347Primary Sources

The Crisis of Empire in Mughal North India:

Awadh and Punjab, 1707-48

Muzaffar Alam Print publication date: 2013 Print ISBN-13: 9780198077411 Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: May 2013

DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198077411.001.0001

(p.322) Primary Sources

A. Administrative Records and Documents Documents in the Uttar Pradesh State Archives, Allahabad. The Persian records in this collection consist of farmāns, ḥasb-ut-ḥukms, parwānchas, maḥẓars and other documents concerning land grants, sale deeds, land disputes, judgements, jāgīr assignments, etc. They date from the sixteenth century. I have used the following documents (cited as Allahabad, followed by No.) pertaining to the lateseventeenth and the earlier half of the eighteenth centuries: Nos. 1, 4, 5, 7, 11, 12, 14, 95–7, 117, 128, 136, 192, 194, 286, 288, 431, 505, 514, 524–5, 536, 577, 607, 609, 626, 787–8, 791, 802, 872, 882, 918–21, 923−4, 936–7, 942, 998, 1002, 1009, 1018, 1280, 1283–5, 1291, 1295, 1309–11, 1314–16, 1318, 1321–3, 1565, 2031, 2086, 2204, 2560–1, 2743, 11430–1, 11641, 11971, 11992, 12023–4, 12034, 12036, 12124, 12132, 12139–40, 12227, 12249.

Revenue records of the Mughal provinces in the late-seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, in London. These statistical details which in a number of cases include both jama ‘and ḥāṣil figures of different years, are parts of copies of the reports submitted to the East India Company Revenue Department by local revenue officials of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. The purpose of the Company after it obtained dīwānī in 1765, seems to have been to understand the Mughal system in order to arrive at an agreement with the zamīndārs about the magnitude and method of assessment of the revenue. These papers are rich in information on Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, but as the Company and the zamīndārs rarely agreed with each other, both felt the necessity of obtaining details of other provinces to illustrate and support their viewpoints. Thus, the volumes entitled the Jama‘ ḥāṣil-i ṣūbajāt Bangāla, Bihār wa Orissa often contain pages on the other provinces. Besides, there are a large number of papers in this series bound in separate volumes for the different provinces. Information about the regions under this study is scattered in numerous volumes, but is available largely in I.O.

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4471 (Part III as Kaifiyat-i Maḥālāt-i Sarkārāt Ta ‘alluq Rāja Chait Singh az ‘ahd-i ‘amaldārī Rāja Mansā Rām wa Rāja Balwant Singh), 4485 (Part III as Goshwāra Sarkārāt-i ṣūba Ilāhabād: ‘ahd-i Bādshā-hān wa ‘ahd-i Muḥammad Shāh), 4487 (ṣūba Shāhjahānabād waghairah), 4488 (Kaifiyat-i Jama ‘dāmī wa ḥāṣil-i ṣūba Panjāb wa Multān waghairah), 4489 (Kaifiyat-i Jama‘dāmī wa ḥāṣil-i ṣūba Awadh ta‘alluqa-i Nawāb Shujā‘-ud Daulah), 4491 (Kaifiyat-i Jama‘-i Maḥālāt-i Khāliṣa). These papers, extremely valuable for the scholars of eighteenth-century agrarian history in India, are not properly catalogued.

I.O.4506. This is an extremely important volume containing in Part I a list of the jāgīrdārs of the Punjab of Muhammad Shāh’s times with details of the jama‘dāmī of their jāgīrs in different parganas of the five Doabs of (p.323) the province. Part II of the volume enlists the jāgīrdārs who had their jāgīrs in Awadh while Part III records the manṣabs of Ṣafdar Jang and his 191 companions/associates (hamrāhiyān) with details of jama‘dāmī of their jāgīrs in different parts of the empire, namely, Kashmir, the Punjab, Multan, Delhi, Agra, Awadh, Allahabad, and Bihar, under three heads: t̤alab, muqarrara t̤alab and mawājib..

Sale-deeds, gift-deeds, legal dispositions and judgements concerning the town of Batala in the Punjab. Texts printed with photographic reproductions of the originals, translated and annotated with a comprehensive Introduction by J. S. Grewal, In the By-Lanes of History: Some Persian Documents from a Punjab Town, Simla, 1975.

Documents relating to a land dispute in pargana Laharpur, Sarkār. Khairabad preserved at the Lucknow University Library under the title of Kāghazāt-i pargana Lāharpūr.

Farmάns, parwānas, ḥasb-ul-ḥukms, etc., relating to the times of Jahāngīr to Shāh ‘Alam II (originals) bound together under the title of Majmū‘a-i Farāmīn, Rampur MS, No. 2879.

Farmāns concerning madad-i ma‘āsh grants in the Punjab. Rampur MS.

Farmāns and other documents concerning madad-i ma‘āsh grants in the Punjab. Texts printed with photographic reproductions of the originals, translated and annotated by J. S. Grewal and B. N. Goswami under the titles of The Mughals and the Jogis of Jakhbar and The Mughals and the Sikh Rulers and the Vaishnavas of Pindori, Simla, 1969.

Documents reproduced with translation and comments by J. S. Grewal in ‘Some Persian Documents from Nurpur’, Miscellaneous Articles, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, 1972.

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Farmāns pertaining to land grants and appointments of manṣabdārs and qāz.īs covering the period between the reign of Akbar and that of Shāh‘Alam II. Texts printed in Bashir-ud-Din Ahmad, Farāmīn-i Salātīn, Delhi, 1926.

Farmān of Bahādur Shāh conferring āl-tamghā grant, A. D. 1710, Br. M. Or. 2285.

Farmāns of Muḥammad Shāh relating to madad-i ma‘āsh grants in pargana Gopamau, sarkār Khairabad. Texts printed with translations and notes in M. A. Ansari, Administrative Documents of Mughal India, Delhi, 1984.

