“Ruznomai ghazavoti Hindiston”. Diary of the Indian Campaign

Before you is the “Diary of the Indian Campaign” by Ghiyath al-Din Ali, a rare text where history speaks through the voice of an eyewitness.
This work describes Amir Timur’s campaign to India in 1398–1399. Although the manuscript is a 1607 copy, it preserves the perspective of a direct participant. Unlike official chronicles, the narrative unfolds as a sequence of observations — almost a report — recording not only victories but also landscapes, cities, and encounters with an unfamiliar world.
The genre of ruz-nama, or diary, gives the text immediacy and detail. India appears here as a land of wonder, with attention to architecture, environment, and even war elephants encountered by the army.
The manuscript is written in compact and fluid nastaliq script allowing a large amount of text to fit into a relatively small format. Red annotations guide the reader, highlighting key names and passages.
Ownership notes on the flyleaves reveal the manuscript’s long journey through the hands of scholars and officials, forming a layered history of its transmission.
This diary reveals Temur not only as a conqueror, but as a figure through whom civilizations observed and interpreted one another.