Sawānih-i-Deccan (''News of Deccan'') was a work was compiled by Munim Khan al-Hamdani al-Aurangabadi in 1197 A.H. ( 1782 A.D.). It is an unpublished manuscript in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and gives statistics of revenue accounts of the six subas of the

Deccan The large Deccan Plateau in southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by the ...

with a historical account of the

Asaf Jahis The Asaf Jahi was a Muslim dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Hyderabad. The family came to India in the late 17th century and became employees of the Mughal Empire. They were great patrons of Persian culture, language, and literature, the fami ...

or Nizams of

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

. Munim Khan was a military commander during the regime of

Asaf Jah II Mir Nizam Ali Khan Siddiqi, Asaf Jah II (7 March 1734 – 6 August 1803) was the 2nd Nizam of Hyderabad State in South India between 1762 and 1803. He was born on 7 March 1734 as fourth son to Asaf Jah I and Umda Begum. His official name is ''A ...

. This work gave more insight about the regime of Asaf Jahis between 1724 A.D. and 1783 A.D. It also describes the administrative divisions and revenue of the Mughal Deccan during the last years of Aurangzeb's regime. A detailed list of Sarkars, Mahals (Parganas) and Villages along with their revenue was mentioned. The two manuscript copies of this work are preserved in Hyderabad. First one is in Andhra Pradesh State Archives under manuscript number 22 and second one is in Oriental Manuscript Library and Research, Institute. Other resources to know about the administration divisions during the Mughal rule and early Nizam rule were ''Dastūr-al-amal-e-shāhanshāhi'' (1781) by Munshī Thākur Lāl, and ''Deh-be-dehi'' (c.1705) by Md. Shafīq.

References

18th-century Indian books History of India Indian manuscripts Persian-language literature Islamic illuminated manuscripts {{India-hist-stub

See Also

References