Akbar-nāma

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The Akbar-nāma ( Persian اکبرنامه, DMG Akbar-nāma , "Akbar Book") by Abū 'l-Fazl Allāmī is the most extensive historical account of the Akbar period in the Mughal Empire . It goes back to 1602. The third volume of the work, known under the name Ā'īn-i Akbarī , contains an encyclopedic description of almost all matters of the empire. The author offers a wealth of historical contexts and factual information, but primarily pursues the goal of presenting Akbar as a perfect ruler.

Time frame for the drafting

Abū 'l-Fazl had received the order to compose it on March 4, 1589 and again on May 19 of the same year. On April 16, 1596 (1004 dH) he completed the first part, which includes the story of Akbar's ancestors and the first thirty years of the ruler's life up to September 1572. Two years later he was able to complete the life story of Akbar up to his 42nd year of reign (1597/98) and at the same time the Ā'īn-i Akbarī . In the early years, Abū 'l-Fazl had enlisted the help of his brother Faizī, whose knowledge he praised as well as his poetic sophistication, to write his work. Faizī had looked through the drafts for Akbar-nāma and put the final linguistic polish on the work. Due to his death in October 1595, however, he only came up to the tenth year of Akbar's reign, so that Abū 'l-Fazl had to do without the support of his brother from then on. By the time he was assassinated in August 1602, he managed to add the events of nearly four more years. His account ends abruptly in mid-February 1602. Some manuscripts contain a continuation for the remaining time from about two and a half years until Akbar's death. Even if these continuations differ considerably in different manuscripts, they are all based on the Iqbāl-nāma , a historical work about the time of Shāh Jahān by Muhammad Sālih Kambū.

Structure and versions of Akbar-nāma

The Akbar-nāma was originally designed in five volumes. Abū 'l-Fazl had provided four of them for the historical part, each of which should cover a unit of thirty g years (pers. Qarn , "generation"). The story of the ancestors and the first thirty years of Akbar's life were summarized in the first volume. A final book on the institutions (pers. Ā'īn ) of the Mughal Empire under Akbar was named Ā'īn-i Akbarī and was initially planned as a fifth volume. Even if Abū 'l-Fazl clearly described this volume division at the end of Ā'īn-i Akbarī , a different arrangement was made for various reasons. Akbar had requested that the second volume begin with his birth. The story of the ancestors from Adam to Humāyūn was consequently still Volume I, but it ends with the death of the latter. Volume II covers Akbar's first thirty years of life up to 1572, Volume III his remaining life. Beveridge's translation was published in this form. The Ā'īn-i Akbarī thus actually represents the fourth volume of the complete work, although numerous authors today refer to it as the third volume, following the original count by Abū 'l-Fazl.

Abū 'l-Fazl has revised his work a total of five times. Even before it got its final form in 1596, parts of it were in circulation, as the preface by Nizām ud-Dīn Ahmad to his Tabaqāt-i Akbarī from the year 1001h (1592/93) shows. Beveridge points to a privately owned manuscript in which one of the earlier versions can be recognized.

Contents of the Akbar-nāma

The author introduces the first part of his work with a forty-page explanation of Akbar's natal charts. The following is a short list of the wet nurses and a report on Akbar's birth in 1542. After the author thanked him for the good fortune to serve the Padishah, the ancestors of the Mughal ruler were briefly introduced. At the beginning there is Adam, who, in addition to his quality as the first human, plays an important role in Abū 'l-Fazl's new ideological system. Alanquwa, the mythical ancestor of the Tschingiziden, occupies a central position in the series of the following ancestors. She had received her three sons not through a human father, but through a divine light, which passed on to the following generations and reached full maturity in Akbar. Eight generations after Alanquwa, the line of Tschingis Chans branches off. Abū 'l-Fazl mentions him, but points out that he is not a direct ancestor of Akbar's paternal side. It deserves mention only because it too was a ray of Alanquwa's holy light. After another seven generations, the most important personality follows in the ancestral line: Amir Tīmūr Gūrkānī. The Mughals, who called themselves Timurids , saw themselves above all in his succession, especially since Timur himself had invaded India as early as 1398 and conquered Delhi. Via Timur's third son Mīrān Shāh the line continues to Bābur and finally to Akbar's father Humāyūn . Since they are the founders of the Mughal empire, the lives of the latter are given considerably more space. The report on Bābur, with around thirty pages in the Persian edition, is much less detailed than the one on Humāyūn with over 240 pages. Akbar's birth in October 1542 was framed by the first miracles that accompanied the later Mughal ruler throughout his life. The accession to the throne on February 14, 1556 and the horoscope of this event, which suggests only the best, praises Abū 'l-Fazl as the beginning of a new era. He then actually presented the calendar Tārīkh-i ilāhī (Pers. "Divine era") introduced by Akbar , which did not begin until 1584, retroactively to the first New Year celebrations after the accession to the throne, in March 1556. Abū reports in strictly chronological order 'l-Fazl now of all events up to the year 1602. The reader learns in detail about all battles, such as the particularly important Second Battle of Panipat , from fights and other actions against various opponents, from territorial expansion, promotions and punishments. Family events such as marriages, the birth of children of the royal family, deaths and, for example, the relocation of Akbar's mother and other ladies of the royal harem from Kabul to India are also mentioned. Abū 'l-Fazl also informs us about Akbar's religious policy, his dealings with the representatives of the various Islamic, Hindu and Christian doctrines or Akbar's religious discussions.