A maḥẓar dated 1153 A. H./1740 concerning a zamīndārī dispute and two saledeeds dated 1130 A.H./1717 and 1147 A. H./173`4 of pargana Muhammadabad, sarkār Ghazipur. Originals available in the personal collection of Prof. M. A. Ansari, Jamia Millia, New Delhi.

Documents relating to Awadh preserved at the National Archives of India, New Delhi.

Bilgram Documents, transcripts, Department of History Library, Aligarh.

(p.324) Firangi Mahal Documents, transcripts, Department of History Library. These documents relate to the areas, e.g., Ḥavelī Bahraich, Sadrpur, Amethi Dongar, etc., where descendants and relatives of Mullā Qut̤b-ud-Dīn of Sahali had their madad-i ma‘āsḥ An unpublished edition of these documents with English translations by Dr Iqbal Husain is available in Department of History, AMU, Aligarh.

Jais Documents, transcripts, Department of History Library, Aligarh. This collection also includes documents pertaining to Sultanpur, sarkār Awadh, Kishni, sarkār Lucknow, Nasirabad, sarkār Manikpur in Allahabad and Ḥavelī Moradabad, ṣūba Delhi.

Khairabad Documents, transcripts, Department of History Library, Aligarh. For a description and translation of this collection see Iqbal Husain, ‘A Calendar of Khairabad Documents: Sixteenth-Nineteenth Century’, Islamic Culture, January, 1979.

Akhbārāt-i Darbār-i Mu‘allā: Newsletters from the Imperial Court (Sitamau Malwa Collection). The Sitamau transcripts (of the Rajasthan State Archives, Bikaner and Royal Asiatic Society Library, London) are arranged in chronological order according to the san-i julūs (regnal year) of the emperors in numerous volumes. Twenty-three volumes pertain to the post-Aurangzeb period (1707–19). Besides, there is a volume entitled ‘Miscellaneous Papers’ which consists of waqāi‘, wakil reports, etc., of Farrukh Siyar’s reign. For a description of the collection see Raghubir Sinh, Handlist of Important Historical Manuscripts in the Raghubir Library, Sitamau, Sitamau, Malwa, 1949.

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Cited as Akhbārāt, followed by abbreviation of the name of the emperor (BS, JS, or FS), specific regnal year, volume number where the same year’s papers are bound in more than one volume and page: e.g. Akhbārāt, FS, II, 5th r. y., p. 74.

No regular akhbārāt are available for the third and the fourth phases of the period of my study. But some folios of akhbārāt of Muḥammad Shāh’s reign (25th r. y.) are preserved at the Bibliotheque Nationale (Supplement Persian 313), Paris, Blochet, 613.

Jaipur Records (Sitamau transcripts) 7 volumes of the Sarkar Collection Series and 7 other volumes of the Sitamau Collection under the titles of ‘Miscellaneous’ and ‘Additional Series’. For a description see Raghubir Sinh, Handlist of the Important Historical Manuscripts.

B. Inshā’ Collections ‘Ajā’ib-ul-Āfāq, Br. M. Or. 1776. A collection of letters of Chhabele Rām, Gridhar Bahādur and the Saiyid Brothers. The Rampur MS, a transcript copy of which is available at the Department of History Library, Aligarh, also includes copies of the Akhbārāt containing information about Chhabele Rām and Gridhar Bahādur.

(p.325) Azīz-ul-Qulūb, by Munshī Bhagwān Dās, M. A. L., Aligarh MS. ‘Abd-us- Salām 188/54 F. A collection of letters of Muḥammad Khān Bangash. The work is divided into five sections (faṣls): (a) Muḥammad Khān’s ‘arẓdāshts to the emperor (b) Muḥammad Khan’s letters to nobles (c) farmāns and the nobles’ letters to Muḥammad Khān (d) congratulatory letters drafted by Bhagwān Dās, and (e) other drafts of Bhagwān Dās.

Bhagwān Dās was a native of Hisar Firoza (a district town in modern Haryana) who compiled this work in 1748. The Aligarh MS was transcribed in 1813.

Bahār-i Khayāl, Rampur MS No. 2857. Contains letters exchanged between the nobles and minor officials, drafted apparently by different munshīs of the time.

Bālmukand Nāma, by Mehta Bālmukand. A collection of letters of Saiyid ‘Abdullāh Khān to the important nobles of the time, edited with translation, notes and a critical introduction by Satish Chandra, Bombay 1972.

Dastūr-ul-Inshā’, by Munshī Yār Muḥammad Qalandar, Patna MS No. 3682. Divided into two parts. Part one contains the letters of Nawāb Amīn-ud-Daulah to various nobles, while part two includes two long letters of the compiler (Yār Muḥammad Khān) giving interesting details about his association with Burhānul-Mulk and about his itinerary to the Kumaon hills.

Inshā’-i Mādho Rām, edited by Maulawī Qudrat Aḥmad, Nawalkishore, Lucknow, 1260 A. H. Contains important information about expeditions against the Sikhs.

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Inshā’-i Roshan Kalām, by Bhūpat Rāi. A collection of letters written on behalf of Ra‘d Andāz Khān, faujdār of Baiswara, 1698–1702. M. A. L., Aligarh MS, ‘Abd-us- Salām 109339; I. O. 4011; Jalsa-i Tahzib Library, Lucknow MS, now preserved in Lucknow University Library. I have cited from the lithographed edn, Nizami Press, Kanpur. For an analysis of this collection see Zahir Uddin Malik, PIHC, 34th Session, Chandigarh, 1973, pp. 211–15.

Khujasta Kalām, by S.āḥib Rāi. A collection of letters of Muḥammad Khan Bangash. I have cited from Sitamau Rotograph Copy of I.O. MS.

