Mirza Abu Taleb Khan
Indian tax collector, Persian scholar and author of an early travel memoir recounting his trip to Britain, Europe and Asia Minor (1752–1806)
Mirza Abu Taleb Khan (Persian: میرزا ابوطالب خان; more formally Mirzá Abú Muhammad Tabrízí Isfahání, میرزا ابومحمد تبریزی اصفهانی, known as The Persian Prince during his stay in London and as Abú Tálib Londoni once back in India 1752–1805/1806) was an Indian tax-collector and administrator of Iranian stock, notable for a memoir of his travels in Britain, Europe and Asia Minor, Masir Talib fi Bilad Afranji, written between circa 1799 and 1805.
The book's title is translated as The Travels of Taleb in the Regions of Europe and was reprinted in the West as Travels of Mirza Abu Taleb Khan in Asia, Africa and Europe; it is one of the earliest by an Indian travel writer about the West, and has been described as 'perhaps the most significant "reverse travelogue" published in Europe during the Romantic era". He wrote all his works in Persian.
Biography
Oudh and Bengal
Much of what is known of Abu Taleb's background comes from his memoirs. By his description, his Iranian father Hajji Mohammed Beg (died 1768) was born in Abbasabad in the Isfahan Province of Persia, but fled to Lucknow in Oudh State, northern India, in fear of the 'tyranny' of Nader Shah. There he was 'admitted to the friendship' of Safdarjung, the Subadar Nawab of Oudh and was in time appointed assistant to the deputy-governor of Oudh, Safdarjung's nephew Mohammed Culy Khan. His appointment did not survive Safdarjung's death in 1754; the new Nawab, Safdarjung's son Shuja-ud-Daula had Mohammed Culy Khan executed and Hajy Mohammed Beg Khan fled to Murshidabad, West Bengal within a couple of years of Abu Taleb's birth in Lucknow in 1752.
Abu Taleb and his mother remained in Lucknow under the protection of the Nawab - "although Nabob Shujaa ad Dowleh was much displeased at my father's conduct, he nevertheless, recollecting the connexion between our families, supplied my mother with money for her expenses and have her strict injunctions to let me have the very best education." They moved to Murshidabad in 1766, but in 1768, within about 18 months of their arrival, Hajy Mohammed Beg Khan died. Abu Taleb had been married into the family of 'Muzaffer Jung - Nabob of Bengal' and spent some time in that prince's service, remaining away from Oudh until, in 1775, after the death of Shuja-ud-Daula and the accession of his son Asaf-ud-Daula, he was invited by the prime minister, Mokhtiar-ud-Daula, to take up the position of Aumildar of the Etawah district. The role combined tax-collector, Lord-Lieutenant and local military controller, but ceased within a couple of years upon the death of Abu Taleb's patron Mokhtiar, and the appointment of Hyder Beg Khan as his replacement.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Nov 6, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q27140220. VIAF identifies the subject as 20819905. The Library of Congress control number is n79120261. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1752, 1805, 1806 and 1799.
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