Sources of Akbar-nāma

For the drafting of Akbar-nāma Abū 'l-Fazl was able to access an unusually large source base. As early as 1575 Akbar had ordered that two of a total of fourteen chroniclers should write down every act of the ruler and all new events. In order to increase the information about the time of Akbar's predecessors, everyone who was in contact with the ruler at the court of Babur or Humāyūn should write down their memories. We know of four people who complied with this request: Bābur's daughter Gulbadan Bīgam (approx. 1523–1603), Humāyūn's personal servant Dschauhar Āftābtschī, Bāyazīd Bayāt, head chef under Humāyūn, and finally ʿAbbās Khān Sarvānī (st reported everything about the time of Sher Shah Sur . No doubt Abū 'l-Fazl used the records of Bābur and the Humāyūn-nāma of Ghiyas ad-Dīn Khwāndamīr. Abū 'l-Fazl only sporadically mentions sources that he uses to describe the centuries before Bābur, such as the historical work Tarikh-i Rashidi by Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat and the Zafar-nāma by Sharaf ud-Dīn ʿAlī Yazdī. For Mongolian history, he certainly used the Jami D at-tawārīkh of Rashīd ad-Dīn .

Rule ideology

The Akbar-nāma , including the Ā'īn-i Akbarī , is entirely at the service of ideological propaganda. Abū 'l-Fazl developed a legitimizing anchoring for the exercise of imperial power, independent of Islam, in order to gain acceptance and allegiance not only among his Muslim subjects, but also among the much larger number of his non-Muslim subjects. For this purpose Akbar is glorified as a superhuman ruler who unites all religions and is therefore a binding guide on a political and religious level. As proof of Akbar's prominent position, Abū 'l-Fazl ascribes to him the possession of a divine light, which was passed on from Adam across the chain of his ancestors and found its consummation in the Mughal ruler. This light is only recognizable for those who have highly developed spiritual maturity. Abū 'l-Fazl draws on several myths and concepts from different religions in his light metaphor. These include, for example, the nūr Muḥammadī , the old Iranian concept of the farr-i īzadī and the light myth about the Genghisid ancestor Ālanquwā. The sun was the transcendent symbol of the religious reorientation. The Islamic lunar calendar was replaced by a solar calendar in March 1584. The Akbar-nāma narrates the Firman who had been sent in numerous copies across the country and who had ordered the introduction of the new era with the name Tārīkh-i ilāhī (“Divine Era”). The events in Akbar-nāma are dated retrospectively according to this new calendar from Akbar's accession to the throne.

Editions and translations

The Persian edition of Akbar-nāma was started by Āghā Ahmad ʿAlī on behalf of the Asiatic Society of Bengal and continued by Maulawi ʿAbd ar-Rahīm after his untimely death in 1873. The text appeared fascicle by fascicle from 1873 and was later combined into three volumes (Vol. I 1877, Vol. II 1879, Vol. III 1886) in the Bibliotheca Indica 79. Of the ten manuscripts used here, seven extend up to the end of the 17th year of government, i.e. up to Akbar's 30th year. This suggests that the first volume, which Abū 'l-Fazl completed in 1596, was copied considerably more often and was thus more widespread than the second volume, which the author handed over in 1598.

In 1993 a Persian partial edition by Golam Reza Tabatabai Majd was published. He uses the same manuscripts as Ahmad ʿAlī and ʿAbd ar-Rahīm and does not add any further. The volume ends with Humāyūn's death.

