Art. II.—Letters to the Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society

W. Morley Esq; Duncan Forbes

doi:10.1017/S0035869X00142601

Art. II.—Letters to the Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 March 2011

W. Morley Esq and

Duncan Forbes

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Whilst I was engaged last year in making a catalogue of the Oriental MSS. comprised in the libraries of the Society and the Oriental Translation Committee, I met with the historical MS. which is the subject of the following letter. I, at that time, applied to the Council of the Society for permission to forward a description of the MS. to M. Quatremere, who is employed in editing the only portion of the work hitherto known, in the hope that he would represent the matter to the French Government, and cause our MS. to be published in the “Collection Orientale,” as a sequel to his “Histoire des Mongols.” The council acceded to my request, and I accordingly wrote to M. Quatremère on the subject, but whether on account of my letter not having reached its destination or from the press of business, he has not as yet returned any answer to my communication. In the mean time, I think it desirable that the existence of this important volume should be made known to the public, and I have accordingly drawn up the following account of the MS. for insertion in the Journal of the Society.

Type: Research Article
Information: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 6 , Issue 11 , January 1841 , pp. 11 - 41

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0035869X00142601 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1985

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^{page 11 note 1} It is numbered 13 in my catalogue.

^{page 12 note 1}

^{page 14 note 1} Rashíd al Dín's enemies asserted, during liis lifetime, Hint lie was of Jewish extraction and religion, in order to render liim odious to lite Musulmáns; this ealmuny was probably grounded upon the particular attention he had paid to the history and customs of the Jews, and accounts for the indignities practised towards his remains hy Mírán Sháh.

^{page 15 note 1}

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^{page 19 note 1} His name ia given in MS. Rich. 7027, Abú Sulaimán Ibn Dáúd Ben Abí al Fadhl Ben Muhammad Ben Muhammad Ben Dáúd al Biuákití. He was surnamed Al Binákití, from his having been born at Binákit, or Finákit, a town in Máwará al Nahar, afterwards called Sháhrokhiah.

^{page 19 note 2} This abridgment ia entitled Rozat Úlí al Albáb, () but ia more generally known by the name of Táríkhi Binákiti. This work is greatly esteemed by the Persians, and is often cited as an authority by subsequent historians. Abú Sulaimán follows Rashíd al Dín pretty closely, varying the arrangement, however, in some degree. The MSS. of his history are very scarce, but having been enabled to obtain access to no less than three copies, I have not failed to compare them diligently with Jtashid al Din's work, and have found them of tho greatest service. One of these M.S. is in the library of the Oriental Translation Committee, it is in two volumes, which are numbered in my catalogue 118 and 119; the other two are amongst the ltich collection in the British Museum, and are numbered respectively, 7626, 7627.

^{page 20 note 1} The picture apparently represents the apotheosis of Hamzah, the uncle of Muhammad; the Persian title in the margin contains the following words,—

“Hamzah (may the Almighty God reward him) whom the prophet (the blessing of God be upon him and his deseendants and peace) sent, against the Bauí Kainoká, who were a tribe of Jews.”

All the paintings have Persian titles similarly written in the margin, apparently by some native of India who possessed the MS. in its present state, as the catchwords at the bottom of tho pages, as they stand, are written in the same hand, even where leaves are wanting.

^{page 21 note 1}

^{page 21 note 2} Est aulem Ragius putcus juris Hudeilitarum, ad quatuordeeim miliaria ab Osfano.—Abclfeda, à Reiske.

^{page 21 note 3} A tribe of Jews who resided about a farsakh's distance from Madínah.

^{page 21 note 4}

^{page 21 note 5} The prophet halted at this place, which is described as situated in the desert, eight days' journey from Madínah; a miraculous conversion of his enemies tool; place here.—Tabari.

^{page 21 note 6} A certain well situated in the deseri.—Tabari.

^{page 21 note 7}

^{page 21 note 8}

^{page 22 note 1} Called also the expedition of the cohorts or troops,

^{page 22 note 2} This was tho first great victory gained by Muhammad; Gagnier, on the authority of Al Kodaius, says, “Bedr est nomen putei, qui pertinebat. ad quemdam qui vocabatur Bedr.”

^{page 22 note 3} Fuit nomen tribus Judæorum qui Medinæ domicilium habebant in vico quodam ab illis dieto Platea, seu Forum Kainoká.—Gagnier.

