IV.

This celebrated work is devoted chiefly to the history of Kutbu-d dín Aibak, but it also contains portions of the history of his predecessor Muhammad Ghází, and his successor, Shamsu-d dín Altamsh, but without any notice of Árám, the son and im­mediate successor of Kutbu-d dín. The name of Táju-l Ma-ásir is nowhere given to the work by the author himself, but it has never been known by any other name from the earliest period. It means “The Crown of Exploits.” Titles similar to this are common in Asiatic literature, the most celebrated being the Táju-t Tawáríkh of the Turkish historian Sa'du-d dín Mu­hammad, better known as Khwája Effendi, “the Prince of Otto­man Historians.”* Considering that the historical portion of this work is devoted exclusively to India, it enjoys a wide repu­tation throughout the Eastern Muhammadan world; which is ascribable less to the subject of the history than to the peculiar mode of its treatment. This has already been brought to the knowledge of European scholars by a very good account which has been given of the work by Hammer, in his life of Kutbu-d dín Aibak, contained in the Gemäldesaal der Lebensbeschreibungen grosser Moslemischer Herrscher, (Vol. iv. pp. 172-182). He re­marks that Kutbu-d dín would probably have been enrolled among other conquerors of whom history is silent, had not Hasan Nizámí of Lahore, the writer of the Táju-l Ma-ásir, entered into competition with Sábí the historian of Kábas, and 'Utbí the historian of Subuktigín and Mahmúd. This is paying too great a compliment to the historical value of the work, for the simple style of the Tabakát-í Násirí, a work nearly contemporaneous, was much better adapted to rescue from oblivion the exploits of Kutbu-d dín, who receives his due share of notice in that history.

The Táju-l Ma-ásir is in fact exceedingly poor in historical details, though the period of which it treats is one of the most interesting in the history of Asia,—that of the first permanent establishment of the Muhammadan power in India. In contains, according to Hammer's enumeration, twelve thousand lines, of which no less than seven thousand consist of verse, both Arabic and Persian. It is swelled out to this unnecessary magnitude by the introduction of tedious and meaningless descriptions and digressions, which amount to not less than an hundred in the first half of the work. M. Hammer considers that there are fewer in the second, as the descriptive faculty seems to have been exhausted; but this apparent barrenness is occasioned more by the omission of the marginal notes indicating their recurrence, than by any exhaustion of the author's power, which flows on to the end in an even strain of eloquence, which is perfectly mar­vellous for its abundance, continuity, and fantasticness. It is produced apparently with but little effort, leaving us to regret that the author should have admitted into an historical work so much rhapsodical and tropological stuff, which is of little use except to show his powers of fancy and invention. It is, however, this which constitutes its value in the estimation of oriental writers, who to this day are fond of attempting imita­tions, without any of the richly exuberant vein of Hasan Nizámí.

Towards the close, indeed, there is a new variety of illustra­tion, which makes it appear that the descriptions are fewer. But though fewer, they are much longer, for here the author occa­sionally introduces a subordinate series of descriptions, or sifats, within one leading subject. For instance, in the second half we have images derived from mirrors, pens, and chess, each running on for many pages, but all containing several minor descriptions referrible, as it were, to those chief subjects. Here also we are introduced to new conceits, where whole sentences and pages are made to consist of nothing but sibilants and labials. Even the death of Muhammad Ghází is not sufficient to repress the gaiety of his imagination, for we are told that, “one or two men out of the three or four conspirators, inflicted five or six wounds upon the lord of the seven climes, and his spirit flew above the eight paradises and the nine heavens, and joined those of the ten Evan­gelists.”

Some of the passages where these descriptions are introduced are noticed in the following abstract, showing that they are derived from anything in heaven or earth, as the prolific fancy of the author may suggest. The Gemäldesaal has given the follow­ing classified distribution of them:—Of nature, its elements and phenomena,—fire, water, heat, cold, lightning, thunder, rain, snow, the sea, the desert, fields, woods, meadows, and gardens. Of seasons,—day, morning, evening, night, spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Of flowers,—the rose, the tulip, the basi­licon, the jasmin, the lily, the narcissus, the violet, the lotus, the hyacinth, the anemone. Of fruits,—the pomegranate, the apple, the orange, the citron. Of beasts,—the lion, the serpent, the elephant, the horse, the camel, the lynx, the falcon, the peacock, the dog. Of war and its appurtenances,—the contend­ing armies, arrows, bows, clubs, lances, spears, daggers, and spoils. Of musical instruments,—kettle-drums, viols, tymbals, and bar-bytons. Of beautiful women,—cheeks, hair, curls, eyes, and moles. Of festivals and their appurtenances, — cup-bearers, singers, bowls, wines, and fire-pans; and lastly, pens, physicians, and learned men. Most of these have been given in the follow­ing abstract in the order in which they occur, and they by no means include the whole series introduced by the author.

