In the year 1574, the Mughal Emperor Akbar made a decision that would have been unthinkable for a Muslim ruler of his time: he ordered the translation of the Mahabharata, a sacred Hindu epic containing tales of gods, demons, and war, into the Persian language of his court. This was not a casual literary exercise but a calculated political and spiritual strategy to bridge the widening gap between his Muslim ruling class and the vast Hindu majority of his empire. Akbar established a Maktab Khana, or House of Translation, in his newly built capital of Fatehpur Sikri, gathering scholars from both faiths to work on texts that had never before been brought into dialogue. The project began with the Rajatarangini, the Ramayana, and the Mahabharata, but it was the latter that would become the most ambitious and controversial undertaking of his reign. Akbar's personal involvement was intense; he would sit for hours explaining the meaning of the Sanskrit verses to his translators, ensuring that the spiritual and philosophical nuances were not lost in the transition from one language to another. This was a radical departure from the traditional Islamic view of Hindu texts as mere fables, and it signaled a new era of syncretism in the Mughal court.
The Collaborative Translation Process
The translation of the Mahabharata into Persian was a complex, multi-layered process that required the collaboration of Hindu scholars and Muslim theologians. The work began with Hindu scholars such as Deva Miśra, Śatāvadhāna, Madhusūdana Miśra, Caturbhuja, and Shaykh Bhāvan, who read the Sanskrit text and explained its meaning in Hindī to the Muslim translator, Naqīb Khān. Naqīb Khān, the son of ́Abd al-Laţīf Husaynī, then wrote the Persian translation, a task that took him one and a half years to complete. The process was not without its challenges; contemporary accounts by the court historian Badauni reveal that the translation was a grueling effort, with some chapters taking months to complete. Badauni, who was initially involved in the project, described how Akbar personally oversaw the work, explaining the text to Naqīb Khān for several nights before summoning Badauni to translate it in collaboration. The project was so demanding that some translators were dismissed for their inability to meet the emperor's standards, with one, Sultan Haji Thanesari ́Munfarid, being sent back to his native city of Bhakkar after failing to produce the required accuracy. The final text was a hundred fasciculi, a monumental effort that required the coordination of multiple scholars and the emperor's unwavering support.The Art of the Razmnama
The Razmnama was not merely a text; it was a visual masterpiece that brought the epic to life through a series of stunning miniatures. Four illustrated Mughal manuscripts are known to exist, with the most complete being the Jaipur copy, created between 1584 and 1586. This manuscript contains 176 paintings, many of which were executed by renowned artists such as Basawan, Daswanth, and Lal. The Jaipur copy, now housed in the City Palace Museum, features 169 full-page miniatures, each meticulously crafted to depict scenes from the Mahabharata. The second copy, completed between 1598 and 1599, is even more elaborate, with 161 paintings, and was distributed as gifts to members of the royal family to help them understand Hindu religion better. The third copy, known as the Birla manuscript, dates from 1605 and is held in the Birla Academy of Art and Culture in Kolkata. The fourth copy, from which only two or more miniatures are currently identified, was made around 1616, 1617. These manuscripts were not just books; they were diplomatic tools, sent to emirs across the empire as a means of fostering understanding and unity between different religious communities.