Historian of Gujarāt (d. 1177/1763).
Historians & Chroniclers · Mughal India & the Deccan · d. 1177/1763
Historian
Muḥammad Ḥasan b. Muḥammad ʿAlī moved to Gujarāt when he was eight or nine years old. When his father died in 1159/1744, Muḥammad Ḥasan was appointed by royal decree to his father’s office of Superintendent of the Cloth Market. He also received his father’s title, ʿAlī Muḥammad Ḫān.
In 1159/1746, Mīrzā ʿAlī Muḥammad Ḫān was appointed the Imperial Dīwān (revenue minister) of Gujarāt under the successors of Mughal ruler Awrangzīb (see Awrangzīb (ʿĀlamgīr I)). He soon became “acquainted with the history, topography, and administrative traditions of the province”. Since he was effectively in control of the archives of Gujarāt, Mīrzā ʿAlī Muḥammad Ḫān had a great deal of material at his disposal. He was able to use much of this material as a basis for his major work, Mirʾāt-i Aḥmadī, which took him fourteen years to complete. He died in 1177/1763.