Page:History of India Vol 6.djvu/325

 APPENDIX ALLUSIONS BY MOHAMMEDAN HISTOEIANS TO EUEOPEANS IN INDIA As an appendix to this volume, in which the history of the early strug- gle by Europeans to gain a foothold in India is recounted in such detail, it may not be out of place to present some allusions to these for- eigners (Firingis) by Mohammedan writers contemporary with the events described. The selections have been made from various parts of Elliot's " History of India as told by its own Historians," and, although not exhaustive, they are nevertheless in a way representative of the native view and may perhaps interest the reader as much as they did me in collecting and editing them. A. v. w. j. THE FORT OF SURAT ERECTED BY AKBAR IN OPPOSITION TO THE PORTUGUESE AKBAK'S imperial annalist, Badauni, when describ- ing the emperor's campaign in Surat, 1572 - 1573 A. D., records that the erection or rebuilding of the Fort of Surat was in direct defiance of European intrusion and in opposition to foreign influence upon the Moham- medans of the country. A similar account is given by Mzam-ad-din Ahmad, but that of Badauni is a trifle clearer and is therefore the one here presented. [Elliot, vol. v, pp. 501 - 503.] ' One day in the year 980 A. H. (1572 A. D.) Akbar, the king, went to look at the Fort of Surat, and gave orders to repair the portions 261