In Volume 1-1: Qurʾānic Literature, History, and Biography | Section 2, History, Biography, etc.

previous chapter: 12.8 The Panjāb

“In Mughal times and later, a host of Muslim and Hindu historians writing in the official Persian language recorded the events that occurred in their own life-time, as well as the traditions which they heard from living witnesses. None of them, however, reached the standard of Kalhana. What little they tell of the Hindu period they borrowed from him, and borrowed in a most perfunctory manner. The most important among these later historians are Haidar Malik of Tsodur, a contemporary of the emperor Jahangir; Narayan Kaul, who compiled his history in ad 1721; Hasan, who wrote in the last quarter of the eighteenth century; and Birbal Katsur,¹ who is still more recent” (Ram Chandra Kak Ancient monuments of Kashmir, p. 15).

§ 870. Kalhaṇa was the son of a certain Caṇpaka probably to be identified with one of the chief officials of King Harṣa (ad 1089–1101). The family probably belonged to the town of Parihāsapura. It was in the year 4224 of the Laukika era (ad 1148–9) that he wrote the introduction to his Rāja-taranginī and he completed the work in the following year. [For the scanty facts concerning the author which may be derived from his work see Stein’s translation pp. 6–21.]

Rāja-taraṅgiṇī, a metrical Sanskrit history of Kas̲h̲mīr in eight cantos.

¶ Sanskrit text:² (1) Kalhaṇa’s Râjataraṅgiṇî, or Chronicle of the Kings of Kashmir. Edited by M.A. Stein. Bombay 1892°*. (2) The Râjataraṅgiṇī of Kalhaṇa. Edited by Durgâprasâda, son of Vrajalâla (and (vols. 2–3) P. Peterson). Bombay 1892–6°* (Bombay Sanskrit Series, nos. 45, 51 and 54).

English translation: Kalhaṇa’s Rājataraṅgiṇī…. Translated … by M.A. Stein. 2 vols. Westminster 1900°*.

Persian translation (perhaps that made for Akbar by Mullā S̲h̲āh-Muḥammad S̲h̲āhābādī and rewritten in an abridged form by ʿAbd al-Qādir Badāʾūnī in 999/1590–1³): Ethé 508 (incomplete), Rieu i 296a (portions only. 18th cent.), Ivanow 1698 (late 18th cent.).

§ 871. For the Tārīk̲h̲ i Ras̲h̲īdī of Mīrzā Ḥaidar Dūg̲h̲lāt see pp. 214–215 supra.

§ 872. An anonymous author, apparently a dependant of Saiyid S̲h̲āh Abū ’l-Maʿālī,⁴ whose exploits he records at some length, completed the Bahāristān i S̲h̲āhī in 1023/1614.

Bahāristān i S̲h̲āhī, a history of Kas̲h̲mīr, especially of the Muḥammadan period, to ah 1023/1614, events from ah 986/1578–9 being treated very fully: Rieu i 297a (defective. 18th cent.), 297b (defective at both ends. 17th cent.), iii 955b (Or. 1799) foll. 786–254a (the Muḥammadan period. ah 1264/1848), Ethé 509 (n.d.).

§ 873. Mullā Ḥusain Qārī is mentioned by M. Aʿẓam in the preface to his Wāqiʿāt i Kas̲h̲mīr as the author of a concise history of Kas̲h̲mīr earlier than that of Ḥaidar Malik.

Wāqiʿāt i Kas̲h̲mīr:⁵ Lindesiana p. 153 no. 818 (circ. ad 1735–40).

This may perhaps be identical with

Tārīk̲h̲ i Kas̲h̲mīr, a history of Kas̲h̲mīr to ah 1024/1615 written by Ḥasan (sic?) b. ʿAlī Kas̲h̲mīrī at the request of Jalāl al-Dīn⁶ Malik M. Nājī b. Malik Nuṣrat (i.e. apparently the grandfather of Ḥaidar Malik, see § 874 infra): ¶ Bodleian 315 (defective at beginning, the first words being: maʿdilat-s̲h̲iʿār u ḥukūmat i ḥākimān i naṣafat-dit̲h̲ār).

