A Master Catalogue of the Manuscripts of the Works of Mirza Abdul Qadir-e Bidel published in Delhi

In New Delhi, the Indian Council of Foreign Affairs (ICWA) published a new book by professor Sharif Hussain Qasimi “A Master Catalogue of the Manuscripts and Published Editions of the Works of Mirza Abdul Qadir-e Bidel”.

Mirza `Abdul Qadir-e Bidel (1644-1720) is the most significant literary figure from 18th-century India. He played a vital role in strengthening and integrating the cultural elements from the entire Asian lands where Persianate Culture flourished. Bidel was a prolific writer leaving voluminous works, both prose and poetry, which have been preserved and are now available in almost all the important oriental collections around the world.

This book contains more than two hundred manuscripts, which are stored in the libraries of the Republic of Tajikistan; such as manuscripts of Divan-e Bidel, manuscripts of Bayaz, Mohit-e A’zam, Telesm-e Hairat, Tur-e Ma’refat, Mathnavi-e Irfan, Chahar ‘Onsor, Roqqa’it-e Bidel, Nekat-e Bidel most of which are written in Nasta'ik.

The book of prof. Sh.H. Qasemi “A Master Catalogue of the Manuscripts and Published Editions of the Works of Mirza Abdul Qadir-e Bidel”, containing valuable information about the identification of manuscripts and their location in Tajikistan, India, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, etc. will be useful to teachers, students and researchers of Bidel’s work.