Neo-aramaic Dialect Studies: Proceedings of a Workshop on Neo-aramaic Held in Cambridge 2005

by Geoffrey Khan, C.H. Payne (Translator)

The narrative of the Jesuit missions to Akbar, ruler of the Mughal Empire in India, is a noted period piece in travel writing. Although the author never traveled abroad, he compiled a substantial history of Jesuit missionary activity. This book narrates the missions to India in the 16th and 17th centuries.

250 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1996

About the author

Geoffrey Allan Khan is a British linguist who has held the post of Regius Professor of Hebrew at the University of Cambridge since 2012. He has published grammars for the Aramaic dialects of Iraq and Iran; and leads the North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic Database.

Reviews

[Augustus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Akbar the Great was one of the most celebrated Mughal emperors in India. During his long reign (AD 1556-1605), he won military victories and amassed considerable wealth. Himself a Muslim, he was nonetheless tolerant of other faiths and ultimately welcomed a series of missions by Jesuit priests who hoped to convert him to Christianity. In the early 17th Century, the French priest Pierre du Jarric wrote a history of these Jesuit missions, and in 1926 it was translated into English and published with extensive supplementary notes by C. H. Payne.

The resulting book narrates a series of missions to the Mughal Empire, beginning in 1582 and ending with Akbar's death in 1605. The book contrasts the luxury of the emperors with the relatively austere lifestyle of the Jesuit Fathers. It also records multiple occasions when Akbar arranged public debates in which Jesuits compared their religion with their Muslim counterparts, and in du Jarric's narrative the Jesuits usually prevailed. As a result, they remained optimistic that the Emperor Akbar would ultimately lean toward Christianity. One obstacle was that Akbar remained loath to give up his extensive harem of concubines. Moreover, the emperor explained that he had difficulty understanding the Christian doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation of Christ.

In today's world, where Islam and Christianity seldom compete on such an academic stage, the creativity and perseverance of the well educated Jesuits makes interesting and valuable reading.