Zikr-I Mir (The Autobiography of the Eighteenth Century Mughal Poet: Mir Muhammad Taqi 'Mir'

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Zikr-I Mir is a rare autobiographical narrative, in Persian, of Mir Muhammad Taqi 'Mir' (1723-1810), one of the finest ghazal poets in Urdu, Mir led a rich professional life, as a poet and courtier, in Delhi and Lucknow during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries; and, although his autobiography is unconventional in its organization, it nevertheless throws interesting light on the values that governed the life of a member of the Muslim elite at that time.

This is the first English translation of this major text, extensively annotated, and preceded by a general introduction. The translator has also used Appendices to fill in the gaps in Mir's account, drawing on other writings by Mir and his peers. It will be of great interest to all scholars of Urdu and Persian literature as well as to students of the social and cultural history of pre-modern north India.

(Note: Cover Illustration: Portrait of Mir from a late eighteenth century album, most likely a copy of an earlier portrait.)

About the Author:

C.M. Naim is Professor of Urdu Studies at the University of Chicago.

Experts from Reviews:

'If translation and criticism are mutually enlightening processes, then Naim's book is fitting testimony... .[He] is a translator of impeccable credentials.'

-Indian Review of Books

1. Preface
2. Abbreviations and Transliteration
3. Introduction
4. Text
5. Appendices
   1. Historical Figures
   2. Glossary
   3. The Concluding Passages of Narrative A
   4. A Proposal Concerning Narrative B
   5. Mir's Patrons
   6. Mir's Literary Milieu
   7. Mir's 'Lunacy'
   8. Love and Sex
6. Bibliography
7. Index

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