History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c14.s1.2

c14.s1.2

The writers of the 16th and 17th centuries deserve a brief examination. Abul Fazl does not give a detailed history of the pre-Mughal Sultans of Dihli, but his *Ain-i-Akbari* is very useful for geographical and statistical information. Nizām-al-Din Ahmad, the author of the *Tabqāt-i-Akbari* who finished his work in 1593 is a historian of great repute. He has certainly a better mental equipment than Badaoni and Firishta, and his sources of information are trustworthy. He names 27 works which he utilised in preparing his history among which are mentioned the *Tughluq namah*, Barani's *Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi* the *Tarikh-i-Mubārak Shahi*, the *Tarikh-i-Bahmani* the *Tarikh-i-Bahadur Shahi*, the *Tarikh-i-Fatuh-u-Salātīn* which deal to some extent with the Tughluqs. The Bakhshi's faculty for discrimination and capacity for judicious interpretation coupled with the want of rhetoric distinguish him from other historians of the period. In writing his history of the first two Tughluqs he largely drew upon Barani's *Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi* from which the narrative is sometimes copied verbatim. He mentions the *Tughluq namah* among his authorities but he throws no light upon the origin of the dynasty. He could not get hold of 'Afif's *Manāqib-i-Sultan* Tughluq and probably obtained little help from Amir Khusrau's panegyric. The *Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi* is also mentioned in his list but there is nothing in his narrative to show that he consulted it. He follows Barani's meagre chronology and adopts his arrangement of topics. But in some matters he is remarkably accurate as for example in describing the origin of Hasan Kangu, the founder of the Bahmani kingdom. In dealing with Muhammad Tughluq's reign, though he repeats the story of a mournful tragedy, his remarks throw much light upon certain problems connected with it. The provincial histories given by him are very useful and in certain cases supplement the information given even by contemporary writers.