ʿEBRAT, Sayyed MOḤAMMAD-QĀSEM

 

ʿEBRAT, pen name of Sayyed MOḤAMMAD-QĀSEM, author of ʿEbrat-nāma, a history of the reigns of Awrangzēb’s successors, namely Bahādoršāh (d. 1124/1712), Jahāndāršāh (d. 1124/1713), and Farroḵ-sīar (d. 1131/1719), till the fall of the Sayyed Brothers (1135/1723). Very little is known about him. His father’s name was Sayyed Borhān-Allāh, who spent much of his life traveling in Deccan, Lucknow, and Multan. In 1130/1717-18 ʿEbrat left his native town Lahore for Delhi and entered the service of Amīr-al-Omarāʾ Ḥosayn-ʿAlī Khan as administrator of revenues and finance. He wrote his history at the request of his patron’s sons. ʿEbrat also wrote poetry and was interested mostly in composing chronograms. From a notebook (bayāż) left by him in his own handwriting it appears that he was still alive in 1171/1757-58 .

 

Bibliorgraphy:

Ẓ. Aḥmad, Pākistān mēṅ fārsī adab, 5 vols., III, Lahore, 1977, pp. 424-30.

Rieu, Persian Manuscripts, pp. 273-74, 939, 1008.

(Munibur Rahman)

Originally Published: December 15, 1997

Last Updated: December 8, 2011

This article is available in print.
Vol. VIII, Fasc. 1, 79-80