Maulana Azad College

Department of Persian

Email: persian@maulanaazadcollegekolkata.ac.in

About the Department

Persian department has been functioning since the inception of the college (1926) and first Persian class started on 2nd July 1926 under the headship of Khan Bahadur Prof. Allama Raza Ali Wahshat. It has a glorious past and present. It has produced a number of eminent scholars, teachers and professors whose works have been acknowledged in the arena of arts, culture and education. Some eminent Persian scholars and teachers of this department are Prof. Abbas Ali Khan Bekhud, Dr. Haren Chandrapal, Dr. Mujibur Rahman, Dr. Abdus Subhan, Dr. Mansoor Alam and Dr. Gholam Sarwar and Dr. Tanwir Ahmed. These teachers have rendered their valuable services in this Dept. It also has the credit of producing many WBCS officers who have taken Persian as one of the subjects in the West Bengal Civil Service Examination. Many of them have brought name and fame to their Alma Mater by their administrative caliber such as Ain Rashid Khan, (Ex. IPS) Prof. Syed Manal Shah Alquadri, (Ex. Ambassador, Uzbek) Md. Samiduddin, (Ex. Collector) Zahidur Rahman, (D.M) M. A. Saeed, (WBCS) Nasiruddin, (WBCS) Jawed Iqbal (WBCS) and many others.

This Dept. was established to provide students the knowledge of Persian to get a berth in Govt. Services. Though the British had declared English as Official Language, yet the importance of Persian was effective in courts and other Govt. offices where the translators were required for work of interpretation.

Many students were absorbed in the Govt. offices such as NTRO and Defence as well as MNCs and Corporate Sectors and still the process is going on.

Mission:

To produce good students for reading, writing and understanding Persian language and literature to establish the literary, cultural and trade relation between India and Persian world.

Achievements:

The department has the credit of producing many professors and teachers. It has also produced WBCS officers who have opted Persian as one of the subjects.

It may also be mentioned that the students of our Dept. have participated in the sports and games at state level and national level.

Courses:

B.A. Honours & General in Persian.

Learning objectives/outcomes :

Persian, known to the native speakers as Farsi, is the official language of modern day Iran and is spoken in many parts of Afghanistan and the Central Asian Countries like Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It has been a much more widely understood language in an area ranging from the Middle East to India. Some minority population in gulf countries also speak Persian.

One of the most remarkable outcomes of learning Persian is the numerous career job opportunities it offers in India and abroad.
A considerable number of Persian graduates find jobs as teachers, translators in foreign embassies, diplomatic agencies and corporate houses.
The knowledge of Persian, a leading foreign language, enables one to secure job in the ever growing travel and tourism sector as well as the vast hotel industry.

Besides, a number of Persian graduates have secured respectable jobs in various groups of the West Bengal Civil Services, which offer Persian as an optional subject, consisting of two papers of two hundred (200) marks each. In these ways a Persian graduate is able to successfully pursue his/her career, secure a good and well-paid job and lead a decent and respectable life.