Mans.ūr-ul-Maktūbāt, by Lāla Awadhī Lāl, Jalsa-i Tahzib Library, Lucknow MS, now preserved in the Lucknow University Library. A collection of ‘arẓdāshts of Ṣafdar Jang to the emperor, his letters to Niz̤ām-ul-Mulk,, Qamar-ud-Dīn Khān, Ṣamṣām-ud-Daulah and to other nobles of the time, and his parwānas to local officials in Awadh. Most of these were drafted by Santokh Rāi, father of Awadhī Lāl. The fourth section of the book contains some letters drafted by Lāla Hirday Rām, a dīwān of Nawāb Shujā‘-ud-Dīn at Orissa. In the end the compiler adds some letters he drafted for notables of his time. Compiled in 1210/1795–6.

Nigārnāma-i Munshī, by Malikzāda, a collection of letters and administrative documents of late 17th century. Or. 1735; Or. 2018;Bodleian MS Pers. e-l, lithographed edn. Nawalkishore, Lucknow, 1882. I have cited from (p.326) M. A. L. Aligarh MS, ‘Abd-us-Salām 362/132. For an analysis of this collection see Shaikh Abd-ur Rashid, PIHC.

Ruq‘āt-i Lachhmī Narāyan, by Lachhmī Narāyan Shafīq, Lucknow, 1882. Lachhmī Narāyan, associated with the Deccan administration, was a disciple of Ghulām ‘Alī Āzād Bilgrāmī, the famous author, poet and scholar of the eighteenth century.

Ruq‘a-i Mutafarriqāt, by Bechū Rām, Patna MS No. 2535. Bechū Rām’s letters to Lāla Lāl Bihārī, apprising him of developments in Bihar after ‘Alī Vardī came to power at Murshidabad, provides information about Ṣafdar Jang’s visit to Patna. This collection is bound with another collection entitled Majmū‘a Ruq‘āt-i Bhāramal waghairah in the catalogue.

C. Chronicles ‘Abd-ul-Karīm Kashmīrī, Khwāja, Bayān-i Wāqi‘, an eye-witness account of the period between 1739 and 1779. ‘Abd-ul-Karīm joined the service of Nādir Shāh in 1739 and accompanied him to Persia. Chapters 1 and 2 describe Nādir Shāh’s rise, his invasion of Hindustan, his return to Persia, Chapter 3 is an account of the author’s journey from Qazwin to Mecca, and back to Hugli, Chapter 4 is an account of the reign of Muhammad Shāh from 1740 to ’48, and Chapter 5 describes the details of the time of Aḥmad Shāh and after. Edited with a brief Introduction and notes by K. B. Nasim, Lahore, 1970. Francis Gladwin published a translation of this work under the title of Memoirs of Khojeh Abdul-Kurreem,

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Calcutta, 1798 H. G. Pritchard’s translation in part is incorporated in Elliot and Dowson’s History of India as told by its own Historians, Vol. VIII.

Anonymous, Account of the Rohillas in the 18th Century, Jawaharlal Nehru University Libary MS. The MS which was compiled and transcribed some time in the late eighteenth century corroborates the information of the better known contempoary sources on Afghān activities in the eighteenth century.

———, An account of daily activities of the Rohilla Chiefs. Br. M. Or. 12886 (Meredith—Owen) this work includes a letter from ṣafdar Jang.

———, Asrār-i Ṣamadī, an account of ̓Abd-uṣ-Ṣamad Khan’s military campaigns against the Sikhs, ‘Isā Khān Me’īn, Ḥusain Khān Khweshgī, Sharf-ud-Dīn Kashmīrī and the zamīndārs of Jammu and Multan. Edited with notes and introduction in Urdu by Muhammad Shuja-ud-Din and Muhammad Bashir-ud- Din, Lahore, 1965.

———, Iqbālnāma, Rampur MS, ascribed to Shivdās Lakhnawī, the author of Shahnāma Munawwar Kalām. The book provides details of the events of the times of Farrukh Siyar and Muḥammad Shāh. For a description see S. H. Askari, Introduction to his English translation, Patna, 1983.

(p.327) Anonymous, Risāla-i Khān-i Daurān wa Muḥammad Shāh, Br. M. Or. 180. Extremely subjective and highly exaggerated account of Ṣamṣām-ud-Daulah Khān-i Daurān. In the end, however, there is an interesting account of some kārkhānas innovated by Ṣamṣām-ud-Daulah.

———, Ṣahīfa-i Iqbāl, Br. M. Or. 1900. A large part of the book is devoted to an unconnected and chronologically defective account of the daily activities of Muḥammad Shāh.

———, Tārīkh-i Aḥmad Shāhī, Br. M. Or. 2005. Useful for details of court politics and conflict of Ṣafdar Jang with the other nobles and later with the Emperor Aḥmad Shāh.

———, Tārīkh-i Shāh ‘Ālam I, National Archives of India, New Delhi transcript. This appears to be heavily based on Ni‘mat Khān ‘Āli’s Bahādur Shāh Nāma.

———, Tārīkh-i Ṣūba-i Ilāhabād, Allahabad University Library MS.

Anṣārī, Muḥammad ‘Alī Khān, Tarīkh-i Muz̤affarī, M. A. L., Aligarh MS. Subḥānallāh 364/134.

———, Baḥr-ul-Mawwāj, Patna MS No. 544 (Fārsī No. 87). This is to be distinguished from the Tārīkh-i Muz̤affarī; is second volume of Anṣārī’s bigger

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history under the title of AKhbār us-Salāt̤īn. Account of the later Mughals begins on f. 196-a.

Āshūb, Mirzā Muḥammad Bakhsh, Tārīkh-i Shahādat-i Farrukh Siyar wa Julūs-i Muḥammad Shāh, Br. M. Or. 1832; Patna MS No. 2608. An important and intelligent but prejudiced account of the developments following Muḥammad Shāh’s accession. The title of the book is misleading, there is nothing in the book on or about the shahādat (assassination) of Farrukh Siyar. The book ends with the death of Zakariyā Khān, the governor of the Punjab, in 1745.

Bhīmsen, Nuskha-i Dilkushā, Br. M. Or. 23. For an account of the author and the work see Majida Khan, PIHC, 41st Session, Bombay, 1980, pp. 386–94.

