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possible that his head may have been interred in the mosque beside the remains of his father, and that the tradition above alluded to might be considered as founded on fact, did not the appearance of the tombs themselves cast such a strong doubt upon it. We have, in the agreement between the dates of the historian, and that of the inscription, a confirmation of the accuracy of Ferishta in this part of his history at least, as it is scarcely likely that he ever saw or heard of the Kalán Musjeed, which must, in his time, (that of Jehangeer) have been outside the town of Dehli, surrounded, probably, by ruins, and as abandoned as it is now as a place of worship. Its massive solidity could alone have withstood the ravages of 459 years. conclusion it may be remarked as a singular fact that a building of whom he convinced of the treasonable designs of Khán Jahán. "He is anxious," said he, "to get rid of the principal members of the nobility, and after having removed them, he will turn his thoughts to the seizure of our persons." Upon this, the emperor ordered that Khán Jahan should be put to death, and released Daryá Khán from confinement.* The prince Muhammad now directed Malik Yaakub to have the horses of the imperial stables in readiness, and also desired Malik Kutbúd-dín, the superintendant of the elephants, to draw up those animals, for the purpose of making an attack upon Khán Jahan. Towards the end of the night, the prince proceeded with a strong force against Khán Jahan, who sallied out of his house, accompanied by a few friends, and began to defend himself. At length, he was wounded, and his party being overthrown, he fled from the spot. The prince plundered his house, and put to death Bihzád-Fatah Khání, Malik Imadúd-daulat, Malik Shamsúd-dín, and Malik Masálih, who had fallen into his hands in the course of the fight. After these events, the emperor entrusted his son with the sole management of affairs, made over to him the insignia of royalty, such as horses, elephants, and followers, and conferred upon him the title of Násirúd-dín waud-dunyá Muhammad Shah (the defender of the faith and of the World, the emperor Muhammad). Fírúz Sháh then devoted himself to the service of God, and the duties of religion. On Friday, the Khutba was read in the name of both sovereigns-Sultán Muhammad Shah mounted the throne in the month of Shaabán, in the year 789.

* On Malik Yaakub he (Muhammad Sháh) conferred the title of Sikandar Khán, and he placed the province of Gujrát under his control. Malik Yaakub, on whom the title of Sikandar Khán had been conferred, was sent by Muhammad Shah, with a large body of troops, against Khán Jahán. When this force arrived in the neighbourhood of Mewát, Kúká Chauhán,† seized Khán Jahán, and sent him to Sikandar Khán, by whom he was put to death, and his head sent to Muhammad Shah.‡

I think there is an error here in my copy of the Tabakát Akbarí, and that for "released Daryá Khán from confinement," we should read "directed that Darya Khan should be released from confinement." Darya Khan was, at this time, imprisoned in the house of Khán Jahán, and was subsequently (according to Firishta, by whom he is named Zafar (not Daryá) Khán, the son of Zafar Khán) put to death by the fallen minister, when the prince Muhammad Shah attacked his house.-M. E. L. To whom, Firishta states, he had fled for protection.--M. E L.

This occurred in A. H. 789,

this kind within the precincts of a large and modern town, and prominently conspicuous from almost all parts of that town, should have been so little noticed by modern travellers. Bernier has not a word about it; it is not alluded to by Franklin, whose description of Dehli, in the fourth Volume of the Asiatic Researches, forms the staple basis of all subsequent accounts. It is possible however that descriptions may exist; if so the writers of this have not seen them, and can only hope that in such a case their account may be found to contain matter not previously touched upon by others.* They may further be permitted to express a hope that they will not be considered presumptuous in suggesting to other members of the Archeological Society of Dehli, the plan they have adopted in this paper with regard to other edifices around Dehli, by which a large mass of valuable illustrative information might be collected in a very short time.

We may state in addition that we have learnt, since the above was written, that several years after Dehli came into the possession of the British government, the principal Mahommedan inhabitants of the neighbourhood of the Torkman gate, who noticed with grief the neglect with which this mosque was treated by the king in whose charge it appears then to have been, presented a petition to the local authorities to restore the mosque to its original use; that their request received favorable consideration, that a grant, said to have amounted to Rs. 1500, was made to clean and repair the mosque, that the silk-weavers who had

The following is the account, a very disparaging one, given of the mosque by Bishop Heber in the narrative of his journey:-"The Kala Musjeed is small, and has nothing worthy of notice about it but its plainness, solidity and great antiquity, being a work of the first Patan conquerors, and belonging to the times of primitive Mussulman simplicity. It is exactly on the plan of the original Arabian mosques, a square Court surrounded by a cloister; and roofed with many small domes of the plainest and most solid construction, like the rudest specimen of what we call the early Norman architecture. It has no minaret; the crier stands on the roof to proclaim the hour of prayer. -Vol. II. p. 297, 8vo. edit.

