History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v1.c3.20

v1.c3.20

I cannot place this history before the public without acknowledging the deep debt of gratitude I owe to the late Mr. William Irvine, I.C.S., the author of the *Later Mughals*. He freely lent me his own Persian MSS., took great pains in securing on my behalf permission from European public libraries to take copies of their MSS., and beat down the rates demanded by photographers in London and Paris for mechanically reproducing (by a process called 'rotary bromide print') Persian MSS. for me. In every difficulty and doubt that I have appealed to him, he has given prompt assistance and advice. A certain Indian Nawab has a rare volume of Persian historical letters. I secured his permission to take a copy of it at my expense, and engaged a scribe. But for more than a year the Nawab's officers under various pretexts refused my man access to the MS. At last, in despair I wrote to Mr. Irvine about the case. He wrote to one of his friends, high in the Civil Service of the U. P., and this gentleman communicated with the Nawab. The owner of the MS. now had it copied at his own expense, bound the transcript in silk and morocco, and presented it to Mr. Irvine, who lent it to me as soon as he received it!