1875.] H. Bloehmann — History and Geography of Bengal. — No. III. 277 



(6) That Muhammad Bakhtyar, after the taking of Nadiya, selects 

 Lakhnauti as his capital,* brings " the diffei*ent parts of that territory 

 under his sway, and institutes therein, in every part, the reading of the 

 khatbah, and the coining of money ; and through his praiseworthy endea- 

 vours, and those of his Amirs, masjkls, colleges, and monasteries, were 

 founded hi those parts." (Raverty, p. 559.) 



(7) After some years had passed away, Muhammad Bakhtyar invades 

 Tibhat. 



(8) He returns discomfited, and is assassinated, immediately on his 

 return, at Deokot in 602 H. 



The invasion of Tibbat may have taken place in 601, as Major Raverty 

 says ; but as Muhammad Bakhtyar had before been/or some years engaged 

 in settling his Lakhnauti territory, it is clear that Nadiya must have been 

 taken about 594 or 595, i. <?., in A. D. 1198 or 1199. Thus, on the autho- 

 rity of the Tabaqat — the only authority which we possess for this period — , 

 the year (599) chosen by Mr. Thomas for the conquest of Bengal is a little 

 too late ; but the year 590, fixed upon by Major Raverty, is impossible as 

 being too early. 



The conquest of Mahoba, by Qutb and the arrival of Muhammad Bakht- 

 yar' s presents, which according to the Taj ul-Maasir and Flrishtah took 

 place in 599, involve therefore no contradiction as far as chronology is 

 concerned. 



We may now safely assume that the conquest of Bengal by Muhammad 

 Bakhtyar took place about 1198-9 A. D. 



Before proceeding to the next point, I have to make a remark on the 

 name of Qutbuddin Aibak, of the Paralyzed Hand, though I had thought 

 that Mr. Thomas had set this question at rest. The text of the Bibl. Indica 

 Edition of the Tabaqat (p. 138) — and Major Raverty 's MSS. have clearly 

 the same words — has the following — 



If the editor had given more diacritical marks, he would have written 

 *^i~&£> or still better { J&i.~£&> shikastagie, with the yd i tankir, as in 

 ^JU-.^ jamdle. The literal translation is — 



Outwardly he had no comeliness, and his little finger [of one hand] possessed an 

 infirmity. For this reason they called him Aibak i shall [Aibak with the paralyzed 

 hand]. 



Major Raverty translates — 

 He possessed no outward comeliness ; and the little finger [of one hand ?] had a 



* It is a curious coincidence that Lakhnauti near the Jamuna, S. \V. of Saharau- 

 piir was a Turkman colony. Vide my A'in text, Vol, I, p. 525, and Atkinson's 

 N. W. P. Gazetteer, II, 298. 



