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the historian S̲h̲ams al-Dīn Abu ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. Mad̲j̲d al-Dīn Abī Isḥāḳ Ibrāhīm b. Abī Bakr b. Ibrāhīm b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-D̲j̲azarī al-Dimas̲h̲ḳī (not to be confused with his compatriot Abu ’l-K̲h̲ayr S̲h̲ams al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Muḥammad..., better known as Ibn al-D̲j̲azarī [ q.v.], the author of Ḥiṣn Ḥaṣīn and a contemporary of Tīmūr), was born at Damascus on 10 Rabīʿ I 658/25 February 1260. He studied with a number of teachers including al-Fak̲h̲r ʿAlī al-Buk̲h̲ārī, Ibrāhīm b. Aḥmad b. Kāmil al-Taḳī al-Wāsiṭī, Ibn al-Mud̲j̲āwir and al-Dimyāṭī [ q.v.]. Hard of hearing, he …

, tak̲h̲alluṣ of the Persian poet Mullā Muḥammad Ṭāhir As̲h̲a’ī of Kas̲h̲mīr, who flourished during the reign of the Mug̲h̲al emperors, S̲h̲āhd̲j̲ahān and Awrangzīb [ qq.v.]. Nothing is known with certainty either about the date of his birth or the origins of the clan—the As̲h̲aʾīs—to which he belonged. It is, however, certain that he was the son of an obscure poor s̲h̲ālbāf (a weaver of woolen ¶ shawls). A pupil of Muḥsin Fānī, assumed by some scholars to be the author of Dabistān-i mad̲h̲āhib , G̲h̲anī began writing poetry at the early age of twenty. The…

, a princely state, which acceded to Pakistan in 1947, with an area of 2,040 sq. miles and a population of 148, 648 in 1951, lies to the south of Čitrāl in 35° 50′ and 34° 22′ N. and 71° 2′ and 72° 30′ E., taking its name from the village of Dīr, seat of the ruler, lying on the bank of a stream of the same name and a tributary of the Pand̲j̲kōŕā. Politically the Dīr territory roughly comprises the country watered by the Pand̲j̲kōŕā and its affluents. The state gained prominence in the second half of the 19th century for its hostility to the cause of the mud̲j̲āhidīn , remnants of t…

(Backergunge), formerly a district in East Pakistan with headquarters at Bārīsāl, (now itself a district comprising Bāḳargand̲j̲), lying between 21° 54′ N and 91° 2′ E; Area: 4,091 sq. m., of which 51 sq. m. are covered with water. The ¶ population in 1951 was 3,642,185, of whom 2,897,769 were Muslims. The area was known as Bākla (Ismāʿīlpūr) and constituted a sarkār in Mug̲h̲al times prior to its occupation by Āg̲h̲ā Bāḳar, a prominent person at the Mug̲h̲al Court at Dacca, owing allegiance to the Nawāb of Murs̲h̲idābād, and a land-…

, the Western suburb of the city of Patna, the ʿAẓīmābād of the Muslim historians, situated in 25° 37′ N. and 85° 8′ E. on the right bank of the Ganges. The great landmark of Bānkīpūr is the brick-built beehive-shaped silo or grain storehouse constructed by Warren Hastings after the terrible famine of 1769-70. In Oriental circles the town is famous for its fine collection of Arabic and Persian manuscripts, some of which are extremely rare. The Bānkīpūr…

(Indo-Persian begam , Turkish bigim ), feminine of beg [ q.v.]. During the Mug̲h̲al period of Indian history its use, as an honorific, was confined to the royal princesses only. D̲j̲ahānārā Begam [ q.v.] the unmarried daughter of S̲h̲āhd̲j̲ahān [ q.v.], bore the official title of Pāds̲h̲āh Begam during the reign of her father. She retained it even after the dethronement and subsequent incarceration of S̲h̲āhd̲j̲ahān. During Akbar’s rule the Begams (queens and princesses) received from 1028 to 1610 rupees per annum as privy purse. Afte…

, tak̲h̲elluṣ and family surname of a Persian poet who flourished in the 8th/14th century in India and composed in 750-1/1349-50 an epic poem dealing with the exploits of the Muslim conquerors and rulers of India and their military commanders from the G̲h̲aznawids down to the date of composition. Practically nothing is known about ʿIsāmī, as no biographical work on Indian poets mentions him; the present article is based mainly on the scattered references which he makes about…

