Page images
PDF
EPUB

66

"do so." Elias Khan instantly followed with a hundred horsemen; and during the night several chieftains, together with about three thousand men, joined him also. Among this number," says says Ferishta, “was the author of this history." Dilawur Khan in vain endeavoured to regain his power, but was compelled to fly to Ahmudnuggur.

No further mention is made of himself by Ferishta for several years; and it appears likely, that shortly after this period he commenced the compilation of his history, in furtherance of which, he observes, his patron, Ibrahim Adil Shah, spared no expense to procure the most ample materials. But of the thirty-four standard books mentioned as the sources whence he drew his information, besides twenty others alluded to in his history, very few are now extant. Ferishta seems to have finished his account of the Beejapoor kings in 1596, at the age of twenty-six, and the remaining portions of his work must have been composed in the few following years. At the age of thirty-four, he escorted the Princess Begum Sooltana from Beejapoor to Ahmudnuggur, was present at her nuptials with the Prince Daniel Mirza, at Moongy Peitun in 1604, and "attended her palanquin as far as Boorhanpoor in Kandeish, the capital of her husband's government.

After his return to Beejapoor, he was deputed on a mission to the Great Mogul Jehangeer, the successor of Akbur. The latter prince is stated to have died of grief on hearing of the death of his son Daniel, who did not long survive his mar

riage with the Beejapoor princess. Ferishta overtook the court of Jehangeer near Lahore, on his route to Kashmeer, in the year 1606; and although our author does not mention the object of his mission, yet knowing as we do the connection which subsisted between the two families, and that Jehangeer had lately ascended the throne, it may be fairly inferred that Ferishta was selected as one of the most accomplished persons of the Beejapoor court, to convey his sovereign's condolence on the loss of a father, and also his congratulation to Jehangeer on his accession to the throne of the most potent kingdom in the East. *

From the work being sometimes denominated Nowrus Nama, we are led to suppose it was finished during the residence of Ibrahim Adil Shah in his new capital, styled Nowrus, which he commenced building in 1599; and Ferishta makes mention of the existence of the Portuguese and the English factories at Surat, in the year 1611, about which time his work was probably brought to a close, when he had attained his forty-first year; and the following reasons lead to the supposition that he died shortly after. Owing to some superstitious fancy, Ibrahim Adil Shah was induced to remove his court from his capital, after reigning thirty-two years, and he selected the village of Torgha, situated about three miles due west of Beejapoor, for the site of the new town, which he denominated Nowrus (Novel), a favourite appel

*That admirable traveller, Bernier, must have been in the camp at the same time.

lation given at the time to a new coin struck on the occasion, and which soon became a familiar term at court for all the new fashions, thus accounting for a work like that of Ferishta being so denominated. Ibrahim Adil Shah abandoned Nowrus in a few years, and returned to reside permanently at Beejapoor, where he died in the year 1626, fifteen years after we have any traces of Ferishta. The fashion which pervaded the court of Beejapoor for fine buildings appears to have prevailed most about this period; and the superb mosque, calculated to contain five thousand persons kneeling, built by his uncle Ally Adil Shah I., probably gave rise to the taste which produced those superb works now remaining as monuments of the magnificence of the Beejapoor court. The palace of Kamil Khan the Regent; the mosque and reservoir of Chand Beeby; the chaste and beautiful tomb of Ibrahim Adil Shah II., the patron of Ferishta; and the mausoleum over his son Mahomed, whose cupola excedes in diameter that of St. Paul's, being inferior in size only to that of St. Peter's at Rome, are now standing and in good repair; and, together with the numerous fine edifices which are scattered for miles over the plain, afford ample proofs of the splendour of the times. Had Ferishta lived long after completing his history, considering the distinction which he had attained at court, it seems probable we should have known more of him, either as a minister or as an author. We may conclude, also, that he would have procured and completed the history of the Golconda

sovereigns now extant, to which he alludes, but which he had then failed in obtaining; and also that of Khoosrow Shah of Budukhshan, which he promised to write. Had he died at Beejapoor after the return of the court, it is probable so eminent a person would not have been denied some mausoleum to commemorate his name. It seems, therefore, extremely likely that the death of our author occurred during the residence of the court at Nowrus, as, subsequently to the abandonment of that city, its buildings fell so rapidly to decay, that, with the exception of a part of the uncompleted wall, and some few ruins of palaces, little remains that is worthy of notice.

The only monument, therefore, of this industrious historian is to be found in his works, of which the following pages are a translation.

THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

MAHOMED KASIM HINDOO SHAH, surnamed Ferishta, the most humble of the subjects of this realm, begs to state to the learned, that in his youthful days he was early inspired with a desire of compiling a history of the conquests of Islam in Hind, and of giving some account of the holy personages who have flourished in this country; but being unable to procure the materials necessary for this purpose at Ahmudnuggur, where he then resided, his wish was not fulfilled, when in the year 998 (A. D. 1589) he proceeded from that city to Beejapoor, and was introduced to the prince who then filled the throne of the latter kingdom. That monarch devoted much of his time to the study of history, and frequently heaped favours on this author, urging him to complete the object which had ever been uppermost in his mind.

In order to effect this end, he was directed to obtain historical works from all quarters; and in a short time a vast collection of materials was

« PreviousContinue »