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拍品专文
These two extraordinary documents represent a very rare example of civil Mughal administration and dispensation of imperial law. The first document, the mahzarnama, is a document of testimony of the crimes against Mulla Qutb al-Din, a respected Sunni theologian and teacher in Awadh, in April 1692 with dozens of endorsements by fellow members of the community and notarized by a qadi. This witness statement and testimony was presented to the Emperor Aurangzeb with no specific request other than recording the damages and harm suffered. We know that the mahzarnama was effective because of the second document, the firman of the Emperor Aurangzeb from 1693. The firman grants the sons of the martyred Mulla Qutb al-Din a residence known as the Haweli-i Farangi (European mansion) in Lucknow.
The Farangi Mahal mahzarnama has been described by Professor Francis Robinson as "one of the most dramatic Mughal documents I have ever encountered" (private correspondence with the former owner, London, 2017). Mulla Qutb al-Din lived and taught in the village of Sihali, Awadh. The family had moved there in the 14th century but in 1559 the Emperor Akbar issued the land to the family as a tax-free grant in a firman (that firman was sold in these Rooms, 24 October 2024, lot 139). Qutb al-Din's eldest son Mulla Asa'd was appointed a sadr (head of religious affairs) at Burhanpur by Aurangzeb (Iqbal Husain, 'Change within the Islamic Tradition of Learning: Firangi Mahal and the Dars-i Nizami', Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, vol. 63, 2002, pp. 439-446) and this proximity to the emperor and privileged landholding attracted jealousy from neighbouring landowners. The main body of text of the mahzarnama recounts how on 19th Rajab of the 35th Regnal year (6 April 1692) a group of men broke down the wall of the house and brutally murdered Qutb al-Din as well as some of his students and a local chaudhari (landlord) called Muhammad Asif. The house and 900 book library were burnt, and Qutb al-Din's body along with his son Nizam al-Din and the head of Muhammad Asif were carried away. After three or four days Nizam al-Din was released and allowed to return to Sihali with the body of his father which was buried eight days later.
Although most likely documented by an expert scribe, the mahzarnama is written in the first person by Nizam al-Din and his brothers Muhammad Saeed and Muhammad Riza. Before recounting the dramatic testimony the mahzarnama opens with Qur'an sura II, verse 283, which is an exhortation of the Islamic obligation of giving testimony and not to conceal evidence which would not have been lost on Aurangzeb. What makes the mahzarnama so fascinating is that in addition to the testimony of Qutb al-Din's sons the margins are filled with comments and attestations by numerous notables and religious officials accompanied by their seal impressions. Some notes simply remark that the main statement is true, whilst others give fuller accounts of the events. In the upper right-hand corner underneath two notes briefly listing the outrages committed, are the seal impressions of a certain Amanullah, a sadr, and a certain ‘Abd al-Rahman, ‘adherent of the light of the holy law’ (evidently another religious official).
In 1693 the sons of the murdered Maulana Qutb al-Din petitioned the Emperor Aurangezeb with the mahzarnama and its witness statements. The outcome of their petition is contained in the firman issued in July 1693 which grants the Haweli-i Farangi Mahal, the former residence of European traders, to the brothers Shaykh Muhammad and Muhammad Saeed. It forbids officials from interfering with the brothers' rights to the property or from demanding that the edict be removed. The reverse has a yaddasht (note) concerning the promulgation of the firman along with various seals of high officials from Aurangzeb 38th regnal year (1694-5) which include Fazil Khan, the Sadr al-Sudur (Chief of religious affairs) and the vizier Asad Khan.
The Haweli granted by Aurangzeb in Lucknow has become a famous Sunni Hanafi seminary of the name Firangi Mahal where the distinct Dars-i Nizami curriculum is taught (named after Mulla Nizam al-Din who devised it). Before the family settled in Sihali, the scholars of Firangi Mahal trace their lineage to 'Abdullah Ansari of Herat, and before him to the Companion of the Prophet Abu Ayyub al-Ansari. The Farangi Mahal gained national importance during the freedom struggle in the early 20th century during the time of Mawlana Abdul Bari Farangi Mahalli (1878-1926) who, as the head of the family, hosted many leading political names at his home in the Farangi Mahal including Nehru and Gandhi amongst others. His son, Mawlana Jamal Mian Farangi Mahalli (1919-2012), went on to join the All India Muslim League and became an MP in the UP assembly, a post he resigned from after partition.
In the early 1950s circumstances compelled Mawlana Jamal Mian to leave India, taking with him his most treasured manuscripts and books which he had inherited from his father, including these two documents. He first moved to East Pakistan and with the outbreak of war in 1971 relocated to Karachi. For a full history and discussion of the Firangi Mahal see Francis Robinson, The 'Ulama of Farangi Mahall and Islamic Culture in South Asia, London, 2001.