Ghulām Ḥusain Khān, Zikr-us-Siyar. Br. M. Or. 6652. A history of Benaras in the eighteenth century. For a description see G. M. Meredith-Owen, Handlist of Persian Manuscripts in the British Museum, 1895–1966 (Meredith-Owen).

Ghulām Ḥusain Salīm, us-Salāt̤īn, Bib. Ind., Calcutta, 1898.

Ghulam Muḥī-ud-Dīn Khān, Futūḥātnāma-i Ṣamadī, Br. M. Or. 1870. An account of the military achievements of ‘Abd-uṣ-Ṣamad Khān, the governor of the Punjab.

Harcharan Dās, Chahār Gulzār-i Shāh Shujā‘ī. Br. M. Or. 1732. An account of the period from Muḥammad Shāh to ‘Ālamgīr II with emphasis on the activities of the nawābs of Awadh. The work, dedicated to Nawāb Shujā-‘ud-Daulah, contains information on administration as well.

(p.328) Ījād, Muḥammad Aḥsan, Farrukh Siyar Nāma, Br. M. Or. 25. A detailed history of the early life of Farrukh Siyar and of the first year of his reign following his coronation in Patna.

Irādat Khān (?), Tārīkh-i Mubāraknāma, M. A. L., Aligarh MS 345/115 F. The authorship of this work is wrongly ascribed to Irādat Khān (d. 1717). Very likely it is an extension of the better-known Tārīkh-i Irādat Khān by a member of his family, down to the middle of the eighteenth century.

Jahāngīr, Nūr-ud-Dīn Muḥammad, Tūzuk-i Jahāngīrī, edited by Saiyid Ahmad, Aligarh, 1864.

Kalyān Singh, Khulāṣat-ut-Tawārīkh, Patna MS No. 594.

Kamboh, Ghulām Ḥusain, Tarīkh-i Banaras, Patna MS No. 608. It is a history of the family of Mansā Rām, the founder of Benaras Rāj down to the time of Chait Singh.

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Kāmrāj bin Nayan Singh, A ʻz̤am-ul-Ḥarb, Br. M. Or. 1899. A detailed account of Prince Muḥammad A ʻz̤amʼs preparations for the War of Succession at Jaju (15 March 1707–17 June 1708).

———, ‘Ibratnāma, I.O. MS, Ethe, 391. A political history from 1707 to 1719.

Kāmwar Khān, Muḥammad Hādī, Tazkirat-us-Salāt‥īn Chaghtā, a general history of the Mughals in India in two volumes. The book ends abruptly in 1724. Portion dealing with the post-Aurangzeb period edited with notes and a critical Introduction by Muzaffar Alam, Bombay, 1980. Cited mainly from the M. A. L., Aligarh MS, citations in pages are from the published copy.

Khāfī, Khān, Muḥammad Hashim, Muntakhab-ul-Lubāb, a history of the Mughals in two volumes. A useful eye-witness account of Aurangzeb and his successors is in Vol. II. Edited by K. D. Ahmad and Woseley Haig, Bibl. Ind. Calcutta, 1869. A.J. Syed (Bombay, 1977) and S. Moin ul-Haq (Karachi 1977) published two separate translations of the portion dealing with Aurangzeb’s reign.

Khair-ud-Dīn Muḥammad Khān Tuhfa-i Tāza or Balwant Nāma, Patna MS No. 607. It is a detailed history of the ruling house of Benaras from Mansā Rām to 1195 A. H./1780, gives a valuable account of the relations between Burhān-ul- Mulk and Ṣafdar Jang on the one hand and the first two rājas of Benaras.

Khush-ḥāl Chand, Nādir-uz-Zamānī, Br. M. Or. 1844. General history up to 1735, contains useful information on prices in Delhi in the early-eighteenth century.

Khwāja Muḥammad A ʻz̤am Shāh, Waqi‘āt-i Kashmīr, lithographed edn., Lahore, 1303 A. H./1885–6.

Khwāja Muḥammad Khalīl, Tārīkh-i Shāhanshāhī, Buhar MS No. 79, National Library, Calcutta.

Mirzā Muḥammad bin Mu‘tamad Khān, Tārīkh-i Muḥammadī, records in chronological order the dates of the deaths of the nobles and notables with their manṣabs and offices. Vol. II, Part 6, which deals with the (p.329) post- Aurangzeb period has been edited with Introduction and extensive notes in Persian by Imtiaz Ali Khan ‘Arshī’, Aligarh, 1960.

Mirzā Muhammad Mahdī Astarabādī, Durra-i Nādira, Bombay, 1293 A.H./1876, contains a useful account of Nadir Shah’s invasion of Hindustan. The author served as a secretary to Nādir Shah.

Muḥammad Qāsim Aurangabādī, Aḥwal-ul-Khawāqīn, Br. M. Add. 26, 244. The author was in the service of Niz̤am-ul-Mulk and the work is devoted principally to the history of his relations and conflict with the Mughal court, nobles, the Marathas and his arrangements in the Deccan.

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Muḥammad Qāsim ‘Ibrat Ḥusainī Lāhorī, ‘Ibratnāma, Br. M. Or. 1934. An account of the period from 1707 to 1719, with valuable information about the Sikhs. His account of the court politics is highly prejudiced in favour of the Saiyid Brothers.

Mukhliṣ, Anand Rām, Badā’i‘ Waqā’i‘,

Rampur MS Loharu Collection B 5; Aligarh MS records in detail invasions of Nādir Shāh and Aḥmad Shāh Abdālī. The Aligarh MS incorporates also a section on Muḥammad Shāh’s expedition against the Rohilla Chief (aḥwāl-i safar-i Bangarṛh). But Mukhliṣ treats his account of this expedition as a separate work. Mukhliṣ is a famous writer of the eighteenth century. He composed over a dozen works of prose and poetry including the famous glossary, Mir’āt-ul-Iṣtilāḥ. For a description and analysis of Badā’i Waqā’i‘ in Urdu see Muhammad Shafī, Oriental College Magazine, Lahore, February. 1941.

