The Dreams of Tipo Sultan

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THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA GIFT OF

HORACE W. CARPENTIER

Pakistan Historical Society Publications No.

7.

THE DREAMS OF TIPU SULTAN

Translated from the original Persian

with an Introduction and Notes

By

MAHMUD

HUSA1N,

Professor of History,

Ph. D.

University of Karachi

CARPENTIER

CI

7)S4?0

CONTENTS Acknowledgements Translator's Introduction

A Note on

Tipu Sultan's Calendar

Tipu Sultan's Preface

Dream

Dream

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The express

who

editor

his

deep

helped

India

of

this

gratitude

him

in

Library

Office

book

little

its

wishes

To

preparation.

he

is

to

those friends

all

to

the

particularly thank-

ful for permitting him to obtain a microfilm and a photostatic copy of the original manuin

script

their

copy of this manuscript

Bibliotheque

A

of

the

was procured from

the

possession.

Nationale,

rotograph

Paris,

the

through

kindness of Dr. R. Curiel, Director of Archae-

those

who

tion,

annotation,

special

assisted

mention of

him etc.,

in

he

the is

History,

lecturer

in the

task

of transla-

happy

to

make

Mr. ^akariyya Mail of the Mr. Syed Abdur

Pakistan Historical Society and Rahman, a research scholar in

of

From among

Government of Pakistan.

ology,

University

Jamia

of

College.

the

Department

Karachi,

now

a

)oA

o)

1

INTRODUCTION In the India Office Library there

a

is

very valuable and interesting manuscript

Tipu Sultan's dreams in his It was discovered by writing.

containing

own hand

1

Colonel Kirkpatrick 2

memobed-chamber when

among

randa in the Sultan's

other

the palace was subjected to a thorough search after the fall of Seringapatam, in

May

Habibullah,

1799.

Tipu Sultan was time 1

the

Herman

Library

of

the

Munshi of

said to be present at the

was

manuscript Ethe,

the

Catalogue

of

India Office, Vol. I,

Persian

No. 3001.

discovered. Manuscripts

in

the

The Bibliotheque

Nationale of Paris has a copy of this document which was made in 1822 for the Bibliotheque Royale, as it was then called. See the Catalogue of the Bibliotheque Nationale, have secured photostatic copies of the SuppL Pers., 937. I original manuscript in the I ndia Office as well as of in the Bibliotheque 2

Kirkpatrick, W.,

its

copy

Nationale. is

the editor

of

Select

Letters

of

Because of his knowledge of London, 1 8 1 1 oriental languages and experience of different courts in entrusted with the task of examining and India, he was Tippoo Sultaun,

reporting

he

did.

on the

.

documents seized

from the palace, which

8

According

knew of

to

the

Habibullah Kirkpatrick, existence of such a manu-

but Tipu Sultan had so successfully concealed it that this confidant of his

script

had never before seen

it.

Tipu Sultan was

have always manifested peculiar anxiety to hide it from the view of any who happened to approach while he was either to

said

reading or writing in this

1800,

23, as

name

Hugh

of

Inglis,

1

Later,

or

diary,

the

(as

"register",

Wellesley to of the Court of

Marquis

Chairman

Directors of the East India

Major

on April

termed, was presented in

has been

it

the

little

it.

Company, by

he then was) Alexander Beat-

2

Thus belonging to the Library of the East India Company, London, it is

son.

now

in

Library. 1

with

Beatson,

Tippoo Sultaun,

Memoranda 2

possession of the India Office have Entries in this register A View of the Origin and Conduct of War

At

one

London,

in English

time

aid-de-camp to the

Surveyor-General author of one of the

Tipu Sultan,

1800,

by Beatson

first

cited above.

army

to

in

p.

196.

See

also

in the manuscript

the

itself.

Marquis Wellesley and the

field;

Beatson

is

the

books published by a British writer on

been made in what Ethe has called "a The dreams and other

fearful Shakista".

on the first thirty- two pages of the register and again on eleven pages towards the end of it. In between notes are recorded

number of pages

a large

The 5!

size

of

the register

are is

7|

left

blank.

inches

by

inches.

In

this

diary, apart

from a few other

notes, Tipu Sultan has put down some of his dreams. Obviously it cannot be con-

sidered a complete register of his dreams. It is more likely that he wrote out only

such dreams in recording.

dreams

it

The

as first

he thought of

worth

recorded

the

dated 1785, the last 1798, coverOf some ing a period of thirteen years. of these dreams he has given his own is

Leaving aside other memoranda, the dreams recorded are thirtyseven in number. They are all in Persian. interpretations.

1

1 Six of these dreams (Nos. 12, 13, 14, 17, 24 and 28) have been translated by Beatson and given in the form of an appendix to his book cited above, appendix XXXV, pp.

—

GIX-GXII

10

In a few places the language is defective and ungrammatical, but what is even more astonishing takes.

contains spelling misfollowing list which is not that

is

The

it

exhaustive will give spellings

:

—

Sjls

for

an idea of the mis-

ji

jUa*

r

lor

for

sjA$* for *j*Lp\ for

1,3,9,1

8)

\jpz^>

(Dream

9)

J\j>c^

(Dream

16)

(Dream v

13) DJ

f

~i*u\y**ji tor

and 30)

oj^j (Dream

for

for

i

iand27)

^z^u\.».ji 1'.

su.1^ J'ltf

(Dream

16)

u^Uok (Dream 21) **A.J

(Dream

30)

rte*»\ for rOfeJiUl (In the last note) (Sj***

for

d?^u« (In the last note)

And last but not least plfcjl

for

oTy (which occurs twice in Dream No. 8)

11

have eulogized not character but his and his skill, literary

Court historians

Sultan's

Tipu

only

scholarship and mastery of the Persian language has been

taken for granted. reviled

his

British historians

have

disregarding the

character,

views of the court historians, but they have accepted their contention with regard to his scholastic attainments. The facts are the other

way

round.

It

is

not essential

that a great man should also be a master of some language or other which, in any case,

Tipu Sultan was

of fifteen onwards

we

not.

see

From

the age

him accompany-

ing his father in the various wars which he fought. It is not to be wondered at that he could not receive systematic education of the type that he might have

had he

received

lived

in

more peaceful

times.

Now

a word about the contents of the

Of

dreams thirty-seven recorded the majority are concerned with

dreams.

his

wars

the

against

the

British

and

their

12

Such are

allies.

dreams

I,

III,

VII,

XIV, XX, XXI, XXIV, XXV, XXVIII, XXIX, XXXII and XXXVI.

XI,

There are several other dreams which give victory in tidings of general success and war such as dreams II, IV, V, VI, IX,

XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX, XXII, XXIII, XXVII, XXVIII, and XXXIII. Some of the dreams point to his intense and veneration for the Prophet, Hadrat Ali and other Muslim saints and sufis. This is manifest from dreams XXXI XXXIV and VIII, X, XII, love

XXXV. In

some of

the

dreams

clear indication that the

there

is

dream was record-

ed in the register immediately after Tipu Sultan woke up. Towards the end of

dream

III,

for instance,

he

says,

"While

this conversation was still in progress, I woke up and wrote down the contents of the dream immediately", and at the end of dream IV, he records, "At this juncture the dream." I woke up and wrote down

13

Tipu Sultan has of his dreams. Such

Some

In dream the

interprets

woman

XXXI.

and

of these interpretations

interesting.

some

the case with dreams

XXVIII

XVII,

XIII,

also interpreted is

are

highly

XIII Tipu Sultan man's

in

dress

as

enemy, the Marhattas, against whom he was waging a war at that time. In

his

dream XXVIII the dominions of

his

three enemies,

the Marhattas

tish,

three silver trays

been interpreted

have

dates

fresh

of

as the

the Bri-

and the Nizam, which,

he hoped, would fall into his hands. As has been mentioned above, Tipu dreams and Sultan's diary consists of

so

other

certain

memoranda.

In

this

the reader will find the translation

dreams

the

As

to

piece

The to

the

has

recorded other

been

book of

all

Sultan.

by Tipu memoranda, only one

selected

various items in the

for

translation.

memoranda

relate

some of the events of Tipu Sultan's time

or episodes in his instance,

one

life.

finds

the

In one

place, for

names of persons

14 or

killed

and

wounded

in

a

certain

in another, the time of

departure from, or arrival on a particular occasion.

Tipu

in,

battle,

Sultan's

the Capital

A

present given a Sultan to by Tipu young couple on the occasion of their betrothal also finds a

A

from the report received about the of enormous mofussil discovery footprints in a field has been included in mention.

the

diary

Tipu

which,

Sultan's

he asked one of in

the

diary.

is

incidentally,

own

not

in

hand-writing. Perhaps secretaries to insert

his

There

is

also

recorded

it

a

Muhammad

dream of one,

Aslam, Sayyid Sultan he which concerning Tipu thought it fit to insert along with his own dreams. This piece seemed to fit into the scheme of the present book and has, therefore,

been translated. The dominant note throughout these dreams is what was uppermost in Tipu Sultan's

from

mind

the

—how

foreign

psycho-analyst

may

to free

yoke.

have

his

country

Whatever to

say

the

about

!5

them, to a student of history

importance to discover

how

of greater Tipu Sultan

it is

himself interpreted these dreams and how they influenced his actions. From a perusal

of this register

it

becomes clear that

hours of sleep were as devoted to the cause of freedom as the hours while he his

was awake.

