https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Abd_al-Karim_KashmiriAbd al-Karim Kashmiri - Revision history2026-08-08T02:54:41ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Abd_al-Karim_Kashmiri&diff=484162&oldid=prevRspalmora at 17:04, 8 December 20252025-12-08T17:04:02Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|18th century Indo-Persian historian}}<br />
{{Infobox writer<br />
| name = Abd al-Karim Kashmiri<br />
| image =<br />
| caption =<br />
| birth_date =<br />
| birth_place = [[Kashmir]]<br />
| death_date = 1784<br />
| death_place =<br />
| pseudonym =<br />
| movement = <br />
| occupation = Historian<br />
| notable_works = ''Bayan-e vaqe''<br />
| children =<br />
| relatives =<br />
}}<br />
'''Abd al-Karim Kashmiri''' (died 1784) was an [[Indo-Persian]] historian who wrote the ''Bayan-e vaqe'', a [[Persian literature|Persian]] chronicle mostly focused on the life of the [[Afsharid dynasty|Afsharid]] [[shah]] (king) of [[Afsharid Iran|Iran]], [[Nader Shah]] ({{reign|1736|1747}}).<br />
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== Biography ==<br />
Abd al-Karim Kashmiri's early life is largely unknown.{{sfn|Kia|2009|p=211 (see note 4)}} An [[Indo-Persian]]{{sfn|Shafi|1960}} from [[Kashmir]], Abd al-Karim Kashmiri was a resident of [[Shahjahanabad]] (Old Delhi) when the [[Afsharid Iran|Iranian]] [[shah]] (king) [[Nader Shah]] ({{reign|1736|1747}}) of the [[Afsharid dynasty]] [[Nader Shah's invasion of India|invaded the city]] in 1739. He started working for Nader Shah as a clerk and traveled with him back to Iran in order to make the pilgrimage to [[Mecca]] and see the tombs of Muslim saints. Following multiple expeditions in the [[Punjab]], [[Sindh]], [[Afghanistan]], [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]], [[Transoxania]], [[Khwarazm]], and other regions, Nader Shah eventually arrived in the city of [[Qazvin]] in 1741.{{sfn|Maqbul Ahmad|1982|p=125}} At that point, Abd al-Karim Kashmiri along with Nader Shah's physician [[Alavi Shirazi]] left travel to Mecca.{{sfn|Maqbul Ahmad|1982|p=125}}{{sfn|Kia|2009|p=226}} He stopped at [[Aleppo]], [[Karbala]], and other locations along the route. After making the pilgrimage, he traveled by water from [[Jeddah]] to the port of [[Calcutta]], arriving back in Delhi in 1743. He died in 1784.{{sfn|Maqbul Ahmad|1982|p=125}}<br />
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== ''Bayan-e vaqe'' ==<br />
It was after his return to Delhi that Abd al-Karim Kashmiri started writing his ''Bayan-e vaqe'',{{sfn|Kia|2020|p=xix}} which mostly focused on the life of Nader Shah, but also mentions events during his travels.{{sfn|Maqbul Ahmad|1982|p=125}} His work is based on his personal observations as well as previously published histories from figures such as the Iranian historian [[Hazin Lahiji]], and oral accounts from people Abd al-Karim Kashmiri considered trustworthy, including Alavi Shirazi, Mirza Ali Akbar, and other members of Nader Shah's entourage.{{sfn|Kia|2009|p=212}} Numerous [[Persian language|Persian]] manuscript copies in India, Iran, and Britain, as well as an English translation shortly after the text's publication, attest to the widespread circulation of the ''Bayan-e vaqe'' in both Persian and English language societies.{{sfn|Kia|2009|p=211}}<br />
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Although not a poet, a Persian Hindustani like Abd al-Karim Kashmiri was exposed to the same literary collection of tropes and figures as Hazin, despite [[Persian literature]] being increasingly focused on a smaller selection of classical works considered essential or authoritative from the late 18th-century. Persian literary characters and figures—from poets to heroes, monarchs, statesmen, mystics, and lovers—appear in both of their works. Abd al-Karim Kashmiri illustrates his arguments with couplets from many poets, including [[Saadi Shirazi]], [[Rumi]], and [[Hafez]], and with references to the ''[[Shahnameh]]'' and ''[[Khosrow and Shirin]]'' legends.{{sfn|Kia|2009|pp=232–233}}<br />
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Abd al-Karim Kashmiri and Hazin held many of the same opinions despite their differences. They both considered the invasion of their own kingdoms and cities to be tragedies. They both hold similar historical assessments, including a dislike and contempt for Nader Shah, a feeling of political disintegration in their own kingdoms, disaster in the surrounding areas, and an appreciation of Europeans. Abd al-Karim Kashmiri and Hazin expressed similar cultural values and used historical comparisons to make ethical and recurring judgments about politics and culture, often emphasizing themes of loyalty and friendship. Because they shared a common Persian cultural tradition, they could use and adapt the same literary texts to reflect different or even opposing views on cultural values and historical interpretations.{{sfn|Kia|2009|p=235}}<br />
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== References ==<br />
{{reflist|2}}<br />
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== Sources ==<br />
{{sfn whitelist|CITEREFMaqbul_Ahmad1982}}<br />
* {{cite journal |last=Kia|first=Mana|title=Accounting for Difference: A Comparative Look at the Autobiographical Travel Narratives of Hazin Lāhiji and 'Abd-al-Karim Kashmiri<br />
|journal=[[Journal of Persianate Studies]]|publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |date=2009|volume=2|issue=2 |pages=210–236|doi=10.1163/187470909X12535030823814 }}<br />
* {{cite book |title= Persianate Selves: Memories of Place and Origin Before Nationalism |first=Mana |last=Kia|publisher=Stanford University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gufeDwAAQBAJ|year=2020|isbn=978-1503611955}}<br />
* {{Encyclopædia Iranica Online|url=https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/entries/EIRO/COM-4315.xml|title=ʿAbd-al-Karīm Kašmīrī|first=S.|last=Maqbul Ahmad|year=1982}}<br />
* {{EI2|last=Shafi|first=Muhammad|volume=1|title=ʿAbd al-Karīm Kas̲h̲mīrī|url=https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/entries/EIEO/SIM-0100.xml}}<br />
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[[Category:18th-century Persian-language writers]]<br />
[[Category:People from Kashmir]]<br />
[[Category:1784 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:18th-century Indian historians]]</div>Rspalmora