence and pure
nature with the following verse:

The scale according to which his manners and actions are calculated,

Must extend the scope of the earth and the sky.60

The reference to a scale, and the earth and sky, recalls the imagery that appears
in the Diwan-i Khass in Delhi. While this dates to the time of Shah Jahan, and is usually
thought to represent scales of justice, there is a remarkable parallel in the way the scale
is set in a landscape of rolling hills and against a wide background of shining planets and
stars. These tie in with the additional element of the moon, on which the scale rests, and
the idea of the king as the millennial sovereign who is the ‘lord of conjunction.’61

The king’s kind-hearted nature extended even to a love of animals and his
inclination to avoid eating meat. Abu’l-Fazl asserts that Akbar “has often declared that
human beings are really unfair to slaughter animals in order to feed themselves, while
there are many other sources of food.”62 This is also found in A’in-i Akbari where Akbar
is reported as saying: “If the scarf of social life were not on my shoulder, I would restrain
myself from eating meat.”63 Akbar seems to have been encouraged in vegetarian
practice by the religion of non-violence preached by the Jain monk Haravijaya who, as
noted in chapter one, was at the Mughal court.64 The degree to which the nobles
practiced vegetarianism can only be speculated on, but Akbar’s actions drew the
attention of Bada’uni who remarked that: “He prohibited the slaughter of cows, and the
eating of their flesh, because the Hindus devoutly worship them.”65 The wording of
Bada’uni suggests that Akbar had an eye toward the vegetarian practices of his subjects

60
See chapter two, p. 15.
61
Moin, Millennial Sovereign, all of chapter two is relevant.
62
See chapter two, p. 15.
63
See AA, 3: 332, discussed also in Andre Wink, Akbar (London: Oneworld, 2009), all of the
section ‘Hunting and government’ in his chapter five is relevant.
64
See chapter one, section titled ‘translation team’ and Shirin Mehta, “Akbar as Reflected in
the Contemporary Jain Literature in Gujarat,” Social Scientist 20, no. 232-233 (1992): 56.
65
See MT, 2: 261.

91
in addition to his own feelings in the matter, and even Abu’l-Fazl was obliged to qualify
his statement by saying that Akbar took meat to maintain his strength and power.

Abu’l-Fazl completes his praise of Akbar by commenting on his learning, pure

heart, and the degree to which he is not tempted or swayed by material things. Those
who have resisted him have all failed, and those who try and show they are more
knowledgeable have been proven wrong and have faced public humiliation. In
conclusion, Abu’l-Fazl returns again to how inadequate words are to his subject:

Wisdom must be silent when it comes to him,

There must be less pretentiousness and more politeness.

Do you know who he is?

His position is higher than a king and lower than a God.66

Abu’l-Fazl signals the close of his praise of Akbar by mentioning the king’s name
(there are no sub-headings or breaks) and adding a poetic verse. This device—a sort of
sub-colophon—reads as follows:

He is the just Sultan, the perfect reasoning, the definite

reason to know God, the final resolution of every
benevolence, the leader of true paths, namely, Abu’l-Fath
Jalal al-Din Muhammad Akbar Padshah Ghazi. May his
umbrella of protection, justice and kindness spread over all
who seek happiness through determination. May he be safe
and strong.

Oh God, for as long as the skies continue to rotate,

Do not deprive this world of his majesty,

As the end of the world is hidden under the ring,

May he hold the key of the world under his sleeve.67

66
See chapter two, p. 17.
67
Ibid., also see notes to the translation.

92
3.2. Reading the Razmnama

The logic embedded in the divine history [of the Mahabharata]

is in fact a teaching for everybody, making it very
popular and enjoyable to learn about the past.
Abu’l-Fazl, Preface68

After his extensive remarks on the great qualities of the king, and his rhetorical
flourish in bringing that to a close, Abu’l-Fazl turns his attention to the Razmnama itself.
This part of his Preface is important because it shows how Abu’l-Fazl approached the
translation and its likely readers and, for this reason, it will occupy considerable space
here. He opens this section with a wide-ranging remark that positions the translation as a
whole, but which, in his characteristic way, makes only oblique references to the people
who might look at the text.69 It is useful to explore these groups, and their likely identity,
in order to explain the historical context of Abu’l-Fazl’s concerns and the logic of his
approach toward the translation.

Merchant Classes

To begin, Abu’l-Fazl compares the appearance of Akbar to the rising sun on a

new day: suddenly things are illuminated, new perspectives open up, and people begin
to reflect and reassess.70 From Abu’l-Fazl’s choice of words, it appears that his thoughts
embrace the population as a whole. He begins with parsimonious traders and merchants
who now feel “embarrassed and remorseful.”71 Then he turns to those “who thought they
were destined to eternal happiness,” but who are now suddenly aware of “the ignorance

68
See chapter two, p.19.
69
See chapter two, pp. 17-18. This introductory passage has drawn the attention of Ernst,
“Muslim Studies of Hinduism?” pp. 180-82.
70
The use of solar symbolism to construct the figure of Akbar is explained and put in wider
context by Moin, Millennial Sovereign, p. 36.
71
See chapter two, p. 18. The empty-handed or parsimonious merchants referred to here
might possibly include the Jain community, which had long held an economic position in Delhi, as
noted in chapter one.

93
in which they have been living.”72 The first could be referring to the merchants—big and
small—in the big Mughal cities of the time, while the second, pious Muslims in India who
were content in their ways.73 After levelling this criticism, Abu’l-Fazl notes that the king
seeks the improvement of everyone, whether “friends or enemies, relatives or strangers,”
and seeks to cure the disease of social and religious conflict. He is like a physician to his
subjects “who tries hard to cure the ailment of common people.” Abu’l-Fazl echoes this
medical metaphor in his preface to the A’in-i Akbari.

He is continually attentive to the health of the body politic, and

applies remedies to the several diseases thereof. And in the
same manner that the equilibrium of the animal constitution
depends upon an equal mixture of the elements, so also does
the political constitution become well-tempered by a proper
division of ranks; and by means of the warmth of the ray of
unanimity and concord, a multitude of people become fused into
one body.74

The equilibrium of the body described here rested on the theory of the four bodily
humours in Greco-Roman medicine, adopted also in the Indian science of health or
Ayurveda where the humours are termed dosha.75 The idea that the king is a physician,
and thus responsible for balance in the body of society, is a common motif in Muslim
political philosophy, but Abu’l-Fazl extends this to the translation of books so they
become a medicine dispensed by the king. This medicine will allow “both groups,” by
which Abu’l-Fazl means the merchants and pious Muslims just mentioned, “to have the
pleasure of benefiting from perfect knowledge; thus forgetting their enmity and

72
See chapter two, p. 18.
73
This division of society is different from the hierarchical view Abu’l-Fazl sets out in his
introduction to the Ain-i Akbari.
74
See AA, 1: iv. The elements mentioned again in AA, 3: 158.
75
See D. Wujastyk, The Roots of Ayurveda: Selections from Sankskrit Medical Writings
(London: Penguin Books, 2003).

