Book of Affairs of Love

Abstract

• Karnama-i ‘Ishq (Book of affairs of love) by the Hindu poet Rai Anand Ram Mukhlis (d. 1751) is a romance in Persian on the afflictions of a young man’s heart and the challenges he faces for eternal love. The poetical narrative is derived from an existing Hindi literary work, the exact source for which Mukhlis omitted to mention. Mukhlis, a disciple of the eminent poet Mirza Bedil, was attached to the Mughal court in Delhi, acting as a vakil (representative) for governors including Vazir I’timad al-Daula Qamar al-Din Khan (d. 1748). Based in the capital, he was a key witness of the events that led to the eventual decline of the empire including the invasion of Nadir Shah in 1739.