Ayeen Akbery: Volume 2 Or, The Institutes of the Emperor Akber

Akbar the Great (1542–1605) is often regarded as the Mughal Empire's most accomplished ruler. This document on the workings of his empire was produced by Akbar's vizier, Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak (1551–1602). Between 1783 and 1786, the scholar Francis Gladwin (1744/5–1812) produced an English translation from the original Persian. Reissued here is the two-volume edition that appeared in 1800. As the work's dedicatee and Governor-General of Bengal, Warren Hastings had seen the translation as illuminating the Mughal Empire's 'original constitution' and believed it would educate and inform Britain's colonial administrators. Gladwin's text would not be superseded for many decades, and it testifies to the quality of his scholarship and the contemporary concerns of the East India Company. Volume 2 explores religion, science and philosophy, including details of proper dress, forbidden foods, festivals, and India's flora and fauna.

Introduction; Bengal; Bahar; Allahabad; Owdh; Agra; Malwah; Dandees; Berar; Gujerat; Ajmeer; Dehly; Lahoor; Multan; Tatah; Chasmeer, including Cabul; Of the Crouh, or Cose; Tukseem Jumma; Abulfazels' introduction on religious toleration; A description of Hindostan; Opinions concerning the creation; Astronomy; Of the deeps, or islands; Other divisions of the universe; General description of the earth; Of the earth's longitude; Of the earth's latitude; Tables of longitudes and latitudes; The extent of the inhabited earth; Numeration; The jehats, or quarters; Of the Hindoos; Of the languages of Hindostan; The birds and beasts of Hindostan; Weights and measures; The learning of the Hindoos; The science; The doctrine of Boodh; Nastick; The eighteen Beddya, or arts and sciences; The art of discovering crimes; The art of predicting future events; The names of some other arts; The art of writing with elegance; Music and dancing; The art of governing a kingdom; The administration of justice; The four Hindoo degrees of discipline; The worship of the deity; The incarnations of the deity; Unclean things; Purifications; Improper dress; Forbidden food; The ceremonies to be observed before meals; Fasts; Sins; Places dedicated to divine worship; Marriages; Dress; Jewels; Workmen; Ceremonies on the birth of a child; Festivals; Ceremonies with the dead; Meritorious kinds of suicide; Explanation of some Sanscrit words; List of subscribers.