Epigraphia Indica Vol 09

SR No.: 032563
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: E Hultzsch, Sten Konow
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India
Publication Year: 1907
Total Pages: 498
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 28 MB

Page 405

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
(VOL. IX
:
Waac
Pobe.
No. 48.-BURHANPUR SANSKRIT INSCRIPTION OF ADIL SHAH.
SAMVAT 1646.
BY HIBA LAL, B.A., M.R.A.S., NAGPUR. Barhappår in the Nimär district of the Central Provinces is an ancient historical site. It was the chief seat of the Firaqt kings. They ruled over Khåndosh, which name the Muhammadans derived from their title of Khân. Their rule lasted from 1370 to 1600 A.D., when it was displaced by the Mughals. One of these Fårûqi kings built the Jam'a Masjid, in which besides Arabic inscriptions he had one carved in Sanskrit, which gives his genealogy and the date of the construction of the mosque. This inscription is in the northern corner and is written within an arch, so that the linea, which are 6 in number, are of unequal length. They contain five verses, besides the invocation Sri srishtikartré namah in the commencement and the date in the end, both of which are in prose.
The letters are Nagari and are raised, not incised, in the same fashion as Persian letters are usually found carved. Orthography hardly calls for any remarks. The sign of avagraha has been omitted throughout. Over the na of -khuna- (1. 3) we find the Arabic sign of tashdid or double consonant.
The date is recorded in great detail, giving both the Vikrama and Saka years, which are stated to be 1846 and 1511 respectively, the eyelic year being Virodhi. The mosque is stated to have been completed on Monday, the 11th of the bright fortnight of the month Pausha, the exact moment in ghafis and the nakshatra, lagna, yôga, karana, eto, being added most precisely. The date in the Hijra era is given as 997 in Arabic above the inscription. Its English equivalent was kindly caloulated for me by the late Professor Kielhorn, C.I.E., who found it to be Monday, the 5th January 1590. The astrological details are unique in a Muhammadan mosque and show the religious tendency of the later Fårûqi kinge. In Burhåppûr much of the beliefs of the two religions (Hinduism and Islam) got mixed up, traces of which are still conspicuously present there. As an instance may be cited the preachings of the Piraídas, who are Musalmans and who say that God will now become incarnate as Nishkalarki. The F'Argis undoubtedly believed in astrology, as this inscription shows, and although the builder of the mosque took every care to erect it in the most auspicious moment completing it exactly in one year (as an Arabic inscription carved in the middle of the Masjid discloses) and wished by his pious act to ensure the long continuance of his dynasty, yet uncompromising destiny snatched away the crown from them, only ten years after the construction of the edifice. In fact Bahadur Khân, the builder's son, was so much infataated with saperstition, that, in spite of his possessing the impregnable Asirgah fort with ten years' provisions, enormous treasures and numerous horses and cattle, he felt convinced that he could not hold his own against Akbar, of whom he believed that he was a necromancer and that magicians accompanied him to reduce the fort. A pestilence which broke out among the animals, was attributed to the black art, and he 88W no way bat to surrender to the mighty wizard. This mosque was thus destined to receive another inscription, which Akbar triumphantly caused to be carved recording his victory of Khåndësh in A.H. 1009 (A.D. 1600), annihilating the glory of the mosque builder's dynasty for ever. This inscription is in Persian and is conspicuously inscribed on the outside wall of the left hand minar.
It was here that the famous Mumtaz Mahall (Arjunand Bånd Begam) breathed her last. ? For details see trauslation at the end.
! I have seen some Sanskrit manuscripts in Persian character in the possession of some Maulvis of Burhanpur, preserved as heirlooms from their ancestors, who apparently studied them under state encouragement. Unfortunately most of these valuable records have been destroyed by the fires of 1807 and 1906 which caused damage to the extent of about 57 lakhs besides loss of life.