§ 874. Ḥaidar Malik b. Ḥasan Malik b. Malik M. Nājī C̲h̲ārwarah (or C̲h̲ādwarah),⁷ a member of a noble Kas̲h̲mīrī family having its hereditary seat at C̲h̲ārwarah, a village near Srīnagar, was for twenty-four years in the service of the penultimate King of Kas̲h̲mīr, Yūsuf S̲h̲āh C̲h̲ak (reigned ah 986/1578–9–993/1585), whom he followed in his banishment to his jāgīr in Bengal. As Faujdār of Jā’is he led a successful expedition against Rājah Balbhadra. In 1016/1607 he protected Mihr al-Nisāʾ (afterwards Nūr-Jahān) after the death of her husband, S̲h̲ēr-afgan. Jahāngīr gave him the titles C̲h̲ag̲h̲atāy and Raʾīs al-Mulk and appointed him Governor of Kas̲h̲mīr.

(Tārīk̲h̲ i Kas̲h̲mīr), begun ah 1027/1618 but not completed before 1030/1620–1, a history of Kas̲h̲mīr from the earliest times to its conquest by Akbar, mainly an abridgment of the Rāja-taraṅgiṇī but with some additions in the later period: Ethé 2846 (ah 1046/1636), 510 (containing a second part which is divided into six bābs and deals with the history of contemporary dynasties in Īrān, Tūrān, etc. N.d.), Rieu i 298t (a fuller text, defective at beginning. 17th cent.), 297b (ah 1216/1802), iii 955b (Or. 1799) foll. 10b–78b (Hindu period. ah 1264/1848), Aumer 266 (lacunæ. ah 1131/1718–19), Blochet i 625 (late 18th cent.), 626 (an abridgment, perhaps = Aumer 267, see § 875 infra), Browne Suppt. 245 (ah 1197/1783. King’s 81), Bodleian 316 (n.d.), 317, Eton 200.

[Autobiography in the Tārīk̲h̲ i Kas̲h̲mīr, K̲h̲ātimah, Qism i; Jahāngīr-nāmah pp. 304¹⁵, 347²⁸ = Rogers and Beveridge ii pp. 154, 238; Iqbāl-nāmah i Jahāngīrī p. 159³; Rieu i 297b–298a.]

§ 875. By order of Jahāngīr was written

An anonymous history of Kas̲h̲mīr (beginning al-Ḥamdu li-llāhi Rabbi ’l-ʿĀlamīn … wa-baʿd ba-ḥukm i amr i dil-pad̲h̲īr i S̲h̲āhans̲h̲āh Jahāngīr s̲h̲urūʿ dar taḥrīr i intik̲h̲āb i Tārīk̲h̲ i Kas̲h̲mīr mī-rawad), agreeing closely in the earlier part with Ḥaidar Malik’s history and ending with Akbar’s conquest: Aumer 267, Blochet i 626 (?) (described as an abridged redaction of Ḥaidar Malik’s history, without preface or author’s name. Early 18th cent.).

¶ § 876. In 1094/1683 “Saʿādat” composed

Sulaimān-Bāg̲h̲, a metrical history of Kas̲h̲mīr: Āṣafīyah i p. 228 no. 205 (ah 1278/1861–2).

§ 877. In the fourth year of S̲h̲āh-ʿĀlam, ah 1122/1710–11, ʿĀrif K̲h̲ān, Nāʾib and Dīwān of the Ṣūbah of Kas̲h̲mīr, wished to become acquainted with the contents of the Sanskrit chronicles of Kas̲h̲mīr, which he had collected. Narāyan Kaul “ʿĀjiz” accordingly compared Ḥaidar Malik’s florid and diffuse translation (see pp. 535–536 supra) with the Sanskrit originals and prepared an abridgment in simple style.

(Tārīk̲h̲ i Kas̲h̲mīr), a history of Kas̲h̲mīr from the earliest times to ah 1122/1710–11: Rieu i 298b (ah 1127/1715), 299a (ah 1222/1807), 299b (ad 1814), iii 957a (extracts only. Circ. 1850), i.o. D.P. 762 (a) (ah 1170/1757), i.o. 3992 (ad 1903), Ethé 511 (ah 1215/1800), 512 (ah 1217/1802), 2847 (ah 1263/1847), Lindesiana p. 201 no. 820 (ah 1198/1783–4), Blochet i 627 (late 18th cent.), 628 (with a continuation to 1847. ad 1856), ʿAlīgaṛh Subḥān Allāh mss. p. 58 no. 954 (13) (ah 1201/1786–7), Bodleian 318 (ah 1229/1814), Lahore Panjāb Univ. Lib. (two copies, one dated ah 1230/815. See Oriental College Magazine, vol. ii, no. 4 (Lahore, August 1926), p. 58), Būhār 80 (20th cent.), Berlin 512 (modern), Browne Pers. Cat. 103 (with a continuation to Sambat 1903/ad 1846), Flügel ii 970 (not later than ad 1835. Pictures), Philadelphia Lewis Coll. p. 65.

