Historical and Literary Dimensions of a Persian Qasida and the 1967 University of Peshawar Convocation
Abstract This paper examines the historical and spiritual significance of a Persian qasida attributed in literary tradition to Mehmud ul Hassan Kokab Duri, associated in cultural memory with the 1967 convocation at the University of Peshawar, where Prince Karim Aga Khan IV was awarded an honorary doctorate. The study situates the poem within its socio-cultural and intellectual context while distinguishing between verified historical records and later literary attributions. It further explores contemporary communal memory and anticipatory cultural practices in Pakistan, particularly in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral. A historiographically cautious interpretive framework is employed to differentiate documented history, literary tradition, and lived cultural memory as interconnected yet analytically distinct domains. Keywords: Ismaili studies, Persian qasida, cultural memory, historiography, Aga Khan, South Asia 1. Introduction The intellectual history of South Asia is deeply interwoven wit...