A NOTE ON TIPU SULTAN'S CALENDAR the reforms introduced by Tipu Sultan was the reform of the calendar.

Among

It is

of

it

necessary to have an understanding for the proper appreciation of the

dates

mentioned

by Tipu Sultan

in this

book.

The tribute

function of the calendar

time

into

certain

is

to

dis-

such

periods

as

hours, days, weeks, months, years, etc. The solar day is determined by the daily rotation of the earth

on

its

axis

and the

alternation of light and darkness and the solar year by the revolution of the earth

around the sun which completes the of the seasons. But the

moon around

it

is

circles

the revolution of

the earth which yields

the month.

the

Thus the solar day, the lunar month may be

natural divisions

of time.

solar year

and

termed

the

The Muslim

18 calendar, however,

is

a lunar calendar in

which twelve lunar months make a year, of the circle of seasons.

irrespective

Muslim

era,

Medina

in

The

well known, is counted from the year of the hijrat or migration of the Prophet of Islam from Mecca to as

is

The result of the 622, A.D. adoption of the lunar year by the Muslims has been that the Muslim festivals do not fall

all

any particular seasons and run through the seasons of the year, and in about 32-^ in

solar years the

starting

point.

Muslim year returns to Muslim governments,

its

in

following this calendar, have experienced administrative difficulty in the collection

of agricultural taxes since crops are linked up with the seasons whereas the

Muslim year is not. Consequently attempts have been made in Muslim history to devise ways

and

difficulty.

means for overcoming this While for religious purposes the

lunar year has been treated as sacrosanct, other purposes a number of devices

for

have been

adopted from

time

to

time.

19

In

this

connection of the

efforts

Fatimid

of the

A.H.,

366 Tai

may be mentioned Al-Aziz,

Abbasid

the

about at-

Caliph

(363-381 A.H.), of the Seljuq Malik Shah, assisted in his efforts by the famous poet,

In

Umar Khayyam

the

nineteenth

.Government also was described as

(circa

471,

A.H.)

century the Ottoman turned towards what Islak-et-teqwim.

In India the Muslims found that the

Hindus had from very early times employed luni-solar cycles made up of a combination of solar and lunar years in which the lunar year was periodically adjusted to the solar year. The Hindu rites and festivals were regulated by the lunar year and ;

life, important events such as choosing of an auspicious occasion

in domestic

the

marriage or undertaking a journey were regulated by the lunar calendar.

for

But

this

calendar

itself

was

subject

to

adjustments to the solar calendar by the addition of intercalary months. The Hindu

calendar also recognized the existence of

20 a sixty-year cycle known as "Brihaspati Chakra". Tipu Sultan was apparently influenced by these factors. The reforms introduced by Tipu Sultan in the prevalent Muslim calendar consisted of the following: He reckoned the Muslim era not from

occurring in 622 but from the advent of Islam in 609 A.C. He chose to " " call this era Maulud-i- Muhammad the the

hijrat

,

era reckoned from the birth of

Muhammad.

Actually, however, his era begins not with the birth of the Prophet but with the proclamation of prophet-hood by Muhammad.

In

words, his era begins earlier than the hijrat.

other

years

Another Sultan

in

measure connection

thirteen

adopted by Tipu with the calendar

was the adoption of the Hindu months and the sixty-year cycle. He, however, various Hindu to the new names gave months.

Similarly

each year in the 60given a distinct name.

year cycle was In designating the months and years, he

21

made

use of the

abjad

and

abtath

systems of evaluating every letter of the alphabet in terms of numbers. The abjad system which follows the ancient order of the

alphabet had been quite common throughout the Muslim world for several centuries.

In addition to

employed

known is

this,

another

as abtath in

however, Tipu Sultan system

of

valuation

which the order of letters

the one that exists in the Arabic script. also called it "hisab-i-zar*\

He

The

numerical

value

of each

according to the traditional Abjad is

as follows:

7-

1—

—

letter

system

22 J

23

The names adopted cording to

were

:

—

the Abjad

for the

months

ac-

and Abtath systems

25

adopted the system of intercalary months. There was, however, a little difference between his system and the

Tipu Sultan

also

Hindu system. Whereas these months were added by the Hindus towards the end of the year, Tipu Sultan added traditional

them

in the beginning.

The names given

to each year in the 60-

year cycle were as follows:

—

26

ABJAD ii.

Haj

12.

Jahd

13.

Jihad

14.

Wajid

15.

Yad

16.

Zuhd

17.

Jawza

18.

Hai

19.

Wahid

20.

Buduh

21.

Tayyib

22.

Tayib

23.

Yuz

24.

Kad

25.

Hawi

26.

Kabad

27.

Agah

W-''

27

ABTATH

ABJAD 28.

Wahid

29.

Yahi

»L

Zad

30.

Kai

^T

Zar

31.

Kaya

32.

Kabud

33-

Ibl

Jo

34.

Dil

Ji

35.

Dal

Jb

Zartab

s-^jj

36.

Jibal

Rabtaz

J^Vj

37.

Zaki

ju ^n

38.

Azal

39.

Jalu (or

Dadar

dU^

jbb

JJ

L5"

Zaar

j'j

syf

Bazr

j3*

Jj| 1

I

Zarab oat a

4»T jj l~*«

Sakh

*U

Sakha

IkL,

Daraz

jj^

Jilau.)

40.

Dalw

41.

Ma

^$ *L

Xr

Dasa

L,b

Sha

42.

Kabk

43.

Jam

^

Sarab

44.

Jaam

>U

Shata

Sara

b lj

cJ

L, .*«

\zA

28

ABTATH

ABJAD 45.

Adam

46.

Wali

Sihr

4 7.

Waali

Sahir

48.

Kawkab,

Rasikh

49.

Kawakib^

Zabarjad

52. 53.

Hamid

Barish

54.

Jan

Rastar

55.

Adan

Bashtar

56.

Huma

57.

Majid

Sharh

58.

Kuhl

Rushd

59.

Jahan

Sabah

60.

Mujiz

Irshad

51.

&

j9

^l,

^

Shad

Yam Dawam Hamd

50.

jL.ji\

jfc

Hirasat 1*

Saz

Shadab

La

Basharat

^ j

U

U^ ^iij

oj U*j

^L^ ate*l

29 Before refer

to

Sultan

mention,

concluding it is necessary to one more innovation of Tipu

which, for

indeed,

deserves

special

without

comprehending it, the dates in this register would be inexpliLike the Arabic script which is cable. written from right to left, Tipu Sultan wrote figures also in this manner. Thus he wrote 54 as 45, 132 as 231, and 1217 as 712 1. In the register he writes his figures uniformly in this manner, although, to avoid unnecessary confusion, the translator has followed the normal practice.

THE

DREAMS OF TIPU SULTAN

PREFACE THE BOOK OF DREAMS The dreams

I

have had and

am

having are being

written in (this register).

'JAM- ,'vC^

'/:

;;-•;

A

2

'

page from Tipu Sultan's Book of Dreams.

Dream

I

THREE OFFICERS OF THE

MARHATTA ARMY On

the

i

st

of the lunar

month Ahmadi,

on Thursday night, in the beginning of when three the year Dalw, 1200 A.H. the night five watches of and quarters were over, while at Shamsabad, I had a dream: It appeared to me as if the 1

,

army had

Marhatta

arrived

and

I

was

throwing out a challenge to its commander and to come forward fight singly. A

Muslim

officer of the

army accepted the In the battle-field, while both challenge. the armies were facing each other, I killed the

Muslim

officer

with one single strike

of the sword. Thereupon the commander of the army, who was a youth, fled. I pursued

and overtook him and finished I.

For the

him. Similarly names

in this diary

of months and

and generally

in I

one stroke killed

years used by

a

I

third

Tipu Sultan

for his calendar,^* pp. 17

—33.

36 officer

of importance.

Having thus

killed

three officers with one strike each, I

back

to

my men

Then cers

I

and

saw

came

triumphant and victorious.

dream

in the

Sahib

Haidar

meals in a house.

I

all

my

1

was

taking tired

offi-

their

and was

Those present,

asking for drinking water.

paying compliments, requested me to drink water after taking food. In the after

meanwhile a venerable old man wearing a white beard and with cream and sweets in his hands appeared and asked me to partake of them. I took these things from

him and

them

after eating

I said to

myself:

"I have never before taken such savoury

and

tasteful

Then, quired

food;

after

is

simply delicious."

performing

from

had destroyed

The

it

my

officers

the

army

ablution,

I

en-

whether they unbeof the

of the Haidari

army had replied that they had not and that they had taken no initiative in the matter and lievers.

1

A

officers

It was Haidar cousin of Tipu Sultan's father, Haidar Ali. the of the Raja of Mysore, employrrient Sahib, himself in

who had

first

introduced Haidar Ali to the Raja.

37

been

orders.

Meanwhile, they unbelievers the of together army with the booty was stationed in the villages. awaiting

said, the

Having

alerted

my

army,

for the place,

took

away

attendant

and

tied

my I

told

1

2

once started

the sword from it

my

to

Sayyid

officers

war.

for

Junaid, to

And

waist.

Ghaffar2

1

and other

men

I at

Sayyid

be ready with their that

is

all.

A trusted officer of Tipu Sultan's army. Sayyid Ghaffar, formerly belonging to the army of the Nawab of Arcot, was a confidant of Tipu Sultan; a very brave and

He war

loyal

person and an officer of his

died fighting at Seringapatam in

Haidari,

which Tipu Sultan himself was p.

