194 
H. Beveridge — The Khursh.td Jahdn Numa of 
[No. 3, 
The Khurshtd Jahdn Numa of Sayyad Ildhl Bakhsh al Husaini 
Angrezabadl.—By H. Beveridge, I.C.S. (Retired). 
(Read, December 1894.) 
Introduction. 
On the 20tli May, 1889, Mr. Pargiter reported to oar Society that 
a Muhammadan schoolmaster, in the district of Maldah, liad written an 
historical work in Persian, and suggested that it should be examined in 
order to ascertain if it was worth publishing. In consequence of this, 
the author, whose name was Ilahl Bakhsh, was invited to send his MS. 
for inspection; but the old man was so attached to his book, that he 
refused to let it out of his sight, and as he could not afford to come 
with it to Calcutta, nothing further was done at that time. Subse¬ 
quently I visited Maldah, and had one or two interviews with the author. 
I found that the book was a History of the World from the days of 
Adam, and that in all probability it was not worth publishing in its 
entirety. I thought, however, that the account of Maldah, especially 
that of the ruins of Graur and Pandua, might be valuable, and sug¬ 
gested to the author that he should extract this portion of his work, 
and submit it for examination. He accepted this proposal, and after 
some difficulty in finding an amanuensis, for Ilahl Bakhsh was too old 
and feeble to make the extract himself, the portion of the work which 
related to Bengal was copied out and sent to me in England, in 1891. 
I had not then time or knowledge enough to examine the extract fully, 
and so I sent it out to Calcutta to our Society, with some remarks. 
There it was received and partially analysed by Maulvi Abdul Hak 
Abid, 2nd Master of the Calcutta Madrasah, and eventually it was 
at my request, returned to me this year. I have now read the whole of 
it, and proceed to give an analysis of it, and a translation of such 
portions as appear interesting. 1 I feel that the book has been left to 
1 I desire to acknowledge my obligations to M. ‘Abdu-s-salam, M.A., Deputy 
Magistrate, for bis kindness in correcting my translation and in explaining the Arabic 
inscriptions, &c. 
