UPPSC 2023 Prelims GS Paper-I · Question 109 of 150

Correct — A, Azizuddin Khan. After Firoz Shah Tughlaq's campaign against Nagarkot (Kangra), he took possession of a large collection of Sanskrit manuscripts from the Jwalamukhi temple library. He had a set of these works (on subjects such as astronomy, astrology and divination) rendered into Persian; the translation was carried out by Azizuddin Khan and the resulting Persian work was titled 'Dalail-i-Firozshahi'. Firoz Shah is remembered as the first Delhi Sultan to sponsor such Sanskrit-to-Persian translation.

• (b)Mulla Abdul Baqi — Associated with the later Mughal literary milieu, not with Firoz Shah Tughlaq's 14th-century Nagarkot translation.
• (c)Mirza Muhammad Ali — Not the scholar credited with translating the Nagarkot manuscripts under Firoz Shah Tughlaq.
• (d)Talib Amuli — A Persian poet of the Mughal era (poet-laureate under Jahangir), separated from Firoz Tughlaq by more than two centuries — unconnected to this translation.

Firoz Shah Tughlaq (r. 1351-1388) is noted for patronising the translation of Indian texts into Persian. From the temple library at Nagarkot (Kangra), captured during his campaign there, he obtained a hoard of Sanskrit manuscripts, part of which were translated into Persian as 'Dalail-i-Firozshahi' by Azizuddin Khan.

The answer turns on linking the translator's name to Firoz Tughlaq's Nagarkot episode. The distractors are figures of the later Mughal period, so the trap is to pick a familiar 'court scholar/poet' name without tying it to the correct dynasty and century. (Sources vary on whether the haul was about 300 or 1,300 volumes; the translator and the title are the fixed points.)

• Firoz Shah Tughlaq captured Nagarkot (Kangra) and seized Sanskrit manuscripts from the Jwalamukhi temple library.
• Azizuddin Khan translated a set of these works into Persian.
• The resulting Persian work was titled 'Dalail-i-Firozshahi'.
• Firoz Shah was the first Delhi Sultan to sponsor Sanskrit-to-Persian translation.

• Picking a well-known Mughal-era scholar/poet instead of the Tughlaq-period translator
• Getting the number of volumes fixed (300 vs 1,300) — sources differ; the translator/title is what matters

Both UPPSC and UPSC test 'who translated which text under which ruler' — lock the chain Firoz Tughlaq / Nagarkot / Azizuddin Khan / Dalail-i-Firozshahi.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Sanskrit works collected by Firoz Shah Tughlaq at Nagarkot were translated into Persian under the title:

  • (a)Razmnama
  • (b)Dalail-i-Firozshahi
  • (c)Tarikh-i-Firoz-Shahi
  • (d)Futuhat-i-Firozshahi

  Answer(b) Dalail-i-Firozshahi — the Persian translation of the Nagarkot manuscripts.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Firoz Shah Tughlaq is significant in the history of translation because he was:

  • (a)The first Delhi Sultan to sponsor Sanskrit-to-Persian translation
  • (b)The translator of the Mahabharata into Persian
  • (c)The founder of Akbar's translation bureau
  • (d)The author of the Ain-i-Akbari

  Answer(a) The first Delhi Sultan to sponsor Sanskrit-to-Persian translation.