er ete) DEVELOPMENT OF isi LTERATURR 4 collection was noLMUCH I eitCulation, which could hey Sepected in view of is conten, 'ave been normally "ihe Munsha’atis divided into brief into and araber long concluding section (kia apptionally not considered t0 fall under the hapters alongwith English translation of eduction, eight chapters (a6) ima) dealing with issues con- omain of insha. A list ofthe the headings is given below Chapter 1 + The origin of the art of writing IL: The drafting of imperial farmans. IM: The composition of invocations and IV: The drafting of petitions Sent tees. Vs Letters exch: anged among spiritual atte receptors and their disciples, parents, teachers, brothers, sisters and child en, VI: Letters of congratulation and condolence, 7 VIL: Legal documents YIM: The basic precepts of Islam. Theconcluding remarks (A/drima) constitute almostaseparatechapter, containing a description of matters of religious interest in day to day life Inclusion of a chapter of this nature was the innovation of Abu’l Qasim Namakim, outside the conventional framework of inshd. Itis to be noted that the arrangements set in this chapter are in accordance with the Hanafi School of Sunni jurisprudence. - Each of the eight babs and the Ahdvima are further divided into several sections ( fas!) each in turn comprising a number of documents belonging to a particular category. For example, Chapter I] which relates to the drafting of imperial farmans and manshiir, is divided into fifteen sections 4s detailed below: Section 1: Imperial mansiirs issued to the great nobles. Tl: The conciliatory farmans addressed to the nobles M1: The farmans issued on the receipt of petitions IV: The fath-namas (letters of victory). vi: The jarmans assigning administrative charges tothe nobles. VI: The farmans conferring the post of wikalat and wizdrar VII: The farmans conferring the post of sadarat, VIL: ‘The farmans conferring the pos of ihrafi dina TX ‘The farmans conferring the post of isi and bak ‘asikir. . X 5 The farmai s conferring the post ofrisailat and insha{SHTIYAQ AHMAD ZILLL «The farnans cnfertng the pos oF f0UjdGrF and yy a » he farmans conferring the post of qasi xil “The farmains conferring the post of nagib, haiku Istan xi and mudarris a XIV + Thefarminsconferring the post of Shab, Sjiadanastg and tauliyat (trusteeship). XV. ¢ Thefarmans of appointmenttothe posts of mir bay mp. i barr and others ‘A glance at the contents of the book is enough to reveal the variety ang richness ofthe material contained in the Munsha’ar. It may, however, be ted that all te different kinds of documents included in this collection Gonot belong to Akbar’s reign or even to Hindustan, Several are from the ‘Timurid chancelleries of Central Asia and Khorasan. Some official documents included in this collection were apparently received by the compiler while he held military and civil assignments in different places particularly in the Punjab and Sind. It also seems that he had access to the documents preserved in the Diwan-i Risdlat at Agra, The copies of documents like Shah Tahmisp’s letters to Akbar" and his mother, Hamida Bano Begam,!*!*Abdullah Khan Uzbek ’s letter to Akbar," ‘Akbar’ letter to Shah Tahmasp,' and appointment orders of the highest officers in the state could be obtained only there. All this give the Munsha’at a width and a range which makes it a unique source of information, It contains, among other things, a considerable number of orders of appointment in various branches of administration, which provides specific and detailed information about the function and datiesof state offices at different levels from wizarat-i mutlag' to qaush begi® and from sadr'"° to the mutawall' of a dargah and mudarris® of 4 madrasa. The value of this collection as a source of historical evidence can be judged from yet another angle, For the later years of Akbar’s reign there is a profusion of records of great diversity. But for the early period, there "© Selected Letiers and Documents from Munsha’'at-t cir 4-18. “ Teas. fr sha’at-i Namakin, pp. 1 ‘STi. Pp. 108-11. ‘N lbid. pp. 110-14, “Thi. pp. $5.8 RETbis. pp. 99-102, Tid. pp. 58-62. MUTbid., pp. 129-32, Tid. pp. 93-5,Sy DEVELOPMENT OF psy UTeRaTuR 343 «noticeable paucity of records and doom i 10m Which contains many nly collection wl y ur abbuc’s sign. These include otek pied inthe Punjab at th ovr 15! ARs famnanpoinineNtnar in WaziriKulini sean Akbar sleter to Miz Muhammad Hain on theo of Shah Abu’) Me‘ fight to Kabol in 1564:"' kbar’ ler aoe Tatumasp,”2 ‘Shih Tahmasp’s letter to Hamida Bano Begam"> and Akt, Saf ued in 1557 On the occasion of the surtender Sar." fath-ndia issued in 1567 afterthe defeat of Khin-i Zama ATOM Kis fath-ndma issued in 1568 afier the con Hest of Chittor. Khan’ and the farh 4 Thesis nificance ofthese documents in the reconstruction othe histo of Auber early ears can hardly be emphasized. It may also be mented that fanaa as acateory of inch document isenly miss pe the other collections of the period insoter significant feature ofthe book les inthe fact that it contains aida large number of documents and leters ofthe Timurde sa Central Asia. As already noted, the compiler belonged to Secepubed say of Khorasan under the Timurids andi may parily ese Khorasan and Central Asia. i mber of documents relating to r mee Rene a wide range and include sppinten odes fh inasand i Ani of theirhistorical significance may be fomedton st wintey ich farm of Ulu Beg (4875) Scie ics Alduddin ‘Alam Shah (1485- > Saiyid ruler of Delhi, iota cnt te govemment of Deland ils opeiearey S mension indinsrelations with Cena Asia daring ae cimension to India’s rela So nine ero Benthcenury. These documents, part frombelinginhereemnsstn et the political history ofthe Timur, also provide wef me + coiigeetive study of carly Timurid institutions Mughal rule. nents, Mung documents, fro among others, Akbe '© occasion of Baira haat is probably mn the early period x's farmiin 10 the ith-ndima of Mankot by Sikandar “Bid, pp. 20-2. bid, pp. 35-8 "Did, pp. 6-8. bid. pp. 110-14. "Ibid, pp. 147-9, "Ibid, pp. 14-18. "Ibid, pp. 41-2. Ibid, pp. 38-9 . fl "Ibid, pp. 27-38, Library, London. MS Munsha‘a-i Namakin, India OFC