The Events of Mushtāqī 1

1

Sultan Bahlol Shah pp. 3-13 Sultan Sikandar pp. 13-81 Sultan Ibrahim pp. 81-84 Babar Badshah pp. 84-86 Humayun Badshah pp. 87-91 Akbar Badshah pp. 91-92 Sher Shah pp. 93-111 Islam Shah pp. 111-143 Sultan Mahmud ('Adali) and Sur dynasty pp. 143-146 Ghiyasu-d din Khilji (of Malwa) pp. 146-155 Nasiru-d din Khilji pp. 156-165 Sultan Muzaffar Shah (of Gujarat) pp. 166-167 Miscellaneous Anecdotes pp. 168-210
Size — Small Folio, containing 210 pages of 17 lines each.
But it is not to be supposed that the treatment of the history is so methodical as the above table would leave one to suppose. On the contrary, the work is very ill-arranged, long digressions are frequently introduced, and reference is again made to reigns which have been previously disposed of, and to matters which he confesses he had forgotten. Thus, in the middle of the reign of Islam Shah, we have an account of some of the nobles of Ibrahim Shah, and then of Sultan Sikandar, so as to leave the impression, that here at least there must be some error of the copyist or the binder; for such a strange transposition could scarcely have taken place either by design, or the most treacherous lapse of memory. Anecdotes are also interspersed of the celebrated chiefs and saints of the time, and silly stories of miracles, apparitions, demons, enchantment, and jugglery deform the work — exhibiting the extraordinary credulity of the author, as well as of the age in which he lived. It contains, however, much that is interesting, and we are occasionally favoured with a few illustrations of the manners of the times. It affords, therefore, a rather copious field for extract, especially as it is exceedingly rare. Many of the stories attributed to the author's heroes are popularly related of other sovereigns. Besides the one in my own possession, I know of only one copy of this work in India, and that is an excellent copy in the naskh character in the Moti Mahal library at Lucknow. It is strange that the Wáki'át-i Mushtákí should be so uncommon, for it was much quoted by contemporaries, and contains abundance of trivial stories well suited to the tastes and intellects of the present generation.