390.

army

in the last

since

1782.

Anglo-Mysore

killed.

Nishan-i-

Dream

II

THE CRESCENT It

was Sunday, the night of Monday,

of the

on

lunar side

this

year the 27th of ZMhijja, of Shahidpur by the river

Kaveri, about the time of the false dawn It appeared to me that I had a dream: 1

as if along

with other people

on a high spot looking the

I

for the

was standing

new moon

month of Ramadan. None could

of

see the

however, saw a very slender and beautiful crescent surrounded by several stars

moon.

I,

I seemed to be pointing of the pleiades. the new moon to all others present and

telling

be

them

that, if

God

willed, 'Id

would

celebrated the following day .... That

is all.

1

Seringapatam, the Capital of Tipu Sultan, is situated on the Kaveri. In history and literature the river has come to be closely interlinked

with the

memory

of

Tipu

Sultan.

Dream

III

SEATING A KING ON THE THRONE OF DELHI MUNIFICENT

On the

the

year

GOD

15th

!

Bahari,

from the birth of

12 15,

Sha,

month

of the

Muhammad, on Monday when of the day remained,

five

watches

had a dream:

I

had alighted in the vicinity of Delhi, and Sindhia, the Marhatta Chief, had along with his army, similarly It

seemed

encamped

as if I

of the Delhi

my

word,

uddin

sat

fine officer

army was nearby. Giving him ordered him to come to me.

I

The above mentioned 1

A

quite close to us.

in

front

lay before them.

I

and Qutbof me and a rosary officer

asked the officer men-

tioned above to take an oath on the rosary

which symbolises God's word 1

One

of the generals of

Tipu Sultan,

of the mission that was sent to the

Nizam

which

after

He was in

a

1787.

member

40 I

promised

officer,

rosary.

I

would

thereupon,

Then

tell

him something. The

took the oath on the

I said to

him

:

"You along

your men and Qutbuddin Khan along with the men of our own army should both encamp in front of the with

unbelievers and,

if

God

wills,

I

shall

be

going to Delhi to make arrangements for administration and seat a king on the

its

throne,

since

this

Islam.

Once

I

will

strength

to

that, I shall

be

give

have done

able to punish the unbelievers thoroughly." in this still conversation was

While

up and wrote down the contents of the dream immediately. progress,

This

is all.

I

woke

Dream IV

THE PITCHERS OF MILK

O

Merciful God!

On

the

1

month Taqi, of

8th of the

the

year 1218, from the birth of Muhammad, on the night of Wednesday, when four

watches were yet to go and while returning after the conquest of the entrenchments of

Rama

near

Nayar Salamabad2

1

,

seemed milking

as if a

a

had

person

cow had of fresh

pitchers

Madher

at I

a

milk

Leader of the Malabar insurgents. Nayars, in general,

2

see

before

me and this

The contention of mangalam. Salamabad was the name given Kirkpatrick's

4th ed., p.

mud

Banglori into II,

p.

503)

Letters of Tipu

Vol.

181.

milk

For a description of the Castes and Tribes of

E. Thurston.

Southern India, Madras, 1909, Vol. V, pp. 283-413. Salamabad was the name given by Tipu Sultan to

tanat-i-Khudadad,

It

immediately after brought two small

was saying that he had brought 1

Kerah

dream:

Urdu and

Mahmud to is

Sultan,

Coimbatore not

Satyathat

Bangalori

(vide Sal-

corroborated

translated

by

entitled Sahifa-i-Tipu

by

MahSultan,

42

me

from the udder and that it was very sweet, tasteful and rich in butter. I took the pitchers from his hand and found this fresh milk bubbling with for

straight

on top. After telling the man that the milk must be very sweet and agreeable to the palate, I took the milk and kept it with me. At this juncture I woke up and wrote down the particles of butter

dream.

scattered

Dream V

THE SEA COCOANUTS Truthful God!

On

the 2 1 st night of the

the

jadi,

following

and corresponding

day to

month ZabarTuesday,

being

the

19th

night

when morning was about

of

to

dawn, had the following dream: I seemed to have gone up to the large upper chamber where I saw forty Ziqa'd,

at Patan,

to

fifty

the Capital,

sea

cocoa-nuts.

I

The

smallest

of

was about the size of a lemon and the biggest was as large as a small pitcher. 1 took them all and kept them in front of me. I cut one of the cocoa-nuts and I praised the water of drank its water. the cocoa-nut and said that it was exI had tasted tremely sweet and refreshing. these

the

water

of

sea

cocoa-nuts

previously

on two or three occasions but had found it brackish. I was surprised to find the

44 water of these cocoa-nuts so sweet. In the

meantime certain women who were strangers and were sitting there, cut one of the bigger cocoa-nuts and removing its cover opened it and passing on the pulp to me said that it was very sweet. I, thus, took it

in

my hand.

The

other cocoa-nuts were

lying in front of

me when

and did not again go

to sleep.

still

I

woke up

Dream VI

THE BERYL MINE O

Merciful God!

On

the 24th/ the following day being venerable old Saturday, I had a dream:

A

man

appeared with a large piece of beryl

hand and said that a mine of precious stone was situated in the

in his

named

after 2

This

(Gasht). 1

The

month

the 24th in the 8

Makhdum

is

of the

hill

same month

is

hill

Jahanian Jahan situated

is

not mentioned in

this

this

meant

near

dream but apparently

as has

been mentioned

dream immediately preceding.

mentions "Makhdum Jahanian Jahan," Tipu Sultan an omission. Makhdum "Gasht" being apparently title of Jahan Gasht was the popular Jahanian Sayyid Jalaluddin Bukhari, the famous saint of Uchh in the Bhawalpur Division of West Pakistan, He was born in 1307 and died in 1386 at Uchh where he was buried. He " " travelled widely and thus came to be known as Jahangasht refers to the hill near Salem or world-rover. Sultan Tipu

named

after

him. This

hill is still

the Muslims of the locality about seventeen miles from

and

known by is

this

name amongst

situated at a distance of

Salem. Coffee is grown on it a source of supply for aluminium and sand used in It the manufacture of sand-paper. is also known by the names of Arkad and Sarwerayan.

and

it is

46 Salem. Accordingly,

I

ordered trusted indi-

viduals to go and find out what was the actual position as regards the beryl mine.

Dream VII

THE LINE OF ENTRENCHMENTS On

of the year Sarab, of

month Khusrawi,

17th of the

the

Muhammad,

1217,

from the birth

Salamabad

at

1

I

,

had

a

dream: The army of the Sarkar-i-Ahmadi2 seemed ments

have built a

to

for besieging a fort within

son of Basalat Jang.

were sueing

excellent

the

after

stage I 1

See

2

One

under

The people within

the

and

I I

had planned was looking

At

of entrenchments.

woke up.

note of

line

the

Ali

for mercy.

strategems

which were

Khan and

Nizam

the progeny of

fort

of entrench-

line

I

had

Dream No.

this

this

dream while

IV.

the names by which Tipu Sultan's

Government was

known, others being Sarkar-i-Haidari and Saltanat-i-Khudadad which became the most popular name for his kingdom. Sarkar-i-

Ahmadi should not be confused

i-Ahmadi, the his

army

to

name

given

with

by Tipu Sultan

which new converts

to Islam

the

Lashkar-

to a section

were

of

recruited.

48 resting before the departure of Qutbuddin Khan and Ali Raza to Nizam Ali Khan. 3

3 It

in connection with the mission that the Nizam had sent negotiate peace that he had asked Tipu Sultan to Qutbuddin Khan and Ali Raza Khan to accompany the Nizam's agents to Hyderabad to secure the establishment of a political as well as matrimonial alliance by marrying his son to the Nizam's daughter. Tipu Sultan's represen-

was to

tatives

reached

the

Nizam's court in February, 1889.

Dream VIII

THE SACRED RELICS FROM HADRAT BANDAH-NAWAZ On

the 5th of the

month Raz Thamari,

of the year Shata,

corresponding to the from the birth of 12 18,

Shawwal, Muhammad, on Thursday, while returning to Patan, the Capital, at Salamabad, I had a dream: I saw coming two aged 3rd

holy persons, both being

brothers,

with

me baggage provisions. They they had come according to the orders Bandah-nawaz of Hadrat who had and

told

1

1

Hadrat Bandah-nawaz (kind Gesu-daraz (the long-haired), a famous saint who spent the

to is

servants),

the

last

title

known

also

of Sayyid

as

Muhammad,

twenty-two years of his

life

Gulbarga during the rule of Firuz Shah and Ahmad Shah Bahmani; b. 721, d. 825 A.H. He was buried at Gulbarga. There was a tradition in the family of Tipu Sultan from the time of his great-grand-father of attachment to and veneration for the tomb of the Gesu-daraz (vide Nishan-iat

Haidari, p. 6) . Jalaluddin Husaini

in

the

Cambridge

is

the

name of the

saint given

History of India (Vol. Ill, p. Khan in his History of Tipu Sultan

393)

borrowed by M. H. which is not supported by any of the well known authorities on the subject.

50

Then they gave

sent certain sacred relics.

me a few pieces from the covers of the Ka'bah, the

Madinah-i-Munawwarah and

of Hadrat Bandah-nawaz, a

the

copy

tomb

of the

Holy Qur'an and some sugar-candy. I took the sacred relics and raised them to my head. I then opened the Qur'an and found it was written

in a beautiful hand.