94
hostility.”76 At this point, translation is mentioned as an anecdote, but the Mahabharata
has not been introduced as such.

Religious and Legal Establishment

In the next paragraph Abu’l-Fazl drops in criticisms of groups of people who have
“introduced themselves as scholars” and have an influence on the masses but are
promulgating “false teachings.” This “pretentious bunch” lack knowledge and, driven by
“their lust and greed, have hidden the authentic books of advice, words and teachings of
sages and the weighty actions of the ancients.”77 Who can these people be? Abu’l-Fazl
is clearly concerned about them and particularly concerned that they have an influence
on the “masses.” A number of possibilities present themselves, but one is clearly dealing
with an influential religious group with pretentions to scholarship. Thus the criticism here
seems directed at the religious and legal establishment which Akbar made a concerted
and effective attempt to control.78 The way to undermine the authority of these people in
the ‘ulama is to make translations from different traditions that are “simple, clear and
pleasant” to read. Direct access to the sources will save the credulous from being
misdirected by these “ignorant people who pretend to be wise.” If nothing else, this
shows Abu’l-Fazl’s faith in the source texts, and the inherent ability of people grasping
them if the translations are good. If people can read the sources, they will not be “lead
astray.” He then comes to the Mahabharata, which he regards as a veritable
encyclopaedia of the principles and beliefs of India. The translation of it is a “worthy task”
and “astute intellectuals” have been assembled to effect it. This is another direct
reference to the team of translators, discussed above in chapter one.

76
See chapter two, p. 18.
77
Ibid. The wording here seems to echo Mahdavi criticisms of religious experts and jurists, for
which see MacLean, “Real Men and False Men at the Court of Akbar.”
78
Usefully summarized in von Stietencron, “Planned Syncretism,” pp. 181-82. What Abu’l-Fazl
says here, coupled with what he has said above, is in disagreement with the analysis of Alan
Strathern, “Drawing the Veil of Sovereignty,” p. 81, where Strathern states: “In Moin’s account,
the Timurid kings and their rivals and successors in this region were not laboring under the great
weight of a tradition assembled in the generations after Muhammad.” This might be, but Abu’l-
Fazl does not appear to think so. The idea that the Sanskrit-knowing elite is being referred to has
already been discounted above.

95
Followers of the Devotional Movement

One might think this was enough, but Abu’l-Fazl has other targets that are
bothering him. He thus continues:

In addition, some biased leaders of derivative practice in

India think their beliefs are the best ever and therefore,
consider their nonsensical beliefs as free from any defect,
and they keep imitating others and instructing the gullible in
their own sayings without pursuing further study whilst
making a strong attempt to distribute false notions.
Therefore, many Muslim experts, followers of Muhammad’s
religion, who are not aware of the intentions [of the Indian
people] and of their true points and the true essence of their
sciences, regard these people as owners of mere vain and
senseless words and deny them completely. However, his
‘great wisdom’ (Akbar) asked to translate the Mahabharata in
the best way possible, since it has many points about these
types of people. Translating this book will help the enemies
adopt a moderate attitude and it will also make the gullible
feel embarrassed about what they believe and therefore be
led to the actual truth.79

This difficult paragraph is important because it elaborates the context and

motivation for the Mahabharata translation. At the start, Abu’l-Fazl is critical of an
undefined group who is spreading derivative teachings that are false. Their beliefs,
which they hold great, are nonsensical and not based on proper study. The result is that
Muslim experts cannot see the full picture and have come to reject the entire Indian
tradition as a result. This is evidently problematic because the perfunctory dismissal of
the Indian tradition by Muslim doyens only contributes to social and religious friction. The
solution, in the eyes of Akbar, is a translation of the Mahabharata. This will foster a
“moderate attitude” and make the gullible—those who have been swayed by those

79
See chapter two, p. 19.

96
propagating derivative and false teachings—to recognise that they have been duped and
so come to a better understanding of the “actual truth.”

There are important questions here because the players mentioned are one of
the reasons for the translation. The key is: Who are these people spreading derivative
and false doctrines? An important clue is the fact that they are not scholars: they are not
basing their ideas on further textual study. They are just copying and “making a strong
attempt” to spread their ideas. This means they were engaged in an active process of
proselytization. Moreover, the wording of this passage shows these people are not
Muslims. This is clear from the contrast Abu’l-Fazl makes with “Muslim experts, followers
of Muhammad’s religion,” who might well dismiss Indian knowledge summarily due to
their exposure to the false doctrines that were being actively spread. So the people
being referred to here may well be a Hindu group of some kind, who were active on a
wide social scale. For these reasons I think these criticisms may refer to the bhakti
devotional revival that was taking place in Mughal lands and influencing some of Akbar’s
important subordinates. The influence of the devotional cult on the nobility of the time is
shown by the celebrated image of Ram Candra at Orccha. This was brought from
Ayodhya, a city connected with Ram devotionalism that had been under Mughal rule
from the time of Babur. Rani Ganes Kumvar, the wife of Madhukar Shah of Orccha (CE
1554–92), went on pilgrimage there. After seeing a Ram image in a prophetic dream, it
was recovered from the Sarayu River and brought back to Orccha and put under
worship. An important religious actor in these events, and the celebration of Ram in new
vernacular forms of literature, was the devotional poet Kesavdas. He hailed from Orccha
itself.80

Madhukar Shah, as noted by Allison Busch, was unable to resist the Mughal
armies and the kingdom of the Bundela Rajputs was incorporated in the Mughal state.
The Bundelas remained Hindus by faith and participated in the surge of religious activity
of their time, but they would also have had to accommodate themselves to the

80
Allison Busch, “Literary Responses to the Mughal Imperium: The Historical Poems of
Kesavdas,” South Asian Research 25 (2005): 31–54; also see Busch, “Hindi Literary Beginnings,”
in South Asian Texts in History: Critical Engagements with Sheldon Pollock, eds. Yigal Bronner,
Whitney Cox, and Lawrence J. McCrea (Ann Arbor, Mich: Association for Asian Studies, 2011),
203-25.

