Medieval Indo-Persian Literature relating to Hindu Science and Philosophy, 1000‑1800 A.D.

Summary

Presented as a bibliographical survey; this paper catalogues Persian translations and adaptations of Hindu works on science and philosophy produced between A.D. 1000 and 1800. The author introduces the survey by emphasising that mutual intellectual influence between Hindus and Muslims during the medieval period can only be assessed when the texts themselves are known. After noting the large quantity of Persian manuscript literature and Sir William Jones’s criticism that Mughal translators often paraphrased rather than translated Sanskrit texts; the article explains that the compiled index is essentially an inventory of titles gathered from manuscript catalogues worldwide. The entries are divided into two parts: the first lists explicit translations from Sanskrit sources; while the second includes independent Persian treatises and compendia that draw on Hindu learning. Each entry gives the Persian title; subject area; compiler or translator (when known); approximate date; and references to catalogues where complete copies may be consulted. The categories cover law; society and government; music and the arts; philosophy—including Yogic and Vedantic literature and Sufi interpretations of pantheism; sciences such as astronomy and medicine; and miscellanies on divination; magic and occult sciences. Examples include a description of Fakhr al‑Dīn Muḥammad’s ‘Tuḥfat al‑Hind’ on the arts and sciences; a Persian compendium of Hindu law; catalogues of musical treatises like ‘Rāgamālā’; philosophical works synthesising Yogavāśiṣṭha and the Bhagavad Gītā; and medical encyclopaedias such as ‘Jāmiʿ al‑Qawānīn‑i Hindī’. The index also records lesser‑known tracts on Indian astronomy; tantric mysticism; pantheism; and comparative religion. By specifying the locations of surviving manuscripts—Asiatic Society of Bengal; Bankipur Public Library; Bodleian; Cambridge University Library and others—the survey provides researchers with starting points for locating source materials. Although it acknowledges that many entries lack precise dates or authorial details; the compilation offers the first systematic overview of Indo‑Persian literature on Hindu subjects and invites further study into the nature and reception of these works within Indo‑Islamic intellectual history.