UPSC Prelims 2022 GS Paper I · Q94 of 98 History medium

"Yogavāsistha" was translated into Persian by Nizamuddin Panipati during the reign of :

  1. (a) Akbar ✓ UPSC's answer
  2. (b) Humayun
  3. (c) Shahjahan
  4. (d) Aurangzeb

Why the answer is (a)

• Akbar's court sponsored a large programme of translating Sanskrit works into Persian through the Maktab Khana; the Yogavasistha, a Vedantic philosophical text, was rendered into Persian by Nizamuddin Panipati in 1597 during Akbar's reign — option (a).

• Other Akbar-era translations include the Mahabharata (Razmnama), Ramayana, Atharvaveda and Panchatantra (Ayar-i-Danish).

• Dara Shikoh later made his own translation of the Yogavasistha and the Upanishads under Shah Jahan, but Panipati's was the Akbar-period version.

• Hence option (a).

Why the other options are wrong

(b) Humayun
Humayun's reign predates the translation programme.
(c) Shahjahan
Under Shah Jahan it was Dara Shikoh, not Panipati, who translated it.
(d) Aurangzeb
Aurangzeb did not patronise such translations.

Asked in the GS Paper I of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2022, held on 5 June 2022. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.

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