97
Persianate culture of the Mughals. With Mathura, a key centre of devotional activity, just
forty miles from the Mughal city of Agra, Abu’l-Fazl would certainly have been aware of
the religious activity there and spate of temple building taking place.81 But he would not
have accepted the new type of devotional writing because it was not based on ancient
textual sources and their scholarly study. This is revealed in the A’in-i Akbari where
Abu’l-Fazl gives a long and interesting account of the ‘Learning of the Hindus’ and
remarks that he, as “the writer of this work, has mixed with many of the leaders of
thought and has made himself acquainted to some extent with the discussions of the
different schools.”82 He further advises his readers that they “may carefully study them
[i.e. the systems of the Hindus] and compare them with the principles of the Platonists,
the Peripatetics, the Sufis, and dogmatic theologians.”83 There follows a description of
the ‘nine schools.’ This includes the classical schools of Indian philosophy as well as
Buddhism and Jainism. After this he continues with an account of other areas of Indian
learning (such as the sciences, rhetoric and music), the forms of worship in Hinduism,
and the incarnations of Vishnu. In all this there is no mention of the devotional ideas of
Abu’l-Fazl’s time, even in the description of the Rama and Krishna incarnations. What is
found there appears to be drawn from classical myths, not the devotional hymns that
were emerging in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. For Abu’l-Fazl, then, the product
of the bhakti movement in the modern vernaculars of north India were nothing but an
innovation, inspired by ecstatic devotion and fervent religious love. This material found
no place in Abu’l-Fazl’s wide survey, even though he, as just noted, mixed widely and
made an effort to acquaint himself with different schools. In this context, it is thus
noteworthy that the translation project in Akbar’s time did not include any works from the
Braj dialect, such as the famous works of Tulsi Das, because the Translation Bureau
focused on ‘classical’ foundations.

81
This is revealed in AA, 3: 317-18 where Abu’l-Fazl says, in his description of the Krishna
incarnation, that the events took place at Mathura, “near the metropolis of Agra.” So he is
perfectly aware of Mathura and its connection with Krishna.
82
See AA, 3: 141.
83
Ibid.

98
 My digression into the A’in-i Akbari and Abu’l-Fazl’s account of Hinduism will, I
hope, show that the section of the Preface quoted above is referring to the devotional
movement and the reinvention of the epic heroes and their stories in a contemporary
guise. For Abu’l-Fazl, the way to counter this popular movement was a return to the
sources. Just as the ‘ulama, with whom Abu’l-Fazl began, were to be undermined by
making sources available in translations that are “simple, clear and pleasant,”84 so too
the advocates of the bhakti movement, who had no textual scholarship and based their
authority of a creative recasting of the old stories, where to be dealt by translations from
Sanskrit. Making the Mahabharata and Ramayana available would show the Persian-
reading elites the ‘real thing’ and those who had been gullible enough to fall for the new
religious ideas would feel embarrassed and be “led to the actual truth.”85 The truth here
is not the Muslim faith, as might be first expected, but the truth of the ancient Sanskrit
texts, made available in Persian translation. By extension, the truth is also the wisdom of
Akbar because he instigated the translation of the Mahabharata in the first place.

Common People and Kings Abroad

Abu’l-Fazl is still not quite done. Having dealt with the merchant classes, pious
Muslims, the religious establishment, and the bhakti movement, he turns at last to
“common Muslim people who have not studied religious books and have not paid
attention to the old history of past times, including that of the Indians.” These Muslims
hold the general view that humanity and progress date back only 7000 years. The
translation of the Mahabharata is the remedy to this problem because it reveals “age-old
facts about the universe and the operation of the whole world and the people living in it,
in a way that is easy to understand.”86

Finally, we are told that kings in other countries are interested in learning about
the ancient history in the Mahabharata. This should be kings in countries where Persian
was read and perhaps is indicative of Abu’l-Fazl’s ambition that the translation would

84
See section immediately above called ‘religious and legal establishment’.
85
See chapter two, p .19. One cannot help but speculate that this is a criticism of the
Bundelas, who eventually got their revenge by killing Abu’l-Fazl.
86
See chapter two, p. 19.

99
enjoy wide circulation. It does not seem to have been taken to Iran as far as I am aware,
but it did enjoy circulation in the kingdoms in the Deccan. We find this in the Tarikh-i
Firishta, composed at Bijapur under the auspices of ‘Adil Shah (1580-1627) where the
Razmnama is discussed as a source for the history of India before Islam.87 Abu’l-Fazl
then closes this part of his Preface with a universal claim: the Mahabharata is a “divine
history” and “a teaching for everybody.”88 The epic makes it “loveable to learn about the
past” and alerts people to the lesson of history: the “understanding of the value of the
present time,” which should be spent “on divine issues.”

Confronting Textual Problems

Having justified the translation of the Mahabharata before its readers and
potential critics, Abu’l-Fazl turns next to some textual problems. First, he records that
Akbar became aware of the Mahabharata and ordered its translation. At his request, a
group of experts, “known for being knowledgeable and moderate people,” have gathered
together and translated the book, “with thorough and subtle attention in a way that all
words and phrases are clear and understandable.”89 This is, yet again, a reference to the
translation team, discussed above in chapter one. Then, after some self-effacing
remarks, Abu’l-Fazl mentions that he was appointed to write the introduction. He is keen,
he says, to proceed quickly and get on with his observations and the task. This seems to
prompt another round of concerns about the reception of the work and debates about its
content. There are, he says, disagreements “on issues related to how the universe has
been created,” and some of these debates appear in the text. As with all philosophical
issues, “all have been denounced or rejected to some degree.” This has lead some
people to again reject the Mahabharata without much thought, while others, after deep
musings, come to accept it. The same fate may well befall his introduction: some may
reject it out of hand, others may accept it after much thought. This understanding—that
every reading makes for a new text—is followed by an exploration of the core problems
of translation itself.

87
Audrey Truschke, Cosmopolitan Encounters: Sanskrit and Persian at the Mughal Court
(PhD diss., Columbia University, 2012), 303.
88
See chapter two, p. 19.
89
See chapter two, p. 20.

100
 Abu’l-Fazl wants to understand the rejection of the text on the part of readers, but
cannot decide if this results from an incomplete understanding of the text or because of
the translators’ lack of knowledge.90 In other words, an unfavourable reception of the text
is due either to an incomplete understanding on the part of readers, or flaws in the
translation itself. The flaws in the translation are, in Abu’l-Fazl’s view, the result of (a)
mistakes on the part of the translators, (b) the introduction of interpretations that are not
correct due to incomplete knowledge among the translators, or (c) flaws in the
manuscripts.91 This is an insightful observation; however, having noted all these
problems, Abu’l-Fazl then says that due to the scale of difficulties, he is unable to
address them: “The present author has desired to spend some of his precious time to
explain this problem, but on second thought, he has decided not to write a lengthy and
tedious discourse.”92 He must content himself with a synopsis, the excuse being, no
doubt, his sense of urgency surrounding the task.93 Abu’l-Fazl’s words, slightly
modernised, could find a place in a modern study. His exit, however, is more graceful as
he turns to a poem:

In this ancient valley of existence, who has gained more than just a name?

Who has been able to find out the essence of all movements?

