Yadgar-i-Bahaduri

Yadgar-i-Bahaduri ("The Memorial of Bahadur") is an Indian Persian language encyclopaedia of history, geography, science and art. Edited by Bahadur Singh, it was completed in 1834 CE in Lucknow.

Yadgar-i-Bahaduri
EditorBahadur Singh
CountryMughal Empire
LanguagePersian
Subjectgeography, history, science, art
Genrenon-fiction
Published1834

Authorship and date

Bahadur Singh was originally a resident of Gondiwal pargana in Shahjahanabad (otherwise known as Old Delhi). He was the son of Hazari Mal, who belonged to Bhatnagar clan of the Kayastha caste. He mentions that he was forced to leave Shahjahanbad due to circumstances, and arrived in Lucknow in 1817, under "great distress". At that time, Lucknow was ruled by Ghazi-ud-Din Haidar. At Lucknow, Bahadur Singh read several Hindi and Persian language works on history. He was inspired to write a connected history based on all these works. He finished the work on the first day of Ramazan in 1249 A.H. (12 January 1834 CE).[1]

Bahadur Singh states that he has only copied content from other books, and organized it into an encyclopedia. But according to Charles Rieu he evidently added original content, especially on the later history of Awadh and Bengal.[2] The detailed account of the Nawabs of Awadh, their families and their ministers is unique to this encyclopedia among other contemporary works.[3]

For some reason, Bahadur Singh strongly resented Kashmiri people. In his book, Singh describes rape and murder of Kashmiri Hindus by Muslims over the centuries. He states that under Aurangzeb's rule, the total weight of sacred threads collected from Hindus forcibly converted to Islam was 10 seers. He further states that many of these later converted back to Hinduism. Singh's account does not aim to present Muslims as savages, rather to present Kashmiris as a group more degraded than mlecchas because of their illegitimacy. He urges other people to not only avoid Kashmiris, but destroy them. According to Christopher Bayly, as a lowly clerk, he was envious of the success of his Kashmiri rivals. Henry Miers Elliot suggests that he might have lost a job to a Kashmiri.[3][4]

Contents

The encyclopedia is divided into 4 books (Sanihah), which are further sub-divided into chapters (dastan).[2][3]

Book I

Information on prophets from Adam to Muhammad.

Book II
  1. The early Khalifas
  2. The Twelve Imams
  3. The Ummayads
  4. The Abbasids
  5. The Isma'ilis of Egypt and Kuhistan, and Qarmatians
  6. The royal Sayyids
  7. The Sharifs of Mecca and Medina

Book III
  1. Philosophers of the world
    • Greece and Europe (including Columbus and Copernicus)
    • Persia and India
    • Others (early Muslims and modern physicians)
  2. Companions of Muhammad
  3. Their successors (Tabi‘un and Tubba')
  4. Shaikhs of four types
    1. Sunnis
    2. Shias
    3. Sufis of Iran (mainly copied from Nafahat-ul-Uns)
    4. Hindu theosophists, devotees and their sects
  5. Ulama
  6. Poets and miscellaneous
  7. Celebrated Muslims not included in earlier sections

Book IV

This book begins with an introduction (mukaddimah) of the Old World and the New World.

  • Islands of the world (including England)
  • Americas

    • The introduction is followed by 8 chapters (fasls):

    1. Kings of Iran
    2. Kings of the Arabs
    3. Greek and Romans [sic]
    4. Rulers of Egypt and Sham (Syria)
    5. Maghreb
      • Seventeen dynasties, from the Umayyads of Spain to the Sharifs of Pez
    6. Sultans of Turkistan
    7. Kings of Europe
      • Creeds, manners, and institutions of the Europeans
      • including the British in India, their army, administration of justice, revenue, learning
    8. Rulers of Hindustan: its different provinces and inhabitants

    Translations

    Munshi Sadasukh Lal partially translated Yadgar-i-Bahaduri into English. This translation appears in Henry Miers Elliot's History of India.[2]

    References
    1. Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, ed. (2007). The Last Bungalow: Writings on Allahabad. Penguin Books. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-14-310118-5.
    2. Charles Rieu (1879). Catalogue of the Persian manuscripts in the British museum. 3. London: British Museum. pp. 897–899.
    3. Henry Miers Elliot (1877). John Dowson (ed.). The History of India, as told by its own historians: The Muhammadan Period. Trübner and Company. pp. 417–425.
    4. Christopher Alan Bayly; C. A. Bayly (1996). Empire and Information: Intelligence Gathering and Social Communication in India, 1780-1870. Cambridge University Press. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-521-66360-1.
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