1869.] Badabni and his Works. 117 



ni. 



A Biography of 'Abdul Qddir. 



'Abdul Qadir was born on the 17th Rabi'ussani 947 (21st August, 

 1510) at Todah,* in the Sirkar of Rantanbhrir, which belonged to the 

 piibah of Ajmir. Regarding the year of his birth, he says in his 

 history — " In this year Sher Shah gave the order to build from Ban- 

 gal to Rahtas in the Panjab (a distance of four months' travel), and 

 from Agrah to Mandu in Malwah, at every Jcos, a house for travellers 

 with a Masjid and a well. He appointed for each sardi a Muazzin 

 and an Imam (leader of the prayer), and even a Mubammadan and a 

 Hindu,f who were to provide travellers with water and the indigent with 

 food. He also planted, on both sides of the road, trees which formed 

 an avenue in the shade of which people could travel. Even nowa- 

 days, though fifty-two years later, the traces of this road are in many 

 places visible. During the reign of this good king, justice was every- 

 where so efficiently provided for, that an old man, for example, might 

 have anywhere lain down to sleep with a golden plate in his hand, and 

 yet no thief would have taken it away from him. Thanks be to 

 Grod that during the reign of such a king the author of this history 

 was born ! I might apply to my case the words which our blessed 

 prophet said of the time of his birth, ' I was born during the reign 

 of the just king [Naushirwan the Just]." 



We know nothing of the circumstances of 'Abdul Qadir's father, 

 whose name was Mulilk Shah ibn i Hamid.J The family appears to 

 have chiefly lived at Basawar, or Bhasawar, a town of the district of 

 Bayanah on the route from Agrah to Ajmir, and generally spelt on 

 our maps Bissoiuer or Busoioar. There 'Abdul Qadir spent the first 

 years of his life (II, 236). His maternal grandfather, Makhdum 

 Ashraf, took much interest in him, and taught him the elements of 

 Arabic Grammar (II, 63). It appears that Makhdum Ashraf held a 

 military post ; for 'Abdul Qadir states that, in 955, his grandfather 

 was with the contingent of Farid Tdrin, a commander of Five thousand, 

 at Bajwarah, near Bayanah (piibah of Agrah). About that time, his 



* I, p. 363; II, p. 236. 



t Hindus will not drink water from the leather'bags of the water-carriers. 



X 11, p. 252, Sir H. Elliot in one of his extracts from Badaoni calls 'Abdul 

 Qadir's grandfather .Tali, according to the reading of the MS. belonging to the 

 Society which he used. All other MSS. have Tldmid. 



