Tárikh-i Hazrat Saltanat Shi'ári.-Uljáítú Sultán and his successors. The Kings who reigned in Yazd, Kirmán, Shíráz, and Isfahan.-Princes of Hirát and parts of Khurásán. - Princes of Mázandarán, Sarbadárís of Naishapúr and Sabzawár.-Arghún Sháh of Tús and Mashhad.-'Usmán, Murád, and Báyazíd of Rúm.-Kings of Egypt.-Kings of the Franks. History of Tímúr and his successors from the Zafar-náma to the end of the year 820, to be completed from other sources to the end of the dynasty.] EXTRACT. [River Sind. This river has its source in the skirts of the mountains of Kashmir, and runs from the western side of those mountains into the country of Mansúra. Its course is from north to south, the end turning to the east. In the neighbourhood of Multán, the river Jamd joins it, and it flows into the Indian sea, which is called the Bahru-l akhzar. River Jamd.-The source of this river is also in the mountains of Kashmir, on the south side.-It runs from north to south, and passes into the land of Hind.-Its waters are used for agriculture and gardening.-Agriculture in these parts is generally dependent on the rain. In the neighbourhood of Multán it joins the Sind, and falls into the Bahru-l akhzar. Biyah. This is also a large river which rises to the east of the mountains of Kashmir.-It runs into the country of Laháwar (Lahore), and to the neighbourhood of U'ch.-It falls into the sea in the country of Kambáya. Jumna. This is a large river which has its rise in the Siwálik hills to the north of Dehlí.-It passes to the east of that city and joins the Indian sea near Gujarát.—In the reign of Sultán Fíroz Sháh, 760 A.H., the countries (about this river) were very flourishing, for in the Doab, which is the name given to the country between the Jumna and the Ganges, there were 80,000 villages enrolled as paying revenue to the exchequer.-It has been said in reply to this statement, that it rests with the author to prove it. Ganges. This is a large river in India to the east of the Jumna. In the Hindi language it is called Gángú. Its source is on the east of the country of Kanauj.-The longitude of Kanauj is 114 degrees 50 minutes, and the latitude 26 degrees 35 minutes. Where the river passes Kanauj, it is forty parasangs from that city, this adds two degrees more. When Sahib Kirán, the fire of God (Tímúr), formed the design of conquering Hindustán in the year 801 A.H., after capturing Dehlí, he crossed the Jumna, and led his forces through this country until he reached the Ganges. Crossing that river, he came to a celebrated place of worship of the Fire-worshippers (gabrán) of India, where he fought against the infidels and slew many of them. There are other large rivers to the east of this which are mentioned by men who have travelled in India; but their names, sources, and embouchures, have not been accurately stated. So also there are many large rivers in China, but it is not known whether they run to the east or to the west, nor where they rise, nor where they discharge. They are therefore passed over.] [THE author of this work, Yahya bin Ahmad bin 'Abdu-llah Sirhindí, or Síhrindí, the older form of the name which he uses,-wrote this work, as Firishta tells us, with the express object of recording the events of the reign of Mubárak Shah, whose name he has given to the history. The work commences with the reign of Muhammad Sám, the founder of the Ghorí dynasty, and the only copy of the MS. available terminates abruptly in the middle of the reign of Sultán Saiyid Muhammad, in 852 A.H. (A.D. 1448); how much, if any, later the history extended, we have at present no means of deciding. In his Preface the author informs us that he wrote this work in the hope of presenting an acceptable tribute to his sovereign, for "no more worthy offering can be made to a king than a record of the achievements of his predecessors." Up to the time of the accession of Fíroz Sháh, he acknowledges his obligations to "various histories;" from and after that period he wrote upon "trustworthy information and personal observation." As to his own position and connexions he is quite silent. Yahya has no claims to be ranked as an historian, but he is a careful, and apparently an honest chronicler. His work is the source of all our knowledge of the Saiyid dynasty. Nizámu-d dín Ahmad refers to the Táríkh-i Mubárak-Shahi as an authority in his Preface to the Tabakát-i Akbari, and his whole account of the Saiyid period is a mere