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SEPT. 6, 1872.]
he built a bath, a bázár, and several houses, and also the Jámi' Masjid, which is still known at Láhor as the Vazír Khán's mosque. The inscriptions on it shew that it was built in A. H. 1044, or 1634-35 A.D.
MUGHUL GRANDEES.
Sál i tarikh iá bináe Masjide 'álímakán. Az khirad justam, baguftá "sijdahgâhe ahl i fazl." 'I pondered to find a chronogram for the building of this noble mosque, and discovered the words 'sijdahgahe ahli fail', a place of worship for the good.'
The other chronogram is better
Tarikh in binde pursídam az khirad.
Guftá bigo kih" bání i masjid Vazir Khan" in which the words bání i Masjid Vazir Khân, 'the builder of the Mosque Vazír Khán,' will be found to give 1044. Like other buildings in Láhor, the mosque was desecrated by the Sikhs, who are said to have killed swine in it and used the interior as a stable.
Vazírábád, in the neighbourhood of Láhor, was also founded by Vazir Khán. In Chiniot, his birth place, he built the brick wall of the town, erected many houses which he gave away to the inhabitants, as also a bázár with shops, a mosque, an inn, a Madrasah, an hospital, and besides he dug several wells. "In fact, he adorned his native town as no other Amír in India has done." (Maásir ul-Umará.) Though he was anxious to revisit his native town he found no suitable opportunity for doing so.
Vazir Khan's son, Saláh Khán, served under Aurangzib as Mir Tozak. In the 29th year, he received the title of Anvar Khán, was appointed Dároghah of the establishment of servants, and died in the 36th year of Aurangzib's reign.
The title of Vazir Khan was first held, under Akbar, by the brother of 'Abdul Majid Açaf Khán, the conqueror of Gondwanah. His biography will be found in my Áin translation (p. 353). Under Jahangir, the title of Vazir Khán was again conferred, namely, on Muqim, who served as Assistant Finance Minister and as Diwán of Bengal, but he rose to no importance. Under Shahjahan, as we saw above, the title was conferred on 'Alimuddin of Chiniot. In order to complete the series, I shall now give a short
Or Málwá, as Aurangzib spelt it. In the present agitation regarding the best system of spelling of Indian names, it may be of interest to refer to Aurangzíb's order, by which Indian names ending in long d, as rájá, Málod, &c., were forbidden to be spelt rajah, Malwah, &c. In Persian there are but few names ending in long d, but a large number ending in a short a; but as words in Persian generally end in a consonant, words with final short a were
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biography of the grandee who held the title of Vazir Khán under Aurangzib.
VAZIR KHAN, MUHAMMAD TAHIR KHURÁSÁNÍ.
Muhammad Tahir was born at Mashhad in Khurásán. He served Prince Aurangzib as treasurer, and had the reputation of being a good soldier. In the 10th year of Shahjahan's reign, Aurangzib ordered him to invade, together with Málújí, the Dak'hini, the district of Baglánah, which the emperor had given Aurangzib as an áltamghá tenure. Muhammad Tahir invested Mulher, the stronghold of the Bharji of Baglánah, and forced him to submit. The district received a financial settlement, and Tahir remained as governor in Mulher.
"
In 1062 (A.D. 1652), he was appointed by Prince Aurangzib as his náib, or vice-governor of Khandesh, where he remained for several years. When Aurangzib, in 1068, left Burhánpúr to march against Dárá Shikoh, he left Táhir in Khandesh, gave him the title of Vazir Khán, and conferred upon him the right of a flag and a kettledrum.' After Aurangzib's accession (Ramazán, 1068), Vazír Khán was called to court, Mir Jumlah having been appointed governor of Khándesh, and was made, in the 3rd year, çúbahdar of Agrab. In the 6th year, he accompanied Prince Muhammad Mu'azzam to the Dak'hin, and was again sent to Khándesh as governor. In the following year, he was appointed to Málwah and received a full command of 5,000. He died in Malwah in 1083 A. H., or A.D. 1672.
"There is a spot in Aurangábád, still called after his name, where he had a villa. The part of Aurangábád between the Little Tank' and the tomb of Islám Khán of Mashhad,
was founded by his elder brother Mirza Mahmúd and is hence called Mahmudpárah. His son, Muhammad Taqi Khán, was Bakhshi and Waqi'ahnawis, or intelligencer, and died in the 10th year of Aurangzíb. He built a palace at the Little Tank in Mahmud párah" which still stands."
Another nephew of Vazir Khán is Rafi' Khán, who was for some time Faujdár of Báns Bareli (Rohilkhand). He was a poet and wrote under the nom-de-plume of Bázil (liberal). His large
written as ending in ah, the h being silent. This peculiarity of spelling was needlessly transferred by Muhammadan writers to Indian names, and thus we have an explanation for Rájab, Korrah, Málwah, Burmah, instead of Rájá, Korra, &c. However, the order of the emperor only referred to the final ah (Kháfi Khán, II. 899). Of course, it would be wrong to spell Persian words ending in an with a final d, as Khajah, bandah, &c.
