The volume is
A Dictionary, Persian, Arabic, and English; with a Dissertation on the Languages, Literature, and Manners of Eastern Nations, by John Richardson, of the Middle Temple and Wadham College, Oxford. Revised and improved by Charles Wilkins. This new edition has been enlarged by Francis Johnson. The volume was printed by J. L. Cox, London, 1829.The volume begins with a preface (folios 7-8), followed by the dissertation (folios 9-40), proofs and illustrations (folios 41-49), and an advertisement on pronunciation and verb forms (folios 50-51). The dictionary is Arabic and Persian to English, arranged alphabetically according to the Arabic and Persian alphabets. At the back of the volume are corrections and additions (folio 908).1 volume (908 folios)The dictionary is arranged alphabetically, according to the Arabic and Persian alphabets.Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 910; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
The volume contains enclosures to despatches, and abstracts of contents of despatches, from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the East India Company Secret Committee.The volume is divided into eight items:Removal of the Embargo Placed on the Vessels of the Shaikh of Kishm [Shaikh of Qishm] Visiting India (IOR/L/PS/5/391, ff 2-46)The Assistant to the Resident in the Persian Gulf Volunteering to Serve with the British and Turkish Troops in Syria during his Unexpired Sick Leave, and the Transmission of Mail to London via Bagdad and Constantinople [Istanbul] (IOR/L/PS/5/391, ff 47-57)The Pay and Allowances of Mr Powell during the Period he Acted as Clerk and Purser to the Euphrates Expedition (IOR/L/PS/5/391, ff 58-64)Abstract of Contents of a Despatch Relating to the Steam Flotilla on River Indus (IOR/L/PS/5/391, ff 65-72)Aden, Mocha, and Tajoura Affairs (IOR/L/PS/5/391, ff 73-161)Persian Gulf Affairs (IOR/L/PS/5/391, ff 162-381)Affairs in India and Elsewhere (IOR/L/PS/5/391, ff 382-731)Mission to the King of Shoa [Shewa] (IOR/L/PS/5/391, ff 732-735).There is a note on folio 59 stating that enclosures to Bombay Secret Letter No. 3, dated 29 January 1841, are not included in the collection [volume].1 volume (737 folios)The enclosures to each despatch within the volume are divided by blue dividers (however there is no blue divider between IOR/L/PS/5/391, ff 58-64 and IOR/L/PS/5/391, ff 65-72). The sets of enclosures to despatches are arranged in chronological order from the front to the rear of the volume. The enclosures within each despatch are preceded by an abstract of contents, in which the despatch itself (not included) is numbered 1, the abstract of contents 2, and the enclosures 3, 4, etc. The numbers listed in the abstract of contents are recorded for reference on the last verso of each enclosure, along with the original reference, and a description of each enclosure.Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 739; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Historical account of Afghan wars, 1838-1919, between the states of Kabul and Kandahar against the British invaders, written by Munshī ʻAbd al-Karīm, a companion of Shāh Shujāʻ al-Mulk, the Amir of Afghanistan. Muḥārabah-ʼi Kābul va Qandahar (The war of Kabul and Kandahar) is an account of the First Afghan War (1839-42) by Munshi ʻAbd al-Karīm, an associate of Shāh Shujāʻ, the emir of Afghanistan. Mawlawī Muḥammad ʻAbd al-Karīm was an Indo-Persian historian from Lucknow, India, who was active in the mid-19th century. He was a prolific munshi (writer, secretary, and language teacher) and translator. He rendered into Persian from Arabic such works as Tārīkh al-Khulafā (History of the Caliphs), by al-Sūyūtī (1445-1505) and a history of Egypt by Ibn Iyās (1448-circa 1524). He also completed an abridged translation of the biographical dictionary, Wafayāt al-aʻyān wa anbāʾ abnāʾ az-zamān (Deaths of eminent men and history of the sons of the epoch) by Ibn Khallikān (1211-82). Muḥārabah was written some time between 1848 and 1850. It discusses the war of the states of Kabul and Kandahar against the British East India Company and specifically against the British expedition of 1842 headed by General Pollock. Munshi ʻAbd al-Karīm later revised the original composition and added information from Akbarnāmah (Book of Akbar, a history of the third Mughal emperor) to produce the final version shown here, which was published in India in 1850. This book and the munshi's other contemporary historiographical text, Tārīkh-i Ahmadshāhī (History of the sultans of Delhi, in which he narrates the history of the Abdālīs, ancestors of the Durranis) were two of the major sources of the better known text of the Afghan history, Sirāj al-Tawārīkh (Lamp of history) by Fayz̤ Muḥammad (died 1931). Of Mawlawī ʻAbd al-Karīm's extensive oeuvre, three books exist in lithographic prints, including Muḥārabah. Lithographic printing was invented in Europe in the late 18th century and spread widely on the Indian subcontinent from the early 19th century onward, its popularity stemming from the relative ease with which it could be used to reproduce different scripts not based on the Latin alphabet. The new technology was so successful during the Raj that many more Persian lithographic books were printed in India than in Iran. World Digital Library.
