Texts from the Persian in Late Eighteenth-Century India and Britain: Culture or Construct?

Abstract

This article discusses the efforts made by late eighteenth-century orientalists in India to promote the study of Persian in Britain and India through the publication of selected classics (history and poetry) in the original language and in translation. These publications reflect varied aims, from political and didactic to cultural and literary. Some texts, including the spurious “Institutes” of Tīmūr (the Tuziikāti-i Tīmūrī), served the purpose of empire, some were flagged as models for exemplary monarchy, while others, despite manipulation and editing, reflected a genuine appreciation of Persian language and poetry.