---

 

 
Seyyed Mehdi Nouriyan, PH.D.
Jamshid Mazarheri (Soroushyar) , PH.D.
Alireza Shad Aram
Mehdi Famoori
 
Abstract
The literary-historical book entitled as “Taj-ol-Maasser”, is one of the oldest source books on the history of Ghoorian; whose author lived in the Indian governmental state of Ghooriyan. Taj-ol-Maasser, written in 602 A.H., possesses a high historical and literary significance. This book applies literary devices and figures of speech to a high extent, while its allusions to Arabic and Persian texts have made it a pioneering work in Persian literary prose style. The mentioned book has highly influenced the books appearing after it. Unfortunately, despite the exclusive features of Taj-ol-Maasser as a literary-historical book, it has not been published in Iran so far and there is not any independent research and study on this book and the author available either.
The authors of the present study have tried to survey the features of the mentioned book through an analytical and critical attitude, and offer a brief biography of the author; which has been expressed incompletely and disorganized in the available sources. Finally some of the questions regarding the unknown aspects of his life, such as religion and mysticism, are answered.
 

---

The importance or centrality of Persian histories (whether imperial, regional or universal) can be gauged from the deep reliance placed by British historians on them for their own understanding of India’s past. The examples are numerous: Dow, Erskine, Elliot and Dowson explored Persian sources for their writings. Stewart also based his History of Bengal mainly on Persian materials; Mill did not know Persian and so wrote his History of India from Persian sources translated into English. Marshman used published English translations of Persian texts in the compilation of his History of Bengal. Hunter also depended for his understanding of the insight into the history of Muslim rule in Bengal on Persian source materials translated for him into English. Elphinstone, Thomas, Wheeler, Keene, Blochmann and Berveridge were all good Persian scholars and used, in addition to Persian sources, coins, inscriptions and archaeological finding for their writings can be fitted with this group. The recent work of Kumkum Chatterjee alerts us to the twin activities of British scholars and historians: translating Persian histories, as well as writing new histories of India based on the already established Persian model. The former indicates a serious engagement of colonial scholars with older models of history writing (as the appreciation heaped on the A’in as a historical source in the preface to its published edition indicates); the latter proves the adage that imitation was indeed, in this context, a form of flattery, however unintended.