1136 Asiatic Society. [No. 107. 



and one of the most valuable works of the sages of Hind, (like the Kitdb i Shaffa, by 

 Shaikh al-rasi.) It contains an account of all their various sects, and the history of 

 their ancient kings, also the life of Shakmuni, who according to their opinion, and the 

 testimony of Kamakshari al Bakhshi al Kashmiri, is the guiding prophet of the people 

 of Hind and Khata. To this work he gave the name of Patanjal, a copy of which he 

 carried away with him. 



"Since the history and actions of Shakmuni, who was once the prophet of the people 

 of India, have, through the lapse of time, sunk into oblivion, I, the meanest of God's 

 servants, Abd ul Kadir, resident of Devi, of Lakhnau, have transcribed the following 

 account of him from the Jdmi al Tawdrikh. And, at the request of the high in 

 dignity and rank, Major Herbert, I have made a translation of it into easy Persian, 

 In certain parts the original was defective and dbliterated ; these defects, with their 

 proposed corrections, I have marked on the margin. Deo soli scientia." 



* I have nothing further to add respecting this rare and ancient work, except to 

 express my regret that it has not been deposited in the Society's library, where it 

 might be accessible to Oriental scholars. There may be other valuable MSS. in 

 Colonel Baillie's collection, which I have not had time to examine ; and I shall only 

 mention here, a very fine copy of the MaM hharata. It is beautifully written on one 

 roll of fine paper, laid on cotton or silk, and abounds with well-executed paintings, 

 representing most of the complicated events described in Hindu mythology. I believe 

 it contains the whole work, as the writing is extremely small, though very distinct. 

 The roll is about 220 feet long, and I should say from four to five inches wide within 

 the margin, which is ornamented and illumined throughout.' 



I am, Sir, yours faithfully, 

 8, Alfred-street, Bedford-square, D. Forbes.' 



lUh October, 1839. 



"P.S. In the preceding letter I have alluded to a Persian MS. in the Society's 

 possession, entitled a Catalogue of the Library of Farzdda Kuli. This work is 

 frequently quoted by my friend M. Garcin de Tassy, in his Histoire de la Litter ature 

 Hindoui et Hindoustani, lately published; for which reason I beg leave to subjoin 

 the following extract from an account of it, which was read at one of the meetings 

 of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1838. 



'"The accompanying MS. is a catalogue of books in the Arabic, Persian, and 

 Hindu languages, amounting, on a rough estimate, to upwards of 2,000 volumes. 

 It is fairly written and well arranged, the works being classed under the different 

 subjects of which they treat, as may be seen by referring to the second blank leaf at 

 the beginning, where I have given an abstract of the contents. 



" ' Of the works here mentioned, many, I believe, are unknown, even by name in 

 this country ; but there is one in particular which merits attention, as it has been 

 long given up for lost by the Orientalists of Europe. I allude to the original Arabic 

 text of the Chronicles of Tabari, which is here described (p. 10) as follows : — * The 

 Chronicles of Tabaii — the Author's Autograph, with seventy portraits of prophets, his 

 Eminence the Apostle, and various princes, in the Arabic Language — RARE.' 



*' Here then it is evident that the original of Tabari existed (in all probability) in 

 India within the last forty or fifty years. Unfortunately there is no date, nor name of 

 person or place mentioned in the book, from which we could discover of whose library 



