Author of one’s fate: Fatalism and agency in Indo-Persian histories

Ali Anooshahr

The Indian Economic & Social History Review, 2012, vol. 49, issue 2, 197-224

Abstract: A shift of worldviews can be observed in the historical writings of three Indo-Persian authors ‘Abd al-Malik ‘Isami, Rizq Allah Mushtaqi and Nizam al-Din Ahmad. Whereas ‘Isami viewed history as the unfolding of events predetermined by divine fate; Nizam al-Din considered human agency to be the main mover of events. Mushtaqi displayed ambivalence between the two. His text can thus be read as the expression of a worldview under disintegration and re-composition in the transition from the Sultanate to the Mughal period. This change of attitude bears similarities to other ‘Early Modern Features’ of the late sixteenth century.

Keywords: ‘Isami; Mushtaqi; Nizam al-Din; Indo-Persian historiography; Mughals; fatalism; human agency; modernity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:indeco:v:49:y:2012:i:2:p:197-224

DOI: 10.1177/001946461204900202

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