This work is the first installment of Qiṣṣah-i Shams Ābād (Story of Shams Abad) by Qamar al-Din Akbar Abadi. The author was the editor of Asʻad al-akhbār (The most propitious news), an early Urdu periodical published at a printing house of the same name in Agra, India, in circa 1840. (The appellation Akbar Abadi refers to Akbar Abad, the name of Agra during the Mughal Empire.) Qamar al-Din was a scholar of hadith and Islamic history and had mastery of Persian as well as Arabic. He wrote several books, including Tārīkh-i ḥukamā' (The history of learned men), Lamaʻāt-i Qamar (Glimmers from the Moon, the title of which references the name of the author), Inshā'-i khirad afrūz (The wisdom illumining composition), and Muntakhabāt-i Būstān (Selections from the Būstān), which is a partial translation into Urdu of this well-known work of Persian literature. Qiṣṣah-i Shams Ābād does not appear to address overtly political themes and focuses instead on a group of landowners in the town of Shamsabad, located to the southeast of Agra. However, the timing of its publication in the years leading to the first Indian Rebellion of 1857 and references on the cover to the lieutenant governor of the Northwest Provinces as well as to the "visitor general" (i.e., the colonial inspector) lend the work a certain historical interest. The first installment of Qiṣṣah-i Shams Ābād was printed at the Asʻad al-akhbar printing press in an edition of 3,000 copies. World Digital Library.
Biographical sketches and specimen of the works of Indian, Afghani and Central Asian writers from early times. Taz̲kirah-i gulzār-i Aʻẓam (The memorial known as the greatest flower meadow) is a biographical compendium of poets and their poetic output. It belongs to the taz̲kirah (memorial) genre of Persian and Indo-Persian literature. The author, Muḥammad Ghauth Khān, was born on the 29th of Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1239 AH (August 25, 1824) in Chennai, India, and was the last nawab of the Carnatic. In the introduction to Taz̲kirah, Muḥammad Ghauth Khān describes how, after writing an earlier biographical work, Ṣubḥ-i Vaṭan (Dawn of the homeland, completed in 1257 AH [1841-42]), he was eager to write a more comprehensive book, with more judiciously chosen poems for each poet. The resulting work was Taz̲kirah-i gulzār-i Aʻẓam, in which the title refers both to the genre and its author (Aʻẓam, meaning "greatest," was the takhalluṣ or pen name of the author). The gulzār (meadow) in the title refers to the collection of poets included in the work. The title is also a chronogram that references the date it was published. Taz̲kirah-i gulzār-i Aʻẓam consists of the biographical entries for 141 poets arranged alphabetically by the takhalluṣ of each poet. (The author's earlier work, Ṣubḥ-i Vaṭan, has 90 entries.) The entries here include biographical information as well as samples of each poet's work. The poets are generally from the Indian subcontinent, though on occasion they are listed as having moved to India from Persia, as, for example, in the entry for Vālih, or Muḥammad Musavī, which lists Khurāsān as his home. The work is in Persian, the literary language of India during the Mughal and ensuing eras. This edition was printed in 1272 AH (1855-56) at the Sarkāṛī printing press (likely in Rampur, India). Muḥammad's father, Nawab Aʻẓam Jāh, died shortly after his son's birth, but Muḥammad did not assume power until he was installed as nawab by British colonial administrators in 1842. Prior to this, his uncle, Prince 'Aẓīm Jāh Bahādur, acted as regent. ('Aẓīm Jāh Bahādur is listed in the Taz̲kirah-i gulzār-i Aʻẓam under the takhalluṣ Naẓīr and his entry describes a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina as well as him founding a school for Muslim students.) Muḥammad Ghauth Khān died childless in October 1855. Rather than have power revert to 'Aẓīm Jāh Bahādur, the British East India Company chose to annex the Carnatic kingdom, thus ending the rule of the nawabs of the Carnatic. World Digital Library.
