[FIRISHTA'S history is preceded by an Introduction, giving, as his translator, General Briggs, has stated, “a rapid and imperfect account of Hindú history previous to the Muhammadan invasion.” Sir H. Elliot spoke very disparagingly of this part of the work, and compared it “with the first ten Books of Livy, or Dr. Henry's first volume of the History of Great Britain based on the poems of Ossian.”* General Briggs made only a partial translation of the Introduction, and evidently held a very low opinion of its value; but notwithstanding this, and the openly expressed condemnation of Sir H. Elliot, a desire has been often felt and expressed for a complete translation. The subject treated of in the Introduction is one of the greatest obscurity, and inquirers who are striving to penetrate the gloom of Hindú antiquity are eager for the smallest ray or spark of light. Firishta deals with it in a very bold and decided manner, nothing doubting; and a perusal of General Briggs's abstract, or a partial examination of the Persian text, might well excite a wish for a perfect translation. The Editor has therefore made the following complete version of all the historical part of the Introduction. If it does not satisfy, it will at least extinguish expectation; and the work will no longer be looked upon as a partially worked mine containing undiscovered or unappreciated gems of light. As a literary production, the work is certainly curious. Scattered Hindú traditions, which the author had gleaned from various sources, are unhesitatingly connected with the teachings of the Kurán and the legendary lore of the Sháh-náma: like as in Christendom there have been writers who have striven to bring all history into unison with the Old Testament. Musulmáns and their idolatrous forefathers are persistently represented as lords paramount of Hind, the land of infidels, and as regularly receiving and enforcing payment of tribute. It may be that there are in the account some faint glimmerings of fact, some “synchronisms,” as Sir H. Elliot says, “between Persian and Indian heroes;” but whether such are to be found or not, the investigator of Indian history will now no longer be debarred, by ignorance of the Persian language, from a complete investigation of this Muhammadan summary of ancient Hindú history. The translation has been made from General Briggs's lithographed edition, but a MS. belonging to the Royal Asiatic Society has also been used.]
[This Introduction contains an account of the tenets of the people of India, a record of their Ráís, and a description of the rise of the Muhammadan power in that country. At the present time there is no book more extensive and more trustworthy among the Hindús than the Mahá-bhárat. This book was translated from Hindí into Persian by Shaikh Abú-l Fazl Faizí, son of Shaikh Mubárak, in the reign of the Emperor Jalálu-d dín Muhammad Akbar. It contains more than a hundred thousand couplets. The writer of these lines has undertaken the work of making an abstract of the book, and here gives an epitome of it, so that inquirers may obtain a knowledge of its contents from the beginning to the end. It is no secret that in this country there has been a variety of opinion among philosophers, devotees and doctors as to the creation of the world. Of these various views, thirteen are mentioned in the Mahá-bhárat; but no one of the writers has been able to give satisfaction on the subject to an inquiring mind, or to gratify his desires in the smallest degree. (Couplets.)
According to the faulty belief of the Hindús, the revolutions of time in this changeful world are marked by four ages—the first is called Sat Yúg; second, Tritá Yúg; third, Dwápar Yúg; fourth, Kalí Yúg. Whenever the Kalí Yúg shall be completed, the Sat Yúg will come round again, and an end will be put to the Kalí Yúg. The affairs of the world have always gone on in this way, and no sign has been given either of its beginning or its end. In one of the books of authority it is related that a person of false and frivolous character once asked the Leader of the Faithful: “Who existed three thousand years before Adam?” His Highness answered, “Adam!” and as he repeated this three times, the man was silenced, and hung down his head. His Majesty then continued, “If you asked me three thousand times, ‘Who was before Adam?’ I would still reply ‘Adam.’” So the age of the world cannot be ascertained, and the Hindú dogmas upon this point are sheer absurdities. From a saying of one of the old Bráhmans it appears that the world will have an end, and that a day of resurrection is certain. Their most acute and authoritative doctors confirm this doctrine.
The duration of the Sat Yúg was seventeen lacs and twenty-eight
thousand years (1,728,000). During this age the works of the
dwellers in the world were good and righteous. The lowly and
the noble, the poor and the rich, never turned aside from the way
of truth and rectitude, and from doing the will of God. The
natural life of man in this age is said to have been one hundred
thousand years. Gracious God, what a statement is this, and what
a lifetime! (Verses.) The length of the Tritá Yúg is twelve lacs
and ninety-six thousand years (1,296,000). In this age three-
According to the belief of the people of India, the Almighty first created five elements, four of them the familiar (or terrestrial) elements, the fifth being ákás or ether. After that he made a person devoid of form, but a concentration of wisdom, who was called Brahmá. According to various accounts, God brought him forth from the void of non-entity into palpable existence, and made him the first means of creation, and the cause of the foundation of the world. The meaning of the word ákás in the language of the common people of Hind is heaven (ásmán); but the select few deny this, and say that the sages of Hind are not convinced of the existence of a heaven, and that which surrounds the mortal world is air. The planets (kawákib) are the celestial forms of departed great men, who, by keeping under their natural desires, and by devout worship, having obtained bright forms and spiritual embodiments, have been made like unto God in their nature and qualities, and move in the most elevated heights, where, in mortal phrase, they are the birds of the world above. Some who have attained to a high degree of perfection have become great stars, and they never return to the world below. Those who are of a lower standard of perfection, having enjoyed, according to their merit, a life in the highest sky, return again to the lower world. So the word ákás, as used in the Hindú books, has a variety of meanings; and it seems inexpedient to enter into a long explanation of it here. (Verses.)
Brahmá, having by the will of the Creator brought man out of the invisible condition into manifest existence, created four castes— Bráhman, Khatrí, Bais, and Súdra. He appointed the first caste to maintain a holy warfare, to practise austerities, to uphold the laws, and to enforce restrictions. To them he confided the direction of the mortal world. The second class he seated upon the throne of rule and government, and giving to it the sovereignty of the world, he provided for the due government of men. The third caste was appointed to carry on agriculture, trades, and crafts. The fourth caste was created to serve their superiors. By divine direction and holy inspiration, Brahmá brought forth a book about the future and the present life. This book was called Bed. Under the guidance of the Supreme, his active and discriminating intelligence laid down principles for the guidance of all sorts and conditions of men; and having gathered his rules and precepts together in a book, he called it the Sacred Book. Mankind was thus supplied with a controlling power, so that, having a guide before and a guard behind, they might pursue a straight course without deviation. The Bed contains a hundred thousand sloks. The word slok signifies a verse of four charan (feet), and a charan cannot be of less than one nor of more than twenty-six achars. The word achar signifies a letter, or a compound letter. The sages of Hind agree that the lifetime of this Wonder of Creation, the author of the book in question, reached one hundred years; but these years were extraordinary ones, for each consisted of three hundred and sixty days, and each day contained four thousand years of the age above referred to, and each night, like the day, contained one thousand Yúgs. The learned Bráhmans of Hind affirm that up to the time when I write this book, several Brahmás have come into the visible world, and have departed into the unseen. I have heard from my Bráhman friends, that the present Brahmá is the one thousand and first; that fifty years and half a day of his life are past, and he has entered into the latter half of his existence. (Verses.)