Mirza Barkhvardar Turkman (L.F. Rushbrook Williams, 1916)

Mirza Barkhvardar Turkman

The discrepancies between the Indian and the Persian historians who deal with the relations between Babur and Shah Isma’il, are well known, and capable of a more or less satisfactory explanation. But the discrepancies between Khwandamir and Haidar Mirza are of a different order. Each writer was exceptionally well-informed: each gathered his information at first hand, yet the contradictions are often glaring. This is the more to be regretted, in that each is a source of the utmost importance for Babur’s history during the years A.D. 1510-11. I have some hopes that a third writer has come to light, who may perhaps help to clear up some of the disputed points.

While I was working in the famous library of H.H, the Nawab of Rampur, I was fortunate enough to make the acquaintance of Nawab Sahib Abdussalam Khan, father of the Chief Secretary of Rampur State. From time to time this gentleman, who possesses an excellent collection of historical works, has been kind enough to furnish me with excerpts which he thinks will help me in my investigation of Babur’s career. One of these excerpts was from a work quite unfamiliar to me, the Ahsanal-Siyar of Mîrzā Barkhwardār Turkmān. The extract was of great value for the events of A.D. 1510-11, although it was quickly apparent that the author was greatly indebted to the Habibal-Siyar.

A subsequent visit to Rampur put me in possession of the following particulars. The volume consists of 411 pages numbered in a modern hand, each page measuring 6” by 9. The writing is a fairly clear semi-nasta’liq ― the hand of scholar rather than of a scribe. There are twenty-two lines to the page. The volume was purchased by the present owner in Lucknow some years ago, and the flyleaf bears a note that it had been purchased twice before, once in Shahjahanabad, once in Lucknow. One of the previous owners has written a Persian couplet, expressing his appreciation of the fact that his ownership is but transitory. The general condition of the volume is good, although the illuminated head-piece on the page hearing the bi’smi’llah has been cut away, and the page itself is neatly mounted upon modern paper, glued into the binding. Worms have wrought little damage.

The original work was apparently in four volumes, of which the present is the fourth and concluding instalment: for on p. 306 there is mention of the author’s second volume, and on 9. 322 of his third volume. The whole seems to have been dedicated to Shah Isma’il Safawi, and the present volume, which is plainly the conclusion of the whole, closes with an account of the perfections of this monarch and a recital of his praises.

The contents are as follows: ―

·         Pages 1-6. Preface in which the author states that he, being a Shi’a, has been led to combat some of the errors made in Khwandamir’s account of this period. It is noteworthy that the date of composition of the Habibal-Siyar is stated to be A.H. 927.

·         Pages 6-280. A detailed history of Shah Isma’il’s reign.

·         Pages 280-305. An account of the poets and philosophers then flourishing in Persia.

·         Pages 306-411. A collection of curious stories, geographical descriptions, and the like, mainly borrowed from Khwandamir, the Matla-al-Sa’dain, and other sources.

The date of composition of the work was A.H. 930, as is shown by the ta’rikh.

خبر از جهانیان and آثار الملوک و الأنبیا

I hope to publish before long some extracts from Mirza Bakrhwardar’s book, illustrating the extent of his indebtedness to Khwandamir. My object in giving this premature and imperfect account of the fragment I have examined is to obtain, if possible, particulars of any other MSS. of it which may be in existence. It would appear from the catalogues that there is no copy in the British Museum, the India Office or the Bodleian.

L.F. Rushbrook Williams, A new Persian authority on Babur? // Journal & Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. New Series, Vol. XII, 1916, No. 6, pp. 297―298.