§ 878. Abā [sic] Rafīʿ al-Dīn Aḥmad⁸ “G̲h̲āfil” b. ʿAbd al-Ṣabūr b. K̲h̲wājah M. Balk̲h̲ī Kas̲h̲mīrī completed his Nawādir al-ak̲h̲bār at S̲h̲āhjahānābād in Ṣafar 1136/1723.

Nawādir al-ak̲h̲bār, a history of Kas̲h̲mīr, mainly of the Muḥammadan period, to Akbar’s conquest, professing to disregard the statements of unbelievers like “Kalhan Pandit”: Rieu i 299b (ad 1820).

§ 879. Mullā M. Taufīq “Taufīq” Kas̲h̲mīrī died at the age of 89 towards the end of the twelfth century of the Hijrah. According to ʿAbd al-Muqtadir the latest date found in the Būhār ms. of his dīwān (catalogue, no. 414) is 1188/1774.

Aḥwāl i Kas̲h̲mīr, a mat̲h̲nawī describing the valley of Kas̲h̲mīr and the political events which led to the subjugation of the country in Akbar’s reign: Ethé ii 3035 (ah 1267/1851).

¶ [Mak̲h̲zan al-g̲h̲arāʾīb no. 465 (?); S̲h̲amʿ i anjuman p. 99.]

§ 880. K̲h̲wājah M. Aʿẓam Dīdah-marī (?)⁹ b. K̲h̲air al-Zamān K̲h̲ān Kas̲h̲mīrī Mujaddidī must have been born circ. 1101/1689–90 or 1102/1690–1. He was a pupil of Mullā ʿAbd Allāh, Murād Bēg, Kāmil Bēg, Mīr Hās̲h̲im and others and, as a Ṣūfī, the disciple of M. Murād Naqs̲h̲bandī (d. 1134/1721–2 according to M. Aʿẓam (see Rieu i 300a) or on 17 Rajab 1131/1719 according to the K̲h̲azīnat al-aṣfiyāʾ i p. 659³). He died ah 1185/1771–2.

Works of his entitled Faiḍ i Murād, on the life and sayings of his pīr, Fawāʾid al-mas̲h̲āyik̲h̲, on faqr, Risālah i it̲h̲bāt al-jabr, Tajribat al-ṭālibīn, As̲h̲jār al-k̲h̲uld, T̲h̲amarāt al-as̲h̲jār and S̲h̲arḥ i Kibrīt i aḥmar are mentioned by Raḥmān ʿAlī.

(1)

Wāqiʿāt i Kas̲h̲mīr (a chronogram = 1148/1735–6, the date of inception, but 1160/1747 was the date of completion), called also Tārīk̲h̲ i Aʿẓamī and Tawārīk̲h̲ i DWMṚĪ,¹⁰ a history of Kas̲h̲mīr from the earliest times to 1160/1747 devoted mainly to the lives of the holy men (also poets and scholars) who flourished in each reign and divided into a muqaddimah, three qisms and a k̲h̲ātimah: Rieu i 300 (18th cent.), 301a (18th cent.), 301a (ad 1820), iii 956b (18th cent.), 956b (19th cent.), 957a (extracts only. Circ. ad 1850), Blochet i 629 (ah 1205/1790), Ivanow Curzon 41 (defective. Late 18th or early 19th cent.), Ethé 513 (ah 1217/1802), Bodleian 319 (ah 1220/1805), Bānkīpūr vii 601 (19th cent.), Būhār 81 (19th cent.), Āṣafīyah i p. 258 no. 290, Lahore Panjab Univ. Lib. (see Oriental College Magazine, vol. ii, no. 4 (Lahore, August 1926), pp. 58–9), Rehatsek p. 82 no. 22, Salemann-Rosen p. 13 no. 607.

Edition: Tārīk̲h̲ i Kas̲h̲mīr i Aʿẓamī, Lahore 1303/1886*.

