The Andhra Pradesh State Archives is a treasure house of Persian documents belonging to the 17th and 18th centuries and throwing light on Mughal administration in India. The largest collection of documents pertains to the reign of Aurangzeb. The archives has thus nearly twenty million Persian documents. These documents are of great value for the study of administrative, economic and social history of the entire Deccan, also including Tanjore, Trichonopally and Gingi areas in South India.
To make these valuable documents available to the scholars of medieval history of India the Government of Andhra Pradesh, have sanctioned a special scheme to catalogue Persian documents of Mughal and Asafia periods. The task of compiling the catalogues was entrusted to Dr. M.A. Nayeem, Research Officer and his team of officials and the work commenced in 1976.
These records are being brought out in two series riz., (1) Mughal Documents Series and (2) Asafia Documents Series, each in ten to twelve volumes, covering the period between 1658 and 1803 A.D.
The Mughal Document Series pertaining to about fifty years of Aurangzeb's reign have been classified into ten volumes, each covering a period of five regnal years. This volume which is being presented to the world of scholars is the first of the series. This volume (Vol.I) is also being issued in two parts-The first part comprises the transitional period of Aurangzeb's taking over of the Mughal Government and his first three regnal years. The second part covering the fourth and fifth regnal years and documents of hal-i-haril of the jagirs pertaining to the first five regnal years will be issued as Part II of Vol. I, separately.
Dr. Nayeem (ably assisted by Mr. Hamid Ali with his expert knowledge of deciphering the different Persian shikasta (cursive) script and by Mr. Dawood Ashraf, Archivist) has done a good job in compiling the volume as quickly as possible.
It is hoped that the scholars, interested in the Deccan history, will find this research publication useful.
For the true appreciation of any aspect of history nothing can be more reliable than the documentary evidence. Hence the present day listorians have come to recogaise the extreme importance of records and documents in reconstructing the history of the past. Thus, owing to the growing tendency to unearth original material from original documents and state archives sunk into dust of centuries, for the proper re-orientation of our history, it becomes at the same time a more urgent task to bring to light to the world of scholars the millions of unknown documents lying in heaps in the State Archives at Hyderabad.
With this objective, to introduce these treasurers to the world at large and to afford necessary facilities to the historians, a series of catalogues are envisaged by the Government of Andhra Pradesh. This is the first step in that direction by the scheme of Mughal Catalogues, specially constituted by the Government.
The Mughal documents hastily scribbled in the cursive and swift shikarta (broken script) style of Persian at the Andhra Pradesh State Archives number over ten lakhs and pertain to several Mughal rulers covering a period of more then hundred and fifty years.
**Contents and Sample Pages**
Hindu (887)
Agriculture (93)
Ancient (1022)
Archaeology (615)
Architecture (535)
Art & Culture (864)
Biography (598)
Buddhist (545)
Cookery (158)
Emperor & Queen (497)
Islam (235)
Jainism (274)
Literary (876)
Mahatma Gandhi (360)
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