Farrokhi Dictionary; An Unknown Lexicon in the Subcontinent

The Farrokhi Dictionary is among the lesser-known Persian lexicons, compiled in 1245 AH in the Indian subcontinent. The author of this dictionary is Moḥyeddin Nā’eṭi, known as Pattūr, about whose life we have little information. The dictionary itself has not been properly studied, and the scant information available about it is mostly inaccurate. Farrokhi Dictionary has not yet been published; its only known manuscript was previously kept in the Fort William College collection and is now preserved in the National Archives of India. This copy was transcribed in 1249 AH by Mohammad Abbas, pen-named Makhmoor. The brief introduction of the Farrokhi Dictionary is divided into five “methods”: the alphabet; the meanings of the letters and how they are transformed into one another; pronouns; meanings of prepositions, suffixes, and prefixes; and the method of collecting, compiling, and organizing the dictionary’s content. Moḥyeddin, while criticizing the common approaches of earlier lexicographers in categorizing entries, has arranged his own entries in alphabetical order. These entries are defined very concisely, and the meanings are listed sequentially without any textual evidence or citations. The primary sources used in the Farrokhi Dictionary, in order of usage, are Jahangiri Dictionary, Montakhab al-Lughat-e Shahjahani, and Kashf al-Lughat wa al-Iṣṭilāḥāt. The Farrokhi Dictionary itself has served as a source for Āṣaf al-Lughat. The purpose of this article is to examine the Farrokhi Dictionary from various perspectives and to present new information about it.