Every

page

of the Qur'an had the name of the scribe On some of the pages written on it. I noticed the names of Hadrat Bandah-

Nawaz and

Both

other saints.

persons said to

me that

this

the

holy

copy of the Holy

Qur'an had been written by several saints and Hadrat that and calligraphists

Bandah-nawaz used from

this

copy.

to

The

recite

saint

constantly

had done a

great favour, they added, by sending this copy for me. They also pointed out that

from among the Hadrat Bandah-nawaz and it was their custom to recite the Fatihah at his tomb and to offer sacrifices Then I read those verses around it. they themselves of descendants

were

51

(of

the

Holy

inscribed in fine

of the

tomb.

The same the name eleven

which had been handwriting on the gate

Qur'an)

At

this

afternoon of

Hadrat

cauldrons

I

point

I

woke up.

offered Fatihah in

Bandah-nawaz

of sweets.

on

Dream IX

THE WHITE ELEPHANT FROM CHINA On

the

3rd

which happened the

month Thamari

of the to

be the

last

night of

month of Ramadan followed by

'Id

the next morning, the year Shata, 12 18, from the birth of Muhammad, at a place on the outskirts of Salamabad, while the

army was returning from Farrukhi, I had I seemed to have gone out a dream 1

:

for a Shikar of elephants

and captured from

the jungle two or three

numbering

about

herds of elephants two hundred, like a

Having chosen the good male elephants and after handing them over to the mahouts, the female-elephants and flock

of sheep.

the young ones were set free in the jungle. New name given by Tipu Sultan to Ferokh, now a village

1

in the

Ernad

district in

Madras.

It

was an

important

to place in the time of Tipu Sultan who, indeed, tried the town to the position of a rival to Calicut.

raise

53

The

elephants did not run

freed

and continued to

to stroll there.

with

the

palace along elephants. In front of

my

Then

I

away came

the

captured palace, I found

men on two

white elephants and two horses with several foot-men carrying

along

and guns who had come from somewhere standing to give me a salute. I also stood up and enquired from them where they had come from. They replied they had come from beyond our country's spears

along with the agents of the Emperor of China. I asked them to enter the palace and take a seat in the Diwan-i-

frontier

Am

and then

called

upon the agents of

me. The two appear agents along with the two elephants and the two horses presented themselves accord-

China

ingly.

to

On

before

reaching the

place of obeisance

they paid their respects. When they proceeded towards me I asked the arz-begi 1

to stand up, a practice

which

is

observed

in the case of ambassadors. I noticed that The person who presents the pelitions to the chief.

1

54 both the persons were old and wore white beards. I asked them to sit down. Then enquiring after the health of the Emperor of China I enquired about the purpose of their visit. They said they had

after

no

in

object

view

other

than

the

promotion of greater friendship. I asked the elephants and horses to be brought near

me and I made

the elephants take a round.

enquired from them as to what was the mode of capturing elephants in their

I

country and explained to them the one prevalent in our own which consisted in capturing

a

whole

herd

of

elephants,

selecting the better ones from among them and setting the rest free in the jungle. I

invited

them

to

have a look at the

ele-

phants captured that very day. I then ordered the elephants captured that day to be brought. Three or four such elephants

were

agents. I told

horses

placed

them

before

the

Chinese

that the elephants

and

which the Emperor of China had

55

and friendship were, indeed, very good, and that such was a charming interchange friendly sent as a token of affection

The

custom.

Sarkar-i-Ahmadi, I said to them,

possessed an elephant which was very white

and a

ever.

for

As

remembered some three

gesture was

friendly

for

example,

thousand years ago, the ruler of China had sent a present of a white elephant,

or four

a horse and a female

and

one could

slave

to

Alexander

read in the pages of the Sikandar-namah of Hadrat Nizami. this

still

1

Perhaps since then the Emperor of China, I added, had never sent such a present to until

anyone

it

had been

sent

to

the

Having said that I showed courtesy and kindness towards them.

Sarkar-i-Ahmadi. all

The

agents mentioned above were very

brave and experienced. i

Nizamuddin

the great Sufis

work

is

They

Abu Muhammad and poets of

Persia,

also pointed

bin

Ilyas

b.

Yusuf,

1140.

one of

His famous

Khamsa, a collection of five great epic poems, One of

which

is

titutes

the central

Sikandar-Namah.

The romance

theme of

this

poem.

of Alexander cons-

56 out that the

.

Chinese had never sent a

white elephant to anyone except Alexander and the Presence. In the meantime morning

dawned and

I rose.

Dream

X

THE TOP OF THE HILL On

the

29th

month Haidari,

of the

on Thursday, in the early hours of the morning, on the eve of the Marhatta War, at Patan, I had a dream: It seemed as

God Almighty

along with a few persons on elephants and horseback had gone for an excursion across the river. if this

servant of

The depth to

be somewhat

After for

of the water in the river seemed

crossing

less

the

than a man's height.

river

the

men

halted

a while for drying up the clothes.

also got

juncture

down from

my

the elephant.

elephant

and

an

At

I

this

elephant

that was standing near mine gave certain indications as if they were going to fight

among

themselves.

Although the

fight

had

not started as yet, I thought of climbing a hillock nearby in order that I might be at

a

safe

distance

from

the

elephants.

58

walked towards the hillock but on reaching it I found that there was no path leading to its top. I said to myself I must climb it somehow or the other. Since Slowly

I

was determined, I proceeded upwards. But I had gone only a few steps when I had to retreat. I again made up my mind and with great effort I ascended the hillock and reached the top. Owing to great fatigue, I was hardly looking at anything when I saw a small door in front. I entered the door and as soon as I went in, a venerI

able old man greeted

me with a "Salam

alaik",

asked me extreme kindness towards me. In front of to

man

come near him and

showed

saw a darwesh standing resThe crossed). pectfully (with his arms at and was clean great height very place and one could see a whole world from here. I was wondering how unusual was the

the old

I

occasion and

how

able old man.

At

Place: Patan.

extraordinary the vener-

woke up. Before the Marhatta War. this juncture, I

Dream XI

THE BEAR On

ioth of the

the

month designated

Thamari, the year Shata, 1218, from the of Muhammad, at Nazarabad while from Farrukhi 2 when returning our troops were about to give battle to the 1

birth

Nazarenes,

Nizam

3

and the Mar-

Ali

and, in accordance with the rules and regulations, I was encamped at a

hattas,

distance of about a mile from the army, I had a dream It was the night of Thurs:

day, the following day being Thursday, on which a parade was held. I saw a newly

made 1

New name

2 See 3

note

sword

fine

from

4

Nagar

brought

of Mysore.

under

The word used

is

Dream IX. "Nasara" which

is

the equivalent of Chris-

Meant, obviously, are the British. Nagar is the name of a town in the Nagar taluk of Shimoga district in Mysore. The town was taken by Haidar Ali in 1 763 who gave it the name of Haidarnagar and established It suffered a good deal in it his principal arsenal and mint. tians.

4

during the wars fought by Tipu Sultan who, however, strove

hard to restore

its

prosperity.

60 for

me.

I

unsheathed

it

and holding

it

in

I was praising it when people shouted that a bear was coming. I stood up and saw a very big bear heading towards

my hand

us. As soon as he came near me I struck him with my sword. With the very first strike I cut his throat and with the second his mouth which was cut into pieces and fell apart. Shortly afterwards came Muhammad Raza, a bear-leader, whom I had left,

while on the march, to kill bears. I enquired from him how many bears he had killed. The bear-leader, mentioned above, replied that he had killed four while one had wounded. In the escaped after being I woke meantime up since morning had already dawned. After taking breakfast I was to march to a distance of three miles for military exercises which I did. While the excursion was on, the bear-leader, mentioned above, came and informed me that he had killed two bears and flayed them while one had escaped "into his den after

receiving a

wound.

Dream XII

A MESSAGE FROM THE PROPHET

THROUGH HADRAT On

the

of the year the

Z

ar

month Haidari,

of the

2 1 st

Busd

1

accordance with

in

evaluation,

2

ALI

the

fortieth

year of the cycle, at the place where I had halted, on the farther side of the Tungabhadra, 3

had

I

as if

It appeared dream: to me was the Day of Judgement when

this

it

no one would be interested in anyone else. At that time a stranger of great strength and commanding stature with a bright face 1

From the Note on the Calendar names given to the fortieth year of are Dalw and Desa according to the abjad and

Corresponding to about it

would appear

the cycle

abtath evaluations,

would £ar

also

come

evaluation

786.

respectively

fication introduced at

2

1

that the

is

a

Busd seems

later stage.

to

40

the

(

same

=

to

be a modi-

Busd, according to abtath 2; (j» as

=

30; ^

=

8).

abtath evaluation, see

Note on the Calendar. 3

A

river of

Southern India, chief tributary

formed by the twin the Western Ghats.

rivers

of the

Krishna,

Tunga and Bhadra which run

in

62

and red beard and moustaches came to me and taking my hand in his, said to me 'Do you know who I am?' I told him I did not. He then said to me, "I am Murtaza Ali and the Messenger of God has said and is still repeating it that he would not set his foot in paradise without you and would wait for you and enter the paradise with you." I felt so happy and woke up. God is all powerful, and the Messenger is the :

intercessor. This suffices.

