Delhi Persian 610 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

History of the Afghān or Pathān nation claiming descent from a lost tribe of Israel after the Patriarch Yaʿqūb or Jacob, with particular reference to Afghan ruling dynasties in India until the restoration of Timurid rule under the Timurid (Mughal) Emperor Bābur, written by Khvājah Niʿmat Allāh ibn Khvājah Ḥabīb Allāh al-Hiravī under the patronage of Pīrā Khān Lūdī entitled Khān Jahān (d. 1040/1631), the protégé of Emperor Jahāngīr (d. 1037/1627), but executed under Emperor Shāh Jahān I (d. 1076/1666).

Work on the history commenced in 1018/1609 and completed during the patron’s participation in the second campaign to conquer the Deccan kingdom of Aḥmadnagar, 20 Z̲ī al-Ḥijjah 1020/23 February 1612, at qaṣbah Malkāpūr in the district of Birār.

The work is slightly defective at the beginning, having lost a few leaves from the preface.

The work comprises of a muqaddimah, eight sections termed bāb, and concluding khātimah.

Dated colophon (f. 247v): completed on the morning of Thursday, 15 Rabīʿ al-S̲ānī in RY 37 [probably of Emperor Shāh ʿĀlam], (1210)/29 October 1795.

Distinct nastaʿlīq, occasionally blurred and smudged.

Original covers lost.

Folios rebound in IOL red half leather binding (IOL stamp dated 26 Nov 1974), with leaves remounted in new margins and conserved with tissue overlay throughout. Stains, tears, wormholes.