The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c6.s1.t1: 1. Unpublished Sources

The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c6.s1.t1

Language: English

1. Unpublished Sources

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A. From the *Bharata Itihasa Sanshodhaka Mandala*, Poona. *Poona Persian Poem* (P.P.P.)

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We have given this name to a manuscript Persian Poem belonging to the collection of the Bharata Itihasa Sanshodhaka Mandala, Poona.

It is a volume measuring 8 × 4 inches, richly bound in leather, with gilt patterns on the front cover; the binding however is badly worn. It contains 49 loose leaves of thick Daulatabadi paper sprinkled with gold, *i.e.*, 98 pages numbered with Sanskrit characters in pencil, beginning from the last page of the Persian manuscript. These pages are much damaged and worm-eaten. All bear the stamp of the Mandala. Between these and the cover both at the beginning and the end there are four leaves of an inferior kind of paper, a little whiter, containing some Persian writings which have no connection with the subject of the poem. There are 12 full-page coloured paintings, some of which are reproduced in this volume by the kind permission of the Honorary Secretaries of the Mandala. Each painting is covered with modern white paper. On the first page of the volume there is the seal of the Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah. Its inscription runs as follows: *Muhammad Shah Padshah Ghazi—1132* (A.H.) This seal is half obliterated as well as the following lines in Persian written on the same page: *Book of praise of Hassan (sic), King of Deccan. With 14 pictures, 49 leaves and 4 pages unwritten.* In the upper left corner there was another seal now totally effaced, which might perhaps be the seal of one of the Ahmadnagar Sultans. Moreover on the same page two small square seals may be seen, bearing the following inscription: *1350 Puvan Chand.* Three other impressions of this seal are found in one of the last blank pages of the manuscript.

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The poem begins on page 2 with an introduction headed by a beautifully painted pattern; in the middle of which, on a golden field, we read the following common inscription: *In the name of God, the generous, the merciful.* Besides this introduction the poem contains 11 cantos, the last of which is unfinished. The titles of these cantos are as follows:—

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I. Praises of God. II. Praises of the Prophet. III. The Virtues of the Lord. IV. The Beginning of the Reign of Hussain Nizam Shah. V. The Beauty and Nature of Humayun Shah. VI. The Marriage of Hussain Nizam Shah and Humayun Shah. VII. The Durbar of Hussain Nizam Shah who admires the Beauty of Humayun Shah. VIII. Praise of love and lovers. IX. Hussain Nizam Shah musters an army against the infidels and marches on Bijanagar. X. Hussain Shah's fight with Rama Raja, King of Bijanagar and his victory. XI. Return of Hussain Shah, from the war with the infidels and conquest of Bijanagar, to Ahmadnagar and his passing from this abode of destruction to the eternal abode.

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The writing is done in very black Indian ink and with extraordinarily beautiful penmanship. The verses are always enclosed within a rectangular blank and gold border, which leaves a margin of about an inch. The verses of the introduction are underlined with gold; occasionally there are some verses written in the margin. The poem was suddenly interrupted and left unfinished but the three last pages are already bordered, waiting its completion.

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The poem was, no doubt, written by a Court poet of Hussain Nizam Shah of Ahmadnagar, the history of whose reign is the argument of the poem. Though begun perhaps during his own reign, it was certainly continued during the beginning of the reign of his son Murtaza Nizam Shah, while his mother Bibi Konzah Humayun was governing on his behalf for three years¹. This is proved by the fact that there is a full canto in honour of the Sultana. Such an extraordinary piece of flattery would be unintelligible, unless written while she was the ruler of the state. Now from the fact that the last canto of the poem is abruptly cut short (so much so that even the death of the Sultan—the account of which is promised in the heading of the canto—is not narrated) we may safely conclude that the work was suddenly interrupted during the political upheaval caused by the Regent's imprisonment. The poem itself is of very little historical importance; the paintings are much more interesting.

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¹ Burhan-i-Ma'asir, *Ind. Ant.*, L, p. 195-6 and 207; Ferishta—Briggs, III, p. 250-3.

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This copy of the poem was, no doubt, intended for the library of the Sultan himself, as the richness of its execution clearly shows. When Ahmadnagar fell into the possession of the Mughals, the manuscript went, either at once or some years later—perhaps during the reign of Muhammad Shah (1719—1748), whose seal appears on the first page—to Burhampur, a place which at times was the capital of the Mughal Deccan. There it was found in the possession of a private person by the late Mr. Pandurang Narasinha Patvardhan of Poona, who forwarded it to the Bharata Itihasa Sanshodhaka Mandala.

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I owe the English Translation of the three cantos of this poem, published in *Appendix A*, to Mr. Mohamed Kazem Nemazi, B. A., Professor of Persian in our College.

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B. From the *Archivo da Secretaria Geral do Governo*, Pangim.

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*Moncoes do Reino*. These volumes measuring 10 x 6 inches as a general rule contain letters both from the Kings of Portugal to their Viceroys or Governors of Goa and from the Viceroys and Governors to the Kings. Occasionally other documents are found referring to the subjects mentioned in those letters. The King's letters are always originals, with the autograph signature of the monarch himself, and sometimes still bearing his royal seal. At times two or three copies of the same letter, all signed by the King, may be found; they were sent in duplicate by different vessels in order to prevent their being lost on such a long and perilous voyage. The Viceroys' letters are always copies—first copies most likely—made from the original before it was sent to Portugal. A few of the Viceroys' letters are merely drafts. In this volume use has been made of letters belonging to seven different volumes; they will be found in *Appendix B*. As a general rule, only extracts referring to the subject of this history are reproduced.