Remapping Persian Literary History, 1700-1900

An integrative multi-regional account of Persian literary history on the cusp of the modern period

• Assesses the manner in which a major Iranian nationalist motif has dominated the writing of Persian literary history
• Recovers marginalised communities and trends in Persian literary culture in Afghanistan and South Asia
• Provides 3 cases (Iran, Afghanistan, and South Asia) to offer an integrative retelling of trends in Persian literary culture in the 18th and 19th century
• Bridges the gap between Middle Eastern and South Asian studies by privileging a multi-regional frame over a regional studies one
• Creatively uses tadhkiras (biographical anthologies) to reconstruct Iranian nationalist historiography, poetic networks and literary debates
• Uses digital maps to visualise social and literary networks and textual production

Integrating forgotten tales of literary communities across Iran, Afghanistan and South Asia – at a time when Islamic empires were fracturing and new state formations were emerging – this book offers a more global understanding of Persian literary culture in the 18th and 19th centuries. It challenges the manner in which Iranian nationalism has infiltrated Persian literary history writing and recovers the multi-regional breadth and vibrancy of a global lingua franca connecting peoples and places across Islamic Eurasia.

Focusing on 3 case studies (18th-century Isfahan, a small court in South India and the literary climate of the Anglo-Afghan war), it reveals the literary and cultural ties that bound this world together as well as some of the trends that broke it apart.