Urdu translation: Mohammad Azeem’s [sic] History of Kashmeer translated from the Persian into Urdoo by Moonshee Ashraf Alee of the Dehlie College … (Tārīk̲h̲ i Kas̲h̲mīr). [Delhi 1846°*.]

(2)

Lubb al-tawārīk̲h̲, a brief history of Kas̲h̲mīr from the Deluge to ah 1166/1753: Ethé ii 3022 (n.d.).

[K̲h̲azīnat al-aṣfiyāʾ i p. 682; Rieu i 300, iii 1084b–1085a; Raḥmān ʿAlī 180.]

§ 881. Badīʿ al-Dīn Abū ’l-Qāsim M. Aslam “Munʿimī” b. Maulawī M. Aʿẓam Kūl “Mustag̲h̲nī” went in 1188/1774–5 with the Wazīr’s army from Lucknow to ¶ Etawah and there obtained from a descendant of the C̲h̲ak kings of Kas̲h̲mīr an autograph copy of the Mirʾāt al-auliyāʾ, a Persian translation by Maulānā Aḥmad ʿAllāmah¹¹ of the Kas̲h̲mīrī work entitled Nūr-nāmah, a collection of the utterances of the saint, S̲h̲aik̲h̲ Nūr al-Dīn Walī, written down by one of his disciples.

Gauhar¹² i ʿĀlam tuḥfat^an13 li-l-S̲h̲āh¹⁴ (or li-l-S̲h̲āh-ʿĀlam),¹⁵ or Gauhar-nāmah i ālam,¹⁶ written circ. ah 1190/1776–1200/1786 and dedicated to S̲h̲āh-ʿĀlam ii (reigned ad 1759–86), a history of Kas̲h̲mīr based mainly on the Wāqiʿāt i Kas̲h̲mīr of K̲h̲wājah M. Aʿẓam (possibly the author’s father), which is reproduced with few alterations, and the Nūr-nāmah (see above), and divided into a muqaddimah (geographical), six ṭabaqahs ((1) the origins, Dāʾūdī Kings and Pāndavas, (2) Hindu Rājahs, (3) S̲h̲āh-Mīrī dynasty, (4) the C̲h̲aks, (5) the Mug̲h̲als, (6) the Afg̲h̲āns, Aḥmad S̲h̲āh’s conquest, etc. No recorded copy seems to go further than ah 1150/1737 in the fifth ṭabaqah) and a (non-extant) k̲h̲ātimah (on peculiarities and marvels): Bodleian 320 (late 18th cent.), Ivanow 189 (18th–19th cent.), i.o. 3931 (extracts copied from the preceding ms.), Rieu Suppt. 85 (19th cent.), iii 956b (extracts only. Circ. ad 1850).

§ 882. ʿAbd al-Qādir K̲h̲ān, commonly called (ʿurf) G̲h̲ulām-Qādir K̲h̲ān, b. Wāṣil ʿAlī K̲h̲ān Jā’isī has already been mentioned (pp. 489–490 supra) as the author of the Tārīk̲h̲ i ʿImād al-Mulk.

Ḥas̲h̲mat i Kas̲h̲mīr, completed at Benares in 1245/1830 and dedicated to the British Agent Ḥas̲h̲mat al-Daulah William Augustus Brooke, a history of Kas̲h̲mīr based mainly on Aslam’s history (see above) and followed by short accounts of Tibet and Qalmāqistān, Badak̲h̲s̲h̲ān, and the Afg̲h̲ān hill tracts of Paglē, G̲h̲ōr, G̲h̲aznīn and Kōh i Sulaimān: Rieu Suppt. 86 (ah 1247/1831), iii 1016a (extracts only. Circ. ad 1850), Ivanow Curzon 42 (ah 1286/1869), Philadelphia Lewis Coll. p. 67.

Edition: [Calcutta,] 1832*.

¶ § 883. Paṇdit Bīrbal known (maʿrūf) as Kāc̲h̲ar¹⁷ composed in 1251/1835 his

Majmaʿ al-tawārīk̲h̲,¹⁸ a history of Kas̲h̲mīr to the author’s own time: Bodleian 1973, Lahore Panjāb Univ. Lib. (see Oriental College Magazine, vol. iii, no. 4 (Lahore, August 1926), p. 59).

§ 884. Of unknown authorship is the

Lubb al-tawārīk̲h̲, a history of Kas̲h̲mīr to ah 1262/1846 with a second volume on its geography, administration, revenue, produce etc.: Rieu iii 957a (ah 1263/1847), apparently also Browne Pers. Cat. 103, foll. 121–232 (vol. i only, defective at beginning, the first date being ah 995/1587).