Correspondence regarding the Persian Gulf Political Residency's responsibilities with regard to maritime peace; its relations with Persia and discussing in particular recent disorder on the Persian Coast and the decision of the Persian Authorities to cooperate for their suppression.Folio 122 is an 'anonymous friendly protest' written in Persian and translated into English, although James Charles Edwards, Accountant to the Residency in the Persian Gulf, who translated the letter has noted that the handwriting appears to be that of Mirza Syed Khuleel and that the letter was handed to Hajee [Haji] Ahmed by one of the Mirza's servants.The correspondence is primarily between Captain Felix Jones, Political Resident; the Government at Bombay; Sir Henry Rawlinson and Charles Alison, HBM's Envoy's Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary's at the Court of Persia; and Sultan Murad Mirza Isham-es-Sultanah, Prince Governor of Farsistan.The correspondence includes translations and accounts from individuals and tribes of the types of disorder, disquiet and destruction that have been occurring on the Persian Coast, and naming those responsible. The correspondence also discusses the Persian Government's disinterest and unwillingness to engage with the British Government on the matter and the question of what the Resident in the Persian Gulf's powers and responsibilities should be in preventing incidents at sea from occurring.58 folios
Order issued by the British Minister at Tehran, Charles Alison, instructing Pelly to return to India overland from Persia through Afghanistan.The letter instructs Pelly on the British Government's preferred route for him through Meshed [Mashhad], Herat and Cabul [Kabul], weather permitting, and encloses fowling pieces and pistols to be presented as gifts Sultan Ahmed Khan [Soltan Ahmad Khan] of Herat and correspondence and friendly assurances to be given on behalf of the British Government to Dost Mahomed Khan [Dost Mohammad Khan] of Cabul.The letter also instructs Pelly to gather reliable information on the Persian expedition to Mero [Marv], and in particular on the state of the Persian Army as well as asking for any practicable information he can obtain on the condition and prospects of Aghanistan as he is passing through it.Alongside the instructions for him when visiting Cabul is a paragraph written in pencil which appears to be a brief outline of the mission order translated into Persian.1 file (6 folios)Foliation: This file has been foliated in the front top right hand corner of each page 1-6, with the folio number in pencil enclosed in a circle
The file contains a private journal kept by Lewis Pelly from January to February 1865; notes taken by him during his journey to Riyadh January to March 1865; sketches, correspondence, financial accounts and other papers.Included within the file are:Extract showing a record of posting from the Bushire Post Office 16 January 1865 (f. 45)Letter from Austin Layard, Foreign Office to Sir Andrew Buchanan, 1 September 1865 regarding Pelly's intention of returning to Bushire through Russia, the Caspian and Persia and asking that Pelly be enabled to travel through these regions (f. 46-47)Letter from Austin Layard, Foreign Office to Colonel Pelly, 6 September 1865 informing him of rumours from Cairo that Sultan Feysul [Faisal ibn Turki al-Sa'ud], the Nejdean Chief has been assassinated [f. 48]Ink sketch 'H.M's Residency Steamer
