Tārīḫ-i Bharatpūr | Monography or Translations of known period | Historical Works | Survey | Perso-Indica

Historical Works

Monography or Translations of known period
Francis “Farāsū” Gottlieb, Tārīḫ-i Bharatpūr

[Preliminary Entry] A history of the Jāt Rajas of Bharatpur (Rajasthan) from their origin to 1826 written by Francis Gottlieb for Major Abraham Lockett, the British agent at Bharatpur. The author was, as he describes himself, a German born in Poland and educated in India. He was also a renowned poet who composed his Persian and Urdu poetry under the pseudonym of Farāsū.

The introduction of the book deals with Hindu cosmogony, religious system and the genealogy of the early kings. The history begins with Badan Singh (r. 1722-1756), who, was imprisoned by his cousin, Muhkam Singh son of Curāman (r. 1695-1721), raja of Thun. He later escaped to the court of Jai Singh II (r. 1699-1743) of Jaipur, and obtained the territory of Mathura. Badan Singh built the fort of Dīg, and assuming the title of rajah and became the founder of the Bhartpur dynasty. After twenty years of kingdom, he became blind and voluntarily renounced power for his eldest son Suraj Mal (r. 1756-1763). His successors’ reigns are recounted respectively up to the usurpation of Durjan Sal (r. 1825-1826). The history ends with the siege of Bharatpur by Lord Combormere and the restoration of Balwant Singh (r. 1826-1853). As Gottlieb says, he wrote his historical work by using Hindu sources.

P. S.

i) Place of copying; ii) Period of copying; iii) Copyist; iv) Commissioner;
v) Information on colophon; vi) Description of miniatures/illustrations; vii) Other remarks; viii) Information on catalogue(s)
Manuscript: 

London, British Library, British Museum, Add. 19,501

, viii)

Rieu 1881, p. 305b

.

Bibliography:

Elliot, Henry Miers, The History of India by its own historians, 1867, London, Trübner and Co., vol. VIII, pp. 360-368. Marshall, D. N., 1967, Mughals in India a Bibliographical Survey, Asia Publishing House, Bombay, vol. I, p. 164. Payne, C. H. - Tod, James, Tod’s annals of Rajasthan; the annals of the Mewar, New York, Dutton and Co., vol. II, pp. 369-371. Rieu, C., 1881, Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts in the British Museum, vol. I, p. 305b. Storey, C. A, 1939, Persian literature A bio-bibliographical Survey, II, 3, London, Luzac & Co., p. 690.


 
Main Persian Title: Tārīḫ-i Bharatpūr
English Translation of Main Persian Title: The History of Bharatpur