In fact, the effort of (re-)creating the native dictionary and language for administration was only a revival to undo the imposed foreignization that had begun a century back by the cunning colonizer Jalal-ud-deen Akbar.
Up until the time of Akbar, even the Islami sultanate used to use "Hindavi" (their term) as the language of administration - revenue, accounting, general management etc. Only military terminology was having Arabic-Turkic-Farsi influence, and also the coinage.
Akbar began the initiative of Persianizing the whole administration. He firmly began the efforts of affecting Farsi as the language of elite and literature as well.
Some insights come from the records of the "Munshi-s" - the Hindu administrators -of Khatri and Kayastha jati, who were still employed by all Islami kingdoms due to their efficiency.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Akbar was the first of the Indo-Islamic kings of northern India
formally to declare Persian the language of administration
at all levels, which had not been the case under
the Afghan sultans. The proclamation to this effect was
apparently issued by his famous Khatri revenue minister,
Todar Mal. It was accompanied by a reorganization of
the revenue department as well as the other administrative
departments by the equally famous Iranian noble
Mir Fath-Allah Shirazi. An eighteenth-century historian,
Ghulam Husain Tabaâtabaâi, remembered and recorded
this change thus: âEarlier in India the government accounts
were written in Hindavi according to the Hindu
rule. Raja Todar Mal acquired new regulations [zavabit]
from the scribes [navisindagan] of Iran, and the government
offices then were reorganized as they were there in
vilayat [Iran].â
Persian was thereafter on the ascendant, and it was
not simply the royal household and the court which
came to bear the Iranian impress. As mutasaddis and minor
functionaries, Iranians could be seen everywhere in
government offices, even though they were not in exclusive
control of these positions.
A substantial part of the administration was still carried out by
members of the indigenous Hindu communities who had
hitherto worked in Hindavi: importantly, these communities
soon learned Persian and joined the Iranians as clerks,
scribes, and secretaries (muharrirs and munshis). Their
achievements in the new language were soon recognized
as extraordinary. To this development, Akbarâs reform
in the prevailing madrasah education â again planned and
executed by the Iranian Mir Fath-Allah Shirazi â contributed
considerably. Hindus had already begun to learn
Persian in Sikandar Lodiâs time, and âAbdul Qadir Badayuni
even mentions a Brahman who taught Arabic and
Persian in this period. Akbarâs enlightened policy and
the introduction of secular themes in the syllabi at middle
levels had stimulated a wide interest in Persian
studies. Hindus - Kayasthas and Khatris in particular - joined
madrasahs in large numbers to acquire excellence
in Persian language and literature, which now
promised a good career in the imperial service.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The masters of the Iranian classics obviously
found an appreciative audience even among the middleorder
literati in big and small towns, as well among village-
based revenue officials and other hereditary functionaries
and intermediaries. All Mughal government
papers, from imperial orders (farmans) to bonds and acceptance
letters (muchalkah, tamassuk qabuliyat) that a vil
village intermediary (chaudhuri) wrote were in Persian.
Likewise, there was no bookseller in the bazaars and
streets of Agra, Delhi, and Lahore who did not sell
manuscript anthologies of Persian poetry. Madrasah pupils
were in general familiar with the Persian classics,
and Persian had practically become the first language of
culture in north India.
Those steeped in Persian appropriated
and used Perso-Islamic expressions such as
Bismillah (in the name of Allah), lab-bagur (at the door of
the grave), and ba jahannam rasid (damned in hell) just as
often as their Iranian and non-Iranian Muslim counterparts
did. They would also look for, and appreciate, Persian
renderings of local texts and traditions.
Indeed, many Hindu scriptures and other Indic texts were rendered
into Persian, and these too joined the cultural accessories
of the typical Kayastha or Khatri.20 While we
cannot present a detailed analysis of each of these texts,
at least some of these translations clearly enjoyed circulation
outside the relatively rarefied milieu of the court.
