Scholar/Historian
Abd al-Qādir Badāʾūnī served as
ṣadr to Ḥusayn Ḫān for 9 years (973/1565-6 to 981/1574) but departed following a quarrel and spent the next year continuing his religious education by visiting a number of saints. In 981/1574 he was presented to the court of the Mughal ruler Akbar of which the latter appointed him one of seven imams to lead prayers on one particular day of the week. In addition he served the court as a scholar and historian. However, a personal rivalry between Badāʾūnī and Abū al-Fażl (see author 7), whose influence with Akbar he could not match, left Badāʾūnī embittered and made him even more critical of Akbar’s religious policies than Badāʾūnī’s own orthodoxy may have already granted him. Nonetheless, he remained employed by Akbar on literary work from 982/1574 onwards, under whose auspices he was his most prolific, particularly in historiography and the translation of Hindu works into Persian. Various dates are given for the death of Badāʾūnī but 1024/1615 seems to be nearest to the truth.
Muntaḫab al-tavārīḫ
Selections from HistoriesExtends to 1004/1595-6.
Muntaḫab al-tavārīḫ is a general history of the Muslims in Hindūstān until the 40th year of Akbar’s reign. The work is known for its critical comments on Akbar’s religious policies.
Begun in 990/1582.
Razm-nāmah is a translation of the Indian epic into Persian on Akbar’s orders. Badāʾūnī was one of four translators who undertook the project, however, “the exact share each of these scholars had in the work of the translation is difficult to define, as so many conflicting statements are given, both in the various copies, and by Badāʾūnī himself”.