The Persian Translation of Varāhamihira’s Bṛhat Saṁhita

The Tarjuma-yi Barāhī is the Persian translation of a Sanskrit text on prognostication, the Bṛhat Saṁhita by Varāhamihira. While the original text dates back to the 6th century, the translation was prepared during the Delhi Sultanate for Fīrūz Šāh Tuġluq (r. 1351-1388).
The Bṛhat Saṁhita contains many astrological prognostications, but also information on other prognostication methods, like e.g. omina related to the behavior of animals, or to jewelry, etc. Although in the Islamic world, all kinds of occult sciences and prognostications were popular, many of the practices dealt with in the Bṛhat Saṁhita were unknown to astrologers (and clients) from the Muslim world.
The lecture focusses on the way the text has been translated and adopted to a Persian-speaking audience. The translation mostly follows the original version quite closely, but shows also some interesting omissions and elisions: cosmological descriptions are quite often left out, and the translator discloses right from the beginning that he will omit everything related to “kufr”. But to what extent has he really omitted references to Hindu deities and veneration practices? And where does he draw the line?
Apart from “unacceptable” contents, unfamiliar concepts also posed a challenge for the translator. We may therefore wonder to what extent he attempts to explain these concepts to his audience, or takes it for granted that his readers understand them. This sheds some light on the question which audience the translator might have had in mind: an immigrated Iranian elite? Or rather persophone Hindus?