108 Description of the Ancient [March, 



sents at the interstices of the letters, whereas ; if the sunken zone did 

 not exist upon which the Persian characters stand prominently forth, 

 and if the letters stood out beyond the general surface of the column 

 itself, it might he reasonably assumed that the projecting Persian cha- 

 racters were coeval with the extraction of the stone from the quarry, 

 or at least with the date of its receiving the final smoothing and polish- 

 ing from its rough hewn state. 



Measuring with a string I have perceived that the writer's name in 

 Persian, Abdullah, in alto relievo in a separate compartment is likewise 

 situated below the general surface of the stone : moreover, that it has 

 been cut out at a part where the ancient inscription No. 2 had evidently 

 peeled off before the Persian was written. This establishes the prior 

 existence of the engravings Nos. 1 and 2, of which however, and without 

 this proof, there could be no doubt. The same remark applies to the 

 whole of the Persian inscription. 



The Persian inscription runs thus, in the original, and rendered into 

 Roman characters ; each compartment of letters being read first from 

 the lower line, as before explained. 



J&* ^J * t_f jUlj * hjk* A*sr* ^tklwu ( ^j) * ^ybJJo^j.'l 



fir* ^ylli!^ £i\yc * *U,^^& 



Allah Akbar — Nooruddin Muhammed Jehanglr Badshah Ghazi — ya hafiz — Ibn 

 Akbar Badshah Ghazi — ya hqfeez — Ibn Humayun Badshah Ghazi — ya hay — Ibn 

 Babar Badshah Ghazi- — ya kayum — Ibn Umar Shaikh Mirza — ya Muktadir — Ibn 

 Sultan Abu Said — ya nur — Ibn Sultan Muhammed Mirza — ya hadi — Ibn 

 Miran Shah — ya badia — Amir Timur Sahib-kiran — ya kadir — ahad illahi, sahr — 

 yur mah muafik rabiussani, 1014 (A. H.) 



Translation. 



(God is great !) — The light of the religion of Muhammed, the Emperor Jehan- 

 gir, victorious over infidels ; — (Oh! Preserver) — son of the Emperor Akber, con- 

 queror of infidels; — (Oh! Protector) — son of the Emperor Humayun, victori- 

 ous over infidels ; — (Oh ! Giver of Life) — son of the Emperor Baber, victorious, 

 &c. ; — (Oh ! Eternal) — son of Umar Shaikh Mirza ; — (Oh ! Almighty) — son of 

 Sultan Abu Seid ; — (Oh I Light) — son of Sultan Muhammed Mirza ; — (Oh ! 

 Guide) — son of Miranshah ; — (Oh I Wonderful) — son of Amir Timur, Lord of 

 happy destiny ; — (Oh ! Omnipotent) — In the month shahr yur, in the 1st Ilahl, 

 corresponding with Rabiussani A. H. 1014*. 



* The Ilahl year should be 49, for the sera of Akber commenced with his reign, 

 in the 5th Rabi-ussdnl 963 (= 1 March, 1605) ; therefore the word J&l must be a 



