Farhang-i Rashidi

The Farhang-i Rashidi was written by Abd-al-Rashid binʿAbd-al-Ghafur Ḥusayni Thattawi, a poet and scholar with two other lexicographical writings to his name.

[3] The author introduces himself in the Farhang as having been born in Thatta, Sindh, with his family originating from Medina, and claims descent from Imam Husayn; not much else is known of his life.

[3][6] In the view of historian Muzaffar Alam, the dictionary was part of a trend of attempts to 'purify' the Persian language in Mughal India by aligning it closer to its Iranian roots.

Orientalist scholars Charles Ambrose Storey and Heinrich Blochmann agreed that the dictionary was dedicated to Mughal emperor Shah Jahan; Blochmann explained the lack of dedication in the text by asserting that the work was only completed when Shah Jahan had been imprisoned by his successor Aurangzeb, whom Abd-al-Rashid did not approve of.

The Farhang-i Rashidi is also set apart from contemporary dictionaries in that it originated from the Sindh region rather than in any Mughal imperial centre.

[3] The Farhang-i Rashidi enjoyed widespread popularity after its publication owing to its completeness and critical treatment of previous dictionaries.

[3] In the Siraj-al-Lughat, the author Siraj-ud-Din Ali Khan Arzu praises the Farhang-i Rashidi for its use of quotations, but one of the purposes of his own dictionary was to fix shortcomings in the latter.