1864.] 



Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 



465 



" The present object of the Society in regard to the Persian series 

 of the Bibliotheca Indica, is to aid in working out an idea, which 

 originated with the late distinguished Sir Henry Elliot, viz., to place in 

 the hands of the future historian, the best original materials for com- 

 piling a history of this country, and the plan proposed for accomplishing 

 our task is, to publish texts of the most trustworthy authors, giving 

 the preference, when possible, to writers contemporary with the events 

 their histories chronicle. 



" I. In this view, we have already published that portion of Abul- 

 Fazl Baihahi's Tarihli-i al-i Sohoktikm which contains the biography 

 of Mas'iid, the son of Mahmud* of Grhaznin ; and it should be our 

 endeavour, I think, to complete this period from other sources ; because 

 the kings of Ghaznin have exercised so material an influence on the 

 progress of events in India, and the affairs of the two countries are so 

 interwoven, that any history of India, without an account of the rise, 

 progress, and decline of the Grhaznin dynasty, would certainly be in- 

 complete. 



" I am not prepared to say that materials at present exist and are 

 available for satisfactorily fulfilling this portion of our task, which 

 embraces a period of about 200 years, commencing with Nasir ol-din 

 Soboktikm, and ending with Khosraw Malik, who died A. H. 583. 



" II. The succeeding or second period of the History of India, 

 treats of the Afghan dynasties, including the Grhori, the Slave, the 

 Khilji and Lodhi kings. It commenced with M'oiz ol-din Mohammad 

 Ibn i Sam Grhori, and concludes with Soltan Ibrahim Ibn i Sakandar 

 Lodhi ; or, including the interruption caused by the invasions of the 

 Chaghattais, may be carried down to Mohammad Adil, in the year 

 A. H. 963 ; in which year also Homaytin died. 



" In furtherance of our object in regard to this period, we have al- 

 ready published the history of Zia ol-din Barni, which chronicles the 

 reigns of eight kings of Delhi, from Grhaias ol-din Balban, to the 6th 

 year of the reign of Piroz Shah, a period of 92 years. Zia ol-din took 

 up his narrative of events from the point where the author of the 

 Tdbaqdt i Ndsiree left off. 



* The poet Onsarf, a contemporary of Mahmud and the great Firdawsi 

 wrote Mahmud' s life, and copies of the book were extant in India a century ago' 

 Whether a copy exists anywhere now or not, I do not know. It would be most 

 valuable for the history of this period. 



3 o 



