Nuzhat al-Khawatir wa Bahjat al-Masami wa al-Nawazir = al-Ilam biman fi Tarikh al-Hind min al-Alam
- Author died
- 1341 AH
- Editions
- Dar Ibn Hazm
Nuzhat al-Khawatir wa Bahjat al-Masami wa al-Nawazir (The Promenade of Thoughts and Delight of Ears and Eyes), also published as al-I'lam bi-man fi Tarikh al-Hind min al-A'lam, is an eight-part biographical dictionary of Indian Muslim scholars, luminaries, and notables compiled in Arabic by Abd al-Hayy al-Hasani (d. 1341 AH / 1923 CE) .
Scope and Structure
The work is organized chronologically by Hijri centuries, spanning from the 1st century AH through the 14th century AH . The author restricted its scope specifically to the figures and literati of India, omitting other regions in order to gather records that had not previously been compiled in a single work . The first part covers scholars and notables from the 1st century through the 7th century AH, while subsequent parts treat individual centuries up to the eighth part, which is devoted to figures of the 14th century AH . Due to its comprehensive coverage of Indian Muslim figures across eight volumes, the author was nicknamed the "Ibn Khallikan of India" .
Completion and Publication
The author died while drafting the final, eighth volume, leaving it incomplete with 559 entries, around 350 of which contained gaps or concerned individuals who died after him . His son, Abu al-Hasan Ali al-Nadwi, undertook the task of finishing the volume, establishing death dates and biographical details through extensive correspondence, municipal archives, gravestone inscriptions, and consultations with descendants, leaving only around 130 individuals whose dates of death could not be retrieved .
The volume dedicated to the eighth century AH was published in 1350 AH by Da'irat al-Ma'arif in Hyderabad, corrected by Abd al-Rahman al-Mu'allimi under the authority of the author's son, Dr. Sayyid Abd al-Ali, to serve as a supplement to Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani's al-Durar al-Kaminah . Complete editions of the work were later issued by Da'irat al-Ma'arif al-Uthmaniyyah in Hyderabad (reviewed by Abu al-Hasan al-Nadwi in 1972 CE), Dar Arafat in India (1412 AH), and in Beirut by Dar Ibn Hazm in three large volumes under the title al-I'lam bi-man fi Tarikh al-Hind min al-A'lam (1420 AH) .
Answer updated