Writing Self, Writing Empire
Writing Self, Writing Empire examines the life, career, and writings of the Mughal state secretary, or munshi, Chandar Bhan Brahman (d. ca. 1670), one of the great Indo-Persian poets and prose stylists of early modern South Asia. Chandar Bhan’s life spanned the reigns of four emperors: Akbar (1556–1...
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| Format: | Online |
| Sprache: | Englisch |
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University of California Press
2021
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| Online-Zugang: | OCN: 923818582 |
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| _version_ | 1869514072810061824 |
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| author | Kinra, Rajeev |
| author_browse | Kinra, Rajeev |
| author_facet | Kinra, Rajeev |
| author_sort | Kinra, Rajeev |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| description | Writing Self, Writing Empire examines the life, career, and writings of the Mughal state secretary, or munshi, Chandar Bhan Brahman (d. ca. 1670), one of the great Indo-Persian poets and prose stylists of early modern South Asia. Chandar Bhan’s life spanned the reigns of four emperors: Akbar (1556–1605), Jahangir (1605–1627), Shah Jahan (1628–1658), and Aurangzeb ‘Alamgir (1658–1707), the last of the “Great Mughals” whose courts dominated the culture and politics of the subcontinent at the height of the empire’s power, territorial reach, and global influence. Chandar Bhan was a high-caste Hindu who worked for a series of Muslim monarchs and other officials, forming powerful friendships along the way; his experience bears vivid testimony to the pluralistic atmosphere of the Mughal court, particularly during the reign of Shah Jahan, the celebrated builder of the Taj Mahal. But his widely circulated and emulated works also touch on a range of topics central to our understanding of the court’s literary, mystical, administrative, and ethical cultures, while his letters and autobiographical writings provide tantalizing examples of early modern Indo-Persian modes of self-fashioning. Chandar Bhan’s oeuvre is a valuable window onto a crucial, though surprisingly neglected, period of Mughal cultural and political history. “Adds significant depth to our understanding of the intellectual and cultural atmosphere of the Mughal court at its height.” -RICHARD M. EATON, author of A Social History of the Deccan, 1300–1761 “The fullest study so far of the understudied phenomenon of Hindu writers of Persian. Through the prism of Chandar Bhan’s writings, Rajeev Kinra presents a holistic treatment of the cultural concerns of the Mughal empire’s Hindu ‘men of the pen.’” -NILE GREEN, author of Making Space: Sufis and Settlers in Early Modern India RAJEEV KINRA is Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Northwestern University. |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-26489 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publishDateRange | 2021 |
| publishDateSort | 2021 |
| publisher | University of California Press |
| publisherStr | University of California Press |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-264892025-07-30T08:59:12Z Writing Self, Writing Empire Kinra, Rajeev Biography & Autobiography General Poetry Asian General History Asia India & South Asia thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DN Biography and non-fiction prose::DNB Biography: general thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DC Poetry thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHF Asian history thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DN Biography and non-fiction prose::DNB Biography: general thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DC Poetry thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHF Asian history Writing Self, Writing Empire examines the life, career, and writings of the Mughal state secretary, or munshi, Chandar Bhan Brahman (d. ca. 1670), one of the great Indo-Persian poets and prose stylists of early modern South Asia. Chandar Bhan’s life spanned the reigns of four emperors: Akbar (1556–1605), Jahangir (1605–1627), Shah Jahan (1628–1658), and Aurangzeb ‘Alamgir (1658–1707), the last of the “Great Mughals” whose courts dominated the culture and politics of the subcontinent at the height of the empire’s power, territorial reach, and global influence. Chandar Bhan was a high-caste Hindu who worked for a series of Muslim monarchs and other officials, forming powerful friendships along the way; his experience bears vivid testimony to the pluralistic atmosphere of the Mughal court, particularly during the reign of Shah Jahan, the celebrated builder of the Taj Mahal. But his widely circulated and emulated works also touch on a range of topics central to our understanding of the court’s literary, mystical, administrative, and ethical cultures, while his letters and autobiographical writings provide tantalizing examples of early modern Indo-Persian modes of self-fashioning. Chandar Bhan’s oeuvre is a valuable window onto a crucial, though surprisingly neglected, period of Mughal cultural and political history. “Adds significant depth to our understanding of the intellectual and cultural atmosphere of the Mughal court at its height.” -RICHARD M. EATON, author of A Social History of the Deccan, 1300–1761 “The fullest study so far of the understudied phenomenon of Hindu writers of Persian. Through the prism of Chandar Bhan’s writings, Rajeev Kinra presents a holistic treatment of the cultural concerns of the Mughal empire’s Hindu ‘men of the pen.’” -NILE GREEN, author of Making Space: Sufis and Settlers in Early Modern India RAJEEV KINRA is Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Northwestern University. 2021-02-10T13:03:31Z 2021-02-10T13:03:31Z 2020-12-15T13:51:52Z 2015 book OCN: 923818582 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/43711 9780520961685 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/26489 eng open access image/png image/png image/png n/a n/a n/a https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/43711/1/external_content.epub https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/43711/1/external_content.epub https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/43711/1/external_content.epub University of California Press University of California Press https://doi.org/10.1525/luminos.3 https://doi.org/10.1525/luminos.3 19856893-4bf2-4e3e-9137-c7692d64e4c1 Knowledge Unlatched 9780520961685 Knowledge Unlatched (KU) University of California Press open access |
| spellingShingle | Biography & Autobiography General Poetry Asian General History Asia India & South Asia thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DN Biography and non-fiction prose::DNB Biography: general thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DC Poetry thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHF Asian history thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DN Biography and non-fiction prose::DNB Biography: general thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DC Poetry thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHF Asian history Kinra, Rajeev Writing Self, Writing Empire |
| title | Writing Self, Writing Empire |
| title_full | Writing Self, Writing Empire |
| title_fullStr | Writing Self, Writing Empire |
| title_full_unstemmed | Writing Self, Writing Empire |
| title_short | Writing Self, Writing Empire |
| title_sort | writing self writing empire |
| topic | Biography & Autobiography General Poetry Asian General History Asia India & South Asia thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DN Biography and non-fiction prose::DNB Biography: general thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DC Poetry thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHF Asian history thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DN Biography and non-fiction prose::DNB Biography: general thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DC Poetry thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHF Asian history |
| topic_facet | Biography & Autobiography General Poetry Asian General History Asia India & South Asia thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DN Biography and non-fiction prose::DNB Biography: general thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DC Poetry thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHF Asian history thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DN Biography and non-fiction prose::DNB Biography: general thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DC Poetry thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHF Asian history |
| url | OCN: 923818582 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kinrarajeev writingselfwritingempire |