To deliberate this hidden spell is erroneous,

Who has seen the beginning of the world and who has seen its end? 94

After this discourse on the possible criticism of the Mahabharata translation and
the problems that surrounded its translation and reception, Abu’l-Fazl finally turns to a
discussion of history and the narrative proper. This occupies my analysis in the next
section.

90
See chapter two, p. 21.
91
Ibid.
92
Ibid.
93
Abu’l-Fazl’s sense of urgency is revealed by the statement: “Because of the fact that this
task is considered really valuable, the present writer has been very eager to quickly write
observations on it and collect its true and valid background.” See chapter two, p. 21.
94
See chapter two, p. 21.

101
3.3. Positioning the Mahabharata in and Outside Time

I am astonished at hearing such narratives, so much

so that I cannot easily express it.
Abu’l-Fazl, Preface 95

Abu’l-Fazl opens his discussion of the story in the Mahabharata by describing the
chronological system of the four ages or yugas of Indian cosmology.96 This is known, he
says, to all “biographers and historians,” and it is, of course, well known to modern
students of Indian history and religion.97 This cosmological frame embraces all possible
time, from the ‘golden age’ through two declining ages to the final ‘dark age’ of Kali yuga.
Each age is shorter than the last and each is characterized by worsening conditions.
Abu’l-Fazl then attempts to set this Indian chronological system against the reign of
Akbar, which he states is currently thirty-two years. This agrees with his statements
earlier in the Preface where he notes that: “...from the beginning of his reign, which is
now thirty-two years.”98 This confirms the date of the Preface and also confirms that this
section of the text is integral and original—and that it was undertaken in AH 995, as
noted in chapter one. Abu’l-Fazl then continues by mentioning equivalent years in other
calendars: the Persian, Greek, Arab, Indian and, finally, that of the Kali age, which he
gives as 4680. The point of all these years is to position Akbar in the chronological
systems of the world at the dawn of the millennium. That this is the case is shown by his
closing comment: “What a wonder is the fact that the world is really old and decayed?”99
The point here is that the world is already ancient and in decline, and that the time for
the millennial renewal is coming soon, a dispensation that will come forward under Akbar
as a universal monarch.

95
See chapter two, p. 24.
96
See von Stietencron, Hindu Myth, Hindu History.
97
See chapter two, p. 21.
98
See chapter two, p. 16.
99
See chapter two, p. 22.

102
The Elements and the Indian Social Order

After setting out his chronological framework, Abu’l-Fazl then turns to a summary
of the Indian vision of cosmology and creation. This extends the chronological framework
with which he started, adding further dimensions, from the Indian point of view, to Akbar
and the text of the Mahabharata. Abu’l-Fazl first covers the five elements that make up
the physical world: earth, air, water, fire, and space. He touches on the controversy in
Indian thought about the nature of space (akasa). The nature of the controversy is less
historically interesting than the fact that he says: “after summoning all experts and
intellectuals it was agreed and announced that they do not believe in such a source of
creation for the sky and therefore they called that void space in the air (akasa).”100 This
appears to be a reference to one of the famous ‘debates’ on religion and philosophy that
took place at Fatehpur Sikri under Akbar’s patronage, and thus provides some account
of the content of some of the discussions.

From the question of elements—after commenting briefly on Indian ideas about

the stars that are seen in the sky—Abu’l-Fazl turns to the creation of the social order by
Brahma, the Indian creator god.101 Abu’l-Fazl tells us that “there are disagreements on
the issue,” and the god “is said to be born out of nothingness and void and is to be the
tool for creation and the cause for the whole universe.”102 Brahma then created the four
groups in Indian society, the priestly caste (Brahmin), the warrior or ruling class
(Kshatriya), the merchants and agrarian class (Vaishya), and the servant or laboring
class (Shudra). Abu’l-Fazl makes no critical comments on this system of social
organisation, his description being neutral to the extent that, we could say that he has
glossed over the difficulties of caste and ignored the fact that the textual ideal seldom
matched realties on the ground.103 One can assume, however, that Abu’l-Fazl would not
have had difficulties with caste hierarchy given his prescriptive review of class structure

100
See chapter two, p. 23.
101
For the stars see my comments in chapter two, p. 23, note.
102
See chapter two, p. 23.
103
Richard Eaton, The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204-1760 (Berkeley: University
of California Press, 1993). All of “Mass Conversion to Islam: Theories and Protagonists,” in
chapter one is relevant.

103
in the opening of the A’in-i Akbari and of course the fact that he does not regard this
applying to him or others in the Persianate realm.104

Abu’l-Fazl’s Vision of Indian Scripture

After noting the role of each group in the caste system, Abu’l-Fazl passes to the
Indian scriptures. This is worth examination here in view of Abu’l-Fazl overarching
concern with the authority of texts. He describes the Indian scriptures created by Brahma
as the “Veda,” a word that has a wide range of meanings in the South Asian context.105
On one level, the Vedas are the texts from antiquity, generally regarded as the four
Vedas and their early ancillaries, notably the Upanishads. The Upanishads are called
Vedanta, or the ‘end of the Veda.’ Despite this terminology being widely known, and
known to Abu’l-Fazl as well, the Veda is also said to be all the literature of Hinduism
because the word Veda itself means ‘knowledge’.106 This means that any text containing
some kind of knowledge might call itself a Veda as way of claiming validity. Accordingly,
many later works and teachings declare themselves to be Veda in essence, if not in
actual fact. For example, the Natyasastra, dated by most authorities to the fifth or sixth
centuries CE, describes itself as a Veda even though it is a work on drama and the
performance arts—concerns removed from the ritual philosophy of the earlier vedic
literature.107

These details show that for Abu’l-Fazl, the idea of Veda falls in the broad
definition, i.e. traditional Indic knowledge of all kinds. It embraces, in his words, “the
principles on how to bring all creatures in unity with each other and to put order among
all groups of people again. These principles have been divided into different but

104
See AA, 1: iv-v.
105
See Sheldon Pollock, “The Revelation of Tradition: sruti, smrti, and the Sanskrit Discourse
of Power,” in Boundaries, Dynamics and Construction of Traditions in South Asia, ed. Federico
Squarcini (Firenze: Firenze University Press 2005), 41–61, also Pollock, Forms of Knowledge in
Early Modern Asia: Explorations in the Intellectual History of India and Tibet, 1500-1800 (Durham
[NC]: Duke University Press, 2011).
106
For Abu’l-Fazl on Vedanta, see AA, 3: 158.
107
Paul Kuritz, The Making of Theatre History (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1988),
68.

104
comprehensive categories which fall under divine law.”108 All scripture is, in this view,
vedic because it is vedic in its general intention and allows people—in Abu’l-Fazl’s words
again—to “find the straight and true path.” The wording of Abu’l-Fazl reveals his Muslim
perspective but, more importantly, highlights his concerns with social friction and
sectarian infighting, a problem that appears in several places in the Razmnama Preface.

