Persian Language and Literature Studies in the Indian Subcontinent (2): Several Newly Found Sources on the Political-Cultural History of Sindh and Makran
Document Type : pajoohesh
Authors
10.22081/jap.2026.80047
Abstract
This article introduces several newly found sources concerning the political and cultural history of the Sindh and Makran regions during the 6th and 7th centuries AH (12th–13th centuries CE). Based on his codicological research, the author examines five important sources: the Persian translation of the ‛Awārif al-Ma‛ārif by Qāsim Dāwūd Khaṭīb-i Uchih, the Dīwān of ‛Amīd Lūyakī, the letter (maktūb) of Ghāzān Khān to Shaykh Rukn al-Dīn Multānī, the Qaṣāʾid of Badīʿī Turkū Sīstānī, and the Dīwān of Sirājī Khurāsānī. These sources offer new information about lesser-known rulers such as Tāj al-Dīn Abū Bakr b. Kabīr Khān Aiyāz in Sindh and Tāj al-Dīn Abū l-Makārim in Makran. They also demonstrate the existence of semi-independent polities in these regions that exhibited Ṣūfī inclinations and Persianate cultural orientations. Through a critical analysis of the manuscripts and historical references, the article emphasizes that these works are among the earliest evidence for the spread of Persian language and culture in the Indian subcontinent. Their study can illuminate previously unknown dimensions of the region’s political, cultural, and literary history.
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