3 Review(s)

The manuscript source for this translation of the memoirs of the Mughal emperor Jahangir (1569-1627) is the spurious Tarikh-i-Salim Shahi, produced around three years after its subject's death. Serving the East India Company from 1781 as a soldier and, following injury, as a translator, agent and judge-advocate-general, David Price (1762-1835) studied Persian and collected many manuscripts. After leaving India in 1805, he devoted his time to scholarship as a member of the Royal Asiatic Society and the Oriental Translation Fund, which awarded him its gold medal in 1830. In this work, first published in 1829, Price notes throughout where the source is illegible, problematic or incongruous. The translation is carefully made and provides an account of the reign and character of Jahangir which corresponds in places to the authentic memoirs, although containing several factual inaccuracies. Despite this, it remains a colourful reflection of Mughal historiography.