Lieut. -Colonel Briggs on tlie Life and Writings ofFerishta. 349 



Chapter IX. contains the history of the kings of Sind. 



X. do the kings of Kashmeer. 



XI. do. an account of Malabar. 



XII. do. an account of the Sauts. 



The conclusion gives some account of the geography and climate of 

 India. 



Such is Ferishta's own account of his book. His style, as he truly ob- 

 serves, is for the most part simple, and is devoid of that redundancy and 

 richness of imagery which so peculiarly distinguishes the Persian language. 

 Perhaps sufficient proofs of this have been exhibited in the extracts already 

 given ; but there is a desire of adhering to truth, and of maintaining a 

 character for honest independence pervading his work, which is truly 

 admirable. As it was notorious that he wrote his history under the patronage 

 of Ibrahim Adil Sliah II., in whose service it has been shewn that he bled 

 as a soldier at tlie early age of nineteen or twenty ; by whom he was 

 selected for the honourable office of escorting his daughter on her progress 

 to be married at a foreign court ; and by whom he was appointed ambas- 

 sador to the Great Mogul ; Ferishta conceived that these marks of favour 

 from his prince might be supposed to influence him in writing the history 

 of his own times. To the commencement of that of the kings of Bijapur 

 he therefore conceives it incumbent on him to affix the following preface. 

 " This humble individual wishes it to be known to those reflecting persons 

 who read his work, that as the object of his labours, in the former volumes, 

 has been to give an account of the sovereigns of Dehli, and the Bahmuny 

 kings of the Deccan ; so his care in the two remaining ones will be, to write 

 a detail of the histories of all the other Muhamedan princes who have held 

 independent sway in tiie different provinces of India : and he proposes to 

 begin this part of the work with an account of the illustrious sovereigns who 

 have reigned in Bijapur ; for whose prosperity and perpetual welfare he 

 prays ta Almighty God. Placed as the author is under the protection of 

 this family, it might be supposed that he would lavish fulsome encomiums 

 on its ancestors, and misrepresent facts, for the purpose of obtaining pecu- 

 niary rewards ; but his object is to write truth, and to render his narrative 

 clear, in simple and unadorned language. He has fortunately been already 

 placed, by the bounty of his gracious sovereign, Ibrahim Adil Shah II., 

 above ])ecuniary desires, and he tramples gold underneath his feet. He 

 has nothing more on that score to wish for ; so that he is at liberty to follow 



Vol. n. 2 Z 



