1895.] Sayyad Ilahl Ba khsh al Husctirii Av grBzahddl. 197 
1 3 jr* vf 
^IxJY iS^JJ t Jj*** 
•» 
“ The water is salt, and the land is altogether salt (shor). 
And salt (Shore) is the ruler of Calcutta.” 
In the account of Murshidabad (page 44) the tomb of Shah MartazI 
Anand, now washed away by the Bhaglrathi, is noticed, and we are told the 
interesting fact, that the wife of this Muhammadan saint was a Brahman’s 
daughter, and named Anandl. She and their son were buried beside him, 
and probably her name forms part of the word Mortousahanadi, which is 
given as a stage in the itinerary from Bengal to Lhassa, to be found in 
Tieffenthaler, Yol. Ill, p. 206. We are also told that the saint Shah MartazI 
was a contemporary of Shah Nkmatu-llah Matwali Flrdzpiirl who was 
the spiritual guide of Sultan Shuja‘ and of whom the author gives a 
biography at page 204, in his account of Gaur. Shah Nihnat was a native of 
Karnaul, but died at Flrozpur, a quarter of Gaur, in 1080 A.H., or 1669 A.D. 
In the account of Cuttack, the dates of the erection of some buildings 
are given (pp. 47-49), but they are probably well known. Ilahl Bakhsh also 
mentions, what I do not remember to have read elsewhere, that Kala Pahar, 
the famous general of Sulaiman KararanI, was a Brahman’s son and became 
a Muhammadan owing to a princess of Gaur having fallen in love with him 
and having married him. That he was originally a Hindu appears probable 
from Mr. Blochmann’s statement, that his real name was Raju. 2 
The account of Maldah begins as I have stated, at page 111. This is the 
really valuable part of the book. The author had a great deal of local 
knowledge and he gives some inscriptions and many particulars which are 
not to be found in Ravenshaw’s Gaur, or in Cunningham’s Archasolo- 
gical Reports, or anywhere else, so far as I know. The praise which 
Major Stewart has bestowed on Ghulam Husain, viz., that he took consider¬ 
able pains to ascertain the dates of the inscriptions on buildings, is still 
more deserved by Ilahl Bakhsh. He must have worked very hard, and paid 
many visits to Gaur and Pandua, for he not only gives numerous inscrip¬ 
tions, but he also states the dimensions of the various buildings, and such 
traditions as he could collect about their origin, &c. No doubt it was some 
1 Ilahi Bakhsh has given only two lines. Some other lines from the same poet 
(probably Ghalib), who wrote a skit on Calcutta Society, may be here quoted : — 
^\jj jl 
•• 
^A A-*A (^1 * 3 3J^3 i - ; 
•• 
(Translation). 
Calcutta was built on a portion of the region of hell. The gifts of Calcutta are 
itch, ringworm, dysentery and diarrhcea, and its gentry consist of butlers and 
butchers. 
2 J. A. S. B., Yol. xliv., p- 303. 
