Travllers and Historian during Adil Shahi Era

FERISHTA, MAHOMMED KASIM (c. 1570c. 1611), Persian historian, was born at Astrabad, on the shores of the Caspian Sea. While he was still a child his father was summoned away from his native country into Hindostan, where he held high office in the Deccan; and by his influence the young Ferishta received court promotion. In 1589 Ferishta re-moved to Bijapur, where he spent the remm to write a history of India.

At the court of this monarch he died about 1611. In the introduction to his work a rsum is given of the history of Hindostan prior to the times of the Mahommedan conquest, and also of the victorious progress of the Arabs through the East. The first ten books are each occupied with a history of the kings of one of the provinces; the eleventh book gives an account of the Mussulmans of Malabar; the twelfth a history of the Mussulman saints of India; and the conclusion treats of the geography and climate of India. Ferishtais reputed one of the most trustworthy of the Oriental historians, and his work still maintains a high place as an authority. Several portions of it have been translated into English; but the best as well as the most complete translation is that published by General J. Briggs under the title of The History of the Rise of the Mahometan Power in India (London, 1829, 4 vols. 8vo). Several additions were made by Briggs to the original work of Ferishta, but he omitted the whole of the twelfth book, and various other passages which had been omitted in the copy from which he translated.

Book: Tarikh-i-Firishtah



A general history of India with particular reference to the Deccan states, comes down to the close of the reign of AKBAR. It was written in about 1612 by Muhammad Qasim Hindu Shah, better known as Firishtah.

The book is also known as Gulshan-i-Ibrahimi because it was dedicated to Ibrahim Adil Shah of Bijapur. Firishtah based his work on the previously written books, particularly Nizamuddin Ahmad Bakhshi's TABAQAT-I-AKBARI and Badaoni's MUNTAKHAB-UT-TAWARIKH. He visited various places to collect materials and traditions for his book. In the fashion of the contemporary historical literature, Firishtah's book is also written in fashion of chronicles.

The Tarikh-i-Firishtah is particularly important for reconstruction of the history of the sultans of Bengal. No contemporary history of the sultanate period written in Bengal has so for been available. So the history of this period has been reconstructed with materials found in the histories written in Delhi, so much so that where nothing is found in books written in Delhi, the history of sultans of Bengal is blank. Firishtah is the second author to devote a separate chapter for writing the history of Bengal under the sultans, the first being Nizamuddin Ahmad Bakhshi. For writing this chapter, Firishtah is indebted to Nizamuddin, but Firishta gives a little more information. He also acknowledges his debt to a book of Arif Qandahari, but, unfortunately, the book is not now available.

The Tarikh-i-Firishtah, through John Brigg's summary translation entitled History of the Rise of the Mahomedan Power in India (1829) enjoys a wide reputation among English historians. But the translation is not quite accurate. [Abdul Kairm]

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Notes Sources:

Bijapur and Its Architectural Remains : With an Historical Outline of the Adil Shahi
Dynasty/Henry Cousens. Reprint. 1996, 132 p., plates, plans.

Archeological Survey of India, Vol. XXXVIII, Imperial Series.