The first English translation comes from Henry Beveridge and was published in fascicles from 1897. In 1921 the entire text of Akbar-nāma was fully published and by his death in 1929 Beveridge had prepared most of the text for the third volume. For various reasons, however, there were delays, so that the third and final volume could not be published until 1939.

A new translation of the Akbar-nāma by Wheeler M. Thackston has been published since 2015 , in which the Persian wording is juxtaposed with the English. The Persian text of Thackston's edition is based on the Calcutta edition by Āghā Ahmad ʿAlī and ʿAbd ar-Rahīm from the years 1877–86. He gives a brief overview of the manuscripts used at that time. The sixth volume in this series was published in 2020 and extends until March 1584.

literature

  • Abul-Fazl i Mubarak i 'Allámí: The Akbarnámah. Edited by Agha Ahmad Alī (d. 1873) and ʿAbd ar-Rahīm. 3 volumes. Bibliotheca Indica 79. Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta 1877-1886.
  • Abūl-Fazl ʿAllāmī: Akbar-nāma. Vol. 1. Edited by Ghulām-Rizā Tabātabā'ī-Majd. Mu'assasa-i Muṭālaʿāt wa Taḥqīqāt-i Farhangī. Tehran 1372/1993.
  • Abu-l-Fazl: The Akbar Nāma. Translated from the Persian by H. Beveridge. 3 Vols. Low Price Publications, Delhi 1993. (Repr. Bibliotheca Indica 138. 3 Vols. Asiatic Society of Bengal 1897–1921.)
  • Abu'l-Fazl: The History of Akbar. Edited and Translated by Wheeler M. Thackston. Murty Classical Library of India. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (MA) and London 2015–2020. (So ​​far six volumes)
  • Beveridge, Henry: “A New MS. of the Akbarnāma. " The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (Jan., 1903) 115-122. Digitized
  • Conermann, Stephan: Historiography as a creation of meaning. Indo-Persian historiography during the Mughal period (932-1118 / 1516-1707). Reichert Verlag, Wiesbaden 2002. (Iran - Turan Volume 5) ISBN 3-89500-291-7 .
  • Eaton, RM: "Akbar-nāma" , Encyclopædia Iranica , I / 7, pp. 714-715.
  • Franke, Heike: Akbar and Ǧahāngīr. Studies on political and religious legitimation in text and images. EB-Verlag, Schenefeld 2005. (Bonn Islam Studies Volume 12) ISBN 3-936912-34-3 .
  • Rizvi, Saiyid Athar Abbas: Religious and Intellectual History of the Muslims in Akbar's Reign with special Reference to Abu'l Fazl. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, New Delhi 1975.
  • Seyller, John: "Codicological Aspects of the Victoria and Albert Museum Akbarnāma and Their Historical Implications." Art Journal (Winter 1990) 379-787.
  • Stronge, Susan: Painting for the Mughal Emperor. The Art of the Book 1560-1660. Victoria and Albert Publications, London 2002. ISBN 1 85177 358 4 . Pp. 58-85.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Conermann 2002, pp. 159-173. Franke 2005, p. 333f.
  2. ↑ Akbar-nāma I: 33 . Seyller 1990, p. 379 first referred to this note from Beveridge. These dates can only be found in another manuscript in a private collection, cf. Beveridge 1903, p. 116f. See Stronge 2002, p. 39 and FN 10.
  3. ↑ Akbar-nāma II: 544.
  4. ↑ Ā'īn-i Akbarī III: 475-476 .
  5. ↑ Akbar-nāma II: 558f.
  6. ↑ Ā'īn-i Akbarī III: 475f. (personal edition vol. II: 256f.)
  7. ^ Note from Beveridge on the various continuations of Akbar-nāma after 1602 in Akbar-nāma III: 1204. Also Marshall, Dara Nusserwanji: Mughals in India. A bibliographical survey of manuscripts. Mansell Publishing Limited, London and New York 1967. p. 32.
  8. ↑ Ā'īn-i Akbarī III: 476.
