History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v2.c32.s1.t9: Letters of other Historical Personages.
History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v2.c32.s1.t9
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Letters of other Historical Personages.
v2.c32.s1.t9.1
44. *Haft Anjuman*, (Benares MS. belonging to Babu Shyam Sundar Lal and his brothers; many leaves hopelessly damaged through neglect.) Udai Raj was secretary to Rustam Khan Deccani and then to Mirza Rajah Jai Singh. On the death of the latter he embraced Islam with the name of Tala Yar. The letters he had written were collected by his son in a book divided into seven sections (called *anjumans*), thus:
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(i) Despatches from Rustam Khan to Shah Jahan, f. 7*b*—26*b*.
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(ii) Despatches from Jai Singh to Aurangzib during the pursuit of Dara after the battle of Ajmir, f. 26*b*—37*a*.
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(iii) Despatches from Jai Singh to Aurangzib during the Deccan compaigns against Shivaji and Bijapur, f. 37*a*—94*b*.
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(iv) Rustam Khan to Shah Jahan's sons, f. 94*b*—125*a*.
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(v) *a.* Rustam Khan to nobles during Shah Jahan's reign, f. 125*a*—135*b*.
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*b.* Jai Singh to nobles of Aurangzib's Court.
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*c.* Jai Singh to nobles and officers posted in the Deccan.
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d. Jai Singh to Sadat Khan, Qutb Shah, and candidates for office (i.e., deserters from the Deccani Sultans.) f. 135b—165a are covered by b, c, and d.
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e. Jai Singh to the Imperial envoys to the Deccani Sultans, f. 165a—174a.
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(vi) a. Letters written in Shah Jahan's reign about certain affairs of Rustam Khan and in Aurangzib's reign about the marriage of Raj Singh and other matters, f. 174a—187a.
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b. Private letters of Jai Singh to his son Ram Singh, his agent Girdhar Lal, and others, in Aurangzib's reign, f. 187a—204b.
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(vii) Letters written by Udai Raj for himself and others, f. 204b—243a.
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The whole of Anjuman ii. and a portion of iii. are given in the Paris MS., No. 37 above. Several of Jai Singh's letters are also met with in the Faiyaz-ul-qawanin.
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45. Faiyaz-ul-qawanin, belonging to Nawab Ali Husain Khan Bahadur of Lucknow, a MS. of 266 leaves, 17 lines to a page. It is a large collection of historical letters, several of them being taken from the official annals and other earlier sources. Divided into three books (called daftars): (i) Letters of kings and princes, (ii) letters from nobles to each other and to kings and princes, and (iii) miscellaneous letters. Among the writers are the Emperors Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan (25 letters), Aurangzib (11), and Farukh-siyar, Jahanara, Dara Shukoh (8), Shuja (6), Murad Bakhsh (47), Jafar Khan, wazir of Aurangzib (9), the Shahs Tahmasp, Abbas I. and Abbas II., Adil Shah, Qutb Shah, Jai Singh and others. Some of Murad's letters are also given the Rampur State Library bad MS. Qasir-ul-anamil (Insha 168.) Irvine MS. 371, a fragment, gives some of the letters of the Faiyaz. I have quoted the paging of Irvine's copy of the complete Faiyaz.
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46. Irvine MS. 257, a fragment of 6 leaves, contains the letters of Lutfullah Khan, the son of the wazir Sadullah Khan, to Aurangzib.
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39. Khatut-i-Shivaji (R. A. S. MS. 71) contains, besides Aurangzib's letters to prince Akbar and three Maratha generals, the following :—Shivaji to the officers of Aurangzib before the siege of Purandhar,—Shivaji to Aurangzib,—Pratap Rao Gujar to the Surat officers,—letters of Sahu, Shah Alam I., Namdar Khan, Dilir Khan (both to Shivaji), Prince Akbar to Aurangzib (most ironical), to Sambhaji and Kavi Kulesh, &c.
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47. I. O. L. 2678, f. 72—128, miscellaneous letters, several of Aurangzib's time, very badly written.
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48. I. O. L. 150 (Ethe 370). Letters from the English at the Surat Factory during their imprisonment for suspected complicity in the plunder of the ship Ganji-Sawai and other letters of 1695-96, folios 65.
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49. Insha-i-Raushan-Kalam, by Munshi Bhupat Rai, servant of Radandaz Khan, faujdar of Baiswara in Aurangzib's reign. Irvine MS. 417, pages 63. "Used by C. A. Elliott in his Chronicles of Oonao, 1860."
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50. Muraqat-i-Hassan, written in 1669 by Maulana Abul Hassan, an officer who served in Bengal and Orissa about 1655—1667, especially during Tarbiyat Khan's viceroyalty of Orissa. (Rampur State Library, Insha 182).
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51. Majmua-i-munshat-wa-ghaira contains letters from and to Bidar Bakht, letters from Mukhlis Khan, Ruhullah Khan, Asad Khan to Md. Murad Khan, and from several other officers during the closing years of Aurangzib's reign. (Rampur State Library, Insha 176.)
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52. British Museum Addl, 6600 gives letters from Abdullah Qutb Shah to Shah Jahan, Dara, Shuja, Aurangzib, and Adil Shah, and also some other letters to Aurangzib and one from him. This MS. could have been of great use to me in connection with Chapters X and XIV, but I have not yet got a transcript of it.
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53. British Museum Sloane 3582, f. 101—124, contains letters and official papers relating to the Karnatak down to 1102 A. H. Most of them belong to the time of Aurangzib.
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54. *Ruqat-i-Shah Abbas Sani*, a MS. which I picked up in the Lucknow bazar, contains some letters on the sieges of Qandahar, the Persian intrigue with Murad Bakhsh and the Deccani Sultans during the War of Succession, letters to Dara when a fugitive, to Aurangzib congratulating him on his accession and one (sent with Tarbiyat Khan) taunting him on his failure to subdue Shivaji and threatening an invasion of India!