1873. J Gen. Cunningham 's Jaunpicr Inscriptions. 139 



At the January meeting of the Society I exhibited a large number of 

 Bengal inscriptions received from General Cunningham, and I now propose 

 to exhibit, at this and subsequent meetings, his inscriptions from various 

 places in the North-Western Provinces. I shall commence with the five in- 

 scriptions of the bridge over the Grumti at Jaunpur. The bridge was built in 

 975 (or 975-76) A. H., or A. D. 1567-1568, by a Kabuli architect (ustdd) 

 of the name of Afzal 'AH, at the cost of Mun'im KhanKhanan.* In the 

 existing gazetteers, it is stated on the authority of the Jcmnpurndmah 

 that the builder is Fahim, a freed man of Mun'im Khan ; but we know from 

 history that Fahim was a slave of Mun'im's successor, Mfrza 'Abdurrahim 

 KhanKhanan (Ain translation, p. 338). 



Jaunpu'r. 

 I. 



fijS (JjJjiJ lj lIj ,jj( vi»~J * j|<X-o jJl* |**i/o ^lili. ^Lk. 

 (¥±*x)\ C-U-a* iJJ** £\j 2S^ * C**»|^aUs ^Jk+Aftwo Jrf^e jf 



1. Khan Khanan Mun'im, the centre of the world, built this bridge by the grace 

 of the Bountifal. 



2. His name is Mun'im ['one who confers benefits'], because he bestows favors 

 upon mankind and shews mercy. 



3. He has thus opened for himself a passage over the C^'dt i mustaqimf towards 

 the beautiful gardens of Paradise. 



4. You will arrive at the date if you throw the word bad out of ' Oiratul- 

 mustaqim.' 



May God Almighty have this building in His keeping! The composer and 

 writer of these verses is Muhammad Muhsin, a sinful man, son of Amir Hashim. 



The value of the letters of the words ' Ciratul Mustaqim' is 981, and if 

 we subtract the value of the letters of ' bad,' i. e. 6, we get 981 — 6 = 975, 

 A. H. The metre of the verses is short JRamal. 



II. 



* His biography will bo found in my Am translation, pp. 317, 384. The tdrikh 

 given there is corrected below. Vide also Stewart's History of Bengal, p. 103. 



+ The faithful before entering Paradise have to pass over a bridge called Qirdt 

 ul mustaqim, ' the established path,' which leads over a bottomless pit, but is as narrow 

 and as sharp as the edge of a sword. 



