English
And blessings full of white effulgence and sacred benedictions are due unto all the messengers of the Palace of His bounty, that is, unto the Prophets, especially unto that Symbol of Mercy of the people of the world, that Herald of the Faithful, that Seal of the Prophets, that Pioneer of the better Path, that Bright Lamp of the right road, the Raisondetre of the creation of this world, the First-born: the Last-disclosed , 1 that is, the Pride of the Prophets, the Leader* of the Innocent, the Interceder on the day of Jndgment, Muhammad the Chosen—Ahmad the Select; God’s special mercy and peace be on him and his descendants, and the people of his sacred house, and on his successors and all his companions! After God’s and the Prophet’s praise , 3 this bumble servant who is hopeful of the intercession of the Prophet, namely, Ghulam Husain, whose title is Salim Zaidpui i , 4 so says that since some period, according to chances of time, he has been in the service of Mr. George Udny, who is a gentleman of high position and high rank, of graceful character, of kind heart, mild disposition, praise¬ worthy deportment and great generosity, who is the Hatim 6 of l This has reference to the Muhammadan belief that the Nur or light of Muhammad was the first thing created by God, and that all else followed, though the Prophet in bodily form was ushered into existence after all other prophets. 3 This has reference to the tragic martyrdom of I^usain and other mem¬ bers of the Fatiipite family, who were all innocent, aud whose ancestor the Prophet was. 3 Every Muhammadan book begins with the praise of God. This praise is called hamd in Arabic, and is followed by Na't, or praise of the Arabian Prophet. ♦ Ghulam Husain Salim Zaidpuri is - the author of the present historical work entitled the Riya$u-8-Salitin, or History of Bengal. 1\h\}\ Bakhsh in his history “ Khnrshid Jahan Kama” of which Mr. Beveridge has published lately an Analysis in the Joamals of the Asiatic Society, has some notice of Ghulam IJasain. He states that Ghulnm Husain was of Zaidpur in Oodh, migrated to Maldah in Bengal, and held the office of Dak Monshi or Post Master there, under Mr. George Udny. Noticing the Charitable Dispensary at Maldah, lluhi Bakhsh observes that here used to be the house of Ghulam Husain, and that in the quarter known as Cak Qurban All is the tomb of Ghulam fjosain who died in 1233 VH. or 1817 A.C. The chronogram com¬ posed in honour of his memory by his pupil, Abdul Karim, is t±3j ^j which yields 1233. Mr. Udny appears to have been at the time Commercial Resident of the East India Company's factory at Maldah. b Hatim was a Prince of Yemen, in Arabia. His generous hospitality is a by-word in the East. 3 the world of bounty, the Naushirwan 1 of the world of Justice, the Generous man of the age, and who is callous about popularity and praise— May God always preserve his good fortune, and advance his rank, and elevate his position, and double his life and dignity ! and that he has been in the class of his servants, and has ever been and is still the recipient of his favours. In short, the excellencies-abounding and bounties-springing person of that rniue of discernment, is unique and matchless in this age. He is a paragon of all excellencies, He is superior to all praise that can be conceived. He is enlightened, sees through things aright, like old sages, But he has the fortune, the age and the rank of manhood. He weighs his words which are pregnant with meaning, His two lips, like two palms, at the time of conversation, are pearl-6cattering. The tray of his bounty is ready for the poor and the needy ; He always keeps gold and dinar 3 for the indigent. Inasmuch as his high mind is always pursuant of the study of histories and travels, and is seeker of all sorts of knowledge and accomplishments, in the year 1200 A.H. corresponding to 1786 A.C., his bent of noble mind turned towards seeking a knowledge of the lives and careers of past sovereigns and rulers who tmfurling the standard of sovereignty over Bengal, the Paradise of Provinces, 8 have now passed into the secret regions of Eternity. Accordingly, the order was given to this man of poor ability, that whatever he might gather from historical works, &c., he should compile in simple language, so that it might be intel¬ ligible to all, and might deserve the approval of the elite. This 1 Naushirwan was a King of Iran or old Persia. He flourished in the sixth century, and belonged to the Sossanian dynasty. His wazir was the famous Buzurchemeher or Bouzour, author of the tfafaruamah. Naoshir- wan’s justice is proverbial in the world. 8 Dinar, a gold coin weighing one misqat, i.e., 1$ dirhams. For details see Ain-i-Akbari, Yol.-I (Blochmann’e Trans., p. 30). 8 Our author calls Bengal *• Jinnat-ul-bildd," or ‘ Paradise of Provinces.’ I am not sure if there is any historical basis for this expression, as there is for the expression “ Jinnat-abad ” which latter epithet was bestowed by Emperor Humayun on Gaur in Bengal (see Tabaqat-i-Akbari, Elliot’s History of India, Yol. V, p. 201, Ain-i-Akbari, Vol. II, p. 123, and Badaoni. Vol. I, 4 ignorant man, of limited capacity, deeming the execution of the order of his master incumbent on himself, being the slave of order, has placed the finger of consent on the eye, and girded up the loin of effort and venture, collected sentence after sentence from every source, and for a period of two years has devoted himself to the compilation and preparation of this history. And after completing it, he has named it liiyazu-s-Salatin, 1 according to the date of its completion. It is hoped that this work may merit the approval of all persons of light- It is desired of people conversant with past times, that if they detect any mistake or oversight, they will over¬ look it, inasmuch as this humble man is not free from shortcom¬ ings, according to the saying “ Man is made up of sins of commis¬ sion and omission,” and further, that, according to their capacity, they will correct the mistakes and defects, and if they cannot do 60 , they will be good enough to overlook them. The plan of this work consists of an Introduction and Four Chapters. Its arrangement is as follows :— (a) The Introduction consists of Four Sections. Section 1 relates to a description of the state of populousness of the country of Bengal, and of its boundaries and environs. Section II relates to a description of certain characteristics of that country. p. 349). However that may be, Bengal well deserved to be styled “ Jtnnat.ul • hilad ” or ‘ Paradise of Provinces, 7 owing to the fertility of its soil, the richness of its produce, and the vastnees of its natural resources. During Musalman rule, the Province of Bengal yielded the largest revenue to the Delhi Emperors, and in consequence its Viceroyalty was always coveted by Princes Royal of Delhi, from so remote a period as the tiraeB of Emperors Shamsuddin Alta tush an( j Ghiasuddin Balban-whose sons in succession ruled over Bengal, not to speak of later Mughal Princes Royal of Delhi. Under British rule also, Bengal Proper, including Assam, Behar and Orissa and Chutia Nagpur, forms the largest Administrative Division of India, contains one-third of the total population of British India, and yiolds a gross revenue of 17 or 18 millions sterling, or one-third of the nctual revenues of the Indian Empire. It is worthy of note that the above expression is also used in Mughal Imperial (official) documents, vide J.A.S.B.for 1901, Vol. LXX, Part I, No. l,pp- 21-22. 1 “ Riynfu-s Salitin ” is a ohronogram yielding date 1202 A.H., correspond¬ ing to 1788 A.C., the year in which this historical work was completed. ‘ Rauzah ’ in Persian means a ‘ garden,’ its plural being ‘ Riya? ’ meaning, • gardens.’ “ Salitin ” means “ Kings ”; therefore, ‘ Riya?u-s-Salaj;in ’ means gardens of Kings.” It is a pity the anthor does not specify all the sources 5 Section III relates to a description of certain cities of that country. Section IV relates to a brief sketch of the role of the Raian of Hindustan. Chapter I relates to a description of the rule of the Musalman rnlers who as Viceroys held delegated authority over this country from the Emperors of Delhi. Chapter II relates to a chronicle of the Musalman Kings who mounting the throne of Bengal, had the Khutbah 1 of sover¬ eignty recited after their own names. of his history, but there is internal evidence to indicate that, besides consult¬ ing standard historical works, each as Tabaqat-Nnsiri by Minhnj-u-Sirnj, Tarikh-i-Firuz Shah I by #iauddin Barni and by Siraj Afif (which contain references to the history of Bengal only for the period between 1198 to 1338 A.C.) and Tabaqat-i-Akbari by Nizatnnddin Ahmad (which contains an account of Bengal for the period 1338 to 1538), the Badaoni and Akbarnimnh by Abul Fazl(forthe period under Akbar)and other similar standard historical works on India such as the Tuinlc, the Iqbdlnamah, tho Pddshdhndmah, the AUimgirndmdh, and tho Maasir-i-Alamgiri. Salim had recourse also to other less known historical treatises relating to Bengal which are not perhaps now extant, and perhaps lay only in MSS. Our author now and then says ' I have seen in. a little book,’ and he also cites a historical compilation by one Haji Muham¬ mad of Qandahar, of which no copy seems now to exist. Our author appears also to have taken considerable pains in deciphering old inscriptions on menu- ments, mosques, and shrines in Gaur and Panduah—old Musalman capitals of Bengal. This feature considerably enhances the value of his history, and gives it a superiority over other similar works, and places our author in the forefront of Bengal antiquarians and researchers.