Lal Kitab (Hindi: लाल किताब, Urdu: لالکتاب, literally Red Book) is a set of five books, written on a branch of Vedic astrology and palmistry. The treatise is based on ancient Vedic astrology and Samudrika Shastra. The extant version of the text is written 19th century, in Urdu with a sprinkling of Punjabi and Persian in a style which is without the punctuation and sounds which are hard to understand for a layman. Poetic verses with philosophy and hidden nuances form the core farmanns or upaya (remedy recommended) of the book.It is believed to have Persian origins and has led to field of remedial astrology known as Lal Kitab remedies, that is simple remedies for various planetary afflictions in the horoscope or birth chart, which have over the years become part of the folk traditions of the region, that includes North India and Pakistan.
The names of the five set of books authored by Pt. Rup Chand Joshi, together called as Lal Kitab with their years of publication, are as follows. A copy of first book published in 1939 is preserved in Lahore Museum. :-
- Lal Kitab Ke Farman (The Edicts of Lal Kitab), 1939, 383 pages
- Lal Kitab Ke Arman (Ilm Samudrik Kee Lal Kitab Ke Armaan), (The “Aspirations” of Lal Kitab), 1940, 280 pages
- Gutka (Ilm Samudrik Kee Lal Kitab) (Third Part), 1941, 428 pages