Tarikh-i Hindi 16.6

16.6

It is said that Bhopal was founded in the time of Rája Bhoj. Afterwards by some accident it was ruined and reduced to only a small village on the borders of the lake, which in length and depth is the greatest of all the lakes in this country. When, by a lucky accident, Dost Muhammad Khan, son of Nur Muhammad Khan Afghan, of the tribe of Warakzai Mirzai Khail, came from Roh to the country of Hindustan, he met at Jalalabad his relatives, who were the descendants of the same ancestors. When Almighty God wishes to raise one of his creatures to some great rank in this world or the next, He first throws him into difficulties and troubles, and after that exalts his dignity in order that he may estimate its true merits. And so it happened that a misunderstanding arose between the brothers, and that Khan of noble disposition, alone, and without any means of subsistence, left Jalalabad, and went to the province of Malwa. By his judicious plans and great exertions, he took possession of several parts of this province, and at a most auspicious moment, in the fifth year of Muhammad Shah's reign, corresponding to A.H. 1135 (1723 A.D.), laid the foundation of the city of Bhopal. Under his just rule the lion and goat drank water at the same pool. He was so generous that even Hatim would envy him. A great number of saints always dined with him.