Elaborate Titles in 18th Century India

Elaborate Titles. Lane MS Z306.

This particular MS (Zafar Namah Shawkati, Lane Medical Library Z306(I)) is very beautiful; it was written in Nastaliq script and contains a variety of small and elegant decorations. It was copied by a single copyist and shows a calm and elegant hand.

The MS, titled ‘Zafar-Namah Shawkati’  (Lane Medical Library Z306)  was copied by a Muhy al-Din Pandui in honor of certain important British military figures.  It was written sometime at the turn of the 19th century in Calcutta, India. At the time Calcutta was a city from which the British extended their military and political presence in India. The (in) famous Lt. Col. James Achilles Kirkpatrick (1764-1805) makes an appearance as an honoree as well, along with General Sir Robert Abercromby of Airthrey (1740-1827). The Muslim Nawab Ghulam Muhammad Khan Bahadur of Rampur (1763-1828) is mentioned along with Abercromby.  The work recounts the military and political conquests of the British in some detail.

The image above contains a few elaborate titles bestowed upon Abercromby and the Nawab. Here I’d like to translate them and explain some terms in parenthesis:

“Chosen of the Descendants of the Household of Mustafa, (from) the Family of the Glorious Jewels (lit. necklaces and arches), The Light of the Eyes of the Hasanayn (i.e, al-Hasan and al-Husayn), Chief Rose of the Garden of Fatima, The Total Adornment of the Constellation of the Twelve (i.e, the Twelve Shi’i Imams), Exemplar of the Strength of the Hand of God (i.e, Ali), My Dear Elder Brother ٖFastened to My Heart, ??…there is little doubt that like Moses, (he) produced an illuminated hand from stories (?) of violence and conflict, Chief Rider of the Illustrious Army, (the) English, I mean (none other than)  Sir Robert Abercromby Bahadur (honorific) and Ghulam Muhammad Khan, the Ruler of Rampur”