A Sixteenth-century Exercise in Prosimetrum: Abu’l Fazl’s Deployment of Finely Crafted Persian Poetry in His Court-chronicle, Akbarnama

This article looks at the interesting cases of deployment of some fine samples of Persian poetry in a highly ornate sixteenth-century court-chronicle, Akbarnama of Abu’l Fazl. Intellectual companion and minister of the formidable early modern Indian ruler of the Mughal dynasty, Jalal-ud-Din Muhammad Akbar, Abu’l Fazl frequently interspersed his prose text with verses from medieval Persian masters and also of his elder brother Abu’l Faiz Faizi. The poetical compositions elucidate and sum up what Abu’l Fazl articulated in his detailed and complex narrative. The article especially presents Persian couplets which refer to such important themes and issues as the need to speak out against political turmoil, justification of violence in suppressing revolts, value of loyalty and faithfulness towards the ruler, and celebration of magnificence and grandeur attached to the Mughal rule in India. The somewhat aggressive articulation of Mughal power under Akbar sometimes reduces it to something like a state-sponsored and powerful political propaganda. Yet the intellectual and political value of the mammoth project cannot be ignored. Samples of fine Persian poetry add to the literary excellence, charm and affect.