Preface, pp. 1 to 3.
The Ghaznívides, pp. 4 to 11.
The Ghorians and subsequent Dehlí dynasties, pp. 11 to 121.
Bábar, pp. 121 to 123.
Humáyún, Sher Khán, etc., pp. 124 to 193.
Akbar, pp. 193 to 200.
Jahángír, pp. 200 to 206.
Kingdoms of the Dakhin, Kashmír, etc., pp. 207 to 258.
SIZE—12mo. containing 258 pages, each of 9 lines.
The copy from which the following Extracts are taken is in
one of the Royal Libraries at Lucknow. I know of no other.
[The Extracts were translated by a munshí and corrected by
Sir H. M. Elliot.]
* After some time, intelligence was brought that Malik Bahrám Abiya, the adopted brother of Sultán Tughlik Sháh, had revolted in Multán, and put 'Alí Akhtí to death, whom Sultán Muhammad 'Ádil had sent with orders to summon the rebel. The Sultán, with a view to subdue the rebellion, marched from Daulatábád towards Dehlí, and thence reached Multán by successive marches. Malik Bahrám came out to oppose him, but was defeated and slain. His head was brought to the Sultán, who was about to order a general massacre of the inhabitants of Multán, and make streams of blood flow, when the staff of the world, the most religious Shaikhu-l Hakk, came bare-headed to the King's court, and stood before him soliciting pardon for the people. The Sultán forgave them for the sake of that holy man. In short, this King called himself just, and generally before executing persons he certainly did refer the case for the decree of the expounders of the law.
It is said of him, that one day, having put on his shoes,
he went on foot to the court of Kází Kamálu-d dín, the
Chief Justice, and told him that Shaikh-záda Jám had called
him unjust; he demanded that he should be summoned and
required to prove the injustice of which he accused him, and
that if he could not prove it, he should be punished according
to the injunctions of the law. Shaikh-záda Jám, when he
arrived, confessed that he had made the assertion. The Sultán
inquired his reason, to which he replied, “When a criminal is
brought before you, it is entirely at your royal option to punish
him, justly or unjustly; but you go further than this, and give
his wife and children to the executioners that they may do what
they like with them. In what religion is this practice lawful?
If this is not injustice, what is it?” The Sultán remained silent;
and when he left the court of the Kází, he ordered the Shaikh-záda
to be imprisoned in an iron cage, and on his journey to Daulat-
When Núru-d dín Muhammad Jahángír died, the second
Lord of the Conjunction, the rightful heir, Sháh Khurram, who
was entitled Sháh Jahán, was in the Dakhin at a distance of three
months' journey from the place where the Emperor Jahángír had
died. It is well known to politicians that the throne of royalty
cannot remain vacant for a moment, and therefore the ministers
of the government and the principal officers of the Court considered
it expedient to place Sultán Dáwar Bakhsh, the grandson
of the Emperor Jahángír, upon the throne for some days; and
thus to guard against mutinies and disturbances which might
otherwise arise. They defeated Sháhriyár, who, through his
vain ambition, had proclaimed himself King in Lahore. The
Emperor Shahábu-d dín Muhammad Sháh Jahán (may his
dominions and reign increase, and may the world be benefited by
his bounty and munificence!) also came with a powerful army
viâ Gujarát and Ajmír, and soon arrived at Ágra, which was
the seat of his and his forefathers' government. He mounted
the throne of sovereignty in the fort of Ágra on Monday the
7th of Jumáda-l ákhir, corresponding with the 25th of
Bahman; and distributed largesses and rewards among his
subjects. May the Almighty keep this generous and world-
It also entered into the mind of this “most humble slave of God” to write a short account of the different provinces of Hindústán, and make it a portion of this small work, detailing how much of this country was in possession of the Emperor Jalálu-d dín Muhammad Akbar and his son Núru-d dín Jahángír, and into how many súbas it is now divided.
Be it not concealed that the whole country of Hindústán, which is known to form one-fourth of the inhabited world, and reckoned as the largest of all the countries, is divided into fourteen súbas, or provinces.
First, the Province of Dehlí; revenue upwards of 65,61,00,000 dáms. Second, the Province of Ágra, which is the seat of government; revenue 82,25,00,000 dáms. Third, the Province of the Panjáb, or Lahore; present revenue, 82,50,00,000 dáms. Fourth, the Province of Kábul, including Kashmír, etc.; revenue 25,00,00,000 dáms. Fifth, the Province of the Dakhin, or Ahmadnagar; revenue 28,35,00,000 dáms. Sixth, the Province of Khándesh and Birár; revenue 87,32,00,000 dáms. Seventh, the Province of Málwá; revenue 28,00,00,000 dáms. Eighth, the Province of Gujarát; revenue 50,64,00,000 dáms. Ninth, the Province of Bihár, including Patná and Jaunpúr; revenue 31,27,00,000 dáms. Tenth, the Province of Oudh with its dependencies; revenue 23,22,00,000 dáms. Eleventh, the Province of Ajmír with its dependencies; revenue 42,05,00,000 dáms. Twelfth, the Province of Allahábád; revenue 30,70,00,000 dáms. Thirteenth, the Province of Sind, including Multán, Thatta and Bhakkar; revenue 40,00,00,000 dáms. Fourteenth, the Province of Bengal, which is equal to two or three kingdoms; revenue 50,00,00,000 dáms.
The revenue of all the territories under the Emperors of Dehli amounts, according to the Royal registers, to six arbs and thirty krors of dáms. One arb is equal to a hundred krors (a kror being ten millions), and a hundred krors of dáms are equivalent to two krors and fifty lacs of rupees. Each of the fourteen provinces above mentioned formed the territory of a powerful king, and was conquered by the sword of the servants of the Chaghatáís. Nine of these fourteen provinces have been visited by the poor compiler of this book, and the following is a detail of them.
He was born in the province of the Dakhin, and lived five
years there. Though it is mentioned as one province, yet the
whole territory of the Dakhin, through which he travelled with
his father, consists of five provinces. Ahmadnagar is one province,
Bíjápúr is another, Golkonda is a third; the Karnátik,
which is a large territory extending as far as Setband Rám-
He may, however, as well mention, that when in the territory of the Karnátik, he arrived in company with his father at the city of Southern Mathurá (Madura), where, after a few days, the ruler died and went to the lowest hell. This chief had 700 wives, and they all threw themselves at the same time into the fire. This event was related by the compiler of this book at Burhánpúr, in the presence of the Nawáb Khán-khánan, son of Bairám Khán; but the Nawáb did not believe it. The vakíl of the Rájá of the Karnátik, whose name was Kaner Ráí, was also present at the court of the Nawáb; and when inquiries were made of him respecting the truth of my assertion, he related the event exactly as the writer had done. So the Nawáb entered it in his note-book.
All the people of this territory are idolators, and eat all the wild animals of the forest. There is not a single Musulmán there. Occasionally a Musulmán may visit the country, deputed by Nizám Sháh, 'Ádil Sháh or Kutb Sháh, but the natives are all infidels. The Madarí malangs and jogís go by this road to Sarandíp and the hill-fort of Ceylon, which is the place where the impression of Adam's footstep is preserved.
In A.H. 1031 the writer of this book visited the delightful land of Kashmír, when he accompanied the victorious camp of the Emperor who had an army as numerous as the stars, viz. Núru-d dín Muhammad Jahángír, and was in the immediate service of the most exalted and noble Nawáb, the Great Khán, the best of all the descendants of the chosen prophet, the chief of the house of 'Alí, a nobleman of high rank and dignity, viz. Kásim Khán, may God preserve him!