FERISHTA, MOHAMMED KASIM (c. 1611), Persian historian, was born at Astrabad, on the shores of the Caspian Sea. In 1589 Ferishta removed to Bijapur, where he spent the remainder of his life under the immediate protection of the shah Ibrahim Adil II., who engaged him to write a history of India. At the court of this monarch he died about 1611. In the introduction to his work a resume is given of the history of Hindostan prior to the times of the Mohammedan conquest, and also of the victorious progress of the Arabs through the East. Ferishta is reputed one of the most trustworthy of the Oriental historians, and his work still maintains a high place as an author ity. Several portions of it have been translated into English ; but the best as well as the most complete translation is that published by General J. Briggs under the title of The History of the Rise of the Illahometon Power in India (London, 1829, 4 vols. 8vo).