Dream XIII

A WOMAN IN MAN'S DRESS Prior

to

Marhattas

the at

attack

night

Shahnur

by

upon the

the

side

of

month KhusBusd, I had a dream: rawi, of the year It seemed to me as if a handsome young man, a stranger, came and sat down near me. I passed certain remarks in the manner on the 6th of the

Devgiri,

in

which one might,

talk to a is

not

course

woman.

my

I

custom

with

in

a playful mood,

then said to myself: "It to enter into playful

anyone."

Shortly

dis-

thereafter,

and walking a few paces, returned to loosen his hair from beneath his turban, and opening the fastenings of his robe, displayed his bosom, and I saw it was a woman." I immediately the youth rose,

and seated her and said to her: "Whereas formerly I had only guessed you were a woman, and I had cut jokes with you, called

64 it

is

now

definite that

you

man.

My

come

are a

woman

conjecture has true." In. the midst of this conver-

in the dress of a

morning dawned, and I woke up. I conveyed the contents of the dream to other people and interpreted it thus: That please God those Marhattas have put on the clothes of men, but in fact will

sation the

prove to be women. By the favour of God and the aid of His Messenger, on the 8th of the month and the year above mentioned,

on the morning of Saturday, I made a surprise attack upon the army of the unbelievers. Advancing with two or three hundred men, I myself penetrated the camp of the unbelievers, crushing them as I went, as far as the tent of

and they 1

all

Hari Pant

fled like

Pharkiah,

1

women.

general who fought against Tipu Sultan in the war which the latter waged against the Mar-

Well known

hattas

and

opponents.

Marhatta

the

Nizam and

Tipu

in

which he

Sultan's success

inflicted defeats

on the

battlefield

on

his

was not

terms of the peace treaty, since he was reflected in the keen on winning over the Marhattas to his side for the conflict which he envisaged with the English owing to the military preparations

and diplomatic moves of Lord Wellesley.

Dream XIV

DESTROYING THE ENEMY On the 8th of the month Ja'fari, of

the

year Shata, 12 18, from the birth of Muhammad, at Patan, the Capital, in the Darya Bagh, I had a dream: It seemed to me as a battle had taken place near with the Nazarenes and all the if

wood army of a

had dispersed and fled, and the favour of God the army of the Sarkar-i-

the Nazarenes

by Ahmadi had been victorious. The officer of the unbelievers, with a few Nazarenes, retreated into a large house and closed

I asked my people as to what be done. They advised me to break open the door, in order that the house which was ornamented might suffer no I said to them that the house was damage.

the door.

was

built fore

to

of bricks

we should

and mortar, and thereset fire and burn down

the gate and destroy all the Nazarenes within with our muskets. At this juncture

the morning the favour of

dawned

God

it

and shall

I

awoke.

thus

By

happen.

Dream

XV

THE KNIFE On

the 24th of the month Wasii of the year Dalw, 12 12 A.H., at Devgiri, I had

saw a

a dream:

I

glittering.

Its

very

knife,

handle was

fine

and

of

fish-

made

tooth at the edge of which was set a cornelian.

Holding

and offered it robe of honour

it

in

my

hand, I praised with a sheet of cloth as a it

to

the

famous

saint

of

Mir Mu'inuddin Bangalore, said that it was an excellent knife and he would purchase it from Suti Sahib and Sahib.

Suti

bind (to

it

Mir

him a

to

his

handkerchief.

And

I

said

Mu'inuddin) that I would give handle of sword made of jasper.

In the meantime

I

rose.

It

was morning.

Dream XVI

THE FLOWERS On

month

the 23rd of the

Ja'fari,

on

Thursday, at Hartala on the far side of

Panchanguda,

war with the

while

intending

to

irreligious Nazarenes,

go I

to

had

seemed to me as if I was sitting in the ante-chamber and people were saying that snow and a cold wave were coming like solidified clouds and people a dream:

will

It

of the cold wave.

die

would show mercy. cloud appeared,

I

a

I killed it.

saw a

tiger

chamber there was

the

On

coming outside got hold of chase I shot the

running away.

a gun and after a tiger dead. Then

God

the cold bringing also went into the inner

Inside

I

said

When

chamber. snake.

I

little

I

clouds approaching and

I

noticed I

the

same

watched them

standing. It seemed to be raining and along with rain seemed to fall double jasmine

68 flowers of big size wild flower buds. to

God who

has

and many other smaller

And

I

said,

favoured

us

"Praise be

with such

and continues to favour us with them". I was in this state of happiness when I woke up and morning dawned. beautiful flowers

May God

grant his

favours!

Dream XVII

THE STRANGE COW On

the 7th of the

Shadab,

year

Muhammad, abad

from

1217,

while

preceding entrenchments of ,

the

attack

"O

of

Salamthe

upon

Rama

the Maghrib Prayers, I these terms: God,

the

birth at

encamped

the

1

month Ja'fari, of

2

after Nayar, invoked God in

in

the

the

hills

unbelievers of the land of the

forbidden fasting all

to

enemy have and prayer; convert them

Islam, so that the religion

Messenger

may

gain in

of

Thy

strength." In the towards the morn-

course of the night, and ing I had a dream: It appeared to me that after traversing the forests and high

Ahmadi Sarkar had encamped. On the way and near the place of encampment I saw a cow with its calf, hills

1

2

the

army of

the

New name of Satyamangalam. See Rama Nayar was one of the revolts

against

note under

Dream IV.

organizers of the

Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan.

Malabar

70 semblance

in

like

a

big

striped

countenance, teeth, etc., those of a tiger; its forelegs were of a cow; its

tiger;

looked

its

had no hinder

it

forelegs were in

like

like those

at

legs

all;

motion; and

slight

it

was causing injury to the best of its ability. Having closely examined it, I reached the camp and directed several persons to prepare themselves I said to

near I

with I

them: "God

cow which

this

shall its

and

with

willing,

looks

my own hand

calf into pieces."

reviewed

my

like

cut

a tiger, it

along

said that,

stud and gave

orders for two grey horses

At and

on arriving

Having

household

saddled and brought.

me.

accompany

be quickly

to

this

moment

the

I woke up. morning appeared At that very moment, the following interpretation of the dream suggested itself to my mind: that the Nazarenes of the

hills

the

are like the

appearance

favour of

cow with

of

tigers;

God and through

its

calf with

and by the

the felicity and

aid of the Prophet, the place mentioned will

71

be reduced with ease and gious

Nazarenes

motion

mean

will

be

of the forelegs

all

slain. I

the

irreli-

The

slight

interpreted

to

they would make an attempt to wage war, and the absence of hinderlegs indicated that no one would afford them any help and that no Muslim would receive

that

any injury at their hands. the aid of God, be it so.

Through

Dream XVIII

THE EMERALDS AND Dream XIX

THE COLLAPSE OF THE GATE grace of God, in the month Bahari, of the year Shad, 1223, from the birth of Muhammad, between the 9th

By

and

the

a

had two dreams: In the course of the first dream horseman coming and handing

to

me

and

15th,

a

I

saw

I

over

few emeralds of superior quality

exquisite

colour and

unequalled

in

indeed as large as oranges. I, thereupon, said that we in our State had no

size,

and it was all due to God's grace that He had bestowed such emeralds on us. It was dawn, and I woke emerald of

this size

up.

The

other

dream

is

as follows:

the tower at the gate of the

Around

temple,

the

73 unbelievers

had

tied rods of

wood

at great

heights for the purpose of illumination and had fixed lights on them. In a moment

the lights went out and the rods

fell

and the

gate collapsed. There was such a crash that all the buildings shook and this servant of

God what

also

came out of

the

building somecome out

disturbed. I asked people to

of their houses quickly and enquire about the people who were residing in the manyhouses that were situated so close to the the temple. People went and brought news that the gate had collapsed but the

people living in the neighbourhood were all safe. In the meantime morning dawned

and

I

woke up.

XX

Dream

DREAM XX THE THIEF :

On the 29th of the month Ja'fari, of the year Shad, 1223, from the birth of Muhammad, corresponding to the 28th of Muharram, on Thursday, early in the morning, I had a dream: It seemed as if

had

morning prayers with a large congregation after which all of us had remained seated. Sayyid Ali Qazi and Abdur Rahman Maulvi proposed to the gathering to have a three-lettered Khatm} > in the same sitting, for, according to them, there was I

said

my

great virtue attached to

They

proposal.

should 1

It

may

accepted the

the

recital.

I

be stated on the authority of a knowledgeable Sufi of

Karachi that ed (^J >&

.

pate.

in

participate

I

it.

one hundred people

said

Ji.^)

great

virtue

is

attached

Khatm in which up

"Muiz" \j***)

is

beginning with the letter

to

the

to 117 persons

three-letter-

can

partici-

the three-lettered attribute of God,

M (p) with which the Khatm

starts.

75 expressed

them

my

that

I

willingness to join but

I

told

could not remain seated for

long hours and, therefore, a hundred persons should be chosen excluding myself though

would

I

associate

also

They chose

the

persons

myself

with

it.

accordingly and 'M\ When the

began with the letter Khatm commenced I found myself among the participants. Apart from those persons

who were

taking part in the Khatm, others were seated on one side and were taking

When

was going for my prayers along with other men and had crossed the culvert, I came across a black and bulky food.

I

Marhatta with an empty tray in his hand. As soon as I saw him, I drew out my dagger and asked him who he was. me that he was Dhonduji's 1

He

told

servant

and house-steward and that he had brought As he entreated gold and silver for me.

me

to

accept the present and generously

distribute 1

it

to

whomsoever

Dhondu Pant Gokhale, a Marhatta

chief.

