Beyond The Chronicles ‘Recovering’ Histories Of The Institutions And Families [Persian Documents In India, 17th-19th C.]

Book Code: 1111018491696

Saiyid Zaheer Husain Jafri

ABOUT THE BOOK

The chapters are based on a study of the official archival records from the period of Mughal rulers and Nawab-Wazirs and the correspondences of the Mughal officials with the Portuguese authorities at Goa during1700-1701. The chapters explore the facets of the administration at the local level and of the families enjoying hereditary village rights like the office of the Chaudhary, Muqaddam and Qanungo. They explore the tripartite relationship of the land grantees with the Mughal royalty and bureaucracy.

Few chapters specifically deal with the long term relationship of the eccleciastical institutions with the State and cover their changing fortunes under the different regimes. Moreover, the official documents from the Mughal and Nawabi times from the Sufi family of Salon are brought out for the first time including the Persian texts especially the documents from the Nawabi period that provide new interesting facts about the policies of resumption of A'imma grants pushed forward by the Nawab Wazirs.

Thus, the book brings to focus the family papers spanning for a period of more than two centuries from the family of the Qazis of sarkar Sambhal (Delhi); the official papers of the family of the Qanungo from sarkar Chanderi (Malwa) and sarkar Khairabad (Awadh); and the papers from the family of the herediatary Chaudhary from Sarkar Kooch Bihar (Bengal). By exploring the rich collection of the Persian archival data at the National Archives of India, New Delhi and at other repositories, the book is an important complement [and corrective] to much of the current historical writings on the subject.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Saiyid Zaheer Husain Jafri, Professor, Department of History, University of Delhi, is known for his researches on numerous aspects of pre-colonial Awadh and Upper Gangetic Valley. His works include Delhi and Awadh during 1857: Studies, Images, and Documents (2020), Awadh: From Mughal to Colonial Rule, (1998; revd. edn., 2016) and co-edited, The Great Uprising of 1857; Studies, Commentaries and Documents (2009), and The Islamic Path: Sufism, Politics and Society in India (2006). He has also compiled, for the Indian History Congress, Recording the Progress of Indian History: Symposia Papers of the Indian History Congress 1992-2010 (2012) and History, Ideas and Society: S.C. Mishra Memorial Lectures in History (2014). His other works include Al Ghars al Wahdi fi Rasa'il al Shaikh Naim bin al Mahdi in Arabic (2016), Masnad-e Faqr-o Irshad: Tareekh Khanwada-e Karimia Naeemia Salon (2003), Ahd- e Wusta ka Hindustan: Tasawwuf, Adab Aur Muslim Thaqafat (2008) in Urdu and Awadh ki ek Sufi Sanstha: Khanqah –e karimia Salon (2016) in Hindi.

His present research interests encompass documenting the histories of Sufi institutions, the Great Uprising of 1857, transmission of knowledge and colonial impact on the Indo-Muslim institutions of learning and waqf.
Front Cover: The facsimile of the farman of Emperor Aurangzeb issued in AD 1676 to Shaikh Pir Muhammad of Salon conferring on him the land grant as ‘an offering for his servants’ [dar wajh-i nazr-i khadiman....Shaikh.....].

The author of this work is in the 10th line of descent from the great Shaikh.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements ......................................................................... 9

Previous Publication Details ....................................................... 11

Documents and Map ..................................................................... 13

A Testimonial of Professor Irfan Habib ........................................ 17

Introduction ................................................................................. 19

Mughal Officials and the Local Administration

1. A Farman of Akbar (1558) from the Period of Regency........................ 49

2. Theologians and Revenue Grantees in Sarkar Sambhal: Facets of Local Administration under Akbar .......................55

3. Administration of Jagirs in Awadh during the 17th Century ........................................................................71

4. Mughal Relations with Portuguese Administration in Goa, 1700-1701: Evidence of Persian Records in Lisbon Archives ...........................................81

Hereditary Village Officials and State

5. The Sarkar Qanungo: 16th-17th Century Documents ...... 97

6. Side Lights on Administrative Structure and Agrarian Relations in Awadh: A Study of Laharpur Documents (16th-18th Century) ...............................................111

7. Rural Bureaucracy in Cooch Bihar and Assam under the Mughals: Archival Evidence .............................. 123
Revenue Grants: Family of Grantees and State

8. Tension and Conflicts in the Agrarian Society of Awadh: A Study of Revenue Grantees ........................................... 145

9. Two Madad-i Ma‘àsh Farmans of Aurangzeb from Awadh .......................................................................159

10. Landed Properties of a Sufi Establishment-Calendar of 17th and 18th Century Documents from Salon in Awadh.......................173

Appendix ..........................................................................195

Index .................................................................................207