From this general position with regard to the Veda, Abu’l-Fazl moves to the
specifics of the Mahabharata. This too is a Veda and consists of 100,000 verses (sloka).
He does not actually name the Mahabharata at this point, but the designation of the work
as a scripture of 100,000 verses—and a Veda—was and is ubiquitous, as noted in
chapter one.109 With the Mahabharata containing 100,000 verses, Abu’l-Fazl is obliged
to mention the verse form or sloka with its four metrical parts or ‘feet’ (carana).110

Abu’l-Fazl’s closing focus is the origin of “this strange collection,” i.e. the
Mahabharata. In charting this he does not cite Vyasa as the author—the traditional
attribution—but rather places the text both in and beyond the infinite cycles of Indian
time.111 He thus notes that learned men agree that the Mahabharata existed outside time
for one-hundred years, and that each day in this one-hundred year period is 1004
ordinary human days long. This explanation represents the combination of two ideas: (a)
the eternity of scripture outside time and (b) the position of scripture in the one-hundred
year cycles of the god Brahma. The eternity of scripture outside time, firstly, is said to be
a general characteristic of all Vedic texts. The word for this is apauruseya, i.e. not
derived from a human source.112 In essence, texts of this kind are impersonal and

108
See chapter two, p. 24.
109
See chapter one, all of section “the Mahabharata” is relevant.
110
The form is explained in C. R. Lanman, A Sanskrit Reader (Cambridge, Mass., Harvard
University Press, 1963), 300. Abu’l-Fazl adds that verses may have up to 26 aksara (syllables),
see chapter two, p. 24. Each quarter verse of the sloka has eight syllables, so sixteen in total; the
number 26 mentioned by Abu’l-Fazl would refer to longer metrical forms.
111
A key study of Vyasa is Bruce Sullivan, Krsna Dvaipayana Vyasa and the Mahabharata: A
New Interpretation (Leiden: Brill, 1990).
112
W. J. Johnson, A Dictionary of Hinduism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), s.v. This
definition finds a parallel in Islam where the Qur’an is based on a divine prototype in heaven
known as Umm al-kitab, the ‘Mother of the Book,’ referred to three times in the Qur’an. Abu’l-Fazl
does not, however, draw this parallel and this seems to show that he is not prepared to take a

105
authorless, and so eternal. This understanding is important in Vedanta, a school of
thought which, as just noted, was known to Abu’l-Fazl. But the Mahabharata is of course
also known in time, so set by Abu’l-Fazl in the mythic cycles of time popular in Hinduism.
According to this, Brahma, the god of creation, lives for one-hundred years and each
‘year of Brahma’ (or ‘divine year’) consisting of the full run of four yugas.113

Abu’l-Fazl does not elaborate on the system or enter into calculations about the
huge numbers involved. He only says that each day of the god Brahma is equal to 1004
ordinary human days.114 Continuing along this path, Abu’l-Fazl states that scholars in
India agree that since the beginning of this scripture, i.e. the Mahabharata, there have
been many Brahmas. This shows that certain Indians—unnamed as elsewhere in the
Razmnama Preface—told Abu’l-Fazl that there were many Brahmas, thus many periods
of 100 divine years since the Mahabharata came into being. Moreover, the ‘current’
Brahma is, Abu’l-Fazl says, number 1001 in the series, and this Brahma is presently fifty-
one years old.115 All these Brahmas and their years bring an infinite dimension of time
into Abu’l-Fazl’s discussion and lend antiquity to the text. While this underscores the
unfathomable ‘pre-history’ of the Mahabharata, and forms a chronological contrast to the
precise position of Akbar against the calendars in which his years were reckoned, Abu’l-
Fazl does not attempt to mesh the Brahma years with the Islamic calendar and his
millenarian vision for the year 1000.116 This is because his purpose here is to say
something about the origin of the text, and specifically to assert that the text is set in a
vast system of time and that it is not only extremely ancient but, ultimately,

comparative stance that would reach as far as the Qur’an. This would make the Qur’an a relative
rather than absolute authority, a position he is unwilling or unable to express.
113
The yuga theory of time is explained above; also see G. W. Williams, Handbook of Hindu
Mythology (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 38 for a chart with the number of years for
each age.
114
See chapter two, p. 24. The number 1004 is not common as the count; it is normally 1000.
Abu’l-Fazl further adds that the Brahmas “appeared in the world and lived in disguise and
undercover.” This appears to conflate the Brahmas with the ‘Abdals, the hidden saints who known
only to God and who maintain the operation of the world and without whom it would collapse.
115
See above, opening paragraph of this section.
116
See above in this chapter, section: ‘The fate of learned men in society and the millennial
vision’.

106
transcendental. He does not mention the sage Vyasa, as already noted. Vyasa does
appear later on where we are told that he was a participant in the events recounted in
the epic and wrote the text.117 This shows two things. The first is that Abu’l-Fazl wants to
present the Mahabharata as a timeless text, not one that was written or assembled by
Vyasa as a particular author at a particular time. His aim is to raise the text’s status, thus
making it a subject worthy of attention in his own time. The second point is that Abu’l-
Fazl’s approach here underscores the fact that the subsequent parts of the Preface to
the Razmnama mentioning Vyasa—and much else—are not part of the original
composition, as concluded already on other evidence.118

Abu’l-Fazl Retreats and Concludes

Having mapped the origin of the Mahabharata in this way, Abu’l-Fazl turns to a
series of reflections by way of conclusion. This is a common pattern in his Preface, with
the flow of the discussion interrupted by hesitations and subjective digressions. Here,
however, the structure is especially convoluted as Abu’l-Fazl moves to his rhetorical
finale. In the first place he is impressed, if not overwhelmed, by the Mahabharata: “I am
astonished at hearing such narratives, so much so that I cannot easily express it and feel
a sense of enthusiasm that I cannot put in words.”119 Abu’l-Fazl describes himself as a
man wandering “in awe in the garden of wisdom.” Then he elaborates: “The further I go
through the pages of this book and other sources, comments and guidebooks, and the
deeper I go in its details and pages, the more bewildered and amazed I become.”120
Admitting his weaknesses, Abu’l-Fazl tells us that he might have missed something of
importance or misunderstood and struck out other things due to his imperfect
knowledge. This self-effacement has a purpose, as always with Abu’l-Fazl. His excuses
are a defensive strategy that lay the basis for his assertion that sincerity and care are
required when making an effort to study the ancestors. I read this as a challenge to his
readers. Positing a hypothetical scholar, Abu’l-Fazl says that when “he is deeply

117
See chapter two, p. 35.
118
See chapter two, pp. 33-34.
119
See chapter two, p. 24.
120
See chapter two, p. 25, and also the following quotations in this paragraph.

