Quellenkunde zur indischen Geschichte bis 1858

14. Quellen auf Arabisch, Persisch und in Turksprachen

4. Zum Beispiel: Abū 'l-Faẓl ibn Mubārak <1551 - 1602> (ابو الفضل): Ā’īn-i-Akbarī  (آئین اکبری), I.34 <Auszug>


hrsg. von Alois Payer

mailto:payer@payer.de


Zitierweise / cite as:

Payer, Alois <1944 - >: Quellenkunde zur indischen Geschichte bis 1858. -- 14. Quellen auf Arabisch, Persisch und in Turksprachen. -- 4. Zum Beispiel: Abū 'l-Faẓl ibn Mubārak <1551 - 1602> (ابو الفضل): Ā’īn-i-Akbarī  (آئین اکبری), I.34 <Auszug>. -- Fassung vom 2008-05-16. -- http://www.payer.de/quellenkunde/quellen144.htm                 

Erstmals publiziert als:

Abū 'l-Faz̤l ibn Mubārak <1551-1602>: The Ā'īn- Akbarī / [by] Abū 'l-Faẓl 'Allāmī; translated into English by H. Blochmann [1838 - 1878]. -- 2nd ed. / revised and ed. by D. C. Phillott. -- Calcutta : Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1927-1949. -- 3 Bde : Ill.  ; 25 cm. -- (Bibliotheca Indica ; work no. 61,270,271). -- Vol. 2-3: translated into English by H. S. Jarrett [1839 - 1919]; corrected by Jadu-Nath Sarkar. -- Bd. I, S. 109 - 115. -- Online: http://persian.packhum.org/persian/main. -- Zugriff am 2008-05-15

Erstmals hier publiziert: 2008-05-16

Überarbeitungen:

Anlass: Lehrveranstaltung FS 2008

©opyright: Public domain.

Dieser Text ist Teil der Abteilung Sanskrit  von Tüpfli's Global Village Library


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His Majesty's library is divided into several parts: some of the books are kept within, and some without the Harem. Each part of the library [S. 110] is subdivided, according to the value of the books and the estimation in which the sciences are held of which the books treat. Prose books, poetical works, Hindī, Persian, Greek, Kashmīrian, Arabic, are all separately placed. In this order they are also inspected. Experienced people bring them daily and read them before His Majesty, who hears every book from the beginning to the end. At whatever page the readers daily stop, His Majesty makes with his own pen a sign, according to the number of the pages; and rewards the readers with presents of cash, either in gold or silver, according to the number of leaves read out by them. Among books of renown, there are few that are not read in His Majesty's assembly hall; and there are no historical facts of the past ages, or curiosities of science, or interesting points of philosophy, with which His Majesty, a leader of impartial sages, is unacquainted. He does not get tired of hearing a book over again, but listens to the reading of it with more interest.

are continually read out to His Majesty. Phiologists are constantly engaged in translating Hindī, Greek, Arabic, and Persian books, into other languages. Thus a part of the Zīch-i Jadīd-i Mīrzā'ī (vide IIIrd book, A'īn 1) was translated under the superintendence of Amīr Fatḥu'llah of Shīrāz (vide p. 34), and also the Kishnjoshī, the Gangādhar, the Mohesh Mahānand, from Hindī (Sanscrit) into Persian, according to the interpretation of the author of this book. The Mahābhārat which belongs to the ancient books of Hindūstān has likewise been translated, from Hindī into Persian, under the superintendence of Naqīb Khān, Mawlānā 'Abdu'l-Qādir of Badāon, and Shaykh Sultān of [S. 111] Thanesar. The book contains nearly one hundred thousand verses: His Majesty calls this ancient history Razmnāma, the book of Wars. The same learned men translated also into Persian the Ramāyan, likewise a book of ancient Hindustan, which contains the life of Rām Chandra, but is full of interesting points of Philosophy. Ḥājī Ibrāhīm of Sarhind translated into Persian the Atharban which, according to the Hindūs, is one of [S. 112] the four divine books. The Līlawatī, which is one of the most excellent works written by Indian Mathematicians on Arithmetic, lost its Hindū veil, and received a Persian garb from the hand of my elder brother, Shaykh 'Abdu'l-Faiz-i Faizī. At the command of His Majesty, Mukammal Khān of Gujrāt translated into Persian the Tājak, a well known work on Astronomy. The Memoirs of Bābar, the Conqueror of the world, which may be called a Code of practical wisdom, have been translated from Turkish into Persian by Mīrzā 'Abdu'r-Rahīm Khān, the present Khān Khānān (Commander-in-Chief). The History of Kashmīr, which extends over the last four thousand years, has been translated from Kashmīrian into Persian by Mawlānā Shāh Muḥammad of Shāhābād. The Mu'jamu'l -Buldān, an excellent work on towns and countries, has been translated from Arabic into Persian by several Arabic scholars, as Mullā Aḥmad of Thathah, Qāsim Beg, Shaykh Munawwar, and others. The Haribās, a book containing the life of Krishna, was translated into Persian by Mawlānā Sherī (Vide the poetical extracts of the second book). By order of His Majesty, the author of this volume composed a new version of the Kalīlah Damnah, and published it under the title of 'Ayār Dānish. The original is a master-piece of practical wisdom, but is full of rhetorical difficulties; and though Naṣru'llah-i Mustawfī and Mawlānā Ḥusain-i Wā'iz had translated it into Persian, their style abounds in rare metaphors and difficult words. The Hindī story of the Love of Nal and Daman, which melts the heart of feeling readers, has been metrically translated by my [S. 113] brother Shaykh Faizi-i Fayyāzī, in the maṣnawī metre of the Layī Majnūn, and is now everywhere known under the title of Nal Daman.

