Perspectives on Islamicate South Asia04 The Dvādas Bhāv, a Mughal version of Sanskrit story

This book on an unpublished Mughal manuscript, the Dvādas Bhāv is rooted in the quest, representation and interpretation of knowledge. Dvādas Bhāv was produced as a translation of a Sanskrit story into Persian narrative with thirteen paintings in the Mughal style, in the last decade of the sixteenth century, for an Imperial Mughal. The Mughal emperor Akbar had a Sanskrit book called the Dvādas Bhāv translated to Farsi. Dismembered pages or painted folios from this manuscript were dispersed in auctions. This is the first time this book has been put back together and translated into English. The study reveals how the thirtheen paintings that interspersed this text were intrinsic to communicating its meaning. This was not the first or last Sanskrit work to be translated to Farsi or be illustrated for a Muslim monarch in Hindustan. The Mughals (and some of the Sultans before them) recognized the significance of Indian knowledge traditions. This book however, provides insight into what went into such translations. Who decided which text should be translated and what governed the decisions?