* 



xcviii Proceedings of the Asiat. Soc. of Bengal. [July, 1914. 



4. Sirhind or Sehrind.—By H. Beveridge. 



5. Note on a history of Firuz Shah called Sirat-i-Firuz 

 Shahi.— By Maulavi M. Hidayet Hosain. 



Among the many valuable and rare MSS. in the Oriental 

 Public Library at Bankipore, I came across one interesting 

 MS. called Sirat-i-Firuz Shahi. In Europe there is no other 

 copy of this MS. in any of the libraries. I have also visited 

 many Libraries in India, such as that of Rainpur, Lucknow, 

 Hyderabad, Madras, Bombay, etc., but I did not find this rare 

 MS. in any of them. It may, therefore, be presumed that this 

 is the only copy of the MS. in existence. 



I should like to draw the attention of the Archaeological 



Department to this valuable MS. as it contains a description of 



architecture, etc. If this MS. is translated or at least its text 



is published it will be of great interest to the students of Indian 

 history. 



No particular name has been given to this book, but as it 

 deals with an account of Firuz Shah it is called Sirat-i-Firii 

 Shahi. There is also no mention of the author of the work, but 

 the following lines in the book 



^Ui ytil j ^iu ji^t ojur *£ ^i^ *u JUL, 



prove that it must have been dictated by Firuz Shah himself, 

 as the word imld* *^t means lecture or dictation. The pre- 

 face however appears to have been added by some one else 

 though the original work, or at least its contents, are the 

 dictates of Firuz Shah himself. 



The work in question begins with : 



It is divided into four chapters : 



1st chapter contains a short account of the reign of 

 Firuz Shah from his accession to the conquest of 

 Gujrat 



2nd chapter deals with his justice, charitable deeds, 

 benevolence, suppression of evil and murder, etc. It 

 also gives a description of birds, animals, their habits, 

 peculiarities, and also a description of his hunting 

 excursions. 



3rd chapter contains a description of buildings erected 

 by him, also what crops were cultivated, and what 

 kind of trees were grown at the time. It also deals 

 with how he brought a huge minaret from Sirmur 

 mountain to Ffruzabad (Delhi). Folios 946, 1026 

 contain illustrations showing the different positions of 

 the minaret when it was being carried to Firuzabad. 



