The ''Bahar-i Danish'' ('Spring of Knowledge') was a

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

collection of romantic tales adapted from earlier Indian sources by

Inayat Allah Kamboh Shaikh Inayat-Allah Kamboh (1608–1671) was a scholar, writer and historian. He was son of Mir Abdu-lla, ''Mushkin Kalam'', whose title shows him to also have been a fine writer.Shah Jahan, 1975, p 131, Henry Miers Elliot – Mogul Empire. Shaikh ...

in Delhi in 1651. The book was partially translated into English by

Alexander Dow Alexander Dow (1735/6, Perthshire, Scotland – 31 July 1779, Bhagalpur) was a Scottish Orientalist, writer, playwright and army officer in the East India Company. Life He was a native of Crieff, Perthshire. Alexander Dow's father worked at th ...

in 1768 or 1769, and Jonathan Scott translated it completely in 1799. The Persian text was also lithographed several times in the 19th century. One of the tales in the ''Bahar-i Danish'' provided

Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852) was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist celebrated for his ''Irish Melodies''. Their setting of English-language verse to old Irish tunes marked the transition in popular Irish culture from Irish ...

with the plot of his 1817 verse-novel ''

Lalla-Rookh ''Lalla Rookh'' is an Oriental romance by Irish poet Thomas Moore, published in 1817. The title is taken from the name of the heroine of the frame tale, the (fictional) daughter of the 17th-century Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. The work consis ...

''. No early illustrated copy of the manuscript has survived, though a pair of 18th-century illustrated manuscripts, from the collections of the

Duke of Northumberland Duke of Northumberland is a noble title that has been created three times in English and British history, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of Great Britain. The current holder of this title is Ralph Percy, 12th Duke ...

and that of

Richard Johnson Richard or Dick Johnson may refer to: Academics * Dick Johnson (academic) (1929–2019), Australian academic * Richard C. Johnson (1930–2003), professor of electrical engineering * Richard A. Johnson, artist and professor at the University of ...

, may reflect 17th-century illustrative traditions.J. P. Losty
A new manuscript of 'Inayatallah's Bahar-i Danish
Asian and African studies blog,

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

, 20 March 2015. Accessed 22 March 2015.

Translations

* ''Bahar-Danush; or, garden of knowledge. An oriental romance. Translated from the Persic of Einaiut Oollah'' by Jonathan Scott, 1799
Digital version
at the

Packard Humanities Institute The Packard Humanities Institute (PHI) is a non-profit foundation, established in 1987, and located in Los Altos, California, which funds projects in a wide range of conservation concerns in the fields of archaeology, music, film preservation, an ...

References

External links

ʿInāyat-Allāh Kanbū, Šayḫ d. 1082/1671
{{Authority control 1651 books 17th-century Indian books Persian-language books Indian romantic fiction Indian folklore Indian literature Indian legends 18th-century manuscripts Islamic illuminated manuscripts Indian short story collections