New Cambridge History of Islam (Vol 4) - second part

Historical Writings

> most important names I have heard before: ibn Ishaq (d.767), al-Tabari (d.923), Ibn al-Athir (d.1233), Ibn Khaldun's Kitab al-ibar, Rashid al-Din (d.1318), Baburnama, Akbarnama.

> Amir Khusraw (d.1325) also wrote some historical poems

Urdu Literature

> an anonymous Wali (d. 1707/8) who came to Dehli from Deccan - his Diwan triggerred a huge outpour of Urdu literature from Dehli (many Urdu poets there around 1720), which then spread Urdu literature throughout India

> Amir Khusraw (1253-1325)'s Hindvi verses are not extant (?!)

> Muhammad Afda's  (d.1625) Bikat Kahani

> Urdu literature originated early 15th c. in Gujarat / Deccan through the Sufis, e.g. Shaykh Kaub Muhammad Chisti's (1539-1614) Khub tarang - great poem / Sufi tract. He also wrote lit. theory works Chhand chhandan ("Metre and Metres") and Bhao bhed ("Discernment of Meaning")

> Deccan king Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah (r. 1580-1611) - first diwan in Urdu

> Muhammad Taqi Mir (1723-1810) perhaps greatest Urdu poet

> No mention of Ghalib - maybe because Vol 4 only covers up to 1800. In Vol 6 no literature topics are covered.

Fields of Knowledge

(per Ibn Khaldun)

- Traditional: 1) Quran - tafsir; 2) Hadith; 3) Fiqh; 4) Kalam; 5) Sufism (tasawwuf)

- Rational: 1) logic (mantiq); 2) physics (al-tabiyyat) a) medicine b) agriculture; 3) metaphysics (ilm al-ilahiyyat); 4) mathematical taalim)

(in additional to Khaldun)

- Adab: 1) Grammar, 2) Poetry; 3) Eloquence; 4) Oratory; 5) Letter writing; 6) Akhbar (history); 7) Moral philosophy

 (to be continued)