Māasiri ʿālamgīrī As A Historical Source

Abstract

This paper examines the Māʾāsir-i ʿĀlamgīrī, the major chronicle authored by Mirza Muḥammad Ṣāqī Mustaʿid Khān (d. 1136/1723–24), as a foundational source for the political, administrative, military, and cultural history of the Baburid Empire during the reign of Emperor Aurangzeb ʿĀlamgīr (r. 1658–1707). Although biographical data on Mustaʿid Khān is limited, references within his own work establish his close involvement in imperial administration as munshī, dīwān, and eventually scribe of Aurangzeb’s confidential decrees. These positions granted him direct access to official documentation and intimate knowledge of court dynamics, enhancing the reliability and depth of his account. Commissioned by the senior courtier Ināyatullāh Khān and completed in 1122/1710–11, the chronicle synthesizes four categories of sources: imperial decrees and court records, the author’s personal observations, contemporary testimonies, and (for the first decade of the reign) Muḥammad Kāẓim’s ʿĀlamgīrnāma. Structured annalistically, the Māʾāsir-i ʿĀlamgīrī offers exceptionally detailed insight into Baburid state formation. It documents provincial administration, the composition and command structure of the army, fiscal systems, judicial institutions, and the operations of numerous central and provincial offices. The chronicle’s accounts of military campaigns spanning Bengal, Assam, Bijapur, Golconda, Kabul, Ajmer, and other regions shed light on logistical challenges, local resistance, and environmental crises. It further illuminates Aurangzeb’s religious policies, the compilation of the Fatāwā-yi ʿĀlamgīrī, and the emperor’s personal conduct. Additional sections address cultural production, genealogical information, natural phenomena, and diplomatic relations with Bukhara, Balkh, Kashgar, Iran, and Arabian states. By integrating extensive documentary evidence with firsthand observation, the Māʾāsir-i ʿĀlamgīrī emerges as an indispensable source for reassessing the political and institutional history of the late Baburid Empire. This study highlights its historiographical significance and its value for understanding imperial governance during a transformative era.