As His Majesty has become acquainted with the treasure of history, he ordered several well informed writers to compose a work containing the events which have taken place in the seven zones for the last one thousand years. Naqīb Khān, and several others, commenced this history. A very large portion was subsequently added by Mullā Aḥmad of Thathah, and the whole concluded by Ja'far Beg-i Āṣaf Khān. The introduction is composed by me. The work has the title of Tarīkh-i Alfī, the History of a thousand years.


The Art of Painting.

Drawing the likeness of anything is called taṣwīr. His Majesty, from his earliest youth, has shewn a great predilection for this art, and gives it every encouragement, as he looks upon it as a means, both of study and amusement. Hence the art flourishes, and many painters have obtained great reputation. The works of all painters are weekly laid before His Majesty by the Dārōghas and the clerks; he then confers rewards according to excellence of workmanship, or increases the monthly salaries. Much progress was made in the commodities required by painters, and the correct prices of such articles were carefully ascertained. The mixture of colours has especially been improved. The pictures thus received a hitherto unknown finish. Most excellent painters are now to be found, and master-pieces, worthy of a Bihzād, may be placed at the side of the wonderful works of the European painters who have attained world-wide fame. The minuteness in detail, the general finish, the boldness of execution, &c., now observed in pictures, are incomparable; even inanimate [S. 114] objects look as if they had life. More than a hundred painters have become famous masters of the art, whilst the number of those who approach perfection, or of those who are middling, is very large. This is especially true of the Hindus: their pictures surpass our conceptions of things. Few, indeed, in the whole world are found equal to them.

Among the forerunners on the high road of art I may mention:

  1. Mīr Sayyid 'Alī of Tabrīz. He learned the art from his father. From the time of his introduction at Court, the ray of royal favour has shone upon him. He has made himself famous in his art, and has met with much success.
     
  2. Khwājah Abdu'ṣ-Ṣamad, styled Shīrīnqalam, or sweet pen. He comes from Shīrāz. Though he had learnt the art before he was made a grandee of the Court, his perfection was mainly due to the wonderful effect of a look of His Majesty, which caused him to turn from that which is form to that which is spirit. From the instruction they received, the Khājah's pupils became masters.
     
  3. Daswanth. He is the son of a palkee-bearer. He devoted his whole life to the art, and used, from love to his profession, to draw and paint figures even on walls. One day the eye of His Majesty fell on him; his talent was discovered, and he himself handed over to the Khājah. In a short time he surpassed all painters, and became the first master of the age. Unfortunately the light of his talents was dimmed by the shadow of madness; he committed suicide. He has left many master-pieces.
     
  4. Basāwan. In back grounding, drawing of features, distribution of colours, portrait painting, and several other branches, he is most excellent, so much so, that many critics prefer him to Daswanth.

The following painters have likewise attained fame: Kesū, Lāl, Mukund, Mushkīn, Farrukh the Qalmāq (Calmuck), Mādhū, Jagan, Mohesh, Khemkaran, Tārā, Sāṃwlah, Haribās, Rām. It would take me too long to describe the excellencies of each. My intention is “to pluck a flower from every meadow, an ear from every sheaf.”

I have to notice that the observing of the figures of objects and the making of likenesses of them, which are often looked upon as an idle occupation, are, for a well regulated mind, a source of wisdom, and an [S. 115] antidote against the poison of ignorance. Bigoted followers of the letter of the law are hostile to the art of painting; but their eyes now see the truth. One day at a private party of friends, His Majesty, who had conferred on several the pleasure of drawing near him, remarked: “There are many that hate painting; but such men I dislike. It appears to me as if a painter had quite peculiar means of recognizing God; for a painter in sketching anything that has life, and in devising its limbs, one after the other, must come to feel that he cannot bestow individuality upon his work, and is thus forced to think of God, the Giver of life, and will thus increase in knowledge.”

The number of master-pieces of painting increased with the encouragement given to the art. Persian books, both prose and poetry, were ornamented with pictures, and a very large number of paintings was thus collected. The Story of Hamzah was represented in twelve volumes, and clever painters made the most astonishing illustrations for no less than one thousand and four hundred passages of the story. The Chingiznāma, the Zafarnāma, this book, the Razmnāma, the Rāmāyan, the Nal Daman, the Kalīlah Damnah, the 'Ayār Dānish, &c., were all illustrated. His Majesty himself sat for his likeness, and also ordered to have the likenesses taken of all the grandees of the realm. An immense album was thus formed: those that have passed away, have received a new life, and those who are still alive, have immortality promised them.

In the same manner, as painters are encouraged, employment is held out to ornamental artists, gilders, line-drawers, and pagers.

Many Manṣabdārs, Ahadīs, and other soldiers, hold appointments in this department. The pay of foot soldiers varies from 1200 to 600 dāms.


Zu: 5. Zum Beispiel: Abū 'l-Faẓl ibn Mubārak <1551 - 1602> (ابو الفضل): Ā’īn-i-Akbarī  (آئین اکبری), II.19.