, abū ’l-muʾayyid raḍī al-dīn , also called ʿAbd al-Bāḳī or Muḥamma Bāḳī b. ʿAbd al-Salām Uwaysī Naḳs̲h̲bandī, was born at Kābul on 5 D̲h̲u ’l-Ḥid̲j̲d̲j̲a 971/16 Dec. 1563 and died at Delhi on Saturday, 25 Ḏj̲umādā II 1012/2 July, 1603. He received his early education from Ṣādiḳ Ḥalwāʾī, in whose company he went to Samarḳand to pursue his studies further. It was during his stay there that he cultivated a taste for taṣawwuf . On the invitation of some of his friends, who held high posts in India, he left for that country, but instead of entering the Imperial army, as i…

b. Ḍābiṭa Ḵh̲ān b. Amīr al-Umarāʾ Nad̲j̲īb al-Dawla [ q.v.], founder of the town of Nad̲j̲ībābād, remembered chiefly for his cruel treatment of the Mug̲h̲al emperor S̲h̲āh ʿĀlam ( reg . 1173-1221/1759-1806), and his family. While still young G̲h̲ulām Ḳādir Ḵh̲ān was left at the Imperial court as his father’s representative, most probably as a hostage. He escaped from custody, however, in 1190/1776 on the defeat of the imperial forces by Ḍābiṭa Ḵh̲ān, and joined his father at the fort of G̲h̲awt̲h̲gaŕh, the family head-quarters near Thāna Bhawan, the birth place of As̲h̲raf ʿAlī Thānawī [ q…

surnamed Ḳutb al-Madār (axis of the Universe) and popularly known as S̲h̲āh Madār, is the Methuselah of Indian hagiological literature and one of the most celebrated saints of India. He is said to have been born at Aleppo in 250/864, and to have been descended from Abū Hurayra [ q.v.], one of the companions of the Prophet. The statement in the Mirʾāt-i Madārī that he was a Jew and embraced Islam at al-Madīna is not supported by other authorities. Like his descent, his date of birth is also controversial, the Tad̲h̲kirat al-Muttaḳīn givesit as 1 S̲h̲awwāl 442/16 Feb. 1051; the Mirʾāt i Madārī …

, a rival branch of the tribe to which also belonged the Kalhōrās, one time rulers of former Sind. They and the Kalhōrās both claimed descent from Abu ’l-Faḍl al-ʿAbbās b. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib. The rulers of the former princely state of Bahāwalpūr, now merged with West Pakistan, belong to the Dāwūdpōtras, who unlike their collaterals, the Kalhōrās, take pride in calling themselves the ʿAbbāsīs. Their claim to nobility and high birth appears, however, based more on tradition, hallowed through a long …

the ʿurf of Mullā Aḥmad b. Abī Saʿīd b. ʿUbayd Allāh b. ʿAbd al-Razzāḳ b. Mak̲h̲dūm K̲h̲assa-i K̲h̲udā al-Ḥanafī al-Ṣāliḥī (he claimed descent from the Prophet Ṣāliḥ) was born at Amēt́hī, near Lucknow, in 1047/1637, as he was 21 (?) lunar years old in 1069/1658 when he completed his al-Tafsīr al-Aḥmadī (cf. Ḥadāʾiḳ al-Ḥanafiyya , 436). The same source, however, states that he was 83 years of age at the time of his death in 1130/1717. Gifted with an extraordinary memory, he learnt the Ḳurʾān by heart at the age of seven. Studyi…

, mīrzā ʿabd al-ḳādir b. ʿabd al-ḵh̲āliḳ arlās (or Barlās), of Buk̲h̲āran origin, was born at ʿAẓīmābād (Patna) in 1054/1644, where his family had settled. He losthis father in 1059/1649 and wasbrought up by his uncle Mīrzā Ḳalandar (d. 1076/1665) and maternai uncle Mīrzā Ẓarīf (d. 1075/1664), who was well-versed in ḥadīt̲h̲ literature and fiḳh . In 1070/ 1659 he visited a number of places in Bengal along with Mīrzā Ḳalandar. In 1071/1660 he went to Cuttack (Orissa) where he stayed for three years. It was here in Orissa that Mīrzā Ẓarīf, who also ha…

