Persian Works Research Articles

An Overview of Works on the History of Kashmir: From Traditional Sanskrit to New English Sources

This article provides an overview of key sources on the history of Kashmir, covering the period from ancient Sanskrit chronicles to more recent historical works in Persian and English. The paper analyses texts such as Kalhana’s Rajatarangini, which is considered to be one of the most important sources on the history of Kashmir, the works of Narayan Kaul, Muhammad ‘Azam Didamari, and others. The study of these historical works allows us not only to reconstruct the events of the past but also to understand whether the perception of the history and culture of Kashmir has changed in the minds of people over time. Comparison of various sources helps to identify common themes and differences in the interpretation of historical events, which contributes to a deeper understanding of the complex and multifaceted history of the region, and sheds light on the role of Kashmir as a cultural and political hub, its relationships with neighboring regions, and its influence on the development of the Indian subcontinent as a whole. This makes it possible to consider the history of Kashmir not in isolation, but in the context of broader historical processes taking place in South Asia.

THOUGHTS OF MAMED AMIN RASULZADE ABOUT THE ATTITUDE OF THE NİZAMİ GANJAVİ TO LIFE, PEOPLE AND WOMEN

Nizami Ganjavi wrote his works in Persian. For this reason, Iran claims that he is a Persian poet. However, Nizami was born in Ganja and was buried in Ganja. Mammad Amin Rasulzade proved that Nizami Ganjavi is an Azerbaijani and an Azerbaijani poet by writing the work ―The Great Azerbaijani Poet Nizami‖ in the 40s of the 20th century. This article focuses on the opinion of Mammad Amin Rasulzadeh about Nizami Ganjavi’s attitude to life, man and woman.

Crossing boundaries: reading Mirṣād al-‘Ibad in early modern China (redrawing and straddling borders)

Abstract The history of the accommodation of Najm al-Dīn Dāya's Persian work, Mirṣād al-ʿibād, in China sheds light on an array of social and intellectual forces that redrew and straddled earlier boundaries and definitions of Chinese Islam between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. This essay focuses on three main effects that the introduction of Mirṣād al-ʿibād had on the historical trajectory of early modern Chinese Islamic scholarship. It begins by pointing to the ways in which the introduction of the Mirṣād contributed to the reshaping of the Chinese Islamic canon by giving Persian Ṣūfī theology a central place and the heated debate that the process entailed. It then examines the methodological dilemmas surrounding the appropriate methods with which to investigate and scrutinize this difficult text, and the variety of reading practices and methods of translation that scholars have applied to do so. Finally, the essay examines the diverse readings and interpretations that the Chinese translations of this text have generated.

Scrutiny of Mystical Thoughts of Mia Faqirullah Jalalabadi

Mia Faqirullah is a famous scholar, mystic and famous writer of the Persian Dari language who wrote his works in Persian, Pashto and Arabic languages. He lived at a time when Afghanistan witnessed a series of political, social and economic changes. These changes left a deep impact on his thoughts and worldview. Mia Faqirullah has left many works. Each of these is of special importance in its place. He had relations and correspondence with the court of Ahmed Shah Abdali and the rulers of Sindh and Baluch. The commanders of these regions had complete devotion to him and paid homage to his province. In addition, being the spiritual guide of the people, he also gave advice to rulers and nobles in politics and world management. Mia Faqirullah, apart from, teaching religious sciences, he also had a high position in mysticism and Sufism. He considered teaching religious sciences necessary and obligatory for students. He considered Tariqat (mystical way) with Sharia (Islamic law/Jurisprudence) as unavoidable. He considered Tariqat without Sharia to be worthless to man and he called ignorant Sufis devils and criticized them. Mia Faqirullah believed that the seeker could reach the highest position of Saluk only through Sharia.