Hamilton, in his East India Gazetteer (2d edit. 1828) says of the Kalán Musjeed: "Besides these there are forty other mosques, some of which bear the marks of considerable antiquity. This applies more particularly to the black mosque, a large and gloomy edifice of dark-coloured granite, whose rude internal columns, cloistered area, numerous low cupolas, and lofty outer walls, devoid of aperture or ornaments denote an origin coeval with the earlier Affghan dynasties." [This last paragraph clearly shows that the inscription had not been read at the time the Gazetteer was published, because the reading would have left no doubt about the matter].

taken possession of it, were turned out, and that the arrangements now subsisting were then made for letting out the ground floor apartments so as to provide the means for keeping up at least the small religious establishment still provided.

Translation of an Inscription on a Gun at Moorshedabad with Remarks, by Major ST. G. D. SHOWERS.

I send you for insertion in the Journal of the Society a copy of a Persian inscription on a Gun at Moorshedabad. I forward also a translation of the inscription, with a sketch of the Gun. It is lying in a spot called the "Top-khanuh," which, with the "Qabuk-khanuh,” in its immediate vicinity, took its name from the guns and ordnance stores collected here by the Nawab Mohabut Jung, otherwise called Uleevurdee Khan, when hordes of freebooters, known among the people here by the name of Burgees, (no doubt the Mahrattas,) roamed over the country in search of plunder. Several guns and some shot have been dug up and removed, and there are still two or three lying about or half buried in the earth. The gun on which the inscription is found is named the "Juhan Koosha," the Subduer of the world, and was probably brought by Moorshid Koollee Khan from Dhaka, where it was constructed, when he became invested with the administration of these Provinces. The following are the dimensions of the gun :

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It was made, as the inscription states, at Dhaka during the reign of the Emperor Shah Jahan, and is formed in the old style of welding together a series of rings over bars of iron. The art of casting cannon was known at Dehli as far back as the reign of the Emperor Babur,

but it is probable it had not reached so distant a province as Bengal, or the Juhan Koosha, a gun with which so much trouble appears to have been taken, would not have been constructed on the older and ruder method.

Islam Khan, the Viceroy by whose order the gun was constructed, is said, according to the author of the Siyur-ool-Mootakhureen, to have been appointed to the Government of Bengal 1017 of Hijree, corresponding to 1637 of our era, and was transferred to the Dewanee of the Empire at Delhi in the month Rujub 1049, or A. D. 1639.

The rest that is known of this Governor is succinctly mentioned by Marshman in his History of Bengal. I extract the passage, as it will be interesting in connection with the account of the gun :—

"In 1638 Islam Khan Mushmedy, an old and experienced officer, succeeded to the Viceroyalty of Bengal. In the first year of his Government, Mukut Ray, who held Chittagong for the Rajah of Arracan, rebelled against his master, and delivered it up to the Moguls. This port originally belonged to the independent kingdom of Tipperah : it was next conquered by the Muhammadans; but in the disputes which arose between the Afghans and Moguls, it fell into the hands of the king of Arracan. It was probably called Islamabad after the Governor who in this year acquired possession of it. Meanwhile the Rajah of Assam embarked five hundred boats on the Brumhapootra, and came down like a torrent on Bengal, plundering every town and village in the way. The Soobadar went out to meet him with his war boats armed with cannon. The Assamese could not withstand them. Their fleet was soon in flames; of the crew, a part fled to the shore, but four thousand were put to death. Islam Khan pursued them to their own country, and took fifteen forts and much spoil. It was also under his Viceroyalty, which lasted but one year, that Cooch Behar was invaded by the Muhammadans."

It will be observed there is a slight discrepancy between Marshman's account, and that in the Siyur-ool-Mootakhureen with regard to the date of the Viceroy's appointment to Bengal: but it is of little consequence, as it has probably arisen in computing the corresponding years of the Christian and Muhammadan eras, an error in such calculations being easily occasioned by mistaking the intercalary periods of the Muhammadan year.

To the naturalist and the general observer the "Juhan Koosha" is curious from the position in which it is lying. It is grasped by two trunks of a peepal tree, and supported by them about eighteen inches from the ground. Native tradition states that it was brought to the spot on a carriage, and was left there as the wheels sunk into the mud and could not be extricated. The tree must have sprung up under it, and the trunks as they grew, grasped the gun and continued to support it after the carriage had rotted away and fallen from under it. The back trunnion, on the opposite side from that whence the sketch is taken, is imbedded in the trunk and cannot be seen, but two stancheons and a ring are visible, which evidently belonged to the carriage. The front trunnion, with the iron work attached, was until lately also imbedded in the tree but within the last six months a part of the trunk has been torn away by a storm, by which it has become exposed to view. The iron work on which the trunnion rested corresponds with the dimensions which may be supposed to be necessary to support so large a body on its carriage: and its bulk had no doubt so weakened the outer portion of the trunk as to make it yield easily to any force applied to it.

There is another peculiarity which it may be proper to notice as exhibiting a second phenomenon in the growth of the tree. There are two trunks that support the gun, but I am inclined to think they are branches of one tree. The trunk, obstructed in its growth, and pressed down by the weight of the gun, had first spread out under it; then forcing itself up one side and still hugging the gun, it met with a new obstacle in the trunnion, stancheons and the heavy iron work attached to them, and unable to press them aside yielded to the obstruction and parted and shot up in two large branches.

I cannot conclude this without acknowledging my obligation to Ensign Forster, of the 39th N. I. for the copy of the sketch I forward.

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