Page:History of Aurangzib (based on original sources) Vol 1.djvu/22

xviii He lived near enough to the Imperial Court to learn facts accurately, but was not so closely connected with it as to be a lying flatterer. The other is the Fatuhat-i-Alamgiri of Isar-das Nagar, who long served the Shaikh-ul-Islam and lived at Pattan in Guzerat. This work is of great importance for Rajput affairs.

Besides these general histories of the reign, we have monographs in Persian touching only particular episodes or personages of the time,—such as Niamat Khan Ali's account of the siege of Golkonda, Shihabuddin Talish's diary of the conquest of Kuch Bihar, Assam, and Chatgaon, the memoirs of Iradat Khan and of some other servants of Bahadur Shah I. which start from the closing years of Aurangzib's reign. Of the two Deccani kingdoms of Golkonda and Bijapur we have separate histories, which throw light on the dealings of the Mughal Government with them. On the Maratha side there are chronicles (Bakhars) of Shivaji, Sambhaji, and Rajah Ram written by their officers and others. Mr. Rajwade is said to have hunted out a number of historical letters of the 17th century in Marathi for inclusion in the Aitihasik Lekh Sangraha series.

The Royal Asiatic Society of London has a box of Court bulletins of Aurangzib's time