AN OVERVIEW OF THE GOLDEN HORDE STUDIES AND THE PLACE OF GENGHIZNAME AND SHIBANNAMES AS NATIVE SOURCES IN THE GOLDEN HORDE STUDIES

Abstract. Studies on the empire of Genghis are becoming increasingly important not only for understanding the Late Middle Ages of Eurasia, but also for its contemporary periods. In the past two centuries, in connection with the historical importance of Eastern Europe and Inner Asia, a great accumulation has been revealed in studies that reveal the location of the four nations that make up this vast empire, especially the Jochi Ulus.
 The oral history tradition, on which the Turk peoples are based, has developed in two branches as Oguzname and Genghizname, harmonizing with the historical tradition of China, then Iran and Islam. Works in Persian and Turkish languages are integrated with Islamic traditions. This historiography tradition forms the basis of the Turkic states' conceptions of dominance. These are the mythology of the Turkic peoples, that is, in a sense, the stenography of prehistory or times that history has not recorded.

Preserving the Scientific Dignity of the Persian Language as the Language of People With Rich Culture and History

Language is one of the most important parts of any culture. Persian language is one of the main components of the Iranian culture. Learning Persian language is a way for understanding Iranian culture and history. Like other languages in the world, It is crucial to pay attention and preserve all aspects of Persian language including scientific, educational and religious. All cultural institutions in Iran including the Academy of Persian Language and Literature and important people such as the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran have strongly emphasized that “Persian language should be expanded and its cultural influence in the world should be increased”. They emphasize “writing in Persian”, “creating words in Persian” ,”creating terms in Persian”, and “publishing scientific works in Persian”. Publication of scientific works in Persian can lead to the enrichment of the Persian language and reading by more people and contribute to improving the dissemination of scientific information in society particularly in human sciences.

The Persian Literary Tradition in Ottoman Bosnia and Its Environs

Abstract Numerous Bosnian intellectuals during the centuries of Ottoman rule were authors of works in the Persian language. Mostly, they produced poems and divāns (poetic anthologies) under the strong influence of the Persian literary canon. After a brief and introductory overview of the Persian literary canon, its origins, and its presence in the Ottoman realms, this article presents selections of verses (mostly translated into English for the first time) of selected poets, while contextualizing their work within Ottoman Bosnia. In addition, this study surveys Persian works in manuscript collections in the libraries of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It can clearly be seen that the Persian cultural ādāb (literature) of the past has continued to reverberate intellectually and culturally even today in Bosnia and its environs.

Diachronic Development of the K-suffixes: Evidence from Classical New Persian, Contemporary Written Persian, and Contemporary Spoken Persian

AbstractThis paper aims to investigate the usage and frequency of what we refer to as K-suffixes in Classical New Persian of the ninth to thirteenth centuries, Contemporary Written Persian of the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries, and Contemporary Spoken Persian. It shows that K-suffixes are most likely to be the reflexes of earlier evaluative morphemes, traditionally called “diminutives,” and are characterized by a high degree of multifunctionality. While evaluative functions continue to dominate in the Classical New Persian works, they have largely been lost in contemporary spoken Persian, and the suffix is now systematically used to express definiteness. The development of the K-suffix as a definiteness marker in contemporary colloquial Persian appears to be innovative, and is mainly dependent on genre, speaker, and speech situation.Data for Classical New Persian is taken from critical editions of works from the ninth to thirteenth centuries. The data for Contemporary Written Persian comes from comprehensive books of fiction from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries, and for Contemporary Spoken Persian from an extensive corpus of spoken Persian narratives and a questionnaire answered by fifteen speakers. The results suggest that evaluative morphology can develop into definiteness marking, with the development passing through a stage of combination with a deictic marker.This paper concludes that the development of definiteness marking can proceed down a new pathway that is different from the one normally assumed for demonstrative-based definite marking, though the endpoint may be similar. The study contributes the second detailed documentation of this process for any Iranian language, and one of the few well-documented cases of a non-demonstrative origin of definiteness marking worldwide.

