Preface

This book, produced in conjunction with the conservation of the tomb of ‘Abdur Rahim Khan-i

Khanan, is compiled as a preliminary reader to provide a sketch of the many facets of Rahim, as

he is commonly known. It is meant for general reading and, thus, aims more to inform than to analyse.

Unfortunately, I cannot point to any other reader of Rahim in English that covers the complete spectrum

of Rahim’s identity for casual reading. There are some academic works on him by scholars, most of whom

have contributed to this volume, but they are specific to an aspect of him or his poetry. So, in a way, this is the first book on Rahim to present him in all lights, and by experts in the field.

Rahim has come to us—by us, I mean the common English-speaking Indians—as Rahim ke dohe, the few dohās

of Rahim that are included in the English-medium middle schools’ Hindi syllabus. Some of us know Rahim Khan

i-Khanan too, as Prime Minister of Mughal Emperor Akbar, but often do not know them as the same person.

There is a large opus of Hindi works, both scholarly and popular, on Rahim. And there are Rahim enthusiasts

among the Hindi-speaking generation who cherish every nuance of his poetry and recite them with pride when instigated by a moment or by someone. We approached the structure of this book from that

perspective. It is not an attempt to re-present Rahim but to present Rahim comprehensively for the first time to the general English-speaking Indians and others who want to explore Rahim or his literature.

In the book, the transliterations of non-English words are kept to the non-strict format in which only the

vowels “a”, “e”, and “i” have diacritics marks to assist in the proper pronunciation of the words. Proper nouns and names, in general, are used without any diacritics. The usage of the term Khan-i-Khanan has

been retained as a standard throughout the book, in line with the usage throughout the Nizamuddin

Urban Renewal project and by other public bodies in India. Its correct usage, as pointed out by Wheeler M.

Thackston, is Khankhanan. In the Persian and Arabic, a distinction has been made between ayn with the

use of ‘ and hamza with the use of ’ where needed. An attempt has been made to standardize the use of non-English words and names, but the range of languages under consideration here have made it difficult

in many situations.

At the end of the book, there is a glossary of all the non-English words. The meanings are mostly contextual, kept as close to the use of the words in the essays. Additionally, certain Braj Bhasha terms are followed by more detailed romanization, within brackets, as speficied by the authors. This should guide the reader

as close as possible to the actual pronunciation of the Braj Bhasha words. The authors have referred to varying editions of the same primary and secondary texts but the extended bibliography accompanying the publication refers to the latest editions.

Shakeel Hossain New Delhi, March 2017.

(Page 2) Portrait of ‘Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan. Opaque watercolour, ink and gold on paper; 15 x 8.3 cm (5 7/8 x 3 1/4 in); Artist: Hashim. Mughal school, Reign of Jahangir, c. 1627. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.: Purchase: Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1939.50a.

(Facing page) EmperorAkbar receives the young ‘Abdur Rahim at his court. This illustration depicts Emperor Akbar receiving ‘Abdur Rahim, the four-year-old son of Bairam Khan, at court, soon after his father’s assassination. The child is helped onto the platform by a noble, who has been identified tentatively as Atgah Khan. In the foreground, a man leads a cheetah. Opaque watercolour and gold on paper; 31.7 x 18.5 cm; Mughal, c. 1586–89. Outline and painting by Anant. Victoria and Albert Museum, London, SSEA. IS.2:7-1896 ©Victoria and Albert Museum, London.