Firishta's History (Gulshan-i Ibrāhīmī) 78.6.2

78.6.2

There are in the Deccan many remains of the munificence of this great man, particularly a college built by him at Ahmudabad Bidur two years before his death, containing also a mosque and a large square, which at the date of this history were as entire as if only just finished. Khwaja Mahmood possessed much learning; he evinced great taste in his compositions, both in prose and verse, and in arithmetic and mathematics he had few equals. The Rozut-ool-Insha and some poems of his production are still extant in a few of the libraries in the Deccan. It was his practice to remit annually valuable presents to several learned men in Khorassan and Irak, and the princes of those parts bestowed honours upon him. Mowlana Jamy Abdool Rahman corresponded with him, and some of his letters are to be seen in his works. Among the Mowlana's poems is one written in praise of that minister. Moolla Abdool Kureem Sindy has written an excellent life of Khwaja Mahmood, part of which is here inserted. Khwaja Mahmood's ancestors had for many generations in succession held the office of vizier to the princes of Geelan in Persia. One of these became ruler of Rushd, which territory, according to Hajy Mahomed Kandahary, continued in the family till the time of Shah Tahmasp Sufvy. Khwaja Mahmood, himself of royal extraction, alarmed at the jealousy of Shah Tahmasp, persuaded his mother to quit his birth-place;