cealed themselves in mountains and ravines, as well as all the elders and principal Musulmáns of Ghaznín, who were looking with the eye of expectation towards Dehli, assembled in the Jámi Masjid of the city, and on Friday the khutba was read in the name of Sultán 'Aláu-d dín. The noise of the acclamations of joy and congratulations rose high from all quarters. The vest of honour, which was sent by the king for the reader of the khutba, was put on his shoulders. One of the walls of the mosque, which was decayed and had fallen down, was newly raised. On the same Friday, before the assembly of the Muhammadans, when the name of the king was pronounced in the khutba, he (Badr) offered, near the pulpit, the jewels which he had brought with him, and also one plate full of gold. He threw them down on the earth, and people fell on them and picked them up. The Mughals saw this from the top of the walls of the Masjid, and spoke something in their own tongue. In these days some of the infidels have embraced the Muhammadan faith. B. KASAID OF BADR CHACH. [The author of these Odes, whose real name was Badru-d dín, "the full moon of religion," was more familiarly known as Badr-i Chách, from his native country of Chách, or Tashkand. He came to India and attracted some notice at the Court of Muhammad Tughlik, as may be gathered from the following extracts of his poems. His Kasáid, or Odes, were lithographed at Lucknow in 1845, and there is a short notice of them in Stewart's Catalogue of Tippoo's Library, and in Sprenger's Catalogue of the Oude Libraries, p. 367. Beyond this, nothing is known of him. The following extracts and notes are entirely the work of Sir H. Elliot.] Congratulations on the Arrival of a Khila't from the 'Abbasi Khalifa. Gabriel, from the firmament of Heaven, has proclaimed the glad tidings, that a robe of honour and Patent have reached the Sultán from the Khalífa, just as the verses of the Kurán honoured Muhammad by their arrival from the Court of the immortal God. • The Imám has given the Sháh absolute power over all the world, and this intelligence has reached all other Sháhs throughout the seven climates. The Patent of the other sovereigns of the world has been revoked, for an autograph grant has been despatched from the eternal Capital. The wells of the envious have become as dry as that of Joseph, now that the Egyptian robe has been received in Hindústán from Canaan. ❤ A veritable 'I'd has arrived to the Faithful, now that twice in one year a khila't has reached the Sultán from the Amíru-l Múminín. * Rajab arrived here on his return in the month of Muharram, 746 H.1 (May, 1345 A.D.). • The king now never mentions his desire of sitting on an ivory throne, since his enemies sit on the point of elephants' tusks.**** Be happy, oh Badr, for by the grace of God, and liberality of the king, your difficulties have ceased, and the period of benefactions has arrived. Decorations of Dehli upon the same occasion. 3 2 Yesternight, at the time that the sun, the king with the golden garments, invested itself with a black mantle, and the king of the host of darkness, whose name is the moon, filled the emerald vault with sparks of gold, a robe of honour and a patent of sovereignty arrived, for the king of sea and land, from the lord Khalífa, the saint of his time, Ahmad 'Abbás, the Imám of God, the heir of the prophet of mankind. An order went forth that the embroiderers of 1 This is a very difficult passage, and variously interpreted. I have made as much sense of it as it seems capable of bearing. The literal translation is: "On the very date on which one month was in excess of the year 700 from this journey, in the month of Muharram, the before Sha'bán arrived." The chronogrammatic value of " one month" is forty-six; some copies, by the omission of the alif, make it "forty-five," and some only "nine," which latter is out of the question. Rajab is the month before Sha'bán, and that is also the name of the ambassador who had been sent by Muhammad Tughlik to the Khalifa. Firishta says one khila't arrived in 744 H., and another in 747 н. Here a contemporary says the second arrived in 746 H., or it may be 745 н., and that both khila'ts arrived within one year. The introduction of the Khalifa's name upon Muhammad Tughlik's coins begins as early as 741 H.; but this must have occurred before the arrival of an ambassador, and sufficiently accounts for the errors in the name of the reigning Khalífa, which do not occur at a period subsequent to this embassy. See E. Thomas, Coins of the Patan Sultans, New Edition, pp. 254, 259, and Fraehn, Recensio, p. 177. 2 That is, your enemies are placed before elephants, to be gored or trampled to death by elephants. 3 There is a double meaning here-the "host of darkness" being, in the original, "the army of Hind;" and the "black mantle," "the khila't of the 'Abbasis;" which image also occurs in the preceding ode. curtains should prepare a beautiful and costly pavilion in the centre of four triumphal arches, which were so lofty that the vault of heaven appeared in comparison like a green fly. Each arch was adorned with golden vestments, like a bride. The floors were spread with beautiful carpets, and there were ponds of water to excite the envy of Kansar, the rivulet of paradise. In the chambers poets recited verses; songsters, like Venus, sang in each balcony. The chamberlains were in attendance, with their embroidered sleeves; the judges, with their turbans; the princes, with their waistbands. All classes of the people assembled round the buildings to witness the scene. This gay assemblage had collected because a khila't and Patent had been sent by the lord Imám. The contents of it were: "May everything on the face of the earth, in the fire and in the water, remain under the