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Ni'mat Allah al-Harawi (also known as Niamatullah;[1] fl. 1613 – c. 1630) was a chronicler at the court of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir where he compiled a Persian history of the Afghans, the Makhzan-i-Afghani.[2] He was a waqia navis (news-writer) in the Mughal service, and belonged to an urban Iranian family hailing from Herat.[3]
The original material for the book was provided by Haibat Khan of Samana, under whose patronage Nimatullah made the compilation c. 1612.[4] The original material was later published separately as Tarikh-i-Khan Jahani Makhzan-i-Afghani.[5] The first part of both books are the same, but the later part contains an additional history of Jehan Lodhi.
The material is part fictional, part historical. The book is a major source of tradition relating to the origins of the Pashtun. It also covers Pashtun rulers in Bengal, contemporary events, and Pashtun hagiography. Nimat Allah divided Afghans into three major lineages: Bettani, Sarbani and Gharghusht. He did not mention any tribe from the modern day's fourth confederacy of Pashtuns, the Karlani. It may be either because Karlani tribes were not Pashtunized yet during the 17th century or he was not aware of them.[6]
English translations
editA translation appeared in 1836 by Bernhard Dorn which had two parts.[7] There is another partial translation from 1958, Nirodbhusan Roy titled, Niamatullah's History of the Afghans. A translation in two volumes by S. M. Imamuddin appeared in Dhaka, 1960–62.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Other variants include: Allah Ni'mat, Khawaja Nimatullah of Herat, Khwaja Niamatullah, Khwaja Nimat Allah Harawi, Khwaja Nimatullah Heravi, Khwajah Ni'mat Allah ibn Khwajah Habib Allah of Herat, Khwajah Nimat Ullah Harawi, Naimatulla, Naimatullah, Ne´mat-Allâh Heravî, Neamat-Allah Heravi, Neamet Ullah, Nematullah Harvi, Ni'matullah, Niamat Ullah, Niamatullah Heravi, Niamatullah Hirvi, Nimat Allaah, Nimatullah, Ni'matullah al-Harawi.
- ^ Maghzan means storehouse.
- ^ Green, Nile (2012-03-08). "Tribe, Diaspora, and Sainthood in Indo-Afghan History". Making Space: Sufis and Settlers in Early Modern India. Oxford University Press. p. 12. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198077961.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-807796-1.
- ^ B. Dorn, History of the Afghans, translation of Makhzan-e Afghani, pp ix.
- ^ C. Stewart, A Descriptive catalogue of the oriental library of late Tipoo Sultan of Mysore, pp 18
- ^ Brill, E. J. (1993). E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam: 1913-1936. A - Bābā Beg. BRILL. p. 153. ISBN 978-90-04-09787-2.
- ^ Oriental Translation Fund, London