ИСТИНА

Urged by the theoretical and practical necessity, Russian orientalists took active measures to translate classics of eastern literature since the 1940s. Translations of classical Persian prose in the post-war period － Siaset-Namė (B.N. Zakhoder, 1949), Kabus-name (E.E. Bertels, 1953) and Istoriia Masuda (A.K. Arends, 1962) share several advantages. First of all, translators scrutinized manuscripts, editions and theses that they had access to, on the basis of which they investigated major issues regarding the documents and gave pertinent conclusions. On consideration of discrepancy among various manuscripts, careful collation and selection were essential for scholars to assess the authenticity of the text and to translate with all variations taken into account. Next, the translators’ precise interpretation of lexicon, moderate transliteration and attention on the authors’ writing style led to accuracy of general content and language. Last, the translators consciously broadened the range of pertinent sources for further research. Consequently, it is worthwhile for historians of Persianate world to review these studies and translations. Drawbacks of these works consist in ideological orientation and a lack of consideration of historical background, which together with carelessness, resulted in occasional mistakes in the translations. Despite the apparent deficiencies in Russian translations of Persian historical prose after the World War II, these translations laid foundation for subsequent studies and retain their academic value up to now.