107
searching and testing his wisdom and struggles with other wise groups, he will also be
able to assure ignorant people of their fallacy.” In other words, research is not a private
matter. It is undertaken in dialogue with other learned individuals and it has a wider
purpose: discoveries are to be applied beyond the scholarly sphere to “ignorant people”
whose views are false. We see Abu’l-Fazl here touching again on one of his key themes:
the study of ancient texts has a purpose in society. Study and the experience of applying
findings will also temper the scholar’s own attitude, making him more tolerant. As he
says: “he will accept many of those who act with wrong intentions and … false
statements will lose their validity.” All that will remain with these people is “remorse,
humiliation and a mistrust of everything.”

In a curious and characteristic twist, Abu’l-Fazl does not exclude himself from
among those who hold false views. After all, has he not just admitted that he is
bewildered? Has he not remarked that he is wandering in awe in the garden of wisdom?
Has he not said that he might have struck out some crucial lines by mistake? This being
so, he closes with a series of questions that seem to cast doubt on the reliability of all
knowledge and learning. “So how,” Abu’l-Fazl asks, “can one trust in the knowledge he
has gathered and not doubt what he has learned?”121 This question takes us right back
to the issues with which he opened the Preface, and in some ways undermines his
whole project. In contrast to his earlier remarks, he also doubts that Akbar and the new
age is the solution. Now Abu’l-Fazl asks: “How could he believe in the greatness of great
leaders and (their) predecessors?” This seems not only to cast doubt on Akbar, but on
the historical kings whose story is told in the Razmnama. His doubts thus extend to the
text itself. How can he accept these representations as real in light of the fact that “all
these things are actually in beautiful disguise,” by which Abu’l-Fazl means well-crafted
metaphor. Are not these metaphors “nothing but sheer imitation?” And if one
misunderstands the text, “will he not be humiliated and embarrassed among the wise
and suffer eternal torture?” Faced with this difficulty, Abu’l-Fazl retreats. He asserts that
it is better to reject an idea “according to the understandings of various talented people”
in the past. Acknowledging precedent, “one can come to the conclusion about which

121
See chapter two, pp. 25-26, as all the quotes in this paragraph.

108
point is good and which is not.” He then closes with an enigmatic verse about the
inscrutability of the “absent world,” saying that “no sound is heard beyond all the seals.”
By the ‘absent world’ I suppose he means history itself, and by the lack of sound from
‘beyond the seals’, I suppose he means not only the seals in Islamic mysticism, but also
Muhammad as the seal of all the prophets.122 Both indicate that earlier narratives have
been superseded and surpassed. For Abu’l-Fazl, then, it appears that the door to history
is closed forever.123

122
The seals of sainthood (khatam al-wilayat) are contrasted in the sixteenth century with the
seals of prophesy (khatam an-nabuwah) and are central concern of Ibn ‘Arabi, see Michel
Chodkiewicz, Seal of the Saints: Prophethood and Sainthood in the Doctrine of Ibn ʻArabi
(Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society, 1993) and Gerald T. Elmore, Islamic Sainthood in the
Fullness of Time: Ibn Al-ʻArabi's Book of the Fabulous Gryphon (Leiden: Brill, 1999), all of chapter
5 is relevant. On the folk level, Lloyd D. Graham, “The Seven Seals of Revelation and the Seven
Classical Planets,” Esoteric Quarterly 6 (2010): 45-58. Given Abu’l-Fazl names Ibn ‘Arabi in the
Preface (chapter two, p. 19), his references here are probably to the seals of the saints. If my
understanding is correct, then this too indicates Abu’l-Fazl has reservations about the millennial
vision.
123
See chapter two, p. 26, note. As observed there (and also in the conclusion), I regard this
poem as marking the close to Abu’l-Fazl’s original text. The question of Abu’l-Fazl’s theory of
history is beyond the scope of this MA thesis and would take the current project into another area
of study. However, I note here that the subject has been addressed in Harbans Mukhia,
Historians and Historiography During the Reign of Akbar (New Delhi: Vikas, 1976), whose views,
however, have drawn sharp criticism, see Peter Hardy, review in Bulletin of the School of Oriental
and African Studies 41 (1978): 390-390, and E. Sreedharan, A Textbook of Historiography, 500
B.C. to A.D. 2000 (New Delhi: Orient Longman, 2004).

109
Chapter 4.

Conclusion

As set out in chapter one, my aim in this MA thesis has been to translate and
study the Preface to the Razmnama in order to understand Abu’l-Fazl’s relationship to
his tasks as a writer and the Persian translation of the Mahabharata. Additionally, my
aims embrace allied problems, namely, Abu’l-Fazl’s understanding of the social groups
for whom the translation was intended, and his relationship to emperor Akbar as his king
and patron. These aims have been addressed in earlier chapters to some degree, but I
think it is worthwhile to draw the strands together here by way of conclusion. This also
provides an opportunity to make some tangential observations about Abu’l-Fazl and
areas of potential research that lie ahead. Of necessity, I should add that my approach
remains centred on the Preface as a primary source that has not been studied in depth
before, and not the Razmnama itself.

There can be little doubt that Abu’l-Fazl was a learned scholar and complicated
personality and that many of his statements have the potential to trigger a host of
associations and further connections. With Abu’l-Fazl a key figure in the most powerful
South Asian kingdom of the sixteenth century, these links reach across cultural and
literary landscapes of India, creating an intricate web that covers the entire Mughal
world. This web makes for an intellectual feast, a scholarly parallel to the sumptuous—
and often drunken—banquets organised for the Mughal elite.1 But these banquets had a
purpose, as Balabanlilar has explained, and obesity was not a problem among the
nobility. For the intellectual, however, all facts are related to all other facts, and there

1
Balabanlilar, Imperial Identity in Mughal Empire, pp. 61, 158, 164.

110
seems to be no end in sight. Just as the gourmand can descend into gluttony because
all food is related to all other food and there is no reason to stop, so too the temptation
with Abu’l-Fazl is to continue from one link to the next across the wide horizon of Mughal
history—if not the history of the world. But this MA thesis is not a study of the Tarikh-i
Alfi, the history of the millennium commissioned by Akbar to celebrate the millenary of
the Hijra, and I am not a glutton. My study of Abu’l-Fazl’s Preface is rather simple iftar,
taken after days of fasting and study. My purpose is focussed and modest: it is based on
a close reading and translation of one source—the Preface to the Razmnama—and my
attempt to explain its organisational structure, logic, factual content, and stated purpose.
The Preface is indeed a small affair compared to the Akbarnama, but nibbling at it
carefully can provide the energy we need for future explorations of the many contexts
that Abu’l-Fazl’s words invoke.

