The Tezkereh Al Vakiat,

Lord ellenborough's copy. Lord Ellenborough's copy of this scarce translation of the memoirs of Emperor Humayun (1508-1556), real name Nasir al-Din Muhammad, who ruled and restored the Mughal Empire which then covered Eastern Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Northern India, and Pakistan. Charles Stewart (1764–1837) in the preface argues the manuscript copy he translated this work from was the only one existing in England, which was itself a later copy of the work originally from the middle of the sixteenth century.

Persian author Aftabaji Jouher wrote this biographical sketch of the life and military exploits of Humayun heavily focusing on the deeds of his rivals including Sher Shah Suri, better known as Sher Khan, who defeated the Mughals and established his own Empire between 1540 and 1555. Sher Khan has subsequently been held up in Afghan history as one of the foremost leaders to emerge from Pashtun culture, while in India he considered a disruptor, albeit an admirable one, of the otherwise glorious Mughal Empire. He is, after all, the namesake of Rudyard Kipling's villainous tiger Shere Khan in The Jungle Book, having supposedly earned the moniker after killing a tiger or lion while in service of the Bihars.

Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough, (1790-1871), was a lifelong British Tory politician. He was four times President of the Board of Control, the government body that oversaw the East India Company, and also served as Governor-General of India between 1842 and 1844. In 1818 he inherited his father's title of 1st Baron of Ellenborough, giving him a seat in the House of Lords and kickstarting his lifelong political career. His title was improved to Earl following his Governor-Generalship in 1844, despite his two year tenure being controversial and forcing resounding defences from Peel and Wellington, the then leading figures of the Tory Party.

First edition; 4to (33 x 26 cm); engraved frontispiece, additional engraved dedication leaf indicating this as the copy printed for Lord Ellenborough, with his armorial bookplate and stamp to front pastedown, unopened, slight water staining to dedication; publisher's green cloth, paper label to spine worn, a little scuffed but a otherwise a very good copy; viii, 127, 4pp.