The Court of ʿAbd-ur-Raḥīm Khān-i Khānān as a Bridge between Iranian and Indian Cultural Traditions

Abstract

This chapter focuses on two types of circulatory trajectories. It describes the circulation of people between Iran and India and across South Asia through a study of the ʿAbd-ur-Raḥīm Khān-i Khānān's entourage. The chapter concerns with crossovers between Persian and multi-faceted Indian cultural traditions as expressed in the works produced or patronized by Raḥīm. It concludes with a brief examination of the links between ʿAbd-ur Raḥīm's cultural stance and contemporary norms at the imperial Mughal court and thus address the question of the circulation of models from an imperial to a sub-imperial level. Before dealing with these questions, it is essential to pause a moment and properly introduce the main Persian source for this study, the Maʾā ir-i s Raḥīmī . The work was written in 1616 at the behest of ʿAbd-ur-Raḥīm by a Persian immigrant named ʿAbd-ul-Bāqī Nahāwandī. Keywords: ʿAbd-ur-Raḥīm Khān-i Khānān; imperial Mughal court; Indian cultural traditions; Iranian cultural traditions; Persian source