This book discusses the origin and growth of Indo-Persian historiography with specific emphasis on India's contribution to the literary heritage of the Persian world. The relative merit of some of the works discussed in this book have been analysed in the context of contemporary works/narratives produced in neighbouring countries.
Indo-Persian Historiography up to the Thirteenth Century evaluates the important change that the writing of history underwent as it developed within the Indian environment. Besides a discussion of the methods employed by the early Indo-Persian historians, the book focuses on certain facts that have escaped the attention of modern scholars. Also, for the first time, an important contemporary work, Awfi's Jawami’ul-Hikayat-wa-Livam‘ul-Rivaayat has been examined and exploited for its importance as a source for the study of the history of the social and political developments in the Islamic world.
The volume is a pioneering work insofar as it attempts to study the social background and the religious and political ideals of each of the writers included in this book. It aims to fill an important gap in medieval Indo-Persian historiography as it assesses the history of history writing by immigrant and Indian scholars. |