Perso Indica

[Preliminary Entry] Composed in approximately 1234/1818, Tanbīh al-ġāfilīn is an account of the divisions among Hindus and a record of their sects and castes. The work emphasizes the irrelevancy of the criteria according to which various confessions are separated from each other, and accentuates that stigmatizing as an infidel any human who acknowledges one supreme God is injustice, no matter whether the man is Hindu, Muslim, Jew, or Christian. The work is divided into eight entries (maqālas) of unequal length, comprising: (i) avatārs, Sri Rāmānuja, the Goriyā caste and the religious teachers such as Rādhāballabhī, Bhārādvāja, Babrahyāsī, Kīl Dās, Agar Dās, Nānak Šāh, and Sahaj Rām Nānakšāhī; (ii) classes of Brahmans and Rajputs; (iii) precepts of the Hindu law; (iv) reproof of the sectarians who believe in their superiority over Hindus; (v) striking occurrences the author had heard of or witnessed; (vi) remarkable sayings and description of the animals of sea and land; (vii) circumstances and events of past ages; and (viii) Hindu sciences unknown to the Persians.

The author, Munšī Sadāsukh with the nom de plume Niyāz Dihlawī (fl. early 19th century), held the office of sar-rištadār (head native officer of a collectorate) in the district of Agra during the time of Najaf Ḫān (d. 1782). He witnessed the reign of Šāh ‘Alam II (d. 1806), spent his old age at Allāhabād, and was personally acquainted with the pivotal poets of his time, such as Saudā, Qatīl and Mīr Taqī in Lucknow and Ḫwāja Mīr Dard in Delhi. A gifted writer of prose and poetry, Sadāsukh wrote other significant books such as Muntaḫab al-tawārīḫ on history, which is an important source for the account of the later Mughals and gives a picture of the events of early ninteenth century including records on the Hindu rajas and the Indian local dynasties of that time. Another work ascribed to him is ‘Ajā’ib al- hind depicting the wonders of India.

S. Kh.