I

liked,

I

76 asked him

my

to

Ghulam

Ali

2

I

which,

conclusion

the

had

I

till

He was

talk to him.

on

wait

prayers after

said,

thus

of

finished I

would

sitting

the

came and submitted

when

prayers, that this

particular person was an intruder who had entered his house. I asked him to be care-

man seemed

ful for this

to

who might run away with I

be a great thief his horse.

And

asked the unbeliever to surrender the

had brought to the Sarkar-iKhudadad and I made him understand that if I freed a person like him many people would be ruined. In the meantime rain came in torrents and I woke up. things

2

he

Perhaps Ghulam Ali Khan is meant who was one of the ambassadors despatched by Tipu Sultan to the Sultan of*

Turkey in

1

786.

Dream XXI

THE NIZAM'S REPRESENTATIVE On

25th of the

the

month Rabbani,

of the year Rasikh, 1222, from the birth of Muhammad, when four watches of day

saw that the Diwan of Nizam Ali Khan had arrived. As to his appearance, he had no teeth in the mouth and he had dyed his hair. He was The servant of God seeking help from me. said to him, "All right, you settle down! Let me consult my advisers, after which you will have my reply." After speaking remained,

to

him

I

had a dream:

in this

manner,

I

I

sent -him outside

the fort for being put up and said to myself that one should console such people in conversation.

The

Poonaite

to seek assistance

first

turn

1

and now

it

was the was the

of those

people to seek assistance. But one could not depend on their word.

At 1

this

Pconawala

juncture is

I

woke up.

the term used by which

is

meant the Peshwa.

Dream XXII

THE EXTRAORDINARY IDOLS On

the 8th of the

month

Zakiri,

on the

night of Tuesday, the following day being Wednesday, of the year Hirasat, 1224, from the birth of Muhammad, corresponding the

to

7th

morning,

I

of

had

Jamadi-ul-thani, the following

the

in

dream:

There seemed to be a big temple, the back portion of which was slightly damaged. It

contained several large idols. I went into temple along with a few other men

the

and noticed that the idols were seeing like human beings and their eyes were in motion. I was surprised to see the eyes of the idols moving like those of the ing and wondered

what could

Then I approached them. row there were two female these two,

wixt

her

it

liv-

be due

In idols.

the

to.

last

One

of

drawing out her sari from bettwo knees, stated that both

79 of them were the

women

while

the

rest

of

were the images of men and objects. She added that they had

idols

other

been praying to God

for a long time

everyone ought to nourish oneself.

"That

and

I said to

fine, do keep yourself occuwith the remembrance of God." Havpied ing said that I ordered my men to repair the

her,

dilapidated

woke up.

is

building.

In the meantime

I

Dream XXIII

THE MANGO GROVE On

the

1

2 th of the

month

Ja'fari of the

year Hirasat, 224, from the birth of Muhammad, on Monday, early in the morning, 1

I

had a dream:

servant of

God

went

It

seemed

to

me

as if this

Almighty, riding an elea mango grove and

into

phant, noticed a large

number of clusters of mangoes on the trees. Each mango, a cubit in so big in size. Some of the length, was mangoes were round and

these

were

as

large as cocoa-nuts. I was very pleased to see these mangoes and plucking many of them from the trees, I put them in front of me, in the canopied litter of the elephant. I was still having a ride in the grove when I woke up.

Dream XXIV

FRENCH TROOPS On the

the

year

1

2 th

of the

Hirasat,

month

1224,

Bahari, of from the birth

Muhammad, on the night of Thursday, and the following day Friday, being

of

towards the morning, this servant of God had a dream: It was represented to me that a Frenchman of standing had arrived.

and he came. When the Frenchman came, I was absorbed in some business. But as he approached the throne I noticed him and I rose and embraced him. I asked him to take a seat and inI

sent for him,

The Christian quired after his health. "I have then said: come with ten thousand Franks to serve the Sarkar-i-Khudadad I

have disembarked them

They I, 1

are

well-built,

thereupon, said to

See note under DreemVII.

all

on the

l

and

shore.

and young." him, "That is fine. stout

82

Here too and the

the equipment for war is ready of Islam are eager, in

followers

numbers,

large this

all

moment

awoke.

to

the

Jihad" At morning came and I prosecute

Dream

XXV

THE NIZAM'S MINISTER On the

year

month

14th of the

the

Hirasat,

1224,

Bahari, of from the birth

Muhammad, on the night of Saturday, I saw Asad Ali Khan 1 had a dream: come to me. He submitted that he had

of

1

come

after

Kuddapah

the

conquering

He

2 .

offered his

four thousand horsemen,

have him.

I

the offer but,

indicated in

if

my

territory

of

services with

only

I

would

acceptance of

addition to the service

of four thousand, I asked for an yearly In the meantime morning came present.

and

I

awoke.

Asad Ali Khan, a Minister of the Nizam, sent to Tipu Sultan in 786 to dissuade him from attacking Adoni. Later he led an army against Tipu Sultan in 1795. Nishan-i-Haidari, p. 302 and Mackenzie, A Sketch of the War with Tippoo Sultan

1

1

Vol. 2

A

II,

p.

66.

Madras. In the time of Tipu Sultan it was After 1799 it formed a part of the Nizam's Dominions for a short while and then , in 1800, passed into the hands of the East India Company. district

in

included in his State.

Dream XXVI

THE EXPULSION OF THE ENGLISH On

the 3rd of the month Razi, corresponding to the 1 st of the month of Sha'ban,

Muhammad, on 1224, from the birth of Monday, the night of Tuesday, at the the metropolis, in the early hours of had a dream: Raghunath Rao, who had been Marhatta agent, before, appeared before me and said,

morning, the to

me

1

I

"The English have defeat in Europe

suffered

a

of leaving Bengal

voluntarily."

ing his statement,

I

I

will

if

God

crushing

and are now on the verge said,

On

"That

is

hearfine,

despatch troops as well as money; wills, the Nazarenes shall be expelled

from India." 1

Rao Patwardhan who on is Raghunath numerous occasions had dealings with Tipu Sultan both as a soldier and a diplomat.

Perhaps meant

Dream XXVII

THE HAJJ On

the 29th of the ponding to the 27th

from the birth of

month Razi,

corres-

of Sha'bariy

Muhammad,

had gone

at

1224,

Tanand

jangor where had ordered the construction of a fort to I

for shikar

be named Ilahabad, early in the morning, I had a dream: It seemed I had gone for

When

was entering the sanctuary Ka'bah, a respectable and distinguished gentleman from among the Arabs came and took me into the Ka'bah and in-

Hajj.

I

of the

dicated to I

me how

followed

his

I should offer my prayers. instructions in saying

my

prayers. Then he asked me to kiss the Black Stone. The Black Stone was affixed to a big

square towards the lower side of the wall. I felt very happy at the time of kissing the

Stone and

with the greatest reverence. Inside the sanctuary where there was not I

did

it

86

much room,

man there

said

there was a box.

The

gentlethat the turban which was kept

had been conferred on me by God

and he asked me to grasp it. He then took out the turban from the box and handed it over to me. I seized one end of the turban and he seized the other and together we unfolded it and found it laid with gold. It was an exquisite piece of craftsmanhaving a look at it, I refolded care and put it in the box with the turban and carried it with me. Then I came out.

ship. After

The venerable

gentleman told

there was an idol at I

to insult

and

ought throw stones.

In

instructions

threw

I

me

some distance which at which I ought to

accordance stones

with at

it.

proceeded to visit certain shrines. meantime I awoke.

I

that

his

Then In the

Dream XXVIII

THE FRESH DATES At the capital, on the night of Sunday, the following morning being Monday, the 2nd of the month Zakiri, of the year Saz, 1225,

from

the

birth

of

Muhammad,

the

Jamadi-ul 3rd corresponding thani, I had a dream: It seemed to me as if three silver trays of fresh dates known to

as rath

were brought and placed before me.

The dates were each of the size of They were fresh and full of juice.

a span. It

was

reported to me that they had been reared in the garden. At that moment I awoke and found it was morning. This servant of God interpreted the dream as follows: That by the grace of merciful God the

dominions and homes of all the three Kafirs shall fall into his hands.

On

1

the 3rd of the arrived that

month mentioned above news Nizam Ali was dead. I

Among

the three

Kafirs

are

obviously included

not only the

and the Marhattas but the Nizam! In the eyes of Tipu Sultan he who sided with the Kafirs was a Kafir. British

Dream XXIX

A BATTLE WITH THE ENGLISH On the

the 28th of the

year

Saz,

Muhammad, of

1225,

month

from

the to

corresponding

of

birth

of

26th

the

A. H., at the

12 12

Jamadi-ul-thani,

Zakiri,

metropolis, on Wednesday, I had a dream: It seemed as if a battle had taken place between the Sarkar-i-Khudadad and the Nazarenes. This servant of God was standing on a hillock and the troops had simil

larly

taken their position upon

them were

asking

off their guns

Most High

for permission

1

I

All of to

let

and were saying: "If God the

wills,

we

shall

Nazarenes from India". while

it.

woke up.

See note under dream VII

In

turn out the the

mean-

XXX

Dream

IN

THE ASSEMBLY OF SAINTS

On

the 2 1 st of the

month

Zakiri, of the

year Saz, 1225, from the birth of Muhammad, corresponding to the 19th of Jama di12 12

ul-thani,

A. H., on Saturday, at had a dream: It seemed

the metropolis, I as if this servant of

assembly

of saints

God had gone to an where he saw about

fifty to sixty saints sitting.

They

me

I

with

a

Shah Sahib

He

saints.

before him.

gun.

I

Salam-'alaik. 1

also

called

He

replied:

whoever may

asked

I

me

"Sir,

possess a

I

greeted

saw 'Ataullah

among

sitting

me.

all

went and

the sat

to get hold of a

am

a

soldier;

gun or any other

arms, these are mine. I shall be the first to seize a gun". In the meantime I woke up.

1

A

divine

contemporary

of

Tipu Sultan.

Dream XXXI

THE GIFT OF THE TURBANS On

the 25th of the month Rahmani, on Friday, the night of Saturday, 1225, from the birth of Muhammad, in the

hours I

of the

morning,

saw Hadrat

ger of Allah

towing on

I

had a dream:

Muhammad,

the

Messen-

(peace be upon him,) besa green turban and asking me

me

on my head. I did it accordingly. Then Hadrat Bandah-nawaz bestowed a turban and asked me to put it on my head to bind

it

1

which

wed

Then Hadrat Ahmad 2 bestoa turban and I bound it on my I did.

On

the top of the mountain there was an excellent fort. I was having a look

head.

at

it

when

woke up.

I

of the dream

our 1

1

See It is

note

seven under

not clear

who

that

have

Prophet

of the

is

My

conferred

climes

interpretation

God Almighty and upon

the

empire

me.

Dream VIII. is

meant,

may

be

it is

Mujaddid-i-Alf-i-Thani,

Dream XXXII

THE BRIDGE OF ELEPHANTS On

the

1

2th

of the

month Ahmadi,

of the year Shadab, 1226, from the birth of Muhammad, on the night of Thursday,

had a dream. The troops seemed to be stationed by the side of the river. This servant of the High was on horseback. He saw that the river was in spate and I

he issued instructions that

the elephants made to stand all

brought and river, one adjacent to the other, thus forming a bridge. He then asked the

should be in

the

troops to cross the river the backs of the elephants

by passing over and under their

The whole army actually protection. In the crossed the river in this manner. meanwhile

I

woke up.

Dream XXXIII

ALMONDS AND STONES On

Shadab, mad, on

month

Dini, of the year 1226, from the birth of Muham-

the

i

st

of the

when

Thursday,

watches

four

of the day were yet to go, while in the metropolis, I had a dream I seemed to be recit:

ing the names of

which

God on almonds among

had

mixed 'salgram' stones, an object of worship by the salgram being unbelievers. My motive in doing so was that like their idols who were embracing Islam, the unbelievers also would enter the

I

of

fold

1

Islam.

On

recitation, I stated that all

unbelievers I

ordered the

replaced 1

had

A

concluding

embraced

Islam

stones to be picked out

by almonds.

my

the idols of the

My

and

and

interpretation

rounded by the action of water representing Vishnu who is said to have been turned to stone by a curse. It is found in the beds of the rivers Narbada small flinty stone

and Gandak.

93

by the grace of God all unbelievers would embrace Islam and the country would pass into the hands of the Sarkar-iis

that

Khudadad.

Dream XXXIV

SHAIKH

OF SHIRAZ

SA'DI

On

the 13th of the month Khusrawi, on Monday, in the year 1226, from the birth of Muhammad, corresponding to the 1 1 th

of Jamadi-ul-awwaU 12 13 A. H., on the fourteenth night of the moon, the following day being Tuesday, in the early hours of the morning, I had a dream: I saw

Hadrat Sa'di

Shirazi.

of the aforesaid

The

1

appearance was somewhat like this:

he was big-bodied with a large head and a long and white beard. I most respectfully offered

him a

seat.

He seemed

to

be very

pleased. enquired from him what countries he had visited. "Hindustan, 2 Arcot, 3 I

1

Shaikh

Muslihuddin

Sa'di

of Shiraz; famous Persian

poet

and

writer; b. 1184; the date of his death is uncertain but he is said to have lived for about 100 years. His best known works are Gulistan and Bustan. In poetry he is sup.

2

3

posed to be the master of ghazal. Northern India. At present an inland district on the eastern side of the State of Madras. In Muslim times there was a Subah of Arcot.

95 the the

Abdun Nabi Khan, 2

of

country country

1

and Then he his reply. was Konkon" recited several verses and couplets and after going round the palace he took a seat. In the meantime I woke up, since the morning had already dawned. of

Kalopant

3

1

Abdun Nabi Khan had carved self

sometime during the

out a

first

principality for

quarter

of

him-

the eighteenth

century centring in the district of Kuddapah. He brought certain adjacent areas such as Salem and Goimbatore under his 2

sway.

Abdun Nabi Khan

was the

Kalopant

all

died

about

1

730.

powerful Minister of Venkat Rao,

as such, the real ruler of

Nargund, a petty

state,

annexed by Tipu Sultan in 1785. Nargund

is,

and

which was at present,

a taluka in the Dharawar District of Bombay. 3

Konkan

is

the

name

applied to the tract of country below Bombay and the district of

the Western Ghats including

Thana, Kolaba, Ratanagiri and the as well as the islands of Janjira,

coast strip of

Goa,

etc.

Kanara,

Dream

XXXV

MAULANA JAMI AND Dream XXXVI

THE PLANTAIN FRUITS On

the 24th of the

month Taqi, of

the

year Shadab, on Friday, in the afternoon, at Haidarabad, I had a dream: It seemed

God had gone

as if this servant of

into a

garden in which there were several buildings.

The people

me

told

Maulana Jami went to the Maulana

that

1

was staying there. I and expressed my pleasure

at his arrival.

The Maulana

"I have

said to me.

come

meet you". I again repeated how nice and appropriate it was that he had come, to

1

Maulana Nuruddin

Abdur

Rahman Jami;

great

Persian

poet, often described as the last classic poet of Persia; b. 1414 in the district of

greatly influenced

Muhammad

Jam

in

the

Province of Herat;

by mystic thought; a

disciple

Kashghari, himself a disciple and

the famous sufi saint,

Bahauddin Naqshband.

d.

1492;

of Saduddin successor

of

97

and added, "In old times lived Maulana Sa'adi, and in our own God Almighty had produced Maulana Jami and sent him to us. I

shall

seek

his

that I took the

blessings".

Having

Maulana with me

to

said

my

residence.

That very night in the early hours of had another dream A young woman, putting on costly jewellery and clothes, came to me. She was carrying three big ripe plantain fruits of the size of large cucumbers. She handed the morning I and beautiful

over

and

the

fruits

:

to

this

servant

of God,

had never seen such plantain fruit. I ate one of them and found it extremely sweet and delicious. In the meanwhile I woke up. I said, I

Dream XXXVII

THE ARMIES OF THE UNBELIEVERS On

the

ioth of the

month Rahmani,

of the year Shadab, 1226, from the birth of Muhammad, corresponding to the 9th of the month of Shaban, 12 13 A. H., on the night of Wednesday, the following day metrobeing Wednesday, while at the polis,

I

had a dream.

armies of the

and

I

saw

unbelievers

taken

prisoner Sarkar-i-Khudadad. I

on also

one of the

being killed behalf of the said

that

news

informing me of the arrival of another army of the unbelie-

had

reached

vers

and

me

expressed

the

that

feeling

ought to be similarly destroyed.

I

started

accordingly in order to accomplish mission. In the meanwhile I woke it

was morning.

it

this

up;

99

SAYYID MUHAMMAD ASLAM'S DREAM Sayyid Muhammad Aslam, a

divine

sent a memorandum residing at Kolar to the Prince saying that in the month of 1

Rajab-al-Murajjab, the day being Thursday, he had received the following tidings the course of

(in

:

The Imam

red was sitting on a was also in attendance. Hadrat Shah Murtaza Kara-

world

of the

The faqir

floor.

a dream)

2

3

Suddenly 4 mallah-u-Wajhu arrived. seized Hadrat Ali's arm,

and asked him

The

Prophet

brought

him

mount

a piebald another rode horse. The Prophet himself one and fixed a naked sword on his shoul-

outside,

to

Thus the two departed. They had gone some distance when they saw hundreds of thousands of Nazarenes armed with

der.

guns. 1

2

A

Suddenly there was a loud thunder

district in

The

Prophet

the east of the State of Mysore.

of

Islam.

3

Sayyid

Muhammad Aslam

4

Hadrat

Ali.

himself.

100

from behind and

all

the Nazarenes took to

After covering about two miles I saw the party returning towards the metro-

their heels.

polis

highly

pleased.

Here

at

They stopped

Messanger of God, on whom be peace, was sitting on a prayer carpet and near him was a boy another

place.

five to six years old.

the

Many

leaders of

row

gions were present in a

reli-

like followers

congregational prayer. In the meanwhile Hadrat Murtaza Ali said (to the Messenger of Allah) pointing to the boy, that he in

was the Sultan. The Hadrat, thereupon, uttered the words "Daimun, Qaimun" " and Qaimun, Daimun "'. Hadrat AH, then asked the names of the Com2 inscribed to be panions of the Cave on his (the Sultan's) standard. After making an obeisance, I went out and saw all the seven Khwajas, clad in shreds and patches (the boy)

1

Literally It

may

tuation 2

the

words stand

for

"durable

and

perpetual".

be taken as a prayer for the durability and of

Tipu

Sultan's

perpe-

regime.

