CONTENTS OF VOL. VIII. Examination of Major Raverty's Criticisms of the Tabakút-i - X1 XCII.-Tárikh-i Nádiru-z Zamání, of Khushhál Chand - XCV.-Nádir-náma, of Mirzá Muhammad Mahdí XCVI.-Tahmásp-náma, of Miskín XCVII.-Bahru-t Tawarikh CVI.-Tárikh-i Faiz Bakhsh, of Sheo Parshád CXI.-Sawánih-i Akbari, of Amír Haidar Husainí CXII. Siyaru-l Muta-akhkhirin, of Ghulám Husain Khán 194 CXIII.-Mulakhkhasu-t Tawarikh, of Farzand 'Alí Husain 199 CXIV.—Tárikh-i Mamálik-i Hind, of Ghulám Básit - - 200 CXXV. Gulistán-i Rahmat, of Nawáb Mustajab Khán CXXVIII.—Tárikh-i Muzaffari, of Muhammad 'Alí Khán · CXXIX.-Shah-náma, or Munawwaru-l Kalám, of Sheo Dás 331 CXXX.-Ikhtisáru-t Tawárikh, of Sawan Singh - CXXXI.-Mir-át-i Aftáb-numá, of Sháh Nawáz Khán CXL.-Tárikh-i Sháh 'A'lam, of Manú Lál CXLIII.-Nigár-náma-i Hind, of Saiyid Ghulám 'Alí CXLIV.-Muntakhabu-t Tawarikh, of Sadásukh CXLV.-Ashrafu-t Tawarikh, of Kishan Dayál CLIII.—Akhbárát-i Hind, of Muhammad Rizá - HISTORIANS OF INDIA. LXXXIV. MUKHTASIRU-T TAWARIKH. THE author has nowhere given a distinct title to his work, though he says it is a mukhtasir, or abridgment, of the accounts of ancient Sultáns. Neither the name of the author nor the date of the composition is given; but as, amongst the general authorities which he mentions in his Preface, the latest is the Ikbál-náma Jahángirí of Mu'tamad Khán, we may fairly assume that the work was written early during the reign of Shah Jahán. The author tells us that next to the knowledge of God and His Will the most important information to acquire is that derived from history; and that acquaintance with the circumstances of former kings, and their nobles and counsellors, is equal to the cup of Jamshid and the mirror of Alexander; that it also leads to reflections upon the instability of kings and kingdoms, which are always treading the road of annihilation: for when exalted autocrats, with their powerful families, their experienced ministers, their countless armies, and exhaustless treasuries, with all their pomp, splendour and dominion, are swept from off the earth, and no vestige of them remains, what doom can inferior creatures expect? After these moral reflections, he proceeds to inform us, that though he was endowed with a very small capacity, yet as he VOL. VIII. 1 |