The reader may satisfy himself of the nature of these descrip­tions by reading the commencement of one devoted to the sword, which he will find in the abstract under “The Conquest of Gwáliár.” If he should be desirous of seeing the conclusion of it, he will find it in the Gemäldesaal, pp. 178, 179.

There is but little related of the author by biographers, and all we know of him is to be ascertained only from his own ac­count in the preface of the Táju-l Ma-ásir. He gives his own name as Hasan Nizámí simply. Mírkhond in his preface, and Hájí Khalfa (No. 2051), call him Sadru-d dín Muhammad bin Hasan Nizámí, and so he is styled by Abú-l Fazl, in an un­translated chapter of the Ayín-i Akbarí. Hammer calls him Hasan Nizámí of Lahore, but that was neither his birthplace nor chief residence.

Hasan Nizámí was born at Naishápúr, and he tells us that he never dreamt of travelling abroad, until the troubles of his native country of Khurásán induced him to seek a residence elsewhere. Another cause was that no regard was paid to learning, in consequence of these distractions, and that ignorant and envious men were seeking to injure him, for it is a matter of common observation that “the wise are rarely regarded in their own country.”*

He for a long time entertained the thought of leaving his country before he could put it into execution, and at last, when the disorders of which he complains had reached their climax, and he himself was reduced to the greatest distress, “in the very prime of manhood, and before his hair began to turn gray,” he left his native city, notwithstanding the continued remonstrances of his friends, to which he had yielded for some time. He set out for Ghazní, at the suggestion of Shaikh Muhammad Káfí, and on his arrival at that capital, after being delayed by a severe attack of fever on the road, he made several agreeable acquaint­ances amongst the learned, and after a short time departed in company with some of his new friends for Dehli, “the country of mercy and the altar of wealth.—The reins of choice were given to his horse, the traverser of deserts and the passer of hills.—The heat of the fiery blast opened the very gates of hell, and the wild beasts of the mountain and deserts sought for the shade of trees.—The boughs of the jungle were so closely interlaced, that the wind in the midst of them was confined like a bird in a cage.—A tiger was seen in every forest.—In every ravine and plain poisonous serpents were met with.—It came into his thoughts, will the boat of his life ever reach the shore of safety?—The crow-like Hindús had intercepted the roads, and in the rapidity of their movements exceeded the wild ass and the deer, you might say they were demons in human form, and covered with blackness.”

Having escaped from all these dangers, he arrived at Dehli, and paid his respects to the Chief Judge, Sharfu-l Mulk, and was received with great kindness. After he had resided for some time in this city, his friends recommended him to write something in the shape of contemporary history, “for the pur­pose of ascertaining the powers of his style;” and as the king had about that time issued orders that an account of his victories should be recorded, Hasan Nizámí determined to engage himself upon that particular subject.

With regard to the dedication of his work, Hammer informs us (Gemäld., iv. 174), that “this history of Kutbu-d dín Aibak, was composed by Nizámí, his contemporary, as early as twelve years after his death, for Muhammad bin Sám bin Husain, the ruler of Lahore, who styled himself ‘Násir-i Amíru-l Muminín, helper of the prince of the believers.’ Nizámí of Lahore, a slave of Muhammad bin Sám, wrote this history for his master, who being an admirer of the great achievements of Aibak, took them for the model and rule of his reign.”

There is evidently a great misapprehension here respecting Muhammad bin Sám, who is no other than the famous Muham­mad Ghorí, the master of Kutbu-d dín Aibak. Muhammad Ghorí died before Kutbu-d dín reigned, and he could not therefore have taken his own slave for his great exemplar. What the author really says regarding this potentate is this: After dwelling on the advantage and necessity of holy wars, without which the fold of Muhammad's flock could never be filled, he says that such a hero as these obligations of religion require has been found, “during the reign of the lord of the world Mu'izzu-d dunyá wau-d dín, the Sultán of Sultáns, Abú-l Muzaffar Muhammad bin Sám bin Husain, in the person of the puissant Sultán, the lord of the fortunate conjunction of the planets, the pole of the world and religion, the pillar of Islám and Musulmáns, the asylum of princes and sultáns, the destroyer of infidels and plural-worshippers, etc., the Khusrú of Hindustan, Abú-l háris Aibak the Sultán,” and that “Almighty God had selected him from amongst the kings and emperors of the time,” for he had em­ployed himself in extirpating the enemies of religion and the state, and had deluged the land of Hind with the blood of their hearts, so that to the very day of resurrection travellers would have to pass over pools of gore in boats,—had taken every fort and stronghold which he attacked, and ground its foundations and pillars to powder under the feet of fierce and gigantic elephants,— had made the heads of crowned Ráís crown the top of impaling posts,—had sent the whole world of idolatry to the fire of hell, by the well-watered blade of his Hindí sword,—had founded mosques and colleges in the places of images and idols,—and had made the names of Naushírwán, Rustam, and Hátim Táí to be forgotten.” Such was the hero to the record of whose achieve­ments the work was principally dedicated.