AUTHOR Munshí Sadásukh Dehlawí, whose poetical title was Niyáz.
This is a history of India from the time of the Ghaznívides to the closing scenes of the Mughal Empire, and the accession of Akbar II. It is written with much personal knowledge of the later transactions, into which the English begin at last to be introduced. It includes at the end of the first Book an account of the revenues of the later Mughal Empire, with a few geographical particulars more intelligibly recorded than is usual with Hindústání authors; and an account of the Rájas of the northern hills, Rájpútána and the Dakhin, and their respective dominions, at the end of the second Book. Though it is not mentioned in the Preface, we learn from several parts of the work that it was composed in the year 1234 A.H. (1818-19 A.D.).
Sadásukh opens his history with a critical account of Firishta's ante-Muhammadan period, which he condemns as in every respect untrustworthy; but after that he follows him implicitly to the time of Akbar. The history of the minor monarchies is entirely abstracted from that author, and he divides his work in the same manner. When he reaches the earlier Mughal monarchs, he avails himself of the other ordinary sources of information, and intersperses his accounts with anecdotes, in which the principal actors are represented as Jahángír, Sháh Jahán and other noted Indian characters; but in reality the stories are familiar in the East as showing the justice, ingenuity, clemency, or vigour of older and more celebrated potentates, such as Sulaimán and Naushírwán. These misrepresentations probably arise more from ignorance than design.
The real value of the work commences only from the reign of Sháh 'Álam, and indeed the author states that it was chiefly his object to write a full and connected history of the period commencing with Bahádur Sháh to his own time, in which he has been, it must be confessed, entirely successful; but that in order to render the work complete as a General History of India, he freely extracted a brief account of the several countries and kings of India from every historical composition procurable in his time, and especially from Firishta, from whom he confesses he has copied verbatim even where he suspected error. Where he quotes original works, as the Táríkh-i Guzída and Tabakát-i Násirí, it is evident that he obtains them second-hand from Firishta.
The author was born at Dehlí, and died at an advanced age at Alláhábád subsequent to the introduction of our rule. It is understood that he was employed at the close of last century under the British Government in some official capacity at Chunár. He wrote several other works and treatises besides this history, among which the Tambíhu-l Jáhilín, which contains an account of the Hindú Shástras, customs and tribes, is exceedingly useful, and exhibits great powers of observation. Much is of an anecdotical character, but is not less valuable on that account.
The same title which this history bears is usually given to the Táríkh-i Badáúní. Another contains a history of Tímúr and Sháh Rukh Mírzá, with letters written by the latter to the Emperor of China, in which he endeavours to effect his conversion to the Muhammadan faith. It also contains the Mughal's correspondence with Saiyid Khizr Khán, Emperor of Dehlí, and has an appendix giving an account of Transoxiana. Another is the Muntakhab-i Be badal.
The author tells us that when released from his official duties, he went, at the age of sixty-five, to reside at Alláhábád. For the period of ten years from that time he engaged himself in literary occupations, and wrote, like another Lucilius, no less than 125,000 lines of verse in Persian, Urdú and Bhákhá, besides nearly 5000 pages of prose.
It was after these labours that he commenced his History, in which he professes not to have followed the plan of other historians, “who, being in the service of powerful kings, have obtained reward and promotion by their flatteries—have made mountains out of mole-hills, and suns out of atoms. He, on the contrary, who had one foot in the grave, and wished for no other recompense than the praise of honest men, who coveted no bread but that which the Almighty might be pleased to give him, who had no object in glozing his narrative with lies and misrepresentations, and whose only remaining ambition was to leave a good name behind him, was determined to write without fear or favour.”
Under this declaration, it is gratifying to find him taking every opportunity to praise the English, expressing his gratitude for the evils from which they had saved his country, and contrasting their administration with that of the Muhammadans. With a spirit unusual with his countrymen, which his secure residence at Alláhábád enabled him to express without reserve, he thus records his opinions at the end of the first introductory chapter: “At this time there is neither Ráí nor Rája, nor Musulmán, but only Mahrattas, Firingís and Sikhs. God forbid that the Firingís should imitate the Musulmáns in carrying on a holy war against infidels! else to poor people it would be a sore day of judgment. God be praised that those wretches are now the sufferers! From the day that the rule of the English has been established, even the wing of a gnat has not been injured by the blast. Although it must be acknowledged that employment in their service is as rare as a phœnix, yet there is extreme security under them. I have myself seen the depredations of the Afgháns round Dehlí and Mattra. God defend us from them! It makes the very hair of the body stand on end to think of them. Two hundred thousand men were destroyed in these massacres, and the hordes of the enemy were without number. Such atrocities, forsooth, were perpetrated in compliance with their religion and law! What cared they for the religion, the law, the honour and reputation of the innocent sufferers? It was enough for such bigots that splendour accrued by their deeds to the faith of Muhammad and 'Alí!”
[A large portion of this work has been translated for Sir H.
M. Elliot by a munshí, including the histories of the Nizám-
The author divides his history, according to the fanciful language of Eastern authors, into two palaces (kasr). The first is subdivided into two mansions (mahall), the second into ten mansions and six chambers (aiwán, which in the second Book are called by some oversight hujra).