Mirza Abu Talib Khan Tabrizi-Isfahani, 1752-1805/6 (Shabnam Begum, 1994)

Mirza Abu Talib Khan Tabrizi-Isfahani

Mirza Abu Talib was born at Lucknow. His father Haji Muhammad Khan, a Turk of Azerbaijan, came to India and served under Nawab Safdarjang of Oudh, was married to a Nawab family of Lucknow. But he had to leave Lucknow due to some political conspiracy. He was settled at Murshidabad. His son, Mirza Abu Talib was married to a close relative of Nawab Mir Jafar Ali. Abu Talib, in his long eventful life served under Mir Jafar Ali for the first few years of his life. He also stayed at Lucknow and Calcutta in search of his livelihood. At Lucknow he was appointed on some high post under Nawab, Shujauddaula and Nawab Asafuddaula. At the time of the later he lost his office and came to Calcutta where he was cordially received by the English. In 1790 he constructed his own house at Calcutta. He went to Lucknow, after having been appointed as Amilder at his old age. He expired at Lucknow in 1805 and was buried there¹. This multifaceted genius was both a poet and a historian. As a poet he was spiritualist but as a historian he was a materialist². He composed several important works. In 1791 A.D. he edited and published Diwan-i-Hafiz. In the same year he published Khulasat ul Afkar in which he made an elaborate critical discussion on the work of four hundred ninety four poets – past and contemporary³.

He was offered a voyage to Europe by Captain David Richardson. He availed himself of this opportunity and made an extensive tour throughout Europe and came back to Calcutta in 1803 A.D.

When he was in London he composed a poem in Persian entitled ‘Surur Afza’ (Praise of London) and an essay in Persian entitled ‘Liberty of Oriental Women’. Both are translated into English by Captain David Richardson and published in Asiatic Annual Register (1801). The former in the name of ‘Ode to London’ and the latter ‘Vindication of the liberties of the Asiatic Women’. His another poem entitled ‘Elegy on Tufuzzul Hussain Khan’ was published in the same Journal in 1803. The manuscript of Surur Afza and a full portrait of Abu Talib drawn by R.A. North Court have been kept in Edinburgh Library⁴.

Ma’asir-i-Talibi (1804) is the product of his experience acquired during his tour of Europe. In 1810, Charles Stewart translated in into English in two volumes. In 1822 A.D. it was translated into French from English and published from Paris. In 1813 A.D. it was translated into German and published from Vienna. The Europeans were very much eager to know the views of an oriental scholar about Europe and this work was enough to meet their curiosity.

He composed two historical works entitled Lubbus Siyar and Lubbat Tawarikh in 1793-1794 A.D. According to author the former work is an abstract of some thousands of books and therefore, he designated it Lubbus Siyar wa Jahan-Numa, that means ‘The Essence of Biographies and the World-Reflecting Mirror’⁵.  In it he has mentioned all the occurrences of the world, old and new and given a connected account of the prophet, khulfa, salatin and celebrated men from the beginning to his time. He wrote another work based on his experiences gathered from his stay at Lucknow entitled Tafzihul Ghafilin (1797). It is a contemporary political and economic account of Oudh. Lubbut Tawarikh, the history of Europe was composed by Abu Talib from the works of Jonathan Scott at the instruction of Asafuddaula, Nawab of Oudh⁶.

He wrote one work on Astrology, named Miraj al Tawhid (1804). He also translated Arabic Laxicon, Qamus into Persian.

According to Humayun Kabir, Mirza Abu Talib first perceived, about fifty years before that to Karl Marks, the crucial role of economy to bring about the social revolution of mankind but he could not formulate his theory like that to Karl Marks⁷.

He was against the traditional way of history writing. He was in favour of giving emphasis to the conditions of general people rather than that of Royal family. Because of his profound erudition in Persian he was respectfully called ‘Persian Prince’ in London. In India he was known as Abu Talib Londoni due to his voyage to England.

¹⁾ Elliot and Dowson, The History of India as told by its own Historians, Vol. VIII, London, 1877, 9. 299.

²⁾ Banglar Muslim Buddhijibi, op. cit., p. 81.

³⁾ Ibid, p. 79.

⁴⁾ C.A. Storey (edited), Persian Literature, A Biographical Survey, Vol. I, Part I, London, 1953, p. 146.

⁵⁾ The History of India as told by its own Historians, op. cit., Vol. VIII, 298-99.

⁶⁾ Charles Stewart (translated), Travels of Mirza Abu Talib Khan, in Asia, Africa, and Europe during the year 1799-1803, London, 1814, Vol. II, p. 177.

⁷⁾ Humayun Kabir, Mirza Abu Talib Khan, Patna University, Patna, 1961, cited by Wakil Ahmed, Banglar Muslim Buddhijibi, op. cit., p. 81.

Shabnam Begum, Bengals contribution to Islamic studies during the 18th century. ― Aligarh: Department of Islamic Studies Aligarh Muslim University, 1994, p. 107―111.