, town in Uttar Pradesh (India), situated in Lat. 25° 28′ N and Long. 80° 20′ E; headquarters of the district of the same name. Pop. (1951) 30,327. The town, otherwise unimportant, attracted notice during the Sepoy Revolt of 1857 when its last ruler, Nawāb ʿAlī Bahādur II, put up a hard fight against the British. The town, however, finally surrendered in April 1858. A mere village till the end of the 12th/18th century, it began rapidly to expand when S…

, Commander-in-Chief of the ‘rebel’ native forces, with the unusual and pompous title of ‘Lord-Governor Bahādur General Bak̲h̲t Ḵh̲ān’, during the military uprising (also known as the Mutiny) of 1857 in India, was born at Sulṭānpūr (Awadh) C. 1212/1797, where his father ʿAbd Allāh Ḵh̲ān, a lineal descendant of G̲h̲ulām Ḳādir Rohilla, had settled after the dispersai of the Rohillas following the death of Ḥāfiẓ Raḥmat Ḵh̲ān [ q.v.]. ʿAbd Allāh Ḵh̲ān had married a princess of the deposed Awadh ruling family and thus claimed close relationship with Royalty (C. T. Metcalfe, Two-Native Narra…

, formerly capital of the Indian State of the same name, now merged with Madhya Bharat, situated in 22° 18′ N. and 73° 15′ E. on the Vis̲h̲wāmitrī river. Population in 1951 was 211,407. It is known to the inhabitants as Wadōdara, said to be a corruption of the Sanskrit word vatōdar which means ‘in the heart of the banyan-trees’, and the vicinity of the town still abounds in these trees. The word baṛ in Urdu also means a banyan-tree. An old name of the town is Vīraks̲h̲etra or Vīrāwatī which means ‘a land of warriors’ and was used by the 11th/17t…

, town situated 25° 22′ N and 69° 71′ E, in the Tharparkar district of West Pakistan (population in 1951: 5,142, including 1,957 Muslims), was, according to tradition, founded by a branch of the Sūmra Rād̲j̲pūts who embraced Islam during the reign of ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn Ḵh̲ald̲j̲ī (694/1294-716/1316). The Sūmras lost the town in 624/1226 to the Soda Rād̲j̲pūts, who were expelled in 731/1330 by the Sūmras. In 843/1439 the Sodas again came into power. In 949/15…

, (i) ʿabd al-d̲j̲alīl b. sayyid aḥmad al-ḥusaynī al-wāsiṭī was born on 13 S̲h̲awwāl 1071/ 10 Nov. 1660 at Bilgrām. He received his education first at his home-town from Saʿd Allāh Bilgrāmī and later at Agra from Faḍāʾil Ḵh̲ān, one of the secretaries of Awrangzīb. When S̲h̲āh Ḥusayn Ḵh̲ān was appointed dīwān of the sarkār of Lucknow he accompanied him there and remained with him for 5 years. It was here that he attended the lectures of G̲h̲ulām Naḳs̲h̲band Lakhnawī (d. 1126/1714). He attained a high degree of proficiency in va…

, the name given to the area, lying between the Hindū Kus̲h̲ and Kāg̲h̲ān, between lat. 37° N. and long. 73° E., and lat. 35° N. and long. 74° 30ʹ E., the country of the Dardas of Hindū mythology. In the narrowest sense it embraces the S̲h̲inā-speaking territories, i.e., Gilgit, Astor, Gurayz, Čilās, Hōdur, Darēl, Tangir etc., or what is now known as Yāg̲h̲istān. In a wider sense the feudatory states of Hunza, Nāgar and Chitrāl [ q.v.] (including the part known as Yāsīn), now forming the northern regions of Pakistan, comprise Dardistān; in the widest sense parts of what …

, an ancient town (East Pand̲j̲āb, India) situated in 30° 34′ N. and 76° 47′ E., 9 miles from Ambālā and 20 miles from Sirhind. The old Sanskrit name was Vahnīyūr which became, during the course of centuries, Banīyūr and finally Banūr. The ruins extend right up to Čhat [ q.v.] (another ancient town, now in ruins) 4 miles away. It was first mentioned by Bābur when it was, and still continues to be, famous for its white jasmine flowers and the otto distilled from them. Another ancient name of Banūr, according to tradition, was Pus̲h̲pā Nagarī or Pus̲h̲pāwatī (lit. city of flowers) …