60 A FOUNDATION FOR HISTORY
is ample evidence that the historians of the early thirteenth century,
Juzjani included, saw pedagogy and self-reflection as key functions for
their texts.
Thus we can place Chachnama in thirteenth-century citatioh prac-
tices that claim Arab descent for the sake of prestige. Chachnama's
dedication also fits it into a common courtly practice of narrating
regnal and regional histories in order to advise the political elite who
engaged in contemporary political struggles.
Let us now turn to 'Ali Kufi's Chachnama and examine its claim
of translation. We have already established that translation from Ar-
abic into Persian was common in early thirteenth-century Uch, as was
the invocation of Arab descent for nobility. In his preface, Kufi elabo-
rated on his decision to write a history as well as on how he acquired
the means to do it. In 1216, at the age of fifty-eight, Kufi explained that
he gave up all other concerns and decided to create "a book of excep-
tional beauty and grace" which would provide a guide so that the "slaves
of the Prophet's world" would remain on the "throne of the kingdom,
and their sultanate [would] remain strong." Kufi's aim for the text was
indeed pedagogical:
For every age, the wise leave a writing meant to inspire and educate
their peers and elders. Such are the v1:rses and prose that writers have
left documenting the conquest of Khurasan, Iraq, Iran, Rome, and
Syria. The conquest of Hindustan happened at the hands of Mu-
hammad bin Qasim, and the Arab nobles of Syria and Islam were re-
vealed in this environ, and from the ocean to the limit of Kashmir
and Kanuaj they built mosques and removed Rai Dahar bin Chach bin
Sila'ij from the throne of Aror, and the' great commander Muhammad
bin Qasim killed him [Dahar]. I wished to write a history that would
detail the conditions of this region and it&people and [Qasim's] end.^29Kufi began to look for sources to write this history of Sind. He re-
counted that he traveled to the city of Bhakkar (Sind), where he located
a history unknown to the Sindhi elite. This was in the possession of a
learned and pious descendant of Muhammad bin Qasim. In a section
titled "Tarjam-e Kitab" (Translation of the Book), he writes,When this slave became acquainted with the book, he found it to be
full of jewels of wisdom and pearls of advice in which many exam-