Poetry
دیوان
Not translated into English
Sardar Mehrdel Mashreqi · 1850
Synopsis
The Persian divan of Mehrdel Mashreqi, prince of the house of Payanda Khan. According to the Encyclopaedia Iranica, he writes in it in the manner of Saeb and Bidel, the two great masters of the so-called Indian style, whom the poetry of Kabul and Kandahar then takes as models; the encyclopaedia specifies that this divan has been preserved.
Context
The Encyclopaedia Iranica places Mehrdel Mashreqi, born in 1798, between the poets of the Durrani court and those of the following generation, disciples of Bidel such as Gholam-Mohammad Tarzi. It links him to the numerous descendants of the sardar and credits him with no other book than this divan, which it says is preserved. The collection is written in Persian, like those of the other court poets that the encyclopaedia cites for this period.
Who it is for
Poems in Persian, without translation. Better to know a little of Saeb and Bidel, the models this poet prince follows.
Prizes and reception
No prize. Iranica regards him as one of the princely poets of his century in Afghanistan.