reproduction of the statements of that work, very often copied verbatim. Badáúní acknowledges his obligations to the work, and follows it very closely, but he uses language of his own, and but rarely copies from his predecessor. Firishta twice refers to this history, and he often borrows its very words. So Yahya is not only a contemporaneous writer, but the only original authority available upon the times of the Saiyids. The MS. in Sir H. M. Elliot's library is a copy that was made for him, and bears no statement as to the original from which it was taken. A note of Sir Henry's in another place seems to show that he received a copy of the work from Madras. The MS. is in a fair handwriting, but it is full of errors, the production of a mere scribe, who brought no special knowledge or intelligence to bear upon his work. It is deficient in a few places, but this is probably owing to the original MS. having here and there lost a leaf. As the work is thus defective and ends abruptly a few years before the extinction of the Saiyid dynasty, the Tabakát-i Akbari has been called upon to repay a portion of its obligations. The missing pages have been supplied from that work, and from it the translation has also been carried down to the close of the Saiyid rule, completing at once this historical era. The translation is the work of the editor. The MS. is a small octavo consisting of 263 pages of thirteen lines in a page.] EXTRACTS. Reign of Sultán Firoz Sháh. [In the year 753 H. (1352 A.D.), on the 3rd Jumáda-l awwal, Prince Muhammad Khán was born in the capital (shahr). * In this same year (the Sultán) founded the masjid-i jámi' near the palace, and the college at the top of the hauz-i kháss; and Kiwámu-l Mulk Makbúl, náib-wazir, became wazir of the State, and received the title of Khán-i Jahán. ** In the year 755 н. (1354 A.D.), the Sultán marched with an army against Lakhnautí, leaving Khán-i Jahán at the capital in charge of all affairs of State. ** When he reached Kúrakhúr, Adí Singh waited upon him, and offering a tribute of twenty lacs of tankas in cash and two elephants, was received into favour. On the 28th Rabí'u-l awwal, he arrived at the fort of Ikdála, and some hard fighting ensued. The Bengalís were defeated, and many were slain. Saha Deo, their leader, with several others, was killed. On the 29th of the month, the army marching from that place, encamped on the banks of the Ganges. Ilyás Hájí was shut up in the fort, and on the 5th Rabí'u-l ákhir, he marched out with his countless Bengalí followers and forces. The Sultán marshalled his army, and as soon as Ilyás Hájí beheld it, he was dismayed and fled. The army (of the Sultán) made the attack; the canopy and forty elephants were captured, and innumerable horsemen and infantry became food for the sword. For two days after the Sultán remained encamped, and on the third he marched for Dehlí. Some months. afterwards he founded the great city Fírozábád. In the year 756 H. (1355 A.D.), the Sultán proceeded to Díbálpúr, and conducted a stream (jú) from the river Satladar (Sutlej), for a distance of forty kos as far as Jhajjar. In the following year he brought the stream of Fírozábád from the mountains of Mandatí (sic) and Sirmor, and having thrown into it seven distinct streams, he conducted it to Hánsí. From thence he led it to Aráman, and there he built a strong fort, which he called Hisár Fírozah. Below the palace (kúshk), he dug an extensive tank, and filled it with the waters of that canal. He formed another canal from the Khakhar (Khagar), to the fort of Sarsutí, and from thence to Harbí-khir.1 There he built a 1 Firishta closely follows our author, and helps us to understand him. There are several inaccuracies in the passage as given in Briggs' translation, so the following is offered as a more correct rendering of the lithographed text. "In the month Sha'bán, 756 H. (the Sultán) went towards Dípálpúr hunting, and having dug a large canal (júi) from the river Sutlej, he conducted it to Jhajhar, forty-eight kos distant. In 757 he cut a canal from the river Jumna, in the hills of Mandawi and Sirmor, and having turned seven other streams into it, he brought it to Hánsí, and from thence to Abasin, where he built a strong fort which he called Hisár Fírozah. Below that fort and near the palace, he dug a tank which he filled with the waters of that canal. He formed another canal from the river Khagar, and conducting it by the fort of |