Additional Information: Persian Translations of Indic Works

• Coinciding with the foundation of Ibadat Khana, Akbar established his translation bureau (maktab khana) in 1574-1575 at Fathpur Sikri and attached it to the royal library.
• Largely Sanskrit texts were translated into Persian. However, Persian translations of some Arabic and Turkish texts were also carried out.
• The most notable among them was the Persian translation of Baburnama by his illustrious noble Abdul Rahim Khan-i Khanan.
• The translation project in Akbar’s court probably began in 1575-1576 with the arrival of Shaikh Bhawan, a Brahman convert, to Akbar’s court.
• The earliest works translated from Sanskrit with the help of Shaikh Bhawan by Haji Ibrahim Sirhindi was Atharva Veda (Bed Atharban) sometime before 1583.
• In 1582, Akbar commissioned the translation of the Mahabharata (Razmnama) and ordered Badauni to translate the text; later, the task was completed by Mulla Shri, Naqib Khan and Sultan Haji Thanesari. Abul Fazl composed the Preface of the Persian text. The tsk was completed by 1584.
• First the Sanskrit text was rendered in ‘Hindi’ by Pandits/scholars, then it was rendered into Persian. Utmost care was also taken in the accuracy of translations.
• Badauni also translated the Ramayana, a project that was completed in 1591.
• Among the Sanskrit texts of non-religious nature, the most important one translated into Persian at Akbar’s court was Bhaskaracharya’s Lilavati, a work on Arithmetic (hisab) translated by Faizi.
• Kalhan’s Rajatarangini was translated by Shah Muhammad Shahabadi.
• Some of the Sanskrit works were not actually retranslated but were actually the ‘retelling of the Sanskrit texts in Persian’.
• In the category falls Faizi’s Nal Daman. These translations points to the fact that in Akbar’s translation project it was Mahabharat that was central, suggestive of the dominance of Vaishnava traditions, in contrast to Shaivite traditions at Akbar’s court.
• Emphasis and interests in Upanishadic philosophy, one finds, could be generated only under Dara Shukoh’s patronage (Sirr-i Akbar) during Shah Jahan’s reign.