SOCIO-CULTURAL AND SCIENTIFIC ENVIRONMENT IN MOVAROUNNAHR AND KHORASAN IN XIII-XV CENTURIES

Studying the life of Abdurahman Jami is of great importance for researching his legacy based on deep analysis. The thinker's life activities were studied and his brilliant talent was recognized. According to sources, Jami wrote about 45 large and small works in Arabic and Persian, verse and prose. In the history of science and literature, Jami is recognized as the greatest poet and writer of the classical period. In the content of his works, Quranic science, tafsir, hadith, jurisprudence, mysticism, kalam, logic, philosophy, literature, rhetoric, nahv and other fields are shown. Most of the works of the thinker had a religious and philosophical content, the mystic poet interpreted a number of problems of Islamic religion and Eastern philosophical thought in his works according to his own view, and expressed his independent conclusions as the largest representative of Sufism in the 14th century. Nevertheless, taking into account that the influence of the scientific environment in Movarounnahr in the XIII-XIV centuries on Abdurrahman Jami's achievements in the field of science and the descriptions given by Qazizada Rumi to his intelligence have not been sufficiently studied, we paid special attention to studying this side of the issue.

Inscribing Persian in the Arabic Cosmopolis

Scholarly discourse on the Persianate tends to focus on the influence of Persian in Iran and further east, and often occludes the way in which the Persian language is inflected and present in the Arabic cosmopolis further west. Similarly, the formation of ‘Islamic classics’ and scholarly genres including exegesis tends to ignore the role of Persian works (and texts produced in a Persianate context). Through a case study of Qur’ānic exegesis in Persian and its reception west of Iran, we demonstrate how Persian is inscribed into the Arabic cosmopolis such that the development of post-classical exegesis should place these works alongside the major Arabic classics of al-Ṭabarī, al-Thaʿlabī and al-Basīṭ; in effect, we contend the study of Qur’ānic exegesis cannot ignore the study of Persian exegesis. Through examining rare manuscripts, we show how scholars read, copied and promoted Persian tafsir in Arabophone contexts. Not only does this study follow up on and test some earlier scholarly works dealing with the circulation of Persian translations of the Qur’ān and its commentaries as well as the scholarly impact of the Persians further west, it indicates the contribution of Persian exegesis to a normative understanding of the Islamic exegetical traditions at the heart of the madrasa.

INFLUENCE OF ARAB-MUSLIM CULTURE ON THE PROCESS OF ORIGIN OF DAGESTAN LITERATURE

The subject of this study is Dagestan literature. Special attention is paid to the first written works in the republic, which appeared under the influence of Arab-Muslim culture. This article examines the influence of Arabic-language culture on the formation of literary traditions of the peoples of Dagestan. Works in Arabic, Persian and Turkic languages in the spiritual literature of Dagestan testify to the centuries-old impact of Eastern culture. The manuscript gives an overview of the first Arabic-language sources written on the territory of Dagestan in the X-XII centuries. With the integration of the Arabic language in society, there is a creative flourishing of the activities of scientists of various fields of science: ethics, dogmatics, logic, Muslim law, hagiography and many others. The authors note not only the influence of Eastern literature, but also the creativity of the peoples of the Near and Middle East in the fate of Dagestan written literature and literary traditions. The authors of the article note that the spread of writing based on Arabic graphics contributed to the increase in the level of literacy of the Dagestan population, which is reflected in the literature.

Paradise Lost versus Shikwa

Whenever, in the history of language best poets’ name is brought about, Allama Iqbal is remembered. He truly was a master poet of his time and gained wide popularity for his works in Persian, Urdu and English languages. If Orient had Allama Iqbal West had John Milton. Milton achieved great success very early in his life time. Although Milton is a poet of much earlier period i.e., 17th Century his life and works are compared and contrasted with that of Iqbal. Iqbal is said to have sought inspiration from Milton’s Paradise Lost in writing his Shikwa. Both the poets are qualified enough in their fields to earn the title 'Poet Prophet'. A major point of similarity between both the poets is their mysticism, both of them have tried to discuss about the spiritual aspects of being in their works notwithstanding the fact that they immensely differ in language and style. Milton on one hand employs a complex writing technique in writing his poems Iqbal’s poems are slightly easy to comprehend. Besides they are culturally very different, we find references to Greek mythology in works of Milton whereas Iqbal’s works cite Islamic History. This paper seeks to analyze, compare and contrast two of the greatest epics in the history of Language and Literature called “Paradise lost” and “Shikwa” along with their sequels Paradise regained and Jawab-e-Shikwa.

