Cultural Superposition in the Indo-Persian World: Persian Retellings of the Bhāgavata-Purāṇa in North India

Abstract Retelling Sanskrit works and their derivatives was a widespread practice in India. The surviving corpus of these retellings bore witness to ongoing cultural exchange and provided insight into two pivotal cultural shifts in the second millennium: the vernacularisation of Sanskrit worlds and the establishment of Persian as the language of power in South Asia. Of particular interest are the various retellings of the Bhāgavata-Purāṇa . This article investigates the circulation of these texts in vernacular worlds and examines two interrelated Persian retellings within a broader socio-historical context. Through an analysis of their intertextuality and lexical choices, this study sheds light on the nuanced process of cultural accommodation of Sanskrit works in Persianate North India and advocates a non-dichotomous approach to understanding Indo-Persian devotional literature. Taken together, the article delineates a historical trajectory of cultural superposition centred around harikathā s.