^{page 22 note 4} The expedition of barley. The word sawík signifies barley deprived of its husks and pounded. This expedition is so called because Abú Sofiyáu and his followers, when pursued by the Musulmáns, cast down the bags () of barley, which they carried for provender, in the midst of the road, in order to facilitate their escape by lightening the burdens of their horses.

^{page 22 note 5} Nomen est aquæ isti tractui vicinæ, per quem via regia tendit ex Irak versus Meccam.—Abulfeda.

^{page 23 note 1} This appears to be the correct method of spelling this word, and not as usually written, Khatá: Quatremáian translation of the Tazkirat Aúlia. My transcription of the names both of persons and places in this and the following part of our M.S., is from the absence of the vowel points, often necessarily conjectural; but I have always given the names in the Arabic character at the foot of the page.

^{page 23 note 2} In the Tárikhi Binákití, Rai Kúgáó Shíngshí is mentioned as the seventy-third King of Khítá, and the first king of theseveuth race.

^{page 23 note 3}

^{page 23 note 4} This date is most probably reckoned from some computation of time used by the Chinese, which was explained in the preceding part of the History of Khitá, here wanting.

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^{page 24 note 10} This tribe is the same as the Nú-jí, as appears from the following passage of Abdallah Baidháwí.

^{page 24 note 11}

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^{page 25 note 1}

^{page 25 note 2} There are considerable discrepaneies between this history and that of the Táríkhi Binákití in the number of the kings; in the latter work Shújú is described as the 305th king of Khitá.

^{page 25 note 3}

^{page 25 note 4} There is some doubt as to the right reading of this word; it occurs three times, thus Our author says that the word was originally ; one letter here, it is doubtful which, wanls the diacritical points; it is by this hist name that the book is mentioned in the Taríkhi Binákití; but the orthography is not fixed by the MSS. of that work which I have consulted.

^{page 26 note 1} Abú Raihán Muhammad Ibn Ahmad al Bírúní was a famous' astronomer, and excelled in the sciences of geometry and judicial astrology: he lived in the time of the sulláns Malimúd and Masúd of Ghazuin; he was sent into India in company with Abú al Nasr and Abú al Khair by Sultán Mámún, king of Kh'árizm, and remained there forty years. In the Táríkhi Binákití it is stated that he learned the language of the Brahmans and searched their books, one of which described as the most excellent of all, he translated into the Arabic tongue; this book, says Abú Sulaimán, was called Bánatakal or Bátanukal, for it is differently written in the two MSS. of the British Museum. The MS. of the Translation Committee omits the points of one letter as in the MS. of Rashíd al Dín, but from the position of the points of the it seems most likely the word should be written Bátanakal. I may add that there is n sect of Hindús founded by tho sage Patanjal, who wrote the sútras, known by his name, ami which are probably here alluded to. Vide Gladwin, 's Ayecn Akbery, vol. ii. p. 416Google Scholar, and Ward, 's View of the Hindoos, vol. iv. p. 109.Google Scholar

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^{page 27 note 8} The following is the passage alluded to:—

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^{page 28 note 1} These books are not noticed in the Tárikhi Binákití.

^{page 29 note 1}

^{page 33 note 1} Colonel Baillie's Books and Manuscripts are entailed property.

^{page 34 note 1} Mír Afzal Ali, Vakíl from the Maháráj of Satára.

^{page 36 note 1} Vide Mr. Morley's Note, page 23.

^{page 37 note 1} It has been suggested to me, that the Jámi al Tawáríkh, alluded to by Mirkhond, &c., refers only to the Taríkh i Gházáni, or first volume, but not to the last three. I must say, however, that I cannot perceive why these writers should have so misapplied the term Collection of Histories, to the history of a particular nation, which, besides, had a separate title of its own. I may further mention that, in a MS. in my possession, entitled Majma al Gharáíb, the Jámi al Tawáríkh is quoted on a matter of chronology which is assuredly from the latter volumes, stating that, “from the fall of Adam to the birth of Muhammad there had clapsed 6102 years, six months, and ten days!”

^{page 40 note 1} It runs thus,— Ferisht Khootab Khanna Ferzada Kole.

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Art. II.—Letters to the Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society

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