Namaeh Farhangistan

Namaeh Farhangistan

Muḥammad Rustam Badakhshī and the Role and Position of His Works in Persian Historiography in the Indian Subcontinent

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Hodā Seyyed Hosseinzādeh
Assistant Professor, Academy of Persian Language and Literature, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/nf.2025.540742.1439
Abstract
Mirzā Muḥammad Rustam Ḥārthī Badakhshī (d. 1161 AH/1748 CE) was one of the prominent statesmen, historians, and notable figures of Badakhshan origin in the Indian subcontinent. Among his works, written in Persian and Arabic, the two Persian texts Tārīkh-i Muḥammadi and ʿIbratnāma hold a special place.
This study aims to introduce this lesser-known historian and to examine and analyze the structure and content of these two prominent works, as well as their significance in Persian historiography in the Indian subcontinent. Findings indicate that the author’s familiarity with sources, his systematic and principled method of composition, commitment to producing comprehensive and accurate works, governmental positions that allowed him to witness many events firsthand, and the use of reliable oral sources—all contribute to the uniqueness of these works. His multidimensional perspective on surrounding issues also makes these texts valuable for literary, linguistic, sociological, ethnographic, and geographical studies.
Furthermore, the elegant and fluent Persian prose, along with the incorporation of Hindi, Urdu, Arabic, and even Turkish vocabulary, reflects the author’s mastery of multiple languages and demonstrates the cultural synthesis characteristic of Persian historiography in the Indian subcontinent during this period.
Keywords
Ḥārthī Badakhshī
Tārīkh-i Muḥammadi
ʿIbratnāma
Persian Language
Historiography
Indian Subcontinent

Subjects

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Bakhtāvar Khān, Muhammad (1979), Mirʾāt al-ʿĀlam: Tārīkh-i Aurangzīb, edited with introduction and notes by Sajida S. Alavi, Lahore, Idārah-yi Taḥqīqāt-i Pākistān, University of the Punjab.
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Namaeh Farhangistan
Volume 24, Issue 3 - Serial Number 97
Nameh Farhangestan (Subcontinent)
July and August 2025
Pages 118-134

  • Receive Date 20 February 2025
  • Revise Date 05 March 2025
  • Accept Date 22 May 2025