Murtaẓa Ḥusain Ilāh Yār Us̤ mānī Bilgrāmī, Ḥadīqat-ul-Aqālīm, Nawalkishore, Lucknow, 1879.

Though a geographical work, it contains significant information about the nobles (Sarbuland Khān, Burhān-ul-Mulk, Ṣafdar Jang and Aḥmad Khān Bangash) with whom he was associated before he joined the service of Jonathan Scott as his mụnshī in 1776.

Ni‘mat Khān, ‘Alī, (also known as Dānishmand Khān) Bahādur Shāh Nāma, Br. M. Or. 24. A detailed official history of the first two years of Bahādur Shāh’s reign.

Nūr-ud-Din Fārūqi, Jahāndār Nāma, Br. M. Or. 3610. A brief but reliable eyewitness account of the Civil Wars at Lahore (1712) and Agra (1713), of the reign of Jahāndār Shāh and the developments attendant to Farrukh Siyar’s coming to power. The author along with his father was in the service of Prince Jahāndār Shāh and took part in the two wars.

Qudrat, Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ, Tārīkh-i ‘Alī, Patna MS No. 581. A general history of the eighteenth century, with useful information about the Saiyids of Bārha, compiled some time in the 1780s.

Rustam ‘Alī Shāhabādī, Tārīkh-i Hindī, Br. M. Or. 1628, was compiled in 1742, is a brief history of India from before the Turkish conquest, but with details of the events of the post-Aurangzeb period.

Salīmullāh, Tārīkh-i Bangāla, edited with notes and introduction by S. Imam-ud- Din, Dacca, 1981.

(p.330) Sāqī Musta’id Khan, ‘Ālamgīrī, Bib. Ind., Calcutta, 1871. Translated by Jadunath Sarkar, Calcutta, 1947.

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Shākir Khān, Tārīkh-i Shākir Khānī, Br. M. Add. 6585, Shākir Khān belonged to the family of Khān Ṣādiq of Panipat, and hence his account suffers from certain obvious prejudices. Though chronologically defective, his history is of immense value for developments at the court of Muḥammad Shāh, especially for the period after the Karnal debacle. Shākir Khān gives a list of manṣabdārs, s.ūfīs, theologians, musicians, dancers, astrologers, peshkārs and some merchants, and also records jama‘ figures of the empire together with copies of some official documents.

Shivdās Lakhnawī, Shāhnāma Munawwar Kalām, Br. M. Or. 26; A. S. B. MSIvanow 25/1/33 contains copies of official letters and farmāns, and gives a day-to-day account of events under waqā‘i’. An edition and English translation has been published by S. H. Askari from Patna in1974 and 1980.

Ṣiddīqī, Muḥammad Muḥsin, Jauhar-i Ṣams.ām, Br. M. Or. 1898; A. S. B. MS, compiled in 1740, provides details of invasion of Nādir Shāh and a brief account of the Mughal Empire from Bahādur Shāh to Muḥammad Shāh. Highly prejudiced in favour of Ṣams.ām-ud-Daulah to whom the author dedicates this work.

Sujān Rāi Bhandārī, Khulāṣat-ut-Tawārīkh, ed. Zafar Hasan, Delhi: J & Sons Press, 1918.

Tabatba’i, Munshī Ghulām Ḥusain, Siyar-ul-Muta’akhkhirīn, Vols. 2 and 3, Nawalkishore, Lucknow, one of the most regular and authentic histories of the period under review. The author (b. 1727) was closely associated with many important men and events of the time. An English translation by M. Raymond also known as Haji Mustafa, even though not very accurate, was published from Calcutta in 4 volumes in 1902.

Wārid, Muhammad Shafi’, Mir’āt-i Wāridāt or Tārikh-i Chaghtā’ī, Rampur MS2120; M.A.L., Aligarh MS. Compiled in 1734, provides significant details about the Marāthas, court politics, shoesellers’ riot in Delhi and the activities of Sarbuland Khān, the patron of many Shaikhzādas of Awadh, Wārid also mentions Bhagwant Udāru’s revolt.

Yaḥyā Khān, Tazkirat-ul-Mulūk, I. O. No. 409, a general history of India from the Arab conquest of Sindh down to 1736–7. The author has been a mīr munshī (secretary) at the court of Farrukh Siyar.

D. Biographies and Memoirs Anonymous, Aḥwāl-i Ādīna Beg, transcript, personal copy of Prof. Ganda Singh, Patiala, contains interesting, but not always dependable, account of the famous faujdār of Beth Jalandhar under Zakariyā Khān.

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Ārzū, Sirāj-ud-Dīn ’Alī Khān, Majma‘-un-Nafā’is, Rampur MS, a biographical dictionary of poets and men of letters. Account of Ārzū’s contemporaries has been edited and published by Abid Raza Bedar, Patna, n.d.

(p.331) Āzād Bilgrāmī,Āzād Bilgrāmī, Ghulām ‘Alī, Khizāna-i ’Āmira, lithographed edn., Kanpur.

———, Ma’āṣḻr-ul-Kirām, 2 volumes, lithographed edn., Hyderabad, 1913. This work together with Khizāna-i ’Āmira are among the best and the most authentic accounts of the period, as a member of the contemporary intelligentsia saw it. Āzād Bilgrāmī (1705–85) was associated with Nizām-ul-Mulk and therefore he is prejudiced against Burhān-ul-Mulk and Ṣafdar Jang. His view about the confiscation of all madad-i ma‘āsh by Burhān-ul-Mulk shows his bias.

Both Khizāna-i ’Āmira and Maʼās̤ir-ul-Kirām are biographical dictionaries of poets, scholars, s.ūfis and theologians.

