JOURNAL 
OF THE 
ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL, 
« 
Part I.—HISTORY, LITERATURE, &e. 
Extra No.—1904. 
Some Notes on the Bahmanz Dynasty. 1 —By Major W. Haig. 
[Read 2nd November, 1904.] 
(i) The Origin of The Cognomen Bahman!. 
The legends commonly related by historians regarding the origin 
of the cognomen Bahmanz connect it with the narpe of the priestly 
caste of the Hindus. The story preferred by Firishta and repeated by 
Khafl Khan in the third volume of the Muntahhabu-l-Lubab is that 
Hasan, the founder of the dynasty, was, in his youth, a servant of 
Kanku, Grangu, or Gangu, a Brahman astrologer who enjoyed the confi¬ 
dence of Muhammad-bin Tughlaq before he ascended the throne. One 
day, as he was ploughing some waste land for the Brahman, his plough 
stuck fast. On digging it out of the ground he found that it had 
1 In tins article the editions referred to are the following:— 
Firishta—Bombay edition of 1832. 
Badaoni— Bibliotheca Indica edition. . ' • 
Burhdn-i-Ma’dsir and Tazlciratu-I-Muluk —translation by Major J, S. King, 
Lnzac & Co., 1900. 
Muntakkabu-l-Lubdb, Vol. III.—MS. in writer’s possession, 
'Jt'abaqat-i-Akbari —Newal Kishor Press edition, 
J. I. 1 
