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{{Short description|18th-century book by Rai Chatar Man Kayath}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Chahar Gulshan
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| author = Rai Chatar Man Kayath
| orig_lang_code = fa
| translator =
| country = [[Mughal Empire]]
| language = [[Persian language|Persian]]
| subject = History of India
| genre = non-fiction
| published = 1759 (manuscript)
| publisher =
| native_wikisource =
| wikisource =
| notes =
}}
'''''Chahar Gulshan''''' ("Four Gardens") is an 18th-century [[Persian language]] book about the history of India. It was written by Rai Chatar Man Kayath of the [[Mughal Empire]] in 1759 CE. It is also known as ''Akhbar-un Nawadir'' or ''Akhbaru-l-Nawadir'' ("Accounts of Rare Things").<ref name="JS_1901">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/indiaofaurangzib034937mbp|title=India of Aurangzib |author=Jadunath Sarkar |publisher=Kinnera |date=1901 |pages=xv–xcvi |author-link=Jadunath Sarkar }}</ref>

== Date and authorship ==
The book was written by Rai Chatar Man Kayath, also known as Rai Chaturman Saksena Kayasth. The author was a [[Kayastha]] of the Saksinah (Saxena) clan. The preface states that the book was completed in 1173 [[Hijri year|A.H.]] (1759 CE), and was commissioned by [[Vizier|Wazir]] [[Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung III|Gazi-ud-din Khan]].<ref name="IH_7">{{cite book |chapter-url=http://kblibrary.bih.nic.in/Vol07/Bp017.htm |title=Indian History - Vol 7, No. 542 |chapter=Chahar Gulshan |pages=17–18 }}</ref>

''Chahar Gulshan'' was completed only a week before the author's death. His grandson Rai Chandrabhan Raizadah re-arranged the content and added a second preface to the book in 1789.<ref name="JS_1901"/> Raizada's copy is the earliest surviving manuscript, likely copied from the original.<ref name="Abha_2014" /> It is held in the [[Bodleian Library]], with the shelfmark MS Elliott 366.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MS. Elliott 366 (Bodleian Library, Oxford University) - Fihrist |url=https://www.fihrist.org.uk/catalog/manuscript_4369 |access-date=2025-09-05 |website=www.fihrist.org.uk}}</ref><ref name="Abha_2014">{{cite journal |title=Book Review: Rai Chaturman Saksena Kayasth, Chahar Gulshan (Akhbar-un Nawadir) |journal=The Medieval History Journal |date=April 2014 |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=188–190 |doi=10.1177/0971945814528428 |author=Abha Singh }}</ref>

== Content ==

The title of the book ("four gardens") refers to its four sections.<ref name="Abha_2014"/>

# ''Ahwal-i Padshahan-i Hindostan''
#* Description of the kings of [[Hindustan]] (northern India) from the legendary [[Yudhishthira]] to [[Shah Jahan II]]
#* Information on provinces ([[subah (country subdivision)|subahs]]) of the Mughal Empire, except those in [[Deccan]].
# ''Ayan-i subahjat-i junubistan''
#* Information on the provinces of the Deccan region
#* Information on the [[Deccan Sultanates|Deccan Sultans]]
# ''Musafat-o manazil''
#* Road maps with distances and list of ''[[caravanserai|sarai]]''s (roadside inns)
#* Topgraphy (Rivers, embankments, bridges and [[neher water system|canals]])
# ''Silasil fuqra‘-wa darveshan-i Hunud''
#* Description of [[dervish]]es and saints
#* Largely based on ''Akhabar al-Akhiyar'', but also contains some unique information on local saints