———, Subḥat-ul-Marjān fī Ās̤ār-i Hindustān, ed., Muhammad Fazlur-Rahman Nadvi Siwani, Aligarh: Institute of Islamic Studies, Muslim University, volume 1, 1976, volume 2, 1980.

Bilgrāmī, Ghulām Ḥusain Ṣiddīqī Firshorī, Sharāʼ if-i Us̤mānī, Department of History Library, Aligarh MS No. 63. An important biographical dictionary of the important families of Bilgram, compiled sometime in the mid-eighteenth century.

Bilgrāmī, Saiyid Muḥammad, Tabṣirat-un-Nāzirīn, M. A. L., Aligarh MS, Fārsiya Akhbār 204; A. S. B. MS. Primarily a tazkira. The book is divided into three parts (a) Muqaddima deals with the biographies of the notables of Bilgram (b) Maqāla Ideals with the history of the period between 1690 and 1767 (c) Maqāla II is an account of saints, ‘ulamā, rulers and nobles, etc. To most of the events mentioned in the book, the author was an eye-witness. For the remaining portion, he obtained information from his elders and from his friends through correspondence. The author was born in Bilgram in 1689 and the work was completed in 1767.

Dargāh Qulī Khān, Muraqqa’-i Dihlī, edited with an Urdu Translation by Nurul Hasan Ansari, Delhi: Delhi University, Department of Urdu, 1982. English translation with an Introduction and notes by Chander Shekhar and Shama Mitra Chenoy, Delhi: Deputy Publications, 1989.

H. azīn, Muḥammad ‘Alī, Tazkirat-ul-Aḥwāl, edited and translated by F. C. Balfour, London, 1830. Ḥazīn (1692–1766) completed this account of his life, which contains biographical sketches of many of his contemporaries and sheds light on prevailing social and political conditions in 1752.

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Irādat Khān, Mīr Mubārakallāh, Tārīkh-i Irādat Khān, M. A. L., Aligarh MSUniversity 69/3 F. Awell-known memoir, completed in 1714. Irādat Khān held several important offices and was closely associated with the Mughal court politics. Jonathan Scott’s History of the Deccan incorporates an English translation of this work.

‘Khushgo’, Bindrāban Dās, Safina-i Khushgo, edited by Ataur Rahman Kakwi, Patna, 1959, a biographical dictionary of poets and men of letters.

Mirzā Muḥammad bin Mu‘tamad Khān, ‘Ibratnāma, Patna MS, Catalogue, vii, 623. Memoir of an important Mughal official under Farrukh Siyar. (p.332) Besides developments at the court and significant biographical notices of some important nobles, the book throws light on the working of some aspects of local administration as well.

Mukhiliṣ, Ānand Rām, Safarnāma, edited with a critical Introduction and extensive notes in Urdu by M. Azhar Ali, Rampur, 1946, is an eyewitness account of Muḥammad Shāh’s expedition against the Afghān chief, ‘Alī Muḥammad Khān Rohilla in 1743.

———, Chār Chaman, Rampur MS No. 2870. Primarily a literary work, but contains some references to the events unnoticed in the other works of Mukhliṣ.

———, Tazkira, cited from the Sitamau transcript of Patna MS. This work, almost the same as Badā’i‘ Waqā’i‘, is divided in three parts. Part one describes Nādir Shāh’s invasion, in Part two is mentioned an expedition of Bangarh while part three records the details of Abdālī’s invasion.

———, Waqā’i‘ Sair-i Ganga, f.13a, British Library, India Office Collection, MS.I.O. 1612.

Nek Rāi, Tazkirat-us-Safar wa Tuḥfat-uz̤ - Z̤afar, Salar Jang Museum and Library, Hyderabad MS. no. 7, Accession no. 4519.

Qāzī Aḥmadullāh, Al-Musajjalāt Fī Tārīkh-al-Quz.āt, Department of History Library, Aligarḥ MSNo. 87. Ahistory of the qāẓīs of Bilgram. The author was the son of the famous Qāẓi Muḥammad Iḥsān who came into conflict on a madad-i ma‘āsh issue with Burhān-ul-Mulk.

Shafīq, Lachhmī Narāyan, Maʼās̤ir-i Āṣafī, A. S. B. MS; Osmania University Library, Hyderabad MS. Primarily a history of the ruling family of Hyderabad. Contains useful information about Niz̤ām-ul-Mulk’s relations 7ith the governors of Awadh and the Punjab.

Shāhnawāz Khān, Ṣamsṣām-ud-Daulah, Maʼās̤ir-ul-Umarā, 3 vols., edited by Maulawi Abd ur-Rahim and Ashraf Ali, Bib. Ind., Calcutta, 1888–95. Translated by H. Beveridge with a volume of Index by Baini Prasad, Calcutta. A well known

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and oft-cited biographical dictionary of the Mughal nobles. The author held an important office at the court of the Niz̤ām in Hyderabad. He began this voluminous work on the basis of contemporary MSS in 1767 and completed it in 1780.

T̤ahmās Beg Khān, T̤ahmās-Nāma, ed. Muhammad Aslam, Lahore: The University of Punjab, 1986.

E. Other Historical and Literary Works, Glossaries and Administrative Manuals Abul Faẓl ‘Allāmī, Ā’īn-i Akbarī. edited by Blochman, Bibl. Ind. Calcutta, 1867–77 (also Saiyid Ahmad’s edn., Delhi, 1855 and Nawalkishore edn., Lucknow, 1869); English translation by Blochmann, revised by Phillot, (p.333) Vol. I, Calcutta, 1927 and 1939 and by Col. H. S. Jarrett, revised by Jadunath Sarkar, Vols. II & III, Calcutta, 1949 and 1948 Repr., Delhi, 1978.

Ahmad, Naīm, Shahr Āshūb ma‘ Muqaddama wa Ḥawāshī, Delhi: Maktaba Jamia, 1968.

‘Andalīb, Khwāja Muḥammad Nāṣir, Nāla-i ‘Andalīb, Bhopal: Matba‘-i Shahjahani, 1894.

