The names, which are given in the Beg-Lár-náma (p. 292) as three:—“Bína, Ták, Nabúmiya,” amount to four in the Tuhfatu-l Kirám (MS. p. 4)—“Banya, Tánk, Múmíd, and Mahmír.” They are given from Sindian authorities by Lieut. Postans, in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (No. cxi. 1841, p. 184), as “Nubeteh, Tak, and Moomeed;” and again, by the same author (No. clviii. 1845, p. 78), as “Nubuja, Jak, and Momid.”
It would be a matter of great interest to restore these tribes correctly, and ascertain the course of their migrations. I can trace the mention of them to no earlier authority than the Beg-Lár-náma. All their names, except one, defy positive identification, and we may put the list of the Vishnu Purána and the Asiatic Researches through all kinds of contortions, without meeting any race that will yield a sufficient resemblance for our adoption. That single exception is “Ták,” about which there can be no doubt. “Bína” may possibly represent “Mína,” the probable founders of the celebrated Minagara, and the present occupants of the upper Árávalí range. Or if “Baniya” be the correct reading, then the designation may have been applied to them, as being foresters. In “Múmíd” we may perhaps have the “Med” of the Arabs; and in the “Mahmír,” we may chance to have the representatives of the “Mhairs,” or “Mairs” of Rájpútána, if, indeed, they differ from the Med. We can venture upon nothing beyond these dubious conjectures.
That we should find the “Ták” in Sind at an early period, is by no means improbable, and if the statement rested on somewhat better, or more ancient, authority than the Beg-Lár-náma, it might be assumed as an undoubted fact, with some degree of confidence.
Tod exalts the Táks to a high and important rank amongst the tribes which emigrated from Scythia to India, making them the same as the Takshak, Nágabansí, or serpent-race, who acted a conspicuous part in the legendary annals of ancient India. His speculations, some of which are fanciful, and some probable, may be found in the passages noted below.* One thing is certain that the Táks were progenitors of the Musulmán kings of Guzerát, before that province was absorbed into the empire of Akbar.
Tod observes, that with the apostacy of the Ták, when Wajíhu-l
Mulk was converted, and became the founder of the Muhammadan
dynasty of Guzerát, the name appears to have been obliterated from
the tribes of Rájasthán, and that his search had not discovered one
of that race now existing; but there are Táks amongst the Bhangís,
who, though of spurious descent, have evidently preserved the name.
There are also Tánk Rájpúts in the central Doáb and lower Rohil-