Abd al-Rashid al-Tattawi

'Abd al-Rashid b. 'Abd al-Ghafur al-Madani al-Tattawi was a Persian lexicographer born in Tatta, in Sind. He was a Sayyid by descent. The encyclopaedia says that he died after 1069/1658. The entry is signed by M. T. Houtsma. ¹

His principal work is a Persian dictionary, usually called Farhang-i Rashidi or Rashidi Farsi. The encyclopaedia calls it the first critical dictionary of Persian. It was published in 1875 in the Bibliotheca Indica. The article gives the date of compilation as 1064/1683-4; that Gregorian date does not match the Hijri year, which corresponds to about 1653-4, so the museum records the Hijri year and notes the printed conversion as doubtful. ¹

The preface was revised by Splieth, who issued it as Grammaticae persicae praecepta ac regulae (Halle, 1846). ¹

'Abd al-Rashid also compiled an Arabic-Persian dictionary, Muntakhab al-Lughat, or Rashidi 'Arabi, completed in 1046/1636-7 and dedicated to the emperor Shah Jahan. The encyclopaedia lists editions printed at Calcutta (1808, 1816, 1836), at Lucknow (1835 and a later printing) and at Bombay (1279/1862). ¹