278 H. Blochmann — History and Geography of Bengal. — No. III. [No. 3, 



fracture, and on that account he used to be styled Tbak i SMI. [The powerless-finger- 

 ed.] 



In a footnote he says that the words <-?+^d)\ in the printed text are not 

 correct and spoil the sense. 



But, firstly, ' shikastagi ' is an abstract noun, and does not mean 

 ' a fracture', but ' weakness, infirmity' ; ' a fracture' would be the noun 

 1 shikast.'* There is no evidence that his finger was actually broken ; for 

 Aibak is not called " Aibak of the broken finger." Secondly, the words az 

 dast, which Major Raverty condemns, are absolutely necessary ; for if left 

 ut,^i^ might refer to his little toe [bjl^aik]. Thirdly, there is no 

 Persian word sMl, meaning ' soft, paralyzed', and an Arabic word shal, 

 meaning ' withered' ; but the Persians use the Arabic shal, or rather shall, 

 1 having a withered hand'. Fourthly, Major Raverty says that ibah in 

 Turkish means ' finger' ; hence ' Ibak' alone cannot be the real name of 

 Qutbuddin, but ' Ibak-i-shil '. Supposing this name to be correct, the izdfat 

 must be cancelled, and the words should be inverted, ' shil-ibah.'f But in 

 all Tmkish dictionaries that I have been able to consult, ibah is stated to 

 mean 'a crest', 'a comb', not 'a finger'; nor is aibak, or ebah, given 

 with the meaning ' finger-cut,' as stated by Major Lees in the Journal of 

 the Royal Asiatic Society, % but in the sense of ' idol', and the Shams-ullu- 

 ghat gives the etymology * £ ^ i .(Ji, i. e., ^jY>, 'Lord of the moon'. 



Mr. Thomas, therefore, is quite correct in looking upon Aibak as the 

 original name, and this is confirmed by mural testimony. It moreover 

 agrees with Aibak's history. As he was captured and sold, when a child, 

 he must have been a heathen ; for Musalmans cannot be sold, least of all 

 to a Qazi who administers justice. Hence Aibak's name must have been a 

 heathenish (Turkish) name; and neither 'Qutbuddin', nor 'I'bak-shil' 

 which contains a rare Arabic word, can possibly have been his name. 



If we could attach the slightest weight to the legend on Qutbuddin 

 Aibak's coinage as given by Major Raverty on p. 525 of his translation.. 

 Major Raverty would be refuted by his own remarks ; for in the legend 

 Qutbuddin is merely called ' Aibak', as on inscriptions and in several 

 places of the Tabaqat. I, too, have a work in my possession on the 

 ' Coins of the Salatin i Hind', a modern demi-cmarto Dihli lithograph, based 

 on Sayyid Ahmad' s A'sdr uccanddid, and I dare say I have discovered 



* ^f' <sd! an< ^ LS^^&^J > ti *'*"^ a was h, an( i ^^a-nXim the state following a Trash, 

 i. e., cleanness ; and many others. 



f This is required by the Persian idiom ; for you say shikastah-pd, ' a man whose 

 foot is broken' ; ranjidah-dil ; shash-angusht ' a man who has six fingers' ; hence at least 

 shal-ibaJc. 



X J. E. A. S., Vol. Ill, 1868, p. 438. He has transferred to aibak the meaning of 

 shall. 