Translation and the Author’s Approach to His Tasks

Abu’l-Fazl’s approach to the translation of the Razmnama is oblique if not

ambiguous. He does give a clear indication that he actually read the Razmnama but at
no point in his Preface does he quote the text and comment on it directly, aside from
summarizing its plot. This conclusion comes from a critical examination of the Preface in
the forms that it has come down to us. For this study there are two forms: the first is the
oldest manuscript copy dating to the late sixteenth century and now in the British Library;
the second is the version as it appears in what I have called the “printed text,” published
in Tehran between 1979 and 1981. A comparison of these two sources shows that the
“printed text” includes a series of supplements found in a number of later manuscripts.
The supplements contradict each other, as noted in chapter one, and they are, for the
greater part, in a prosaic style that is very different from the earlier parts of the Preface
that were written by Abu’l-Fazl.

Statements in the Razmnama.

The “printed text” lacks apparatus, so it cannot be determined which parts of the
supplements came from which manuscripts. This is not an immediate concern for this
study because we have the British Library copy as a basis for comparison, a copy that

111
was made in the lifetime of Abu’l-Fazl himself. The conclusion that can be drawn is that
the supplements are indeed supplements, and that the Preface to the Razmnama grew
with the passage of time.2 The likely date of these accretions can also be determined
from available material, to some extent at least. As pointed out already in chapter one,
the British Library manuscript has a detailed synopsis of the contents, written specifically
for that copy in AH 1098/1686-87 CE. This synopsis, as noted by Rieu in his catalogue,
is keyed to the folios of the self-same manuscript. What this shows is that in 1686-87 this
copy of the Razmnama lacked a synopsis of the story and that this was thought to be
sufficiently important that the task of preparing it was assigned to an individual named
Basant Rae and his text inserted into the sixteenth-century manuscript. In other words,
copies of the Razmnama where circulating without a synopsis of the epic story as late as
the 1680s. We find this confirmed at the end of the “printed text” where the following
statement is found: “Now that we have a summary of the whole text, this detailed book
will truly be satisfying and enjoyable.”3 When read with the surrounding sentences, this is
a de facto admission that the Preface lacked a book-by-book synopsis of the
Mahabharata and that this was added.

Moreover, the known dates connected with the imperial copy of the Razmnama
(now in Jaipur) end in 1586 while the evidence points to the Preface being started in
1587. It is possible, in my view, that the Preface was not finished in time (a problem
known to all writers) and that it was not included in the Jaipur copy. However this may
be, the Preface could well have circulated separately and have been wed to subsequent
copies of the Razmnama in various forms. This appears to be shown by the British
Library copy of the Razmnama where the Preface ends on a weak note. As kindly
pointed out by Derryl MacLean, Abu’l-Fazl would not have ended in this way; he would
have closed with an elegant poem. The final paragraph in the British Library manuscript,
giving a very brief synopsis, may therefore be excused.4 This means that already by the
late sixteenth century, when the British Library copy was made, Abu’l-Fazl’s Preface was
being supplemented. The British Library manuscript, in my view, marks the first step,

2
This point already made in part in chapter one.
3
See chapter two, p. 41.
4
See chapter two, p. 26.

112
while the “printed text” shows the final result, probably in the late eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries. An area of research for the future will be to understand these later
layers, and through them the reading of the Razmnama that took place in late Mughal
India. This will be especially interesting because some of the supplements show a
studied attempt to replicate Abu’l-Fazl’s style.5

Abu’l-Fazl’s Engagement

I have given an assessment of the “printed text” in the foregoing section to show
that the final paragraph of the Preface in the British Library copy is not the work of Abu’l-
Fazl. This is to reinforce my main observation: at no point in the Preface does Abu’l-Fazl
actually refer to the content of the Mahabharata or to the epic heroes. His engagement is
more abstract. In his closing lines he refers only to the translation of the Mahabharata as
a whole, and all he has to say about the content is that it is “about the many skills of
kings and covers many principles, including the smaller issues and beliefs, of India. In
fact there is no other book more comprehensive and well-known and detailed than this
one.”6 Elsewhere he observes that “astute intellectuals and linguists” have been
gathered by the king to translate the Mahabharata, and that help was sought from “real
men of letters” to translate the long narrative, and make the necessary commitment to
the project which he considers “a great goal.”7 These statements suggest that Abu’l-Fazl
did not engage directly with the detail of the Mahabharata, but rather took a broad
overview of the translation. What, then, does he think of it at a distance? An answer
comes from the Preface, where Abu’l-Fazl records that Akbar assigned the task to him
and he prepared himself accordingly.8 And he expresses his view in several places
which we summarise in the next section.

5
This is also a field for future work, and I have pointed to one or two instances in closing lines
of chapter two.
6
See chapter two, p. 18.
7
See chapter two, p. 2.
8
Ibid.

113
The Reasons for the Translation

According to Abu’l-Fazl, the process of translation is not simply an academic

exercise, but has social and political purposes. These include: (1) abandoning enmity
and hostility between groups of people; (2) seeking the divine truth; (3) learning about
one’s personal flaws and shortcomings; (4) learning the ‘weighty actions’ of the ancients;
(5) being saved from misdirection; (6) helping sceptics adopt a moderate attitude; (7)
describing the past history of India and their problem with antecedent beliefs; (8)
transferring age-old facts about the universe and the operation of the whole world and
the people living in it.

The ongoing enmity between members of different faiths has been a long-
standing issue in the ever changing political landscape of India and the dawn of the new
millennium has brought new and good reason to rectify this problem by way of spreading
knowledge through commission of texts or translations of others. This translation
according to Abu’l-Fazl would allow both groups (the one being translated into and the
one being translated from) to obtain ‘true’ knowledge. Abu’l-Fazl therefore, believes in
the power of the text and the possibility of its translation. Sources available in
translations that are “simple, clear and pleasant” to read will have great effect and
therefore, will be transformative.9

Abu’l-Fazl Approach to History in the Preface

Abu’l-Fazl is well-known as a chronicler and the author of the Akbarnama, a

multivolume work on the history of emperor Akbar.10 Much might be said about Abu’l-
Fazl’s view of history and of his views of himself as an historian, but the key point for this
M.A. thesis and its stated aims is what the Preface adds to this issue by way of primary
data. In one of the closing sections, Abu’l-Fazl describes the idea that the Mahabharata
exists outside time. He is sympathetic to this explanation, at least to the extent that he
records it plainly and does not criticise it.11 This definition of the text as standing outside
time finds a parallel in Islam where the Qur’an is said to be based on a divine prototype

9
See section ‘religious and legal establishment’.
10
AN, translated by H. Beveridge, 3 Vols. (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1907-1939).
11
Chapter two, p. 24.