The book contains important statistical data, including total cultivated area, number of villages and [[Mahallah|mahal]]-wise revenue.<ref name="Abha_2014"/> However, these statistics are from a period earlier than the book's completion date, likely 1720 CE. By the time the book had been completed (1759 CE), the Mughal emperor was a figurehead. [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]] had captured [[Punjab region|Punjab]]. The [[Maratha Empire|Marathas]] had gained control of western Deccan and had crossed [[Narmada]]. Nizam-ul-Mulk [[Qamar-ud-din Khan, Asif Jah I|Asaf Jah I]], the Mughal viceroy of Deccan, had set up a practically independent state. The book itself states that statistics of Bijapur and Hyderabad are incomplete, as Asaf Jah I had carried away all the records.<ref name="JS_1901"/>

=== Section 1: Hindustan ===

The first ''gulshan'' contains information on the following provinces:<ref name="JS_1901"/>

{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
# [[Delhi Subah|Delhi]]:
#* Kings, saints, Hindu shrines, [[mela]]s, [[chhatri|chhatars]], rivers and canals, mines, province- and sarkar-level statistics
# [[Agra Subah|Agra]]
#* Rulers, saints, forts, buildings, Hindu shrines, rivers, mines, province- and sarkar-level statistics
# [[Lahore Subah|Punjab]]
#* Kings, saints, Hindu shrines, forts and buildings, mosques and gardens, [[doab]]s and rivers, mines, provincial/detailed statistics
# [[Multan Subah|Multan]]
#* Rulers, saints, forts, provincial/detailed statistics
# [[Thatta Subah|Thatta]]
#* Kings, provincial/detailed statistics
# [[Kashmir Subah|Kashmir]]
#* Kings, lakes, hills, shrines, springs, mines, rivers, provincial/detailed statistics
# [[Orissa Subah|Orissa]]
#* Saints, temples, provincial/detailed statistics
# [[Bengal Subah|Bengal]]
#* Rulers, divisions and neighbouring countries, provincial/detailed statistics
# [[Bihar Subah|Bihar]]
#* Kings and saints, rivers, Hindu shrines, provincial/detailed statistics
# [[Allahabad Subah|Allahabad]]
#* Kings, saints, Hindu holy places, forts, mines, provincial/detailed statistics
# [[Awadh Subah|Awadh]]
#* Holy tombs, kings and saints, Hindu holy places, other towns, provincial/detailed statistics
# [[Ajmer Subah|Ajmer]]
#* Kings and saints, forts and mines, provincial/detailed statistics
# [[Gujarat Subah|Gujarat]]
#* Kings and saints, Hindu holy places, cities, provincial/detailed statistics
# [[Malwa Subah|Malwa]]
#* Kings, citites, provincial/detailed statistics
# [[Kabul Subah|Kabul]]
#* Description of [[Swat District|Swad]]
}}

=== Section 2: Deccan ===

The second ''gulshan'' contains information on the 6 provinces of Deccan:<ref name="JS_1901"/>

{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
# [[Berar Subah|Berar]]
#* Provincial/detailed statistics
# [[Khandesh Subah|Khandesh]]
#* Provincial/detailed statistics
# [[Aurangabad Subah|Aurangabad]]
#* Provincial/detailed statistics, crops
# [[Bijapur Subah|Bijapur]]
#* Provincial/detailed statistics, Nagarkot fort, revenue in money
# [[Hyderabad Subah|Hyderabad]]
#* [[Siege of Golconda|Mughal conquest of Golconda]], Provincial/detailed statistics
# [[Bidar Subah|Bidar]]
#* Provincial/detailed statistics, industries and fruits
}}

This section also contains additional sub-sections on:<ref name="JS_1901"/>

* [[Deccan sultanates|Sultans of Deccan]]
* Forts of the Deccan provinces
* Saints of the Deccan provinces
* Hindu shrines, springs and rivers in Deccan

=== Section 3: Road book ===

The third ''gulshan'' describes the 24 important roads connecting the main cities of the Mughal Empire:<ref name="JS_1901"/>

