Ancient Pakistan, Vol. XXII 125

A Persian Inscription from the Swat Valley: A Fresh Discovery ZarawarKhan

An important Persian inscription, engraved on a same institution and it was due to that friendly stone slab and fixed on the grave of Akhund relations that he, afterwards sent troops for Daulat Muhammad, lies in theold graveyard of their help when they were fighting against the Isalampur village about 7km to the south of infidels in the Madyan and Tirat villages of Saidu Sharif (district Swat). The first two lines Swat to avenge the murder of their father of the inscription contains a famous Persian Akhund Abdul Karim. Akhund Daulat couplet while the other two show name of the Muhammad spent a very simple life and was deceased personand the date of his demise. well versed in the Holy Qur' an and mysticism, while his brother Akhund Noor Muhammad Historicalbackground of Akhund Daulat becamefamous as a man of pen and sword.

Muhammad Genealogical table Akhund Dault Muhammad was the eldest son of The following table shows his descent from Akhund Abdul Karim (commonly Known as Hazrat Uthman, the third Caliph of Islam. KarimDad) and grandson of Akhund Darweza. Akhund Daulat Muhammad, son of Akhund Akhund is a Persian word signifying a tutor, a Karimdad, son of Akhund Darweza, son of preceptor or a religious teacher (Raverty, 1862: Akhund Gadai, son of Shaikh Sadi, son of Shah 227; Barikoti, 2010: 24; Stein, 2006 : 65 ). Darghan, son of MattaShah, son of Jiwan Shah, Therefore, it always comes as a prefix of the son of Akhund Jannati, son of Rahmat Balkhi, actual names of the learned successors of son of Akhund Himmat, son of Akhund Zuhab, AkhundDarweza. Akhund Abdul Karim was a son of Akhund Wahab, son of Zafar Shah great scholar, a poet and a religious teacher, Hirati, son of Musawir Shah, son of Akhund who had constructed a congregational mosque Mughira, son of Akhund Kibriya, son of Sayyid and a madrassa at Isalampur, where he used to Hasan, son of Sayyid Ahmad, son of Sharfuddin teach Islamic sciences. It was a hypostyle Farghana,son of Akhund Yamin, son of mosque, which is now recently renovated but Akhund Muhean, son of AkhundKamal, son of the existence of a big stone Shiva lingam Akhund Jalal, son of Jamaluddin Bokhari, son suggests that either the mosque is constructed of Ahmad Saghir, son of Sakhi Ahmad Kabir over a temple site, or the lingamis brought from Turkiya, son of Hazrat Muqirn, son of Abdul somewhere else (Pl.5). AKhund Abdul Karim Aziz Madani, son of Abdul Qadir, son of Abdur died while fighting against the infidels at the Rahman Madani, son of Hazrat Abban, son of Tirat village near Madyan (Swat) in A.H 1072/ Hazrat UthmanGhani (Ali, 2008:277). A.D 1661 (Rashid, 1988: 175 ; Ali, 2003 : 279 ) . Distributionof the hiredLand After the demise of their father Akhund Abdul According to traditions, Akhund Daulat karim, they distributed the hired land between Muhammad received his early education from themselves. Daulat Muhammad received the his father at Isalampur, and then went along area of Sapalbandai (correctly Saparbandai, i.e. with his brother, Akhund Noor Muhammad, to the village of thatched huts) (Rehman, 1993: 8). Delhi for further religious studies, and was While isalampur was given to Akhund Noor registered in the Dar-ul-illum of Hazrat Muhammad. The descendants of both the Binauri. How long he remained there? We brothers are known as Akhund Khel Miangan cannot say anything with certainty. It is also and are living in the above stated villages. said that the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir also remained their classmate at the AncientPakistan. Vol. XXII 126