protection of the king— Turk, Rúm, Khurásán, Chín, and Shám-both that which is good, and that which is bad! If an azure canopy be granted, the heaven is at his command; if a red crown be desired, the sun will provide it. Let his titles be proclaimed from every pulpit—the Sultán of East and West, the King of Kings by sea and land, the Defender of the Faith, Muhammad Tughlik, the Just, in dignity like Saturn, in splendour like the Messiah!" The Imám has sent a khila't black as the apple of the eye, calculated to spread the light of the law through the hearts of men. For fear of the justice of thy government, the hart and the lion consort in the forest. May the eyes of thy enemies shed tears of blood. May he who raises his head against thy authority, have his face blackened, and his tongue slit, like a pen-reed; and so long as the moon is sometimes round as a shield, and sometimes bent like a bow, may arrows pierce the heart of thy ruthless enemies. May every success attend Badr through thy good fortune, and may he never be visited by any calamities of the time! In Celebration of a Festival. Doubtless, this festival appears as if it were held in Paradise, in which armies of angels stand on the right and left. A thousand crowned heads are bowed in reverence; a thousand throned warriors stand awaiting orders; a thousand stars (armies) are there, and Journal des Savants, and he frequently refers to the author under the surname of Marakashí in his Histoire des Huns; but M. Quatremère shows this title of Marakashí, or "native of Morocco," to be a mistake. The MS. is a small folio of 231 leaves, and consists of six chapters. 1. Description of Hind and Sind. 2. The Empire and family of Changíz Khán. 3. The Kingdom of Jílán. 4. The Kurds, Lúrs, and other mountain tribes. 5. Turk states in Asia Minor, with notices of the empires of Trebizond and Constantinople. 6. Egypt, Syria, and Hijjáz. At the close of his notices of India, he mentions the name of Muhammad Tughlik as the reigning sovereign, and the general tenor of his observations points unmistakably to that able but perverse ruler. The author quotes occasionally the works of other authors on geography and history, and among them Abú-1 Fidá and Juwainí; but he depends principally on the oral information supplied by intelligent and learned travellers with whom he had come in contact. His method of gathering and using information is apparent in the following extracts. The work stood high in Oriental estimation, and was often quoted by later writers-among others by the author of the Nuzhatu-l Kulúb.] EXTRACTS. India is a most important country, with which no other country in the world can be compared in respect of extent, riches, the numbers of its armies, the pomp and splendour displayed by the sovereign in his progresses and habitations, and the power of the empire. The inhabitants are remarkable for their wisdom and great intelligence; no people are better able to restrain their passions, nor more willing to sacrifice their lives, for what they consider agreeable in the sight of God. According to the information of Siráju-d dín Abú-1 Fath 'Umar, a lawyer, and a native of the province of Oudh, who had lived long at the court of the Sultán of Dehli, the dominions of that monarch consisted of twenty-three principal provinces. 1. Dehli. 2. Dawákír (Deogir). 3. Multán. 4. Kahrán (Kuhrám). 5. Sámána. Siwistán. 7. Uch. 8. Hasí (Hansí). 9. Sarsutí (Sirsah). 10. Maʼbar. 6. 11. Tilank (Telingana). 12. Gujarát. 13. Badáún. 14. Oudh. 15. Kanauj. 16. Lakhnautí. 17. Bihár. 18. Karra. 19. Málwa. 20. Láhor. 21. Kalanor (Gwalior ?). 22. Jájnagar. 23. Tilanj Darusamand (Telingana (?) and Dwára-samudra). According to the account of Shaikh Mubárak, the city of Dehli is the capital of the kingdom of India. Next comes Dawákír (Deogír), which was founded by the Sultán of that empire, and named by him “Kabbatu-l Islám, or the Metropolis of Islám." This place, said the Shaikh, is situated in the third climate. When I left it six years ago the buildings were not completed, and I doubt if they are yet finished, the extent it covers being so great, and the number of its intended edifices so vast. The king divided it into quarters, each of them intended for men of the same profession. Thus there was the quarter of the troops, that of the ministers and clerks, that of the kázís and learned men, that of the shaikhs and fakirs, and that of the merchants and those who carry on trades. Each quarter was to contain within it everything necessary for its wants, mosques, minarets, markets, baths, mills, ovens, and workmen of every trade, including even blacksmiths, dyers, and curriers, so that the inhabitants should have no necessity to resort elsewhere for buying or selling, or the other requirements of life. Each quarter was to form a separate town, entirely independent of those surrounding it. I questioned the Shaikh Mubárak about the city of Dehli and the court of its sovereign, and I obtained from him the following details. "Dehli consists of several cities which have become united, and each of which has a name of its own. Dehli, which was one among them, has given its name to all the rest. It is both long and broad, and covers a space of about forty miles in circumference. The houses are built of stone and brick, and the roofs of wood. The floors are paved with a white stone, like marble. None of the houses are more than two stories high, and some only one. It is only in the palace of the Sultán that marble is used for pavement. But if I can believe the Shaikh Abú Bakr bin Khallál, this description applies only to the old houses of Dehli, for the new ones are built differently. According to the same informant, Dehli comprises an aggregate of twenty-one cities. Gardens extend on three sides of |