Translations of Historical Works from Middle Persian into Arabic

Abstract This article maps the mainly lost Sasanian historiographical literature through the Arabic translations of Middle Persian works and the information preserved in early Arabic sources. Although only two texts have been preserved in the original Middle Persian, the Arabic sources reveal a sizeable corpus in translation.

Social and Cultural Features of Trilingual Creativity in Oriental Literature and the Work of Nizami Gandzhavi

This article is aimed at examining the cultural, historical and sociological environment of the peoples known to us as medieval oriental literature - Anatolia, the South Caucasus, Iran and a large part of Central Asia, which created bilingual and trilingual literary examples in "Islamic" cultural geography. As a result of the subjective approach of a number of researchers to this process, incorrect, misleading and harmful terms and concepts were introduced, and we observe the trend of “brand” searches in the history of literature. R. Tagore (India), who wrote excellent works in English, Kafka (Israel), the author of valuable works in German, Nizami Ganjavi (Azerbaijan), who wrote important works in Persian and many others, do they express their national "belonging" in accordance with the language of the works? On the basis of this concept, an attempt is made to analyze the socio-cultural picture of medieval Islamic culture and to identify the "baseless terminology" (which has no scientific basis), to evaluate it on specific examples. The early Islamic culture, the stages of the introduction of the Arabic and Persian languages into everyday life and public life, the process of expanding the Islamic cultural environment as a folk, academic and poetic language are studied and analyzed. We also tried to provide a scientific answer to the erroneous judgments and analyzes of various researchers.

A Meta-Analytical Comparative Study of ‘Mystical Journey’ in the Persian and the World’s Literature

A Meta-Analytical Comparative Study of ‘Mystical Journey’ in the Persian and the World’s Literature

One Person Lıbrary From Law and Moral to Socıal Polıcy: Fırst Master İbni Kemalpaşazâde

ONE PERSON LIBRARY FROM LAW AND MORAL TO SOCIAL POLICY: FIRST MASTER İBNİ KEMALPAŞAZÂDE While the history of humanity writes that some intellectuals only have an effect on the age they lived, on the time they lived, even on the main effect they lived, some intellectuals also wrote that they also affected the age they lived in and later ages.While the first is a general situation, it is possible to state that those in the second position are exceptional. One of these exceptional names is Ibni Kemalpaşazâde. Ibni Kemalpaşazâde, during his 65-year life, produced many works in Arabic, Persian and Turkish, from literature to law, from history to economics and social policy, from ethics to fiqh (islamic law), theology and religion.Worker-employer relations, social order and order issues, which social policy deals within the context of environment and human, were also among the subjects Ibni Kemalpaşazâde worked on.What makes IbniKemalpaşazâde different and exceptional is not his work in multi-languages and multi-disciplines, but that he brings the past to the period he lived in and sheds light on the future with his works. While the Renaissance and pre-Reform periods were taking place in Europe, Ibni Kemalpaşazâde both worked on social policy issues, handled moral issues, wrote poetry, and put forward provisions on many difficult issues of Islamic law and its treatment. Ibni Kemalpaşazâde is a scientist in one aspect, a man of literature and art in one aspect, a law writer in one aspect and a successful state administrator in one aspect. His works outnumber books that can be read in an average lifetime. In this respect, İbni Kemalpaşazâde is a one-person library.The reason he is called the "First Master" is that he is extremely meticulous and extraordinary in reading and writing. Keywords: Law, Human, Environment, Social Policy.

HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE GHAZAL GENRE

Lyrical works hare not lost their importance since the earliest times to the present day as they are tuned in a certain tone, short in size compared to other literary geners, can be stored quickly and easily in people's memory, have a wide range of aesthetic effects, are suitable for different age and literary training of readers and possess a variety of genres. A significant part of Uzbek classical literature is lyrical works. The ghazal genre is one of the most important of these lyrical works. The lyrics of the classical period are diverse in terms of a genre and include a variety of genres, such as fard, rubai, tuyuk, qit’a, ghazal, muhammas, musaddas, masnavi and qasida. Each has its own genesis and history of development. Especially, ghazal is a popular genre in oriental poetry. Originally it emerged as a genre of poetry created exclusively on the theme of love, and over time, the range of possibilities in terms of both theme and form expanded. Poems of this genre have long occupied a prominent place in the poetry. In this article, the lexical and terminological meanings of the ghazal, a brief genesis, the stages of its development as a genre, changes in form and content, internal and external factors that led to its expansion, the main Arabic and Persian works of the ghazal genre and representatives of Uzbek literature, their contributions to the content and form of the genre are analyzed. In carrying out these analyses, the author of the article refers to the works of classical theorists such as Kudama ibn Jafar, Shamsuddin Muhammad ibn Kays Razi, Kabul Muhammad, Rashididdin Watwat, Sheikh Ahmad Tarazi, Husayn Waz Kashifi and the history of Arabic, Persian, Uzbek literature, in particular, the orientalists as Kanani, Y.E.Bertels, I.M.Filshtinsky, M.L.Reysner, A.Mirzoev, A.Atesh, A.Hayitmetov, O.Nosirov, R.Orzibekov and others who studied the ghazal genre. The researcher compares their scientific works, opinions, similarities, differences, explaines, and comments on the history and characteristics of the ghazal genre.

Атрибуция тронных кресел царей Бориса Годунова и Михаила Романова в XIX—XXI веках: исторические и искусствоведческие аспекты

Древние тронные кресла отечественных монархов из собрания Музеев Московского Кремля были неоднократно опубликованы на протяжении XIX — XXI вв., но и сегодня нельзя считать работу по их атрибуции законченной. Примером тому — о два древнейших артефакта — тронные кресла царей Бориса Годунова и Михаила Романова: вопрос определения времени и места их создания остается неразрешенным. Ошибка исследователей заключается в том, что их внимание сосредоточено на ювелирном декоре предметов, не был применен метод описания и анализа художественных и технических приемов изготовления артефактов в целом, а также архивная документация изучена в недостаточной степени. По мнению автора, упомянутые предметы являются образцами персидской работы XV–XVI вв., в то время как прежде кресло царя Бориса Годунова датировалось 1603-1605 гг., а атрибуция принадлежавшего царю Михаилу Романову варьировалась между второй половиной XVI — первой третью XVII вв., причисляя изделие к московской или иранской работе. The article examines two ancient throne chairs of Russian monarchs from the collection of the Moscow Kremlin Museums: the chair of Tsar Boris Godunov, which is believed to have been received at the beginning of the 17th century as part of the ambassadorial gifts from Shah Abbas I, and the chair which researchers associate with the name of Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich. The aim of the article is a comprehensive study of these objects based not only on their external description, but also on the identification of their structure, parts hidden by metal and woven coatings. In addition, for the first time, the author considers the chairs as pieces of furniture art, trying to “embed” them into the line of the development of artistic styles. In the course of the research, the method of description and analysis of artistic and technical methods of making artifacts, methods of comparative analysis and interpretation of historical sources were applied. The materials of the study were archival documents, published sources and the results of research by Russian historians and museologists. Various historical evidence about the investigated artifacts and views on their dating, reflected in documents and research works, is analyzed. The author compiled descriptions of the throne chairs and made assumptions about the possibility of a later change in their appearance. The analysis of the form and decor made it possible to attribute the throne chair of Tsar Boris Godunov as an example of a Persian work of the 15th–16th centuries; the use of European heritage is clearly traced in the creation of its artistic image. The attribution of the chair of Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich cannot be considered final, because today there are several versions of it (a sample of the work of the Moscow Kremlin Workshops of the 17th century, precious plates of Iranian production of, presumably, the 16th century were used in its decoration; Iran, Isfahan, second half of the 16th century (?); work of Iranian court masters of the first third of the 17th century). This throne chair presumably has a pair – the chair of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich: outwardly these objects are remarkably similar and look like a set, in which, with the general logic of shaping, only the manner of decoration is somewhat different. The visual analysis of the monument allows classifying it as a sample of Persian work, made under the influence of the Renaissance art, which spread from Italy to Europe in the 15th–16th centuries. The need to study these rarities with the use of modern technologies and research methods is emphasized.

