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The 'Shahjahannama', a history of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan's reign, was written by:
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Answer: Option B — Inayat Khan
Detailed Solution
The "Shahjahannama", a history of the reign of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, was written in Persian by Inayat Khan (Muhammad Tahir Ashna), an official at Shah Jahan's court.
About Inayat Khan:
- He was the son of Zafar Khan, a governor of Kashmir.
- He served as a librarian (in charge of the imperial library) and as an official under Shah Jahan.
- He was also a poet, writing under the pen name "Ashna".
About the Shahjahannama:
- It is a history of Shah Jahan's reign, from his accession (1628) to the end of his reign (1658).
- It is largely an abridged (shortened) version of the longer official histories of the reign, written by earlier court historians.
- It is written in a simpler style than the official histories, which made it popular.
- It describes the emperor's campaigns, buildings, court ceremonies and administration.
It was translated into English and published as "The Shah Jahan Nama of Inayat Khan" (edited by W. E. Begley and Z. A. Desai, 1990).
Histories of Shah Jahan's reign:
Several historians wrote about Shah Jahan's reign:
- An official history (the "Padshahnama") written by a pupil of Abul Fazl, covering the first twenty years of the reign.
- Muhammad Waris: continued the official history for the next ten years.
- Muhammad Salih Kamboh: wrote "Amal-i-Salih" (also called "Shahjahannama").
- Muhammad Amin Qazwini: wrote another "Padshahnama".
The Mughal chronicles (namas):
- NCERT notes that the chronicles commissioned by the Mughal emperors are an important source for studying the empire and its court.
- They were written to project a vision of an enlightened realm to all those who came under its umbrella.
- They were written in Persian, and many of them were illustrated by court painters.
- Examples: Akbarnama, Shahjahannama, Alamgirnama.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Mutamad Khan wrote about Jahangir's reign.
- ✗Khafi Khan wrote a general history, including Aurangzeb's reign.
- ✗Nizamuddin Ahmad wrote about Akbar's period.
Quick tip
Remember: Shahjahannama = Inayat Khan (abridged history of Shah Jahan's reign; pen name Ashna); Amal-i-Salih = Muhammad Salih Kamboh.
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Books & Authors — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Books & Authors, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers famous books and their authors, including ancient Indian texts, works of the freedom struggle, classic and modern literature, autobiographies of famous people, and recently published books by well-known personalities. Questions usually name a book and ask for its author, or the other way round. Ancient and historical books, such as Arthashastra (Kautilya), Indica (Megasthenes) and Gitanjali (Rabindranath Tagore), are tested most often. Autobiographies are another favourite, so learn titles such as 'My Experiments with Truth' (Mahatma Gandhi) and 'Wings of Fire' (A. P. J. Abdul Kalam). Practise the books and authors questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.