{{columns-list|colwidth=22em|
# [[Agra]]-Delhi
# Delhi-[[Lahore]]
# Lahore-[[Gujrat City|Gujrat]]-[[Attock|Atak]]
# Atak-[[Kabul]]
# Kabul-[[Ghazni]]-[[Kandahar|Qandahar]]
# Gujrat-[[Srinagar]]
# Lahore-[[Multan]]
# Delhi-[[Ajmer]]
# Delhi-[[Bareilly]]-[[Benares]]-[[Patna]]
# Delhi-[[Kol Tehsil|Kol]]
# Agra-[[Allahabad]]
# [[Bijapur]]-[[Ujjain]]
# [[Sironj]]-[[Narwar]]
# [[Aurangabad, Maharashtra|Aurangabad]]-Ujjain
# [[Golconda]]-[[Asirgarh Fort|Asir]]-[[Handia, Madhya Pradesh|Hindia]]
# Hindia-[[Sironj]]
# Narwar-Gwalior-[[Dholpur]]
# Dholpur-Agra
# Multan-[[Bhakkar]]
# Srinagar-Atak
# Ajmer-[[Ahmedabad]]
# Surkhab-Kabul
# Qandahar-Atak
# Qandahar-Multan
}}

=== Section 4 ===

The fourth ''gulshan'' describes "Hindu [[fakir|faqirs]]" (including the [[Sikh Guru]]s) and Muslim saints.<ref name="JS_1901"/>

== Writing style ==

The ''Chahar Gulshan'' is a condensed book of history. Unlike the contemporary Persian-language works that featured flowerly language, it contains short and simple sentences. [[Jadunath Sarkar]] remarked that the book appears to be a "set of notes" rather than a finished treatise.<ref name="JS_1901"/>

== Translations and ''editio princeps'' ==

A partial English translation of the book was published in [[Jadunath Sarkar]]'s ''India of Aurangzib'' (1901).<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MQFvks7lahoC&pg=PA69 |title= Bonded Histories: Genealogies of Labor Servitude in Colonial India |author=Gyan Prakash |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2013 |isbn=9780521526586 |page=69 |author-link= Gyan Prakash }}</ref> However, his translation has several statistical errors, because he misinterpreted the ''raqam'' notation used in the original work.<ref name="Abha_2014"/> In addition, Sarkar omitted several parts. For example:<ref name="JS_1901"/>
* the "vague and rhetorical" details of fairs and amusements
* "dry and short" chronicles of kings
* chronicles that "disturbed the holy repose" of the saints (including the entire Section 4)

Muhammad Riazuddin Khan translated the work into [[Hindi]] (1990, [[Tonk, India|Tonk]]). This work contained an ''[[editio princeps]]'' of the original manuscript, which was not annotated and edited.<ref name="Abha_2014"/>

In 2011, the [[National Mission for Manuscripts]] published a version annotated and edited by Chander Shekhar. This version was based on five manuscripts:<ref name="Abha_2014"/>

# [[National Museum, New Delhi|National Museum]] [[New Delhi]] (1794)
# [[Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library]], [[Patna]] (1803)
# [[Salar Jung Museum]], [[Hyderabad, India|Hyderabad]] (1811)
# [[Maulana Azad Library]], [[Aligarh]] (not dated)
# [[Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Arabic Persian Research]], [[Tonk, India|Tonk]] (not dated)

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20151222091657/http://dli.serc.iisc.ernet.in/handle/2015/472335 Chahar Gulshan]'' at [[Digital Library of India]]
* ''[https://archive.org/details/indiaofaurangzib034937mbp India of Aurangzib]'' by Jadunath Sarkar; includes a partial translation of ''Chahar Gulshan''

{{Authority control}}
[[Category:1759 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:1789 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:18th-century history books]]
[[Category:18th-century Indian books]]
[[Category:18th-century manuscripts]]
[[Category:Books about the Mughal Empire]]
[[Category:18th-century Persian books]]
[[Category:Indian chronicles]]

Chahar Gulshan - Revision history

CryptoCurrencydon at 02:43, 5 September 2025