Shahjahan Namah
About this text
Introductory notes
Md. bin Md. Mahmood Jalālai Tabātabāi (d.1636) was a Persian scholar from Isfahan, who arrived in India in 1634, was the first chronicler of Shahjahan. This courtly chronicle only covers four years of the emperor Shahjahan’s reign, beginning with the fifth solar year of his reign to the end of the eighth. From references within the work it appears that Tabātabāi also wrote an account of the earlier years. Tabātabāi writes in a highly ornate style of native Persian. This fragmentary account is less used than the better known chronicles of Shahjahan, such as Qazwini’s. It appears that Qazwini’s Pādshahnāma was an important source for Tabātabāi, who replicates his predecessor’s narrative in some sections, such as the description of Kashmir.
1.
و حقیقت تنگی کار متحصّنان بهسبب شدّت ضیق تعیش که از طول مدّت محاصره و قلّت غلّه و کثرت عسرت و فرط وقوع بلای قحط و غلا ناشی شده بی مبالات و تحاشی ابلاغ نموده اظهار سایر اسرار مضمره و افکار مخمره بهعمل میآرد.