Mahābhārat (Ādi and Sabhā Parvans) | Monography or Translations of known period | Epic | Survey | Perso-Indica

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Monography or Translations of known period
Fayżī, Abū al-Fayż ibn Mubārak, Mahābhārat (Ādi and Sabhā Parvans)

[Preliminary Entry] In the late 1580s, Fayżī (d. 1004/1595) reworked the first two books (Ādi and Sabhā Parvans) of the Mahābhārata in a mixture of Persian prose and verse. He intended to revise all eighteen books but abandoned his project after the second book for unclear reasons. He takes his prose from the Razm-nāma translation, although he alters the vocabulary and phrasing at times. He authored the verses himself and intersperses them throughout the prose. He also composed a series of verses at the opening and close of both books, although these are often abridged or omitted entirely in manuscript copies. Fayżī’s Ādi and Sabhā Parvans are often found in manuscripts of the Razm-nāma and are frequently misattributed. Alternatively, the entire Razm-nāma is occasionally mistakenly ascribed to Fayżī.

A. T.

i) Place of copying; ii) Period of copying; iii) Copyist; iv) Commissioner;
v) Information on colophon; vi) Description of miniatures/illustrations; vii) Other remarks; viii) Information on catalogue(s)
Manuscripts: 

London, British Library, India Office Islamic 761

, viii)

Ethe 1903, vol. 1, no 1945

.

London, British Library, India Office Islamic 3014

, viii)

Ethe 1903, vol. 1, no 1946

.

Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale France, Supplément Persan 1038 (book 2 only)

, viii)

Blochet 1905, vol. 1, no 218

.

Srinagar, Oriental Research Library, Persian 175

.

Srinagar, Oriental Research Library, Persian 211

.


Bibliography:

Ethe, Hermann, 1903, Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in the Library of the India Office, Vol 1, Oxford, India Office.

Blochet, E., 1905-1934, Catalogue des Manuscrits Persans de la Bibliotheque Nationale, 4 Vols, Paris, Imprimerie nationale.


 
Main Persian Title: Mahābhārat (Ādi and Sabhā Parvans)
English Translation of Main Persian Title: Mahabharata
Translator: Fayżī, Abū al-Fayż ibn Mubārak
Original Sources:

Razm-nāma.
Alternative Title(s):
Mahābhārata
Tarjuma-i Mahābhārat
Approximate period of composition: 1585-1595
Commissioner: Akbar 
Quoted sources on India:
Razm-nāma