[Preliminary Entry] A book on the history of zamīndārs of Varanasi from the time of raja Mansā Rām (1737-1740) to the deposition of Rāja Chait Singh in 1195/1781. The author, Ġulām Hussayn Ḫān ibn Himmat Ḫān of Šāhjahānābād (Delhi) was in service of raja Balwant Singh (r. 1740-1770) and his son raja Cait Singh (r. 1770-1781). Beside his book on history of Banāras, Ġulām Hussayn Ḫān has also written another historical treatise about Mughal Empire in India from 1738-1789, entitled Ḏikr al-Siyar. Tārīḫ-i Banāras was edited and published by the authors’s grandson named Subḥān ‘Alī ibn Ḥassan ‘Alī Ḫān, with dedication to raja Iśwari Prasad Narayan (r. 1835-1889). Subḥān ‘Alī wrote in the introduction that his grandfather’s Tārīḫ-i Banāras was based on both his observations and the personal accounts he received from raja Balwant Singh.
P. S.
Patna, Khuda Bakhsh Library, 608
.Marshall, D. N., 1967, Mughals in India a Bibliographical Survey, Asia Publishing House, Bombay, vol. I, p. 156. Storey, C. A, 1939, Persian literature A bio-bibliographical Survey, II, 3, London, Luzac & Co., p. 699.
| Main Persian Title: | Tārīḫ-i Banāras |
| Approximate period of composition: | 1730-1799 |
| Dedicatee: | Raja Iśwari Prasad Narayan (r. 1835-1889) |