114 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [April, 



The Council reported in favour of a recommendation made by the 

 Philological Committee, to publish the Muntakhab ul Labab of Khafi 

 Khan and the Maasir-i-Alamgiri in the Persian Series of the Bibliotheca 

 Indica. 



The following note by Major Lees was laid before the meeting. 



" The Badshahnamah and Alamgirnamah having been completed, 

 it becomes necessary to select two other works for the Persian Series ; 

 and these two have already been provisionally accepted by the Philo- 

 logical Committee; they are the Muntakhab ul Labab commonly 

 called Khafi Khan, and Maasir Alamgir. 



" I will take the latter first. It is known that Alamgir issued strict 

 injunctions in the first year of his reign, that no historian should 

 chronicle the events of his reign. Up to this period we have the 

 history of Mahommad Kazim which was compiled by his order. This 

 is styled the Alamgirnamah, and has been published already by the 

 Society. For the latter period of this long reign, we have as yet 

 published nothing ; and the two works which are mentioned, are I think 

 the best available. The Maasir Alamgiri is a small work, and will 

 not occupy more than three and a half to four fasciculi. The author 

 Muhammad Saki Mustaid Khan, held an office at the court ; and 

 had capital opportunities of obtaining good information, besides 

 which, it is supposed that he made memoranda during the lifetime 

 of Aurangzeb which he afterwards employed for his history. The 

 first portion of his history is an abridgment of Muhammad Kazim's 

 history, and it might be omitted ; but there seems to be an objection 

 to the publication of mutilated editions, and many think that it injures 

 the sale. It certainly does in India. 



" But of far greater importance for the history of this and the subse- 

 quent period, is the history of Khafi Khan. This is truly a noble 

 history, and. its publication will add considerable lustre to the 

 Persian Series. It has been used by Elphinstone and other English 

 historians ; but very partially, and its use, so far from having been 

 superseded, has been rendered the more necessary by the frequent 

 references we find to this work in their pages. The book is so well- 

 known, that it is unnecessary to give an extended notice of it. Suf- 

 fice it to say, that it embraces the period from Timur till the 14th 

 year of the reign of Muhammad Shah. But from the times of 