Imperial Mughal documents are rare. A firman of the Emperor Aurangzeb dated 1661-2 is in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington (S1996.32) and another dated 1702 was sold in these Rooms, 10 April 2014, lot 133. Surviving Mughal mahzarnamas are far rarer. One other, also from Aurangzeb's rule, is in the National Archives of India (no. 2703⁄63; see Chatterjee, "Mahzar-namas in the Mughal and British Empires: The Uses of an Indo-Islamic Legal Form", Comparative Studies in Society and History, 2016, pp. 379-406). However, this might be the only known Mughal mahzarnama with corresponding firman known.
The Farangi Mahal mahzarnama has been described by Professor Francis Robinson as "one of the most dramatic Mughal documents I have ever encountered" (private correspondence with the former owner, London, 2017). Mulla Qutb al-Din lived and taught in the village of Sihali, Awadh. The family had moved there in the 14th century but in 1559 the Emperor Akbar issued the land to the family as a tax-free grant in a firman (that firman was sold in these Rooms, 24 October 2024, lot 139). Qutb al-Din's eldest son Mulla Asa'd was appointed a sadr (head of religious affairs) at Burhanpur by Aurangzeb (Iqbal Husain, 'Change within the Islamic Tradition of Learning: Firangi Mahal and the Dars-i Nizami', Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, vol. 63, 2002, pp. 439-446) and this proximity to the emperor and privileged landholding attracted jealousy from neighbouring landowners. The main body of text of the mahzarnama recounts how on 19th Rajab of the 35th Regnal year (6 April 1692) a group of men broke down the wall of the house and brutally murdered Qutb al-Din as well as some of his students and a local chaudhari (landlord) called Muhammad Asif. The house and 900 book library were burnt, and Qutb al-Din's body along with his son Nizam al-Din and the head of Muhammad Asif were carried away. After three or four days Nizam al-Din was released and allowed to return to Sihali with the body of his father which was buried eight days later.
Although most likely documented by an expert scribe, the mahzarnama is written in the first person by Nizam al-Din and his brothers Muhammad Saeed and Muhammad Riza. Before recounting the dramatic testimony the mahzarnama opens with Qur'an sura II, verse 283, which is an exhortation of the Islamic obligation of giving testimony and not to conceal evidence which would not have been lost on Aurangzeb. What makes the mahzarnama so fascinating is that in addition to the testimony of Qutb al-Din's sons the margins are filled with comments and attestations by numerous notables and religious officials accompanied by their seal impressions. Some notes simply remark that the main statement is true, whilst others give fuller accounts of the events. In the upper right-hand corner underneath two notes briefly listing the outrages committed, are the seal impressions of a certain Amanullah, a sadr, and a certain ‘Abd al-Rahman, ‘adherent of the light of the holy law’ (evidently another religious official).
In 1693 the sons of the murdered Maulana Qutb al-Din petitioned the Emperor Aurangezeb with the mahzarnama and its witness statements. The outcome of their petition is contained in the firman issued in July 1693 which grants the Haweli-i Farangi Mahal, the former residence of European traders, to the brothers Shaykh Muhammad and Muhammad Saeed. It forbids officials from interfering with the brothers' rights to the property or from demanding that the edict be removed. The reverse has a yaddasht (note) concerning the promulgation of the firman along with various seals of high officials from Aurangzeb 38th regnal year (1694-5) which include Fazil Khan, the Sadr al-Sudur (Chief of religious affairs) and the vizier Asad Khan.
The Haweli granted by Aurangzeb in Lucknow has become a famous Sunni Hanafi seminary of the name Firangi Mahal where the distinct Dars-i Nizami curriculum is taught (named after Mulla Nizam al-Din who devised it). Before the family settled in Sihali, the scholars of Firangi Mahal trace their lineage to 'Abdullah Ansari of Herat, and before him to the Companion of the Prophet Abu Ayyub al-Ansari. The Farangi Mahal gained national importance during the freedom struggle in the early 20th century during the time of Mawlana Abdul Bari Farangi Mahalli (1878-1926) who, as the head of the family, hosted many leading political names at his home in the Farangi Mahal including Nehru and Gandhi amongst others. His son, Mawlana Jamal Mian Farangi Mahalli (1919-2012), went on to join the All India Muslim League and became an MP in the UP assembly, a post he resigned from after partition.
In the early 1950s circumstances compelled Mawlana Jamal Mian to leave India, taking with him his most treasured manuscripts and books which he had inherited from his father, including these two documents. He first moved to East Pakistan and with the outbreak of war in 1971 relocated to Karachi. For a full history and discussion of the Firangi Mahal see Francis Robinson, The 'Ulama of Farangi Mahall and Islamic Culture in South Asia, London, 2001.
Imperial Mughal documents are rare. A firman of the Emperor Aurangzeb dated 1661-2 is in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington (S1996.32) and another dated 1702 was sold in these Rooms, 10 April 2014, lot 133. Surviving Mughal mahzarnamas are far rarer. One other, also from Aurangzeb's rule, is in the National Archives of India (no. 2703⁄63; see Chatterjee, "Mahzar-namas in the Mughal and British Empires: The Uses of an Indo-Islamic Legal Form", Comparative Studies in Society and History, 2016, pp. 379-406). However, this might be the only known Mughal mahzarnama with corresponding firman known.