Dastūr-ul-‘Amal, A. S. B. MS No. 381. Part of it contains some valuable information based on the akhbārāt. The remaining portion is like the usual Dastūr-ul-‘Amals giving details about the jama‘dāmī and topography of the empire and the emoluments of the manṣabdārs, etc.

I‘timād ‘Alī Khān, Mir’āl-ul-Haqā’iq, Bodleian MS. Fraser Collection No. 124. Though it mainly comprises information on administrative and economic conditions in Gujarat, this work throws some interesting light on the developments at Delhi and in other parts of the empire as well.

Khulāṣat-us-Siyāq, a.d. 1703, M. A. L., Aligarh MS, Subḥānallāh Collection (ẓamīma), F. 900/15.

Lāldās, Swāmī, Bītak, ed. Matabadal Jaiswal and Dev Krishna Sharma Shastri, Allahabad: Pranami Sahitya Sansthan, 1966.

Bahār, Munshī Tek Chand, Bahār-i ‘Ajam, a.d. 1739–40. Lithographed edn., Nawalkishore, Lucknow, 1916. A comprehensive Persian dictionary.

Mukhliṣ, Ānand Rām, Mir’āt-ul iṣt̤ilaḥ, Br. M. Or. 1813; a glossary of idioms, proverbs and technical terms.

———, An album containing autographed notings and some letters by Mukhliṣ, pertaining to the court and the Punjab in the 1740s. Br. M. Or. 9236 (Meredith- Owen).

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Dabīstān-i Mazāhib, a work on the religions of the world, written during 1653–6 by an unknown author, ascribed to Muḥammad Muḥsin Fānī, edited by Nazr Ashraf, Calcutta, 1809. An English translation by Anthony Troyer and David Shea as Schools of Religions in 3 vols, was published from London 1843. The facsimile edition of a hitherto MS, completed in 1650, has recently been published by Dr Karim Najafi (Iran Cultural House, New Delhi, 2010). This MS establishes that the author was named Mirzā Zulf iqār Āzar Sāsānī.

Mirzā Khān ibn Fakhr-ud-Dīn Aḥmad, Tuḥfat-ul-Hind, ed. Nurul Hasan Ansari, Tehran: Bunyad-i Farhang-i Iran, 1354 shamsī/1975. A part of this has been edited and translated by M. Ziauddin, A Grammar of the Brajj Bhakha: The Persian text critically edited from the original Mss, with an introduction, translation, and notes, together with contents of the Tuḥfat-ul-Hind, Calcutta: Visva Bharati Book Shop, 1935.

Nājī, Shākir, Dīwān-i Shākir Nājī, ed. Iftikhar Begum Siddiqi, Delhi: Anjuman Taraqqi-ye Urdu, 1989.

(p.334) A Hindi Poem by Trilok Dās, giving the popular view of Nādir Shāh’s invasion and the conditions of the empire under Muḥammad Shāh. Text and translation in English by W. Irvine, Journal of Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1897. See also an eighteenth-century Urdu translation as Hālāt-i Nādir Shāh wa Muḥammad Shāh, I. O. U29.

Jangnāma of Sri Dhar Murlī, Text and English translation by W. Irvine, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1900, pp. 1–30.

Shāh ‘Ālam II, Nādirāt-i Shāhī, ed. Imtiyaz Ali Khan Arshi, Rampur: Hindustani Press, 1944.

Zaṭallī, Ja‘far, Zaṭal-Nāma (Kulliyāt-i Ja‘far Zaṭallī), ed. Rashid Hasan Khan, Delhi: Anjuman-e Taraqqi-ye Urdu, 2007, pp. 53–76; see also Kulliyāt-i Mīr Ja‘far Zaṭallī, ed. Naim Ahmad, Aligarh: Adabi Akadami, 1979.

F. Later Historical Works Anonymous, Tārīkh-i Jāis (a local history of the leading families of Jais compiled possibly in the late-18th century) MS. Dr. Abdul Ali Collection, Nadwatul-‘Ulamā, Lucknow.

Bhatnāgar, Bahādur Singh, Yādgār-i Bahādurī, Uttar Pradesh State Archives, Allahabad MS. A voluminous memoir-like work, compiled in 1249 A. H./1833–34. Historical narrative in this work is based largely on ‘Imād and Ma‘dan. But it also contains a useful topographical account of Awadh, its products, industries and trade and a description of Hindu religious, sects and biographical notices of poets and scholars.

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Bilgrāmī, Saiyid ‘Abbās ‘Alī Khān, ‘Ibrat-ul-‘Ālam, Patna MS No. 2612. Compiled in 1287A. H., but an interesting family history based on a number of family papers and treatises. The work is primarily a history of Saiyid Nūr-ul-Ḥasan of Bilgram who built an estate in Shahabad, Bihar in the late-eighteenth century, and who had been portrayed rather hostilely in Mīr Sakhāwat Bilgrāmī’s Tārīkh-i Nūr-ul-Ḥasan Khān. Nūr-ul Ḥasan was son of Saiyid Muḥammad Muḥsin who died fighting with Burhān ul-Mulk against Nādir Shāh in 1739. He was brought up under the care of Ṣafdar Jang.

Bilgrāmī, Saiyid Ibn Ḥasan, Burhān-i Awadh, M. A. L., Aligarh MS. Subḥānallāh 954/14. Compiled sometime in the mid-nineenth century.

Faiẓ Bakhsh, Munshī Muḥammad, Tārīkh-i Farḥ Bakhsh, M. A. L., Aligarh MS. A history of Faizabad, but contains information regarding the developments at the Mughal court in the early-eighteenth century. The work was completed in 1817. W. Hoey has translated this work as Memoirs of Delhi and Faizabad, Allahabad, 1889.

Gaur Sahāi, Munshī, Tārīkh-i Awadh, M. A. L., Aligarh MS.‘Abd-us-Salam 489/1 F., Compiled in 1242 A. H./1826–27.