Death of AkhundDaulat Muhammad N astaliq style on an elongated but horizontally placed largepanel and basbeen calligraphedin Akund Daulat Muhammad died in 1096 A.W A.D 1684, and was according his dark blue on a yellow ground.It may befound bmied to last in the gateway vestibule facing the will, in graveyardof isalampur. grave eastern the His is courtyard of the mosque 1975: 18; located about 40 metres to the west of Mian (Chagbatai, 1991:87; 1999:87). However,in NoorMuhammad's mausoleum. It is 5.Sm long, Khan, Misbah, comparison t.o former, the latter executed 73m wide and 0.25m high from the present the is 1. infaience mosaic. ground level. It is enclosed in semi dressed stonemasonry workall around (Pl.1). Thereare There are also some calligraphic differences two big olive trees, one on the head and the between these two inscriptions. For example, second on the feet side of the grave while a the word (....._ )isbeautifully executed in the third one bas grown in the middle, which is latter example while there is a break between deeplyroot.ed inside. the word c...-)and (.1.t) inthe former one and Inscriptionof thegrave the word ) is executed as {d>) with two additional dots in the latter one. Similarly, the The inscription is engraved on a stone slab words (�t..,....,t !>f) is also composed as measuring 83cm long, 44cm wide and 6cm in (Ow.I�.>.') in the Wazir Khan mosque. In the thickness (Pl.2). It is composed in Persian second line of the couplet the word language in the Nastaliq style (Pis. 3, 4). The (..Sla. ...S �is represented as (..Sla. ...S �) first two lines contain a famous Persian couplet in the latter one. The word (� uSJS) is in honour of Hazrat Mubammad(P.B.U.H), engravedas (i:....tl(.)S,t) in the former one. while the other two lines show the name of DaulatMuhammad, son of ShaikhAbdul Karim In the third line of former inscription, a word and the dateof his demise as 1096 [A.H]/ A.D (JIJ1..1) is engraved, which couldbe [Jl:wJI,] l,e 1684. lover and hence this meaning is applied in the Theinscription reads as follows: translation. There is yet another word (�4+), which is a clearindication to the �J/JJ ':' l)J/.(�JJ four companions of the Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H). 'Ibey were AbuBakkar, Umar, Jl//./i;�J11Ji;/L Uthman and Ali. /. � . Themost noteworthy points ofthe inscription J..:).uf ).!i�f t.:J.i.::.,.,-1 J 1k 1� I 1t:-{I aretwo fold: Firstly, besidesthe name of DaulatMubaroroad, it .recordsa secondname as I 0) 1�1},1i,,:z._(,.;, ShaikhAbdul Karim, who is commonlyknown as KarimDad,father of the deceased. person; Tramlation secondlyit providesthe dateof the death ofthe 1) Muhammad (P.B.U.H)of Arabiais the buriedperson in Persianas (�I.JlJ'J:I �). whi honowof both the worlds which is equivalentto one thousand andninety 2) Dustupon the head of one, who doesnot six of the Hijraera. considerhimself the dustof his threshold. 3) DaulatMuhammad, son of ShaikhAbdul As mentionedabove, the inscription is executed Karimis the [lover] of the fomcompanions of in Nastaliq style, therefore, mention may be Muhammad (P.B.U.H). made that the Nastaliq style came into 4) Onethousand and ninety six (1096 [A.JI]) existencewith combination ofNaskb and Taliq. As this style was created by the Persian The Persian couplet on the above inscription calligraphers, therefore, the Arabs still call it may also be notedin the Wazir Khan Mosque Kbatt-i-Farsi.However, this style could not gain (Lahore) (Pl 5), which is also comp<>Bed in Ancient Pakistan, Vol. XXII 127 that much popularity as it acquired in the Nastaliq represents artistic expression of the eastern countries. This is also true because this calligrapher (Rajput, 2004:71-72). was primarily used for the Persian language only.

Among all styles of the Arabic writing, Nastaliq is the most beautiful and attractive. Other styles of Arabic writing can hardly be comparedwith N astaliq in its beauty and perfection. The text of Ancient Pakistan, Vol. XXII 128

Bibliography

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Pl.1: The graveof Akhund Daulat Muhammad(General View)

Pl.2: close view of the head stone Inscription 130

Pl.3a: In scriptionbeti ore In.kin g

Pl.3b: In.Seription after In.kin g Ancient Pakistan, Vol. XXII 131

Pl.4: Inscription at the wazirkhan mosque

PI.5: Shive lingam in the Jami Masjid (LoeJumaat) at Isalampur