Persian manuscript of the 18th century from the collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts (RAS): Contribution to the historiography of Kashmir

Abstract

   This article is devoted to the study of historical sources on the history of Kashmir, written in Persian. Kashmir experienced the influence of Iranian culture for a long time, which could not but affect the historiography of the region. There are a number of sources on the history of Kashmir in Persian, which are covered in comparative detail in Iranian and world historiography. However, there are also texts less known to the scientific community that need to be studied and made more accessible for review. One such source is the work of Muhammad ‘Azam Didamari «Vaqi‘at-i Kashmir» or «Events of Kashmir».

   The main purpose of this article is to analyze three copies of the manuscript «Vaqi‘at-i Kashmir» stored in the collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences and determine the significance of this source in the context of the historiography of Kashmir by using historical-comparative, textual and linguistic methods of scientific research.

   The result of the work done can be called the development and analysis of the text of the manuscript, the comparison of three of its copies from the collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts RAS with each other, as well as with two other copies stored in Kashmir and Calcutta and available online.

   As the main conclusions given in the article, it can be mentioned that the copies of «Vaqi‘at-i Kashmir» from the collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts RAS are the lifetime of the author and the earliest of all the copies at our disposal.

   The text of the manuscript is a kind of collection of names of Sufis, scholars and poets of Kashmir, partly a geographical guide to Kashmir, as well as a source on the history of Kashmir – if we talk about the last chapter.