Indian Epigraphy c7.s2: 2. Nature of the Records
Indian Epigraphy c7.s2
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2. Nature of the Records
c7.s2.1
Indo-Muslim inscriptions in Arabic and Persian are available in India from the last decade of the 12th century A.D. The earliest epigraphs were found in the Qutb premises at Delhi, the Arhai Din ka Jhonpra at Ajmer and the tomb of Shāh Ni'matu'llāh Shahīd at Hansi. The number of records of the subsequent centuries is large; but it is the largest in the 16th and 17th centuries. Later inscriptions in Arabic and Persian are not so numerous. Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bengal, Bombay and Hyderabad are comparatively rich in Indo-Muslim inscriptions, while Madras is the poorest. Among single places yielding a large number of inscriptions mention may be made of Bijapur, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Fatehpur Sikri and Agra, Ajmer, Gulbarga, Hansi, Gaur, Biharsharif, and Pandua and Malda.
c7.s2.2
Indo-Muslim inscriptions are generally found on mosques, tombs and similar religious buildings and give the date of their construction or repairs often with the names of the reigning monarch and the builder or repairer. There are some deeds of endowment made in favour of mosques and other religious institutions for their maintenance. Occasionally we find them removed from their original places. Epitaphs sometimes appear on mosques and inscriptions relating to mosques on graves. Another kind of Indo-Muslim epigraphs are those recording the construction or repairs of forts, bastions, fort-walls, gateways, roads, granaries, etc. There are also some administrative records containing orders or mandates proclaiming the abolition of taxes and prohibition of undesirable practices or relating to the amelioration of public grievances. A few inscriptions appear on stones indicating boundaries or on slabs commemorating the visit of eminent personages or their halt at particular places. Some such stone slabs of Akbar’s time, mostly carved by Mīr Muḥammad Ma’ṣum Nāmbī of Bakkar, commemorate the Mughal emperor’s expedition to and conquest of Khandesh and the Deccan as well as his halts at various places in the course of his journeys. Some inscriptions are also found on slabs attached to tanks, wells, schools, palaces, gardens, bridges, caravansarais, etc.
c7.s2.3
Besides stone inscriptions and, of course, also the legends on coins, there are inscriptions on arms, seals, signets, vases, precious stones, etc. A few inscriptions on guns and swords have been published. The Muslim rulers did not generally engrave their records on copper plates, though a few copper-plate inscriptions are also available.¹
c7.s2.4
¹ For a copper-plate record of the time of Farrukhsiyar, see *A. R. Ep.*, 1952-53, No. A 15.