Ghulām ‘Alī Khan, Shāh ‘Ālam Nāma, edited by Al-Mamun Suhruwardi and Aqa Muhammad Kazim Shirazi, Bib. Ind., Calcutta, 1874.

(p.335) Hamdānī, Qāsim ‘Alī, Tārīkh-i Shāhiya Nishapuriya, Rampur MS No. 2148. Compiled sometime in the earlier half of the nineteenth century.

In‘āmullāh bin Khurram Shāh, Munshī, Ausṣaf-ul-Āṣaf, M. A. L., Aligarh MS, Abd us-Salam 480/1 F. A verbose account of nawābī rule in Awadh, written in 1795.

Kishan Sahāi ‘Az̤īmabādī, I‘jāz-i Arsalānī, Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris MS Blochet 713–4. A collection of letters of Major Polier dated 1187–93 A. H./1773– 9, throws interesting light on social life and trade in northern India in the eighteenth century. For a description see G. Colas and Francis Richard’s article on Polier’s papers in Bulletin De l’École Francais D’Extreme Orient, Paris, LXXIII, 1984. An English translation of part one with a critical introduction has been published by M. Alam and S. Alavi (Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2001).

Letters of Nawāb Mīr Muḥammad Qāsim and others, Bibliotheque Nationale of France (BnF), Paris Ms Supplement Persan 478 (Edgar Blochet, Catalogue 710).

Mīr Muḥammad Walīullāh, Tārīkh-i FarruKhabād, M. A. L., Aligarh MS. A History of Muḥammad Khān Bangash, the founder of Farrukhabad, and his contemporaries.

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Mirzā Abū T̤ālib Khān, Tafẓīh-ul-Ghāfilīn, translated by William Hoey as History of Aṣaf-ud-Daulah, Allahabad, 1885, reprinted, Lucknow, 1971. Abū T̤ālib, betterknown as Abū T̤ālib Londonī, was a revenue officer in Āṣaf-ud-Daulah’s service. This work, compiled in 1797, is a history of the time of Āṣaf-ud-Daulah, but also notes some important facts about Burhān-ul-Mulk and Ṣafdar Jang.

Maʻās̤ir-i-T̤ālibī, translated by Charles Stewart as Travels of Mirza Abu Taleb Khan, London, 1810, reprinted, New Delhi, 1972.

Munawwar ‘Alī Khān, Lauḥ-i TārīKh, I. O. MS. No. 4243. A mid-nineteenth century history of the Bangash nawābs of Farrukhabad, provides useful information about towns in the territory of the Bangash chief.

Muṣḥafī, Ghulām Ṣamdānī, Tazkira-i Muṣḥāfi, British Museum India Office MS. 4013.

Nāmī, Harnām Singh, TārīKh-i Sa‘ādat-i Jāwīd, Br. M. Or. 1820. A history of Awadh up to 1805–6.

Naqawī, Saiyid Ghulām ‘Ali Khān, ‘Imād-us-Sa‘ādat, Nawalkishore, Lucknow. A regular and extremely valuable history of the nawābs of Awadh from Burhān-ul- Mulk to Sa‘ādat ‘Alī Khān, compiled in 1808 and named after Sa‘ādat ‘Alī Khān, the fifth nawāb.

Qāẓī Muḥammad Sharif, TāriKh-i Bhadohīn, I. O. MS. No. 437. An Urdu history of the family of the author who belonged to the town of Bhadohin in sarkār Chunar, compiled in 1847.

Ṣafawī, Saiyid Sult̤ān ‘Alī Khān, Ma‘dan-us-Sa‘ādat, A. S. B. MS, Ivanow 181 (Society Collection), composed between 1798 and 1802 at Lucknow (p.336) and dedicated to Nawāb Sa‘ādat ‘Alī Khān, is a general history of the Mughals in four volumes. Volume IV begins with the reign of Bahādur Shāh and ends with 1802, the seventh year of Sa‘ādat ‘Alī Khān’s rule in Awadh. Often repeats Siyar, but provides some useful information about the nawābs of Awadh.

Saiyid Roshan ‘Alī Khān Bārha, Saiyid-ut-TawārīKh I. O. MS No. 423. A midnineteenth century family history, throws interesting light on the family customs and kin organization of the Bārha Saiyids.

S̤āqib, Jai Gopāl, Zubdat-ul-Kawā’if, Lucknow University Library MS; Br. M. Or. 6632 (Meredith-Owen). A history of the rulers of Awadh, compiled in the midnineteenth century.

Shauq, Qudratullāh, Jām-i Jahān Numā, Rampur MS No. 1858.

Sūrī, Sohan Lāl, ‘Umdat-ut-TawārīKh, Lahore, 1885–9, Vols. I and II.

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TārīKh-i Aʻz̤amgaṛh, I. O. MS No. 4038. This is an important work on the history of the rise of the Gautam zamīndārī of Azamgarh. Two earlier versions of the same, one by Saiyid Amīr ‘Alī Riẓwī as Sarguzasht-i Rāj ahā-i Aʻz̤amgaṛh (No. 237), and the other by Gridhārī as Intiz̤ām-ul-Rāj or Intiz̤āmi Rāj-i Aʻz̤amgaṛh. (No. 238) are preserved in the Edinburgh University Library. See also pp. 250– 1n.

Tārīkh-i Khāndān-i Mahārāja Karam Singh wa Khāndān-i-Phūlkiyān, transcript. Personal copy of Prof. Ganda Singh, Patalia.

Tārīkh-i Khāndān-i Rājahā-i Phūlkiyān, transcript. Personal copy of Prof. Ganda Singh, Patalia.

Vadehra, Ganesh Dās, Chār Bāgh-iPanjāb, (ed.), Kripal Singh, Amritsar, 1965. A part of this work has been translated by J. S. Grewal and Indu Banga as Early Nineteenth Century Panjab, Amritsar, 1975.

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