AN EPISODE FROM THE BIOGRAPHY OF THE SUFI SHEIKH MAJD AD-DIN AL-BAGHDADI AND THE KHWAREZMIAN RULER TERKEN-HATUN

Sheikh Majd ad-Din al-Baghdadi was a prominent figure of the Kubrawiya Sufi order, and possessed not only religious authority, but also certain political influence. Amidst the rapid strengthening of Khwarezm, which by the beginning of the 13th century becomes the largest political formation in the Islamic East, Majd ad-Din al-Baghdadi gets close to Terken-Khatun, the mother of the Khwarezmshah ‘Ala’ al-Din Muhammad. Given the struggle between the court groups that unfolded in Khwarezm on the eve of the Mongol invasion, the alliance between the Sufi sheikh and Terken-Khatun was regarded a threat. As a result, the ruler of Khwarezm accused Majd ad-Din al-Baghdadi of romantic relations with the mother of Khwarezmshah, and ordered the sheikh to be executed. The contemporaries of this event considered the Mongol invasion and the fall of Khwarezm as retribution of ‘Ala’ ad-Din Muhammad for this act. The present paper does not aim to analyze the entire biography of Majd ad-Din al-Baghdadi, but pays special attention to the circumstances of his death and its description in medieval Arab-Persian historical sources. It is worth noting that a detailed account of it is mentioned in an anonymous Persian work of the 14th century, which has not yet been published fully, but only in separate fragments of its original text. In this paper we attempt not only to analyze the account of an anonymous author, but also to compare it with the information from other Arabic-Persian historical works. The existing views on this issue in the framework of Russian and foreign historiography, both in relation to the anonymous Persian historical work of the 14th century, and the information contained in it regarding the biography of the Sufi sheikh Majd ad-Din al-Baghdadi are also taken into account. The article may attract attention of our colleagues to this written monument, which undoubtedly needs to be published fully.

Telif-Tercüme Kavramı Bağlamında Vâhidî’nin Saâdetnâme’si Üzerine Düşünceler

In the “Sebeb-i Telif”, or “Reason for Writing” sections of works in the Turkish canon of classical literature, authors’ declarations that the work is original or translated can mislead researchers. Accurate conclusions related to the literature emerge better when the author’s ways of constructing the work and the content of the work are examined, rather than their own statements of originality. Saadetname, by the 16th-century writer Vahidi, seems to be original, according to Vahidi’s declaration. However, as a result of research, it has been revealed that Saadetname is an “original-translated” work. Twenty chapters of Saadetname have been translated from a Persian work, Pend-i Piran, the author of which is unknown. With Vahidi’s original contributions, the original form of the work was changed by adding introductions and conclusions, verse pieces and 98 additional stories. In this study, after briefly outlining Vahidi’s work and life, the terms “original” and “translation” are examined in the light of the sources and translation strategy of Saadetname. We explain how it came into the form of “original-translation”, with reference to examples from the work.