The Making of a Munshi
MUZAFFAR ALAM & SANJAY SUBRAHMANYAM
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Up until the time of Akbar, even the Islami sultanate used to use "Hindavi" (their term) as the language of administration - revenue, accounting, general management etc. Only military terminology was having Arabic-Turkic-Farsi influence, and also the coinage.
Akbar began the initiative of Persianizing the whole administration. He firmly began the efforts of affecting Farsi as the language of elite and literature as well.
Some insights come from the records of the "Munshi-s" - the Hindu administrators -of Khatri and Kayastha jati, who were still employed by all Islami kingdoms due to their efficiency.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Akbar was the first of the Indo-Islamic kings of northern India
formally to declare Persian the language of administration
at all levels, which had not been the case under
the Afghan sultans. The proclamation to this effect was
apparently issued by his famous Khatri revenue minister,
Todar Mal. It was accompanied by a reorganization of
the revenue department as well as the other administrative
departments by the equally famous Iranian noble
Mir Fath-Allah Shirazi. An eighteenth-century historian,
Ghulam Husain Tabaâtabaâi, remembered and recorded
this change thus: âEarlier in India the government accounts
were written in Hindavi according to the Hindu
rule. Raja Todar Mal acquired new regulations [zavabit]
from the scribes [navisindagan] of Iran, and the government
offices then were reorganized as they were there in
vilayat [Iran].â
Persian was thereafter on the ascendant, and it was
not simply the royal household and the court which
came to bear the Iranian impress. As mutasaddis and minor
functionaries, Iranians could be seen everywhere in
government offices, even though they were not in exclusive
control of these positions.
A substantial part of the administration was still carried out by
members of the indigenous Hindu communities who had
hitherto worked in Hindavi: importantly, these communities
soon learned Persian and joined the Iranians as clerks,
scribes, and secretaries (muharrirs and munshis). Their
achievements in the new language were soon recognized
as extraordinary. To this development, Akbarâs reform
in the prevailing madrasah education â again planned and
executed by the Iranian Mir Fath-Allah Shirazi â contributed
considerably. Hindus had already begun to learn
Persian in Sikandar Lodiâs time, and âAbdul Qadir Badayuni
even mentions a Brahman who taught Arabic and
Persian in this period. Akbarâs enlightened policy and
the introduction of secular themes in the syllabi at middle
levels had stimulated a wide interest in Persian
studies. Hindus - Kayasthas and Khatris in particular - joined
madrasahs in large numbers to acquire excellence
in Persian language and literature, which now
promised a good career in the imperial service.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The masters of the Iranian classics obviously
found an appreciative audience even among the middleorder
literati in big and small towns, as well among village-
based revenue officials and other hereditary functionaries
and intermediaries. All Mughal government
papers, from imperial orders (farmans) to bonds and acceptance
letters (muchalkah, tamassuk qabuliyat) that a vil
village intermediary (chaudhuri) wrote were in Persian.
Likewise, there was no bookseller in the bazaars and
streets of Agra, Delhi, and Lahore who did not sell
manuscript anthologies of Persian poetry. Madrasah pupils
were in general familiar with the Persian classics,
and Persian had practically become the first language of
culture in north India.
Those steeped in Persian appropriated
and used Perso-Islamic expressions such as
Bismillah (in the name of Allah), lab-bagur (at the door of
the grave), and ba jahannam rasid (damned in hell) just as
often as their Iranian and non-Iranian Muslim counterparts
did. They would also look for, and appreciate, Persian
renderings of local texts and traditions.
Indeed, many Hindu scriptures and other Indic texts were rendered
into Persian, and these too joined the cultural accessories
of the typical Kayastha or Khatri.20 While we
cannot present a detailed analysis of each of these texts,
at least some of these translations clearly enjoyed circulation
outside the relatively rarefied milieu of the court.
The Making of a Munshi
MUZAFFAR ALAM & SANJAY SUBRAHMANYAM
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->