The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c5.26

c5.26

Coming to the provincial histories, notice should be taken of the *Tarikh-i-Masumi* of Muhammad Masum, written in the reign of Akbar, which gives some additional information respecting the early history of Sind, specially of the local Sumra and Summa tribes of Lower Sind. The account, however, differs in many details from other works like the *Tarikh-i-Tahiri* of Tahir Muhammad Nisyani b. Syed Hasan, of Thatta, completed in 1620 and dedicated to Jehangir. This work is useful only for its account of the Sumras, though it is disjointed and does not state its authority. The *Tuhfatul-Kiram*, a general history of the east from the earliest times to the 18th century by Mir Ali Sher Qaani, of Thatta, partly confirms the accounts of Mir Masum and Tahir Nisyani, though it also does not state its source. The traditional account of the fortress of Gwalior since its foundation is contained in the *Gwalior Namah* of Hiraman Munshi completed in the 12th year of Aurangzeb's reign. Much of the account is evidently legendary and, at its best, has only a corroborative value. The same may be said of a local history of Jammu entitled *Raj Darashani*, by Ganesh Das Badrah written in 1847. It is hardly worth the confidence placed in it by Raverty, since it is based entirely on such unreliable and legendary accounts as the *Prithviraja Rasau*, and none of the statements regarding the ancient dynesty of Jammu finds confirmation in the chronicles of Kashmir or, in fact, in any of the earlier works. Mention should also be made in connectiou with provincial histories of the *Riyazus-Salatin* by Ghulam Husain Salim, completed in 1768, purporting to be a history of Bengal from the Muslim conquest. Although the author appears to have used the existing histories, he was able to exercise very little discrimination and as such has incorporated not a few unauthorised and erroneous statements in his account of the 13th century.