Institute of Persian Research

Brief Profile

            For more than eight hundred years India remained one of the most prolific centres of Persian language and literature and countless books, manuscripts, Akhbarat, Farmans and Parwanas preserved today in various libraries, museums and the National Archives point out the fact that Persian was an integral part of India's cultural, social and political system. Apart from this, one cannot possibly ignore the important fact that Persian language has played an important role in transmission of Indian thought and culture to the world. Persian translation of Panch Tantra and Upanishads introduced the ethical and religious Indian values to Europe and the Middle East. It was through this language that India established contact and corresponded with the outside world from Afghanistan to Moroco on one side and Malaya and Indonesia on the other.

            Enormous and crucial information about medieval India, its socio-cultural life, its history and culture, arts and science, architecture and city planning, music and painting, army and administration, crafts and customs, ideology and philosophy, cultural ties between India and Iran is  available in Persian sources which are still to be explored.

Keeping in view the importance and it’s cultural-literary impact on India, the Institute of Persian Research, Aligarh Muslim University was established in 2006, under common minimum programme of Ministry of Human Resource and Development, Government of India.

Vision and Mission

            The main objective of the Institute is to bring to light this vast material, with vigorous, multi-pronged and interdisciplinary work, in tune with the changed perception of modern day researches and extending beyond the fields of poetry and literature. The projects undertaken in the Institute encompass the variety possible in Persian researches and deal with it not merely as a tool of literary expression but as a source language used in Medieval India.

To achieve this objective, Interdisciplinary
research projects  are undertaken in such varied fields as History, Geography, Philosophy, Tibb, Astrology, Astronomy, Trade and Commerce, Linguistics, Indo-Iran Relations, Sufism, Lexicography, Fine Arts, Numismatics etc. and a broad-based publication programme is carried out.

In short span of one and a half decade, the Institute has emerged as an important centre of advance researches and is acknowledged as a Centre of Excellence in India and abroad. Its activities are appreciated and acknowledged by renowned scholars in Persian academia of India and Iran. The Institute attracts scholars and researchers from countries such as Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Central Asian countries.