History of the Rise of the Mahomedan Power in India: Translated From the Original Persian of Mahomed Kasim Ferishta ( 4 VOL SET) (Hardbound-2023)

The book was first published in 1829, at the court of Bijapur, where Ferishta spent most of his life under the patronage of King Ibrahim Adil Shah II. It covers Muslim India from around AD 975 to AD 1612. Although Ferishta had a close involvement with some of the events and people he records, there is a fine balance in the narration. There are valuable additions to the text by the translator, John Briggs—an East India Company officer who enriched it by inserting genealogical tables and notes, as well as a comparative chronology of events in Europe and India. The book also examines the descendants of Timurlane and the founding of the Mughal dynasty by Babur in the early sixteenth century. The book gives a true account of the sovereigns of Delhi and of the Bahmuny kings of the Deccan. Ferishta also wrote in detail the histories of all the other Mohammedan princes who held independent sway in India during the 17th century. The deeds of the illustrious monarchs who reigned over Bijapur also form part of the book. The work has come to be regarded as a classic and still maintains a high place as an authority on the history of the period covered.

Mahomed Kasim Ferishta, a Persian historian was born at Astrabad on the borders of Caspian Sea in 1570 AD. He came to Bijapur in 1589 and spent remainder of his life under the immediate protection of Ibrahim Adil Shah II, who commissioned him to write the general history of the Mohammedans in India. Contemporary scholars and historians variously write that the works of Ferishta drew from Tabaqat-i-Akbari by Nizamud-din, Tarikh-i-Rashidi by Mirza Haider and Barani’s Tarikh. Ferishta's account is the most widely quoted history of the Adil Shahi, and is the only source of information about the Ottoman origin of Yusuf Adil Shah, the founder of the Adil Shahi dynasty. Ferishta’s account continues to be a very popular story and has found wide acceptance. The best as well as the most complete translation is the one by John Briggs.