SCHWARTZ KEVIN L. EDINBURGH HISTORICAL STUDIES Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, OF IRAN AND THE PERSIAN WORLD sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat Remapping Persian Literary History, 1700–1900 Remapping cupidatat non proident. Cupidatat in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.” Persian Literary Section 1.10.32 of “de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum”, written by Cicero in 45 BC History, “Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque 1700–1900 ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Kevin L.Schwartz Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo voluptas nulla pariatur?” Cover image: © The British Library Board, Tarjūmah-’ al-Masālik wa al-Mamālik in Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm b. Muḥammad al-FārisīManuscript No or BL Shelfmark: IO Islamic 1026 KEVIN L. Cover design: Rebecca Mackenzie and Stuart Dalziel SCHWARTZ Remapping Persian Literary History, 1700–1900 Edinburgh Historical Studies of Iran and the Persian World Published in association with Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali, Founder and Chair, Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute Series General Editor: Stephanie Cronin, Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Research Fellow, University of Oxford Series Advisory Board: Professor Janet Afary (UC Santa Barbara), Professor Abbas Amanat (Yale University), Professor Touraj Atabaki (International Institute of Social History), Dr Joanna de Groot (University of York), Professor Vanessa Martin (Royal Holloway, University of London), Professor Rudi Matthee (University of Delaware), Professor Cyrus Schayegh (The Graduate Institute, Geneva) Covering the history of Iran and the Persian world from the medieval period to the present, this series aims to become the pre-eminent place for publication in this field. As well as its core concern with Iran, it extends its concerns to encompass a much wider and more loosely defined cultural and linguistic world, to include Afghanistan, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Xinjiang and northern India. Books in the series present a range of conceptual and methodological approaches, looking not only at states, dynasties and elites, but at subalterns, minorities and everyday life. Published and forthcoming titles Religion, Orientalism and Modernity: The Case of the Babis and Baha’is in Iran Geoffrey Nash Remapping Persian Literary History, 1700–1900 Kevin L. Schwartz Muslim–Christian Polemics in Safavid Iran Alberto Tiburcio edinburghuniversitypress.com/series/ehsipw Remapping Persian Literary History, 1700–1900 Kevin L. Schwartz For Sage and Ansel Edinburgh University Press is one of the leading university presses in the UK. We publish academic books and journals in our selected subject areas across the humanities and social sciences, combining cutting-edge scholarship with high editorial and production values to produce academic works of lasting importance. For more information visit our website: edinburghuniversitypress.com © Kevin L. Schwartz, 2020 Edinburgh University Press Ltd The Tun – Holyrood Road 12 (2f) Jackson’s Entry Edinburgh EH8 8PJ Typeset in 11/15 Adobe Garamond by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire, and printed and bound in Great Britain A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 4744 5084 3 (hardback) ISBN 978 1 4744 5086 7 (webready PDF) ISBN 978 1 4744 5087 4 (epub) The right of Kevin L. Schwartz to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 (SI No. 2498). Contents List of Figures vi Acknowledgements vii Note on Transliteration and Translation xi Introduction 1 1 Remembering Iran, Forgetting the Persianate: Persian Literary Historiography of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries 35 2 Reformation and Reconstruction of Poetic Networks: Isfahan c.1722–1801 81 3 A Market for the Masters: Afghanistan c.1839–1842 124 4 Debating Poetry on the Edge of the Persianate World: Arcot c.1850 163 Conclusion 202 Bibliography 208 Index 230 Figures 2.1 The Isfahani Circle of poets associated with Mushtaq’s literary society 101 2.2 Expansion of the Isfahani Circle of poets under the patronage of Mirza ʿAbd al-Wahhab 101 2.3 Literary bonds among the Isfahani Circle of poets 105 3.1 Cover of Hamid Allah Kashmiri’s Book of Akbar (Akbarnama) published by the Historical Society of Afghanistan in 1951–2 126 3.2 Cover of War Ballad ( Jangnama) by ‘Ghulami’ published by the Historical Society of Afghanistan in 1957 127 3.3 Frontispiece