This Presentation will bring up the study of Persian narratives of Indian origin, translated directly from Sanskrit or other South Asian vernaculars from the 14th century onwards; the stories which, retold and modified according to the recipient culture, helped to form a forthcoming exchange of knowledge between Muslims and Hindus, during the realm of Sultanates in Delhi (1206-1526) and later Mughal period (1526-1858). We will pursue the case study of Suka-saptati and Pañcatantra as two examples of Sanskrit narrative tradition and will follow their transmission and insertion into Persian literature along with the multiple specificities and changes they accepted within centuries, from the receiving culture.
Dr. Shahbaz is a Postdoctoral Fellow attached to the Perso-Indica project and the ‘Mondes Indien et Iranien’ Research Unit at University Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3. The aim of the Perso-Indica project is to produce a comprehensive survey of Persian works on Indian cultures, written between the 13th and the 19th centuries in South Asia.
The Perso-Indica project, which is of particular interest to the Centre, examines the history of Persian texts on Indian culture and aims at offering a new epistemic vision of the history of contacts between Muslim and Indian scholarly traditions.
