KARACHI: The Persian language and religious knowledge were the two pillars of Iranian influence in South Asia which reached its zenith in the mid-19th century, said Dr Francis Robinson, professor of the history of South Asia in Royal Holloway University of London, at the Pakistan Institute of International Affairs in his presentation on ‘Iranian influences on South Asia’ on Saturday.

Dr Robinson divided his presentation into four sections — power, people and Iranian influence in South Asia; pillars of Iranian influence in the 16th and 17th centuries; pillars of Iranian influence in the 18th and 19th centuries; decline of Iranian influence.

“The assertion of the Mughal Empire in South Asia allowed massive extension of Iranian influence. With the Mughals starting from Babur right up to Aurangzeb, there was a great influence of Persianate culture. For instance, Jehangir commissioned two paintings that were allegorical which depicted his relationship with Shah Abbas, the Safavid king of Iran in which Jehangir is shown in a higher position.” Leading Iranian painters majorly influenced Mughal art.

According to the author of The Mughal Emperor and the Islamic Dynasties of India, Iran and Central Asia, the key source of Iranian influence during the Mughal Empire was the large number of Iranians who flocked to serve in the Mughal court. “Akbar, illiterate or dyslexic, we are not really sure, surrounded himself with 168 poets who mostly read out Persian couplets. He also composed verses in Persian. He was also the first to institute the post of poet laureate which was dominated by Iranian poets.”

Coming to the two pillars of Iranian influence in the 16th and 17th centuries, he spoke at length of the ascent of Persian during that periods: “Hindavi was the language of the administration and Sufis, but Akbar changed this and formally declared Persian to be the language of the administration. From higher officials to the lower court, from zamindars to the common soldier and from royal farmans to village paperwork everyone began to use Persian.”

Dr Robinson dispelled the myth that Persian at the time was only confined to the Muslims and said that many Hindus loved Persian and gained mastery of the language. He cited an example of a letter written by a Hindu man to his son recommending great Persian works by the likes of Tabriz and Saadi among many others to make his language elegant.

“Islamic knowledge, particularly madrassah learning, also got a powerful injection of Persian knowledge, particularly in rational knowledge or Maqulat during Akbar’s time.”

He then went on to discuss the Iranian influence in the 18th and 19th centuries, dismissing another perception that with the rise of non-Muslim powers such as Sikhs and Marathas that the Iranian influences would have come to an end. “Far from it, they continued to be patronised till the 19th century. Sikhs, Marathas and the British used Persian as their official language. Arguably, Persian came to be widely used as never before. Hindu historiography in Persian reached its peak. Moreover, Hindus dominated in the learning of Persian grammar.”

Finally, he spoke on the rapid crumbling of these influences which he said were due to several factors. “Iranian influence declined with shocking speed starting from the 1820s partly due to the British empire and partly because of the increasing rejection of Iranian models in South Asia. The South Asian elites realised that to go forward in the British empire they had to abandon old ways and adopt aspects of the Arab model. The elites also realised that to do this they need to build their constituencies by encouraging indigenous languages.”

With the rise of sanskritised Bengali, popularity of Bulleh Shah’s poetry and the rise of Urdu, all these challenged the Persian language. The final nail in the coffin came when the British abandoned Persian for English at higher administrative level and vernacular for lower levels.

“Till 1883 in Hyderabad Deccan and 1889 in Kashmir Persian continued to be used as the state language,” he said.