Addressing a seminar on “Amir Khusrau and his Contribution to Persian and Indian Culture” in Mumbai hosted by Department of Persian Language in University of Mumbai on Wednesday, he noted “For hundreds of years, Persian held sway not only as a language of administration but lingua franca and high culture across the subcontinent and played a role very similar to the one English does in modern India. “
He further said “For about eight centuries Persian represented the strongest factor in the unity and coherence of the Muslims of the subcontinent.”
He said that the profusion of traditions and beliefs in India provided a fertile ground for poets and writers who used the potentials of Persian and its range and malleability to the full in exploiting these initially discordant features.
Every branch of Persian literature was present in India. The amount of Persian literature composed in the Indian subcontinent up to the 19th century is larger than that produced in Iran during the same period.
“In the field of sciences, it was particularly in India that Persian language became widely used as a means of scientific transmission—a role that in the Muslim world was traditionally given to Arabic. According to a first partial survey of the manuscripts concerning scientific issues conserved in the Indian libraries, 1,671 works are in Persian, whereas 1,219 are in Arabic. Between the 16th and 18th centuries, India witnessed a renaissance of scientific studies, by that time declining elsewhere in the Muslim world. A main result was the production of important Sanskrit-Persian technical dictionaries. This was the case with regard to mathematics, astronomy and medicine.”
Noting that “Indo-Persian also contributed tremendously to the religious literature field,” he aded “India had been a favourite destination of Muslim Sufis and missionaries from early times, with some important brotherhoods taking root there.”
Ahmadi went on to highlight that “among all the brilliant aspects comes the literary- narrative aspect of Persian language. It was in India that a new development of great significance in the history of Persian narrative poetry first appeared.”
Referring to the revitalization of language as well as Indo-Persian culture, the diplomat said: “It is a pity that the current generations have kept themselves away from the vast treasure troves of Persian literature preserved in various libraries and archives in Bengal. The Persian language and literature deserves such a consideration and promotion. From a wider perspective it may change the world outlook through understanding, peace and love.”
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