• Source: Yadgar-i-Bahaduri

Yadgar-i-Bahaduri (lit. 'The Memorial of Bahadur') is an Indian Persian language encyclopaedia of history, geography, science and art. Edited by Bahadur Singh, it was completed in 1834 CE in Lucknow.




Authorship and date


Bahadur Singh was originally a resident of Gondiwal pargana in Shahjahanabad (otherwise known as Old Delhi). He was the son of Hazari Mal, who belonged to Bhatnagar clan of the Kayastha caste. He mentions that he was forced to leave Shahjahanbad due to circumstances, and arrived in Lucknow in 1817, under "great distress". At that time, Lucknow was ruled by Ghazi-ud-Din Haidar. At Lucknow, Bahadur Singh read several Hindi and Persian language works on history. He was inspired to write a connected history based on all these works. He finished the work on the first day of Ramazan in 1249 A.H. (12 January 1834 CE).
Bahadur Singh states that he has only copied content from other books, and organized it into an encyclopedia. But according to Charles Rieu he evidently added original content, especially on the later history of Awadh and Bengal. The detailed account of the Nawabs of Awadh, their families and their ministers is unique to this encyclopedia among other contemporary works.
For some reason, Bahadur Singh strongly resented Kashmiri people. In his book, Singh describes rape and murder of Kashmiri Hindus by Muslims over the centuries. He states that under Aurangzeb's rule, the total weight of sacred threads collected from Hindus forcibly converted to Islam was 10 seers. He further states that many of these later converted back to Hinduism. Singh's account does not aim to present Muslims as savages, rather to present Kashmiris as a group more degraded than mlecchas because of their illegitimacy. He urges other people to not only avoid Kashmiris, but destroy them. According to Christopher Bayly, as a lowly clerk, he was envious of the success of his Kashmiri rivals. Henry Miers Elliot suggests that he might have lost a job to a Kashmiri.




Contents


The encyclopedia is divided into 4 books (Sanihah), which are further sub-divided into chapters (dastan).




= Book I

=
Information on prophets from Adam to Muhammad.




= Book II

=




= Book III

=
Philosophers of the world
Greece and Europe (including Columbus and Copernicus)
Persia and India
Others (early Muslims and modern physicians)
Companions of Muhammad
Their successors (Tabi‘un and Tubba')
Shaikhs of four types
Sunnis
Shias
Sufis of Iran (mainly copied from Nafahat-ul-Uns)
Hindu theosophists, devotees and their sects
Ulama
Poets and miscellaneous
Celebrated Muslims not included in earlier sections




= Book IV

=
This book begins with an introduction (mukaddimah) of the Old World and the New World.

The seven climes
Countries and cities of the world:
Muslim world
Europe
India, including separate accounts of the Mughal subahs (provinces)
Islands of the world (including England)
Americas
The introduction is followed by 8 chapters (fasls):

Kings of Iran
Kings of the Arabs
Greek and Romans [sic]
Seljuks of Rum
Osmanlis
Rulers of Egypt and Sham (Syria)
Pharaohs and kings of Israel
Ikhshidis
Seljuks and Atabaks of Syria
Ayyubis and Mamluks
Maghreb
Seventeen dynasties, from the Umayyads of Spain to the Sharifs of Pez
Sultans of Turkistan
Kings of Europe
Creeds, manners, and institutions of the Europeans
including the British in India, their army, administration of justice, revenue, learning
Rulers of Hindustan: its different provinces and inhabitants




Translations


Munshi Sadasukh Lal partially translated Yadgar-i-Bahaduri into English. This translation appears in Henry Miers Elliot's History of India.




References

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Daftar pustaka karya Shibli Nomani
• Yadgar-i-Bahaduri
• Prayag Kumbh Mela
• Kumbh Mela
• Bahadur Singh
• List of 19th-century encyclopedias
• The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians