It is a significant fact in the history of the Persian language and literature that
India has played as great a Ale in producing a mass of literature as her sister -
country, Persia, the original home of that language. It is equally significant to note
that, whereas our knowledge of the history of Persian literature produced in Persia is
quite up-to -date ,the great contribution of India is sinking into oblivion. Even though
the private libraries of Indians contain works, ranging from the unique manuscripts
down to the bazaar editions of the works of their own ancestors, the knowledge of the
average Indian student covers only a few monographs and biographical works in Urdu or
English on the poets and prose -writers of that country. The Shi'r al -'Ajam of Shibli
Nu'mani, written in Urdu is the only critical study,but as the title indicates,it
deals with the poets of Persia and includes only two poets of Indian origin, Amir Khusrau
Dihlavi and Faydi ,to the exclusion of even Mas'úd- i- Sa'd -i- Selman ,the Rudegi of
India. The only work in English which deals with the Persian Literature of 1ughal
India is , A History of Persian Language and Literature at the Mughal Court, Babur- Akbar,
by Muhammad 'Abdu'l Ghani . It is more descriptive than critical, and therefore,
approaches the standard of the College text book,and as such it is very useful.I am not aware of any published work in English which deals with the 'Ilm al- Insha',
or more precisely, with Epistolary Composition in Persian, and that, so far as I could
discover,has formed a systematic study of that art. But the present dissertation,it is
submitted, is the first humble attempt in that direction. " The Mughal Contribution to
Persian Epistolography, Babur- Shah Japan ",is as much an original topic, as it is the first
of its kind to fill a long gap in the history of Persian literature produced in Mughal
India. At the same time it forms a systematic study of the Secretarial Art,the development
of Dar al-Insha and the long -felt discussion of the Sabk-i-Hindi or the Indian style of Persian prose. Owing to the growing tendency to unearth materials from the
original documents and State papers sunk into the dust of centuries,for the
re- orientation of the knowledge of I uslim History in India, it becomes at the same
time a more urgent task to examine those materials in the correct light. The main
need is for a systematic study to ascertain the correct position, classification and
denomination of the rescripts and epistles, original or copies. One often meets a
Nishán, the princely Order,introduced in the garb of a Royal Farman of the Emperor.
It is,therefore, hoped that the present work may form a guiding link for a further
study in that direction in India