of Munshi ʿAbd al-Karim’s Battle of Kabul and Qandahar (Muharaba-yi Kabul va Qandahar), lithographed at Lucknow 1850–1 149 3.4 Market-place of Anglo-Afghan war-ballads and other Persian imitations of the Shahanama in nineteenth-century Afghanistan and South Asia 155 4.1 Portrait of the last Nawab of Arcot, Muhammad Ghaws Khan Bahadur ‘Aʿzam’ (d. 1855) 168 4.2 General overview of the literary networks of Carnatic as reconstructed from the biographical anthology of Persian Poets, Binish’s Notices (1848–9) 173 4.3 Network map of instructional and family connections among poets in nineteenth-century Carnatic 178 4.4 Network map of poetic instruction in nineteenth-century Carnatic and the isolation of the poet Vasif 181 Acknowledgements The transregional expanse and cultural reach of the Persianate world may not be what it once was, but networks of camaraderie, scholarship and exchange have remained available to a Persianist exploring its historical fea- tures, whether at Berkeley or inside the Beltway, across libraries and archives, during springtime in Washington, DC or winter in Prague. The route from Isfahan to Delhi – or any other of the myriad routes frequently traversed by Persian poets and littérateurs of a bygone era – it was not, but one of discovery, wandering, enrichment and distraction nonetheless. At the University of California, Berkeley, I was fortunate to have a series of mentors and friends who inspired me to pursue this project from its earliest days and helped shape its completion: Wali Ahmadi, whose ways of prob- lematising the categories of literary history and rethinking the boundaries of Persian literary belonging drew me to Berkeley in the first place; Hamid Algar, who taught me that one’s scholarly sensibilities are defined as much by the accumulation of knowledge as by the ability and willingness to effectively share it; and Munis Faruqui, who reminded me that addressing complex historiographical questions is only worthwhile if one can do so in a practical and clear manner. During the course of completing this project, I benefited from several sources of institutional support. My year as a Social Science Research Council Transregional Fellow, spent in residence at Roshan Institute for Persian Studies at the University of Maryland, provided me with the opportunity to connect and converse with like-minded colleagues studying the Persianate world. Many thanks to Ahmet Karamustafa, Fatemeh Keshavarz, Matt Miller and the participants of my workshop, ‘Wide World of Persian: Connections and Contestations, 1500–Today’, for the many wonderful conversations and viii | remapping persian literary history enriching insights. To Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, I am grateful for your men- torship during that year and all the guidance that has followed since. The Library of Congress in Washington, DC, as will be clear from the opening pages of the Introduction, is about as dear to me as any place could be. I am grateful to the entire staff of the African and Middle East Division, led by the grace and guidance of Mary-Jane Deeb, who provided me with an unending amount of research assistance over the years. My thanks to Hirad Dinavari, who, in addition to supporting my research in every possible way, always welcomed me to the library like I was coming home. For a wonderful year at the Kluge Center as a Research Fellow, my thanks to Travis Hensley, Mary Lou Reker, Ted Widmer and my fellow cohort for providing such an enjoyable and active scholarly environment amid chaotic times. New colleagues at the Oriental Institute of the Czech Academy Sciences welcomed me to Prague with open arms. Ondřej Beránek and Jan Zouplna helped make the transition across the Atlantic an easy one and remain great advocates of my research. Stefano Taglia, since the first days of my arrival, has offered indispensable advice and, just as importantly, ensured that I’ve grasped the finer points of Italian coffee-making. Táňa Dluhošová and Lenka Starkova went to great lengths to teach me about digital mapping and to help me visualise my research in new and exciting ways. For all your patience, especially when my data sets were a mess and I had no idea what I wanted to achieve, I am grateful. A cast of colleagues and interlocutors have provided critical insights, commentary and encouragement at crucial moments over the years, without which this project would not have come to fruition. Aria Fani has been a valu- able voice in pushing me to explore new directions in my work while keeping me moored to my truest beliefs.