[Preliminary Entry] A history of Gwalior from its origin to 1078/1668. The author Hirāman b. Girdhardās Munšī was a secretary of Mu‘tamad Ḫān who served as qal‘adār of Gwalior under Awrangzeb (r. 1658-1707) from 1071/1661 to 1078/1668. The early part of the work, down to to the reign of Šāh Jahān is borrowed without acknowledgment from an earlier Gwāliyār-nāma by Šayḫ Jalāl Ḥiṣārī [q.v.]. Like the former, Hirāman starts with a legendary account of Gwalior’s foundation by the Kačhwāha Rājpūt Sūraj Sen/Pāl in obedience to the order of a yogi named Gwālīpā and proceeds with a short account of some of his 84 successors. The author then relates how the fortress passed into the hands of a neighboring Hindu dynasty (the Parīhar rajas) who ruled over it for seven generations before being defeated by the troops of Sulṭān Iltutmiš (r. 1210-36). The story continues with the ousting of the Rājpūts to whom Sulṭān ʿAlāʾ al-dīn Ḫaljī (r. 1296-1316) had entrusted the defense of Gwalior by the Tomars, another group of local Rājpūts, who held the fortress until the time of Sulṭān Ibrāhīm Lodī (r. 1517-26). The work concludes with an account of the successive Muslim governors of the fort down to 1078/1668.
C. L.
English translation: Gwāliyār-nāma: or “An Abstract of the History of the Fortress of Gwalior, from the Gwalior Nāmah of Herāman Ibn Kardhar Dās the Munshī” in The Travels of Ibn Batūta, D. Lee ed., London, The Oriental Translation Committee, pp. 131-138.
Rieu, C., 1879, Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts in the British Museum, I, London, p. 303-4.
| Main Persian Title: | Gwāliyār-nāma |
| Author: | Hirāman b. Girdhardās Munšī |
| Alternative Title(s): |
Aḥwāl-i qal‘a-i Gwāliyār
|
| Year / Period of Composition: | 1078/1668 |
| Place: | Gwalior |
| Commissioner: | Mu‘tamad Ḫān |