114
in heaven known as Umm al-kitab, the ‘Mother of the Book,’ referred to three times in the
Qur’an. Abu’l-Fazl does not, however, draw this parallel—a seemingly obvious one from
the modern point of view. This seems to show that he is not prepared to take a
comparative-religious stance that would reach as far as the Qur’an. This would make the
Qur’an a relative rather than absolute authority, a position he is unwilling or unable to
express. This relates directly to an important issue with regard to the classification of the
Mahabharata as a text. Whereas most modern studies regard it as a religious text
central to Hinduism—it does, after all, consider all religious matters and includes
religious texts in it—the Mahabharata is not actually classed as religious in the Indian
tradition. It is rather itihasa or history. The fact that divine figures enter history and act on
the human stage does not change the fact that it is regarded as a historical record of
epic events from long ago. Abu’l-Fazl also takes this view. He repeatedly calls the
Mahabharata a history.

On this history and its uses Abu’l-Fazl has very clear ideas. Despite history being
known, he says, people who are not well read think that human origin and all the
improvements in scientific facts and conceptions are seven thousand years old.”12 The
purpose—in fact Akbar’s purpose—with the translation of the Mahabharata was to show
that “it includes age-old facts about the universe and the operation of the whole world
and the people living in it, in a way that is easy to understand.” And they are to
understand for a reason, something rather more than simple curiosity. They need to
understand, Abu’l-Fazl says, “the difference of the time and people of then and now,” in
order to value the present that could be well spent on divine issues.13 In other words, the
study of history is a spiritual aid, a reminder that time is passing, and that we should
spend it wisely, focussing on our future and relationship with God. Bada’uni was also
involved in the translation of the Mahabharata, but takes, as we might expect, a more
skeptical attitude toward the project, particularly the chronology that would place parts of
the story before Adam, and thus for Bada’uni, beyond any rational history based on
sources he considered reliable.

12
Chapter two, p. 19.
13
Chapter two, p. 20.

115
 Among the remarkable events of this year is the translation of the
Mahabharata, which is the most famous of the Hindu books, and
contains all sorts of stories, and moral reflections, and advice,
and matters relating to conduct and manners, and religion and
science, and accounts of their sects, and mode of worship, under
the form of a history of the wars of the tribes of Kurus and
Pandus, who were rulers in Hind, according to some more than
4,000 years ago, and according to the common account more
than 80,000. And clearly this makes it before the time of Adam:
Peace be upon him! And the Hindu unbelievers consider it a
great religious merit to read and to copy it. And they keep it hid
from Musalmans.14

Abu’l-Fazl is more enthusiastic, and appears to rebuff these criticisms by referring to his
Preface as a sermon or khutba.15

Social Groups

One can understand whom Abu’l-Fazl believes would benefit most from reading
the Razmnama, from his strong and sometimes direct criticism of a number of social
groups. More broadly he criticizes those who have abandoned the written tradition
entirely, common Muslim people who have not studied religious books and have not paid
attention to the old history of past times. In this same category lies the merchant classes
and pious Muslims. More specifically Abu’l-Fazl seems to refer to the ‘ulama who based
their authority on an encyclopaedic command of scripture and jurisprudence without
further study. He calls them deceivers on issues of fatwas and affairs of jurisprudence.
Abu’l-Fazl considered these people mere masters of imitation and “symbols of ignorance
and folly.” The importance of this for Abu’l-Fazl seems to be that their misunderstanding
or simple lack of understanding has caused learned men to withdraw, since their
differing ideas were seen as a conspiracy that would ruin the order of the kingdom and
the common people. During Akbar’s reign there seemed to be an inclination away from

14
See MT, 2: 319-20.
15
Chapter two, p. 20.

116
Sanskrit toward local vernaculars16 and a bhakti devotional revival that was taking place
and influencing some of Akbar’s important subordinates. Abu’l-Fazl’s comments, within
the context of early Mughal India in the sixteenth century, seem to highlight his concern
for those who appear to be ‘imitators’ of religious establishments and those that no
longer stress the value of textual foundation. Truly learned men instead—in which
category Abu’l-Fazl includes himself—have been pushed to the margins, even by the
state authorities. But all this is about to change Abu’l-Fazl believes, as the whole “system
of creation” will be renewed. The Translation Bureau could then be seen as a project
instigated by Akbar that focused on ‘classical’ foundations, that would sweep away new
religious ideas that were not based on textual sources, and the truth of the ancient
Sanskrit texts were made available in Persian translation. By extension, the truth is also
the wisdom of Akbar because he instigated the translation of the Mahabharata in the first
place.

King and Patron

Due to his great wisdom and insight, Abu’l-Fazl says, the king asked for the
Mahabharata to be translated in the best way possible. The hostility that divided the
Muslims, Jews and Hindus became all too obvious to Akbar and for his own knowledge
and understanding he decided to explore the reasons for their hostility and in turn
derived a system that he believed could counter that. The establishment of Akbar’s
kingdom is based on his qualities of leadership and his traits as a great ruler, which
Abu’l-Fazl describes as being deeply rooted coming from his descent from Timur and
Genghis Khan.17 The question of good government is a central concern of Abu’l-Fazl, as
he describes Akbar’s “sword of conquest” as not one that is stained with blood, but
marked by the ink of imperial decree: meaning that although Akbar used military power
as king, he did not subject his people to brute force.

Drawing on a popular theme in the ‘Mirror for Princes’ literature, Abu’l-Fazl refers
to the centralisation of power under Akbar without which Abu’l-Fazl says is a wonder

16
Patel, "Source, Exegesis, and Translation," 256-66.
17
See chapter two, p. 4.

117
how former kings of the country may have ruled.18 This brings to light Akbar’s
emergence as a powerful monarch in the vast chronological system of the world at the
dawn of the millennium. Abu’l-Fazl describes Akbar as the animating force in everything.
Without the presence of and wisdom of Akbar, craftsmen become as inert and silent as
their own tools. 19 This too refers to Akbar’s decision to rectify the longstanding hostility
between all classes of his Empire. Akbar issued the translation, due to his
understanding, and the process of activity took place due to his command.

Therefore, all the difficulties connected with writing with which Abu’l-Fazl opens
his Preface and the difficulties he faced in making a contribution—the smug fallacies of
those believing in material things as manifestations of the divine, the slavish
dependence on the written tradition, the foolishness of those who resort to mysticism,
the inevitable obstructions thrown down before men of insight—are to be swept away by
a new and powerful king, and the dawning of the new millennium. “His universal
protection is eternal,” and encompasses all the people of his empire. The translation,
therefore, was a vessel to propagate this transformative vision of the history of the
Mughal Empire, and Abu’l-Fazl’s Preface served as a tool that would help one
understand that vision.

18
Rizvi, Religious and Intellectual History, 208.
19
See chapter two, p. 9.

118
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