§ 885. At the desire of some English officials Mīrzā Saif al-Dīn, who was “record writer in Kas̲h̲mīr”, compiled a short history of Kas̲h̲mīr from the earliest times to ah 1277/1860–1. In the following year he died, and some time afterwards his brother and successor Mīrzā Muḥyī ’l-Dīn at the request of General Courtland, then recently appointed British Agent in Kas̲h̲mīr, added a few subsequent events.

K̲h̲ulāṣat al-tawārīk̲h̲ i Kas̲h̲mīr, completed 22 October 1861: Edinburgh 234 (ah 1278/1861).

§ 886. Dīwān Kirpā-Rām belonged to a well-known family of Ēminābād in the Gūjrānwālā District of the Panjāb, who “have from the commencement of Maharaja Gulab Singh’s reign practically monopolized the office of Diwan or Prime Minister, and are therefore responsible for much of the good or evil repute attaching to the rule of the Dogras in Kashmir”. He succeeded his father, Jwālā Sahāy, as Dīwān in 1865 and held the office until his death in 1876. “He was slightly less conservative than his father, and was zealous in encouraging education, establishing hospitals, opening up thoroughfares, introducing silk and other industries, and improving the system of revenue collection. But his death at the early age of 44 prevented his undertakings from being brought to a satisfactory finish.”

In addition to the two works mentioned below he wrote a pamphlet (26 pp.) entitled Madīnat al-taḥqīq in defence of certain Hindu practices criticised by Muslims. (Edition: Siyālkōṭ 1877°*.)

¶ According to The Friend of India (a Calcutta newspaper) for 12.9.1867 (p. 1093) he at that time “presided over” a weekly paper, the Bidyā Bilās, published by a literary society of which the Mahārājah was patron.

(1)

Gulzār i Kas̲h̲mīr, a concise history of Kas̲h̲mīr with chapters on its topography, products, trades etc., written in 1864.

Edition: Lahore 1870–1 °* (1870 on the cover, 1870 and 1871 in the tārīk̲h̲s at the end).

(2)

Gulāb-nāmah, a life of Mahā-rājah Gulāb Sing’h, completed in 1922 Vikramī/1865.

Editions: Srīnagar v.s. 1932–3/1876*, Jammū [1919*¹⁹].

[Griffin and Massy Chiefs and families of note in the Punjab, Revised ed., Lahore 1909–11, vol. ii pp. 131–2. (In S. Newazish Ali’s Urdu translation, Tazkira-i-Rausa-i-Punjab [sic], there is a portrait of Kirpā-Rām facing p. 209 in vol. ii.)]

§ 887. Miscellaneous works relating to Kas̲h̲mīr:

(1)

Account of Kas̲h̲mīr: Lindesiana p. 170 no. 444 (ad 1845).

(2)

Chronicles of Kas̲h̲mīr: Lindesiana p. 170 no. 158 (circ. ad 1750).

(3)

Description of Kas̲h̲mīr, “to end of last century”: Lindesiana p. 170 no. 781 (circ. ad 1840).

(4)

Epic poem (modern) describing the history of Baltī or Baltistān, a small state in the north of Kashmīr: Bodleian 1995 (defective at both ends).

(5)

A history of Kas̲h̲mīr beginning Ḥamd i ān mubdiʿī kih ʿālam i jūd and consisting of accounts of the Hindu period and the Muḥammadan period extracted respectively from Ḥaidar Malik and the Bahāristān i S̲h̲āhī, an introduction on such matters as the mythical lake which once filled the vale of Kas̲h̲mīr and its draining by demons at Solomon’s command, and an appendix on some remarkable localities in Kas̲h̲mīr: Rieu iii 955b (ah 1264/1848).

(6)

Muk̲h̲taṣar tārīk̲h̲ i Kas̲h̲mīr (48 pp.), by Muftī ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn Muḥammad: Lahore 1884/?/†.

(7)

Tārīk̲h̲ i Kas̲h̲mīr: Lindesiana p. 225 no. 158 (circ. ad 1750).

(8)

Tārīk̲h̲ i Kas̲h̲mīr (S̲h̲ujāʿ i Ḥaidarī), by M. Ḥaidar: Āṣafīyah iii p. 96 no. 1384 (ad 1840).

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