Translation of Newton's \textit{Principia} into Arabic Under the Aegis of the East India Company: A Rumour Turning into a Myth?

• Published in: arXiv.org 2021-05
• Main Author: K Razi Naqvi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Astronomy; Mathematical analysis; Translations
• ISSN: 2331-8422

Tafazzul Husain Khan (1727?--1800?), who began his career in the court of Awadh, spent the last two decades of his life as a trusted ally of the East India Company. What set him apart from other court officials was not so much his erudition, political acumen and negotiating prowess, as his favourite pastime: delving into mathematics and astronomy. Contact with the Company personnel, some of whom were conversant with oriental languages and/or contemporary scientific advances, provided him with the opportunity to brush up his mathematical knowledge, and induced him to embark upon -- and, according to some, bring to fruition -- the task of translating a few important mathematical treatises, among them Newton's \textit{Principia}. According to Campbell, the author of an obituary notice (published in 1804), "he translated the Principia from the original Latin, into Arabic". The evidence gathered by Campbell is examined, and found insufficient to warrant this astounding and oft-repeated claim. Of the three tracts authored by Tafazzul (all published posthumously in abridged versions), none can be described as a translation of Newton's \textit{Principia}. Until the emergence of some tangible evidence, any talk of his translations of the \textit{Principia} and other western treatises can only be characterised as rumour, a process in which recall is often accompanied by distortion.