  9. ↑ Akbar-nāma III: 5 Cf. Stronge 2002, p. 42.
  10. ↑ Ā'īn-i Akbarī III: 474
  11. ↑ Khwājah Niẓāmuddīn Aḥmad: The Ṭabaqāt-i-Akbarī. A History of India from the Early Musulmān Invasions to the 36th Year of the reign of Akbar. English Translation by B. De. Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta 1927. Vol. 1. Bibliotheca Indica No. 225. Vol. I, S. V . Rizvi 1975, p. 264.
  12. ↑ Beveridge 1903. Stronge 2002, p. 45.
  13. ↑ Franke 2005, pp. 232-239. Conermann 2002, p. 164.
  14. ↑ Akbar-nāma I: 178-183 . Franke 2005, pp. 216-220.
  15. ↑ Akbar-nāma I: 191. Thackston I: 238/39.
  16. ↑ Akbar-nāma I: 210 . Thackston Akbar-nāma I: 262f. See Conermann 2002, pp. 207-208.
  17. ↑ Akbar-nāma I: 375f. and Akbar-nāma I: 384f.
  18. ↑ Franke 2005, pp. 188f.
  19. ↑ Akbar-nāma II: 10-24.
  20. ↑ Akbar-nāma II: 85 .
  21. ↑ Akbar-nāma III: 365-369 .
  22. ↑ Akbar-nāma I: 31 ; Akbar-nāma III: 167 ; Ā'īn-i Akbarī I: 268f. Pers. Ed. I: 193.
  23. ↑ Akbar-nāma I: 30.
  24. ↑ Gulbadan Bigum: The History of Humayun. (Humāyūn-nāma). Translated with introduction and notes by Annette S. Beveridge. Complete and Unabridged, Low Price Publications, Delhi (Second Reprint) 1994. First Published 1902. ISBN 81-86142-14-2 . Conermann 2002, pp. 254-266.
  25. ↑ Purnaqcheband, Nader: Strategies for coping with contingency. The Mughal ruler Humāyūn (r. 1530-1540 and 1555-1556) depicted in the "Tazkirat al-Wāqiʿāt" of his personal servant Jauhar Āftābčī. Bonner Islamstudien Vol. 5. EB-Verlag, Schenefeld 2007. ISBN 3-936912-13-0 . Conermann 2002, pp. 248-254.
  26. ↑ Conermann 2002, pp. 266-271. Rizvi 1975, pp. 242-248.
  27. ↑ Conermann 2002, p. 115f.
  28. ↑ Khwāndamīr, Ghiyās ud-Dīn, Qānūn-i-Humāyūnī (Also Known as Humāyūn Nāma) of Khwāndamīr (died AH 942, Al.D. 1535). Translated with explanatory notes by Baini Prashad. Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal. Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta 1940. (Repr. 1996).
  29. ↑ Akbar-nāma I: 272; Akbar-nāma I: 231 FN 2.
  30. ↑ Akbar-nāma I: 237 and 244. Akbar-nāma II: 69.
  31. ↑ From Dschāmi' at-Tawarikh and the Zafar-nama there is evidence of manuscripts in Akbar's library. See Seyller, John: The Inspection and Valuation of Manuscripts in the Imperial Mughal Library. In: Artibus Asiae LVII 3/4 (1997) 243-349, especially p. 280 and p. 310.
  32. ↑ Franke 2005, p. 232 and p. 212-239. Conermann 2002, pp. 171-173.
  33. ↑ Akbar-nāma I: 286f., Edition vol. 1, p. 122.
  34. ↑ Akbar-nāma I: 286 - the term nūr Muḥammadī is not mentioned here, but precisely this is described in terms of content. See U. Rubin, Nūr Muḥammadī in Encyclopaedia of Islam² . Franke 2005, pp. 216-219.
  35. ↑ Ā'īn-i Akbarī I: 3 . In addition Gherardo Gnoli, "Farr (ah)", in Encyclopaedia Iranica , EIr "Farr"
  36. ↑ Akbar-nāma I: 178-183. Lech, Klaus: The Mongolian Empire. Al-ʿUmarī's account of the Mongolian empires in his work Masālik al-abṣār fī mamālik al-amṣār. Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1968. (Asian Research Volume 22) pp. 92 and 174.
  37. ↑ Ā'īn-i Akbarī III: 435 (pers. Ed. II: 235); Ā'īn-i Akbarī I: 163f. (pers. Ed. I: 154); Akbar-nāma I: 161f. Franke 2005, pp. 198-206.
  38. ↑ Akbar-nāma II: 19-24
  39. ↑ Akbar-nāma Volume I: Foreword pp. 3-4 .
  40. ↑ Tabatabai Majd pp. 6-7.
  41. ↑ Thackston, Akbar vol. 1, S xix. Compare with the edition of Akbar-nāma , Vol. 1, pp. 3-4.
  42. ↑ This corresponds in the Calcutta Edition Volume III, p. 431 and in the translation of Beveridge Volume III, p. 643.