Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri

Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri is the autobiographical account of the Mughal Emperor jahangir (1605-1627 AD). It is variously called Tarikh-i-Salimxahi, Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri, Karnama-i- Jahangiri, Waqiat-i-Jahangiri and Jahangirnamah etc. The Memoirs of the first twelve years, when completed, was bound and presented to imperial officers, the first person to get a copy was Prince Khurram, the emperor's son (later emperor shahjahan). In the 17th year of the reign, when the emperor became ill and was growing weaker, the task of writing the Memoirs was entrusted to Mutamad Khan, a senior imperial officer (the latter himself wrote a book, Iqbalnama-i-Jahangiri, comprising the history of the Mughal emperors until the accession of Shahjahan). Mutamad Khan continued the book and brought it down to the 19th year of Jahangir's reign.

Various copies of the Tuzuk have been discovered in manuscript, among which there were forged copies also, in some copies there are interpolations. The Tuzuk, which was published by Syed Ahmed Khan at Gazipur and Aligarh, is considered to be the best preserved original text. This was also the copy that was published first. The Tuzuk has been rendered into English by more than one scholar, but the one rendered by Rogers and revised, edited and annotated by Beveridge is considered more acceptable to the scholars.

The Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri is the most important source book for the reconstruction of the history of the Mughal empire in the reign of Jahangir. Although Jahangir's father akbar prepared the scheme for conquering Bengal, the Mughal conquest of Bengal was completed in the reign of Jahangir and the credit is given to Subahdar islam khan chisti. So the Tuzuk is also a very important source for the history of the Mughal expansion in Bengal. It should, however, be mentioned that Jahangir put stress on those points of the history of Bengal in which he was very much concerned. Emphasis has been given to the circumstances that led to the death of his governor Qutbuddin Khan and the defeat of the Afghans under khwaja usman.

During the reign of Jahangir, more than half a dozen subahdars were sent from Delhi to rule Bengal and they fought many battles in Bengal, Kamrup and Assam, but these did not receive the attention of the emperor. From the time of Akbar, the Mughal aggression in Bengal was resisted by the Bhuiyans and among them those called bara-bhuiyans were very prominent. They were also suppressed by subahdar Islam Khan Chishti, who conquered Bhati. In the Tuzuk, there is no reference to Bhati or the Bara-Bhuiyans and their leaders. The names of Raja pratapaditya of Jessore, Ram Chandra of Bakla, Ananta Manikya of Bhulua, Raja Satrajit of Bhusna, Majlis Qutb of Fathabad, Bayazid Karrani of Sylhet and many other zamindars and Bhuiyans who submitted to the Mughals in Jahangir's reign, also do not appear in the Tuzuk. In the Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri, the emperor covered the whole Mughal empire of which Bengal was only a part (one of the 15 subah or provinces). But the Tuzuk is very important in fixing the chronology, particularly the dates of appointment, recall or dismissal of subahdars and other imperial officers. [Abdul Karim]

Bibliography SA Khan (ed), Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri, Aligarh, 1864; Beni Prasad, History of Jahangir, 5th edition, Allahabad, 1962; A Rogers and H Beveridge (tr), The Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri, 2nd edition, 1968; A Karim, History of Bengal, Mughal Period, I, Rajshahi, 1992.