1870.] Arabic mid Persian Inscriptions in the Hugli District. 291 



As far spelling and grammar are concerned, this inscription is 

 one of the worst I have seen. Generally speaking, the Arabic of 

 none of these inscriptions is classic. One curions mistake occurs 

 on almost every Bengal inscription — the word^Jl abu is not changed 

 to ^jM abi, though in the genitive case. Thus in Inscriptions III., 

 VII, IX, X. ; and the word jj^o ' known as,' is not followed by the 

 preposition bi, as it ought to be ; vide Insc. I and X. In the above 

 lines we have Bildobld for Ldobld, and fi-Vahd, with the article, 

 instead oifi 'ahd ! The date is so extraordinarily expressed, that I 

 at first doubted its correctness (Proceedings, 1870, p. 189). But the 

 difficulty may be got over by supplying &~J|, or &x*J\ t>: yo } between 

 the ic dw and sittin. 



The inscription lies at present on the ground in the enclosure 

 where Zafar Khan is buried, between the entrance and the tomb. 

 The surface of the stone is about a square yard, and its thickness 

 about a foot. On turning it round, I found that the reverse con- 

 tained numerous serpents and dragons, cut in relief, but partly 

 mutilated. The stone is of the same basalt as the buildings at 

 Tribeni. 



Regarding the king and the date mentioned in the inscription, 

 vide below No. X. 



B. Mulla' Simla', near Biddibdti. 



Biddibsiti is the station on the E. I. Railway after Serampore. 

 About six miles west of it lies a village of the name of Mulla Simla, 

 called on the maps Ilolnah Simla, where there is an old, low mosque, 

 and the dargdh, or tomb, of ' Hazrat Muhammad Kabir pahib,' 

 generally called ShahAnwar (jiyl)Quli of Aleppo. The 

 Khddims attached to the Dargah know nothing about the saint, nor 

 did they know the meaning of the inscription. They say that the 

 mosque was built after Shah Anwar's death by some ambassador, who 

 endowed it with lands, a copy of the sanad being preserved in the 

 court at Hugli. They also point out two stones close to the tomb, 

 where the saint used to kneel down (dozdnii) at the time of shaving, 

 and the stones u still shew impressions of his knees." The saint 

 is said to have been fond of looking-glasses ; hence pilgrims bring 

 often with them small looking-glasses, which are placed on the tomb. 