May Frerefor the Persian Gulf' 1867 - possibly drawn by Captain Edwin Dawes [f. 49]Two accounts of a story of a king and his Persian slave, one written by Henry Byam Abbott 5 June 1873 and the other by Charles Allan Baylay 6 June 1873 as well as two documents in Persian, one of which is the story of a death in a bazaar in Persia. These papers appear to be attempts at translation to and from Persian being undertaken by Baylay and Abbott [ff. 50-55]Ink sketch of a building atop cliff with shoreline - possibly drawn by Captain Edwin Dawes [f. 56]List of letters to be sent by Lewis Pelly to Bushire to Captain Carew, Charles Alison and Captain Henry W Warner and briefly outlining the topics for discussion in the letters [ff. 57-58]A folio of notes titled 'explore vast solitudes and call them Russia' which contains notes about England's mission in Asia and Russian interests there [ff. 59-60]Papers containing financial accounts: one for coal, camels and horses and the other giving an exchange rate for Dollars to Rupees for an amount to be paid to Ebrahim ibn Sayed Hossein as well as detailing deductions from an account including the purchase of a horse and waterskin and an advance to camelersTwo undated letters, either in Urdu or Persian.1 file, 2 items (66 folios)The file has been arranged in chronological order, those folios without dates have been placed at the rear of the file.Foliation: The contents of the file have been foliated in the top right corner of each folio with a pencil number enclosed in a circle.Condition: There is damage to the lower portion of the first three folios, which has made some of the text difficult to read.
Letter containing a bundle of letters in Persian for Lewis Pelly's information. The letters are primarily between Persian and Afghani officials and include a forwarding letter from William Lockyer Merewether who initially received them. Many of the letters in Persian are written in an illegible hand.Letter from William Lockyer Merewether, Jacobabad to Lewis Pelly, 26 December 1860 informing him that a packet had been received from Kandahar for Pelly with an accompanying note in Persian (folio 1).Note in Persian, possibly written by Nawab Murat Khan enclosing a bundle of fourteen letters and notes written by officials of the Governor of Persia, including Farukh Khan, and individuals in Afghanistan including Sultan Ahmed Khan, Governor of Herat.Note in Persian, possibly addressed to Lewis PellyPetition in Persian, possibly the Petition of Maulay MūsāPetition in Persian, containing the seals of Ghulām Rasūl and Ghulām Rizā 'Abduh who may be the petitionees. There is a partial date of 10 Rabi' II, but no year is given.1 file (12 folios)This file has no discernable arrangement.Foliation: The file has been foliated using a pencil number, enclosed in a circle, located in the top right hand corner of the recto of each folio.
The memo contains information in Persian, with English translation, regarding the Dashtee [Dashti] tribe and the villages that are subordinate to it.For the town of Dashtee (folio 8) the memo gives details of the tribute paid to the Governor of Bushire; for each subordinate village the following information is given:Under whose authority the village fallsThe amount, in Tomans, paid as tribute to the Dashti tribeThe number of households in the villageThe distance, in Fursacs, from the nearest neighbouring villageOn the rear cover of the memo (folio 1) are instructions from Lewis Pelly dated 21 February 1863 asking him to provide a translation alongside each section of the memo and a note from Joseph Charles Edwards dated 12 May 1863 noting that the translations have been completed.As the memo was written in Persian, with English translation added later it should be read from back to front (folio 8-folio1)The dates provided relate to the request for and completion of the translation into English, the memo itself may be from an earlier date.1 file (8 folios)Foliation: This file contains foliation on the top right corner of the recto of each folio, the folio number is given in pencil and is enclosed with a circle.The first folio of the file has been written on upside down.