His own account of who he was and why he wrote
In the preface to his history, printed under the heading "MIR-GHOLAM-HOSSEIN-KHAN'S PREFACE," the author names himself in full, in the third person as was customary: "this most defective of mankind, and this humblest individual in the creation, namely, Gh8lam-hossein, son to Hedaiet-aly-khan, grandson to Seid-aalim-ollah, and great-grandson to Seyd-faiz-ollah, the Tebatebaite, of the race of Hassen" — dated by him to "the victorious month of Sufur, of the year 1194 of the retreat of the Prophet." A footnote on the same page, by the English translator, adds that the author suppressed his own honorific titles (Mir, Seid) out of modesty, and that his full name was Mir-Gholam-hossein-khan.
He states his purpose directly: "...this most defective of mankind... has thought proper... to undertake this work, his intention being to furnish to some intelligent man the means of giving the public at some distant time hereafter, an idea of the preceding reigns; and to prevent his being stopped short, as by a chasm, on discovering that links are wanting from the chain of past events: for it is certain, that to this day no one has thought of filling up the chasm, by writing the history of India since Aoreng-zib's demise... trusting therefore to my personal knowledge, and to what I have been gathering from persons of eminent rank and credit, I have strung the whole together in a plain unornamented style, where my errors shall be the more excusable, as I cite perpetually my authorities; and by God's blessing, I have entitled it Seir Mutaqherin (View of Modern Times), as containing the whole series of events, from the year 1118, to the year 1195... down to the present days."