Ashab-i-Kahf or the Companions of the Cave whose history related in the eighteenth chapter of the Holy Quran.

is

101

Somone asked this servant as to going. who these dignitaries were and he replied that

dani

were:

these

Khawajah Yusuf Ham2

1

Bastami, Khawajah Bayazid Hasan Abul Khwajah Kharqani 4 Bahauddin and Naqshband Khwajah Mansur Maturidi. The Khwajah Abu 6 made an Shahinshah came. All then ,

3

,

5

obeisance and 1

Yusuf

left.

bin

Ayyub Hamdani; b. 1048; d. 1140 Marw; disciple of Shaikh Abu Ali Farindi Shaikh Abu Ishaq Shirazi. Used to meet Hadrat

Khawaja

A.C., buried at

and Ghauth-i-Azam frequently

2

3

at Baghdad. Bayazid Bastami's real name was Abu Yazid Taifur bin Isa bin Surushan; a famous Sufi saint who died in 875 or 878 A.C., buried at Bastam, a town in the Persian province of Khorasan.

Shaikh Abul Hasan Kharqani; a great Sufi;

was

was

his

real

name

Abul Hasan;

contemporary of is a long discourse on him by Shaikh Fariduddin Attar in his Tadhkiratul Awliya translated by R.A. Ali;

his

Kunniyat Bayazid Bastami; there

Nicholson, 4

band, b. 5

6.

1907.

bin Muhammad Bahauddin al-Bukhari of order founder of the Naqshbandi

Muhammad 1317;

d.

1389.

NashqSufiism,

(

Abu Mansur

Maturidi, the head of the Maturidi school of Muslim theology which is orthodox and Sunnite; contemporary of Ashari, the founder of another orthodox school; defended orthodox Islam by the same weapons of logical argument with which the Mutazalites attacked it; died in

Samarqand in 944 A.G. The "King of Kings," i.e. the Prophet

of Islam.

INDEX Abdun Nabi Khan, 95. Abdur Rahman Maulvi,

Bandanawaz 74.

(Gesu-daraz,)

49, 50, 5i, 9i.

Abjad, 21 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28,

Basalat Jang, 47.

Abtath, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 61.

Bayazid Bastami, Khwajah, 101

Abu

Mansur

8n,

101.

Bengal, 84.

Bibliotheque Nationale,

Royale,

Bibliotheque

Ahmad, Hadrat,

gn.

Maturidi,

Khwajah, 101. Abul Hasan Kharqani, Khwajah,

A,

Beatson,

Black

90.

Stone,

Ahmad Shah Bahmani, 49n

Bombay, 95

Ahmadi Sarkar Ahmadi)

British,

the,

Bust an,

94m

(see

Sarkar-i-

.

7.

7.

85.

n.

(See English, the)

Al-Aziz, the Fatimid, 19.

52m

Calicut,

Alexander, 55, 56. Ali, Hadrat, 12, 61, 62, 99, 100.

Ali

Raza Khan,

48.

War,

Anglo-Mysore

Cambridge History I I.

Castes

37n.

of India,

and

India,

Tribes

of

China, 52, 53, 54, 55.

Arcot, 37n, 94.

Chinese, the, 56.

Asad

Ali

Coimbatore, 4 m,

Khan,

Ashab-i-Kahf

9511.

Companions of the Cave,

83.

100.

100

Darya Bagh,

Ataullah Shah, 58

65.

Delhi, 39, 40.

at-Tai, 19.

Bahauddin

Southern

4m.

Arabs, the, 85.

Arkad, 45n.

vol

49m

Devgiri, 63, 66.

Naqshband,

101.

Bahawalpur, 45.

96n,

Dhonduji (Dhondu Pant

Go-

khale,) 75.

East India

Company,

8,

83m

.

104 English, the, (see also the zararenes) 6411, 84, 88.

Ernad, Ethe,

Na-

India, 19, 84, 88.

India Office Library,

7, 8.

5211.

Herman,

7,

8.

Hugh,

Inglis, 9.

Islahet-teqvim,

19.

Europe, 84, 84. Islam, 39, 47n, 92, 93.

Farrukhi,

52.

Firuz Shah Bahmani, 49n. Franks, the, 81.

Frenchman,

the,

Khan,

Jihad,

97.

82.

Junaid, Sayyid, 37.

Kalopant, 95.

Kanara, 95n.

49m 94m

Kaveri, 38.

Khamsa,

Ali, 36n, 59n,

55m

Khan, M.H., 49m

8.

7,

6gn.

Khayyam, Umar,

Haidar Sahib,

36.

Kirkpatrick,

Haidarabad,

96.

Kolaba,

95m

Haidarnagar,

59m

Konkan,

95.

Hajj, 85.

Krishna,

Hartala, 67.

Kuddapah,

Herat,

96,

95m

Ka'bah, 50, 85. 76.

Gulbarga,

Haidar

Maulana,

Janjira,

Goa, 95m

Habibullah,

49m

Jalaluddin Husaini,

Jami,

Ghaffar, Sayyid, 37.

Gulistan,

45.

81.

Gandak, 92m

Ali

dum,

Jam, 96m

Gesu-daraz, (see Bandanawaz)

Ghulam

Makh-

Jahanian Jahan-gasht,

52m

Ferokh,

96m

19.

W.,

the,

7,

8,

4m.

61.

83,

95m

Lashkar-i-Ahmadi,

47m

Mackenzie, 83m Madher Kerah,

41.

Hijrat, 18, 20.

Hindustan, 94. Hisab-i-Zar, 21, 61. History of Tipu Sultan,

Ilahabad, 85.

49m

Madinah-i-Munawvvarah, (See Medina).

Madras, 40m 4n, 52n, 83n,

94.n

105 Mahmud Banglori, 4 m. Makhdum Jahanian Jahan-

Ottoman Government,

45.

gasht,

Malabar, 4 in, 6911. Malik Shah, the Seljuq,

Panchanguda, 19.

Marhattas, the, 13, 35, 57, 59> 6 3> 64, 75, 84.

Medina,

Peshwa,

50.

18,

(See

the,

Serin-

gapatam).

90m

the Prophet,

Muhammad

Raza, 60.

Muinuddin, Mir,

66.

Bahauddin

Raghunath Rao,

Rama

84.

Nayar, 41, 69.

Ratnagiri, 95m Sa'di of Shiraz, 94, 97.

Sa'duddin

Muhammad

Kash-

4m.

Salem, 45n, 46,

95m

Salgram, 92.

the, 92n.

Saltanat-i-Khudadad, 76, 81, 88, 93,

Nargund, 95m

4m.

4m,

47n,

98.

Sarkar-i-Ahmadi, 47, 55, 65. Sarkar-i-Haidari,

59.

Nazarenes, 59, 65, 67, 70, 71, 84, 88, 99.

39^

83m

47, 48, 59,

64n, 77, 83, 87.

Nizam's Dominions,

4 m, Sayyid Ali Qazi, 74. 45".

Sal-

45m

Satyamangalam,

Sayyid the, 83n.

47n.

Sarkar-i-Khudadad, (See tanat-i-Khudadad. )

Sarwerayan,

Nishan-i-Haidari, 37n, the, 13,

48.

Salamabad, 41, 47, 49, 52.

Naqshband, (See Naqshband.)

Nizam,

39, 40,

Sahifa-i-Tipu Sultan,

59, 60.

Nazarabad,

Qutbuddin Khan,

ghari, 96n.

Mysore, 5gn.

Nayars,

Peshwa.)

(See

10, 50, 51.

12,

31, 4 1 * 4749. 52, 61,62, 65, 69, 70, 72, 74, 77> 80, 81, 83, 84, 85, 87, 90, 94, 99, 100, 101.

Narbada,

the, 77.

Poonaite,

Quran,

Mujaddid-i-Alf-i-Thani,

Muhammad

Nagar,

96m

Persia,

Pharkiah, Hari Pant, 64.

Metropolis,

20, 64, 78, 88,

19.

67.

Patan, (See Seringapatam.) 58,

18.

Mecca,

Nizami, 55. Northern India, (See Hindustan)

Jalaluddin

69n.

Bukhari,

106 Sayyid

Muhammad,

Sayyid

Muhammad

H> Select 7,

4911.

Aslam,

Thurston, 15,

of

Tipoo

Sultan,

14, 37,11, 3811,

7,

17, 20,

45n, 47n, 48n, 59n, 64n, 69n, 84n, 88n, 100.

41m

Seringapatam

7, 8, 9. 11, 13, 14,

21, 26 29, 31, 33, 35> 36n, 37 n > 38n, 39n,

99Letters

4m.

Tipu Sultan,

49n, 76n,

52n, 83n,

43, 57, 58, 65, 88, 92.

Tungabhadra,

Shahidpur, 38.

Shahnur, 63.

Shamsabad,

61.

Uchh, 45n. 35.

Umar Khayyam,

19.

Shimoga, 59.

Venkat Rao 95n.

Sikandarnamahy 55.

Vishnu, 92n.

Sindhia, 39. Sketch

of

Sultaun,

War

the

A,

with

Sultan of Turkey, the, Suti Sahib, 66.

Thana,

Tippoo

8311.

Wellesley, Marquis, 8, 64n.

West Pakistan, 45m 7611.

Western Ghats, 6 in, 95n.

Yusuf Hamdani, Khwajah, 9511.

Times

Press, Sadar, Karachi.

101,