The ''Baharistan-i-Ghaibi'' (), written by Mirza Nathan, is a 17th-century

chronicle A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events ...

on the

history of Bengal The history of Bengal is intertwined with the history of the broader Indian subcontinent and the surrounding regions of South Asia and Southeast Asia. It includes modern-day Bangladesh and the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...

Cooch Behar Cooch Behar (), also known as Koch Bihar, is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal and it stands on bank of the Torsa river. The city is the headquarters of the Cooch Behar district. During the British Raj, Cooch Behar was the seat of the ...

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

and

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

under the reign of Mughal emperor

Jahangir Nur-ud-din Muhammad Salim (31 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was List of emperors of the Mughal Empire, Emperor of Hindustan from 1605 until his death in 1627, and the fourth Mughal emperors, Mughal ...

(1605–1627). Unlike other history books of the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

, written by court historians by order of the emperor and covering the history of the whole empire, the ''Baharistan-i-Ghaibi'' deals only with the affairs of Bengal and the adjoining area.

Author

The ''Baharistan-i-Ghaibi'' was written by Alauddin Isfahani, alias Mirza Nathan. His father, Ibrahim Kalal, later entitled Ihtimam Khan was a special officer of Jahangir. On his orders, Ibrahim Kalal went to Bengal in 1608, along with Islam Khan Chishti, as an

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

of the Mughal fleet. Mirza Nathan accompanied his father in his service. Later Mirza Nathan was awarded the title of Shitab Khan by Jahangir. Serving in the Mughal army in Bengal, he witnessed most of the region's political events and common life, and wrote from personal observation. He took part in battles against

Khwaja Usman Khawāja Uthmān Khān Lōhānī (), popularly known as Khwaja Usman, was a Pashtun chieftain and warrior based in northeastern Bengal. As one of the Baro-Bhuyans, he was a zamindar ruling over the northern parts of Bengal, including Greater M ...

and

Pratapaditya Pratapaditya Guha was a rebellious Kayashtha zamindar of Jessore of lower Bengal, before being defeated by the Mughal Empire. He was eulogized by 19th and 20th century Bengali historians as a resistor against Mughal in Jessore but the statements ...

during the viceroyalty of Islam Khan, but during the later period he was engaged in the warfare in Kamrup. When the prince

Shah Jahan Shah Jahan I, (Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram; 5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), also called Shah Jahan the Magnificent, was the Emperor of Hindustan from 1628 until his deposition in 1658. As the fifth Mughal emperor, his reign marked the ...

revolted against his father Jahangir and came to Bengal, Mirza Nathan joined him and helped in his war operations, but when the prince left Bengal for the

Deccan The Deccan is a plateau extending over an area of and occupies the majority of the Indian peninsula. It stretches from the Satpura and Vindhya Ranges in the north to the northern fringes of Tamil Nadu in the south. It is bound by the mount ...

, Mirza Nathan went into hiding and was not heard of anymore. Believed to be living a retired life, he adopted the pseudonym of ''Ghaibi'' (''Invisible''). Mirza Nathan's eyewitness accounts have provided detailed and lucid accounts of the Mughal conquest of Kamarupa, Kachhar and Assam. The accounts of the several Magh invasions of the Mughal territory of

Bhulua Noakhali District (), historically known as Bhulua (), is a district in southeastern Bangladesh, located in Chattogram Division. It was established as a district in 1821, and officially named Noakhali in 1868. The district's administrative cent ...

and the several Mughal invasions to

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

are found in greater details in the Baharistan; the

Arakan Arakan ( or ; , ), formerly anglicised as Aracan, is the historical geographical name for the northeastern coastal region of the Bay of Bengal, covering present-day Bangladesh and Myanmar. The region was called "Arakan" for centuries. It is ...

ese and the Portuguese sources give only a short account.

Organisation

The ''Baharistan-i-Ghaibi'' was lost for a long time until its discovery by

Sir Jadunath Sarkar Sir Jadunath Sarkar, (10 December 1870 – 19 May 1958) was a prominent Indian historian and a specialist on the Mughal dynasty. Sarkar was educated in English literature and worked as a teacher for some time but later shifted his focus to hi ...

in the

national library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...

in Paris, France. Sir Jadunath wrote several articles in English and

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

journals, bringing the manuscript to scholarly attention. The

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public university, public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka w ...

procured a photograph copy of the book and M. I. Borah, the then professor of

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, translated it into English. The government of Assam published it in 1936; the book consists of two large volumes of about a thousand printed pages. The English translation of Borah is very scholarly with copious notes of technical terms and geographical places. The book is divided into sub-sections called ''daftars''. The first ''daftar'' is the ''Islamnama'' account of the generalship of Islam Khan, while the second ''daftari'' documents the generalship of Qasim Khan Chisti; the ''Ibrahimnama'' documents the generalship of Ibrahim Khan Fath-i-Jang, and the last ''daftar'' deals with the rebellion of Shahjahan that usurped control of the Bengal region, and is called the ''Waqiat-i-Jahanshahi''. Mirza Nathan gives only four complete dates in the whole book, three of which are negated by his own narrative. However, references to the Muslim months of

Ramadan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...

, Eid,

Muharram Al-Muharram () is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sacred months of the year when warfare is banned. It precedes the month of Safar. The tenth of Muharram is known as Ashura, an important day of commemoration in ...

and other festivals help ascertain the chronology of events accurately. Scholars have ascertained that the first two ''daftars'' were completed before 1632 and the last two were completed before 1641.

Accounts

The ''Baharistan-i-Ghaibi'' is a unique and extensively documented source of the history of contemporary Bengal, Bihar and Assam and the Mughal subjugation of the region. The only other source of the time

Tuzk-e-Jahangiri ''Tuzk-e-Jahangiri'' () or ''Jahangirnama'' () is the autobiography of Mughal Emperor Jahangir (1569–1627). The ''Tuzk-e-Jahangiri'' is written in Persian, and follows the tradition of his great-grandfather, Babur (1487–1530), who had writ ...

, the official memoirs of the emperor only briefly mention a few events in Bengal. Mirza Nathan's account follows the campaigns of Islam Khan, as well as the conquest of Kamarupa, Tippera, Kachhar, Assam and Chittagong in lucid and copious details, including full accounts of the battles, the political situation and socio-economic life and conditions of the region during Jahangir's time. The book names and describes the regional political and military leaders and warriors who played instrumental roles in the events of the era.

References

External links

* * {{cite book , title=Baharistan-I-Ghaybi – Volume II , author=Nathan, Mirza , editor=M. I. Borah , year=1936 , url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.279665/page/n1/mode/2up , publisher=

Government of Assam The Government of Assam or Assam Government abbreviated as GoAS, is the Subnational legislature, state government of the Indian state of Assam. It consists of the Governors of states of India, Governor appointed by the President of India as th ...

, location=

Gauhati Guwahati () the largest city of the Indian state of Assam, and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the seat of the Government of Assam. Th ...

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

Books about the Mughal Empire Bengal Subah 1630s books 17th-century Indian books 17th-century Persian books

Author

Organisation

Accounts

See also

References

External links