At this time it was reported to me that Muḥtarim K., the eunuch, Khalīl Beg Zū-l-qadr, and Fidā'ī K., the Master of the Ceremonies, had allied themselves with Bī-daulat, and opened the gates of correspondence with him. As it was no time for mildness and winking at matters, I imprisoned all three, and as, after making inquiry into the circumstances, no doubt remained as to their falseness to their salt, and about the evil designs and malevolence of Khalīl and Muḥtarim, and as Amirs like Mīrzā Rustam swore to the insincerity and malevolence of Khalīl, having no remedy I punished them* capitally. Fidā'ī K., the dust of whose sincerity was free of suspicion and pure, I brought out of confinement and promoted. I sent Rāja Rūz-afzūn by post (dāk-chaukī) to my son Shāh Parwīz that he might bring him with all haste to wait on me; so that Bī-daulat might be brought to punish­ment for his improper conduct. Jawāhir K., the eunuch, was appointed to the post of Ihtimām-i-darbār-i-maḥall (superin­tendent of the harem).

On the 1st of Isfandārmūz the royal army arrived at Nūr-sarāy. On this day a report came from I‘tibār K., that Bī-daulat had arrived in all haste in the neighbourhood of Agra, in the hope that before the fort was strengthened, the gates of strife and mischief might be opened, and he might attain his end. When he arrived at Fatḥpūr, he found the gates closed against him, and, being struck with the disgrace of ruin, he had halted. The Khān-khānān and his son and many of the royal Amirs attached to the Deccan and Gujarat had come with him as companions on the road of rebellion and ingratitude. Mūsawī K. saw him at Fatḥpūr, and showed him the royal orders, and it was settled that he should send his servant Qāẓī ‘Abdu-l-‘Azīz with him to Court to put his requests before me. He sent to Agra his servant Sundar,* who was the ringleader of the people of error and the chief of the seditious, to take possession of the treasures and hidden wealth of those servants of the State who were at Agra. Amongst* others he entered the house of Lashkar K., and seized Rs. 9,00,000. In the same manner, wherever he suspected there was property in the houses of other servants (of the Court), he stretched out his hand to seize it, and took posses­sion of all that he found. When nobles like Khān-khānān, who had been distinguished with the rank of Ātālīk and arrived at the age of seventy years, made their faces black with rebellion and ingratitude, how could one complain of others? It may be said that his very nature was seditious and ungrateful. His father (Bairām K.) at the end of his life behaved in the same unbecoming way towards my reverend father. He, following the example of his father, at his age made himself accursed and rejected to all eternity.

In the end a wolf's cub becomes a wolf
Although he grow up with man. (Sa‘dī.)

On this day Mūsawī K. arrived with ‘Abdu-l-‘Azīz, the envoy of Bī-daulat. As his requests were unreasonable, I did not allow him to speak, but handed him over to Mahābat to be kept in prison. On the 5th of the month I pitched on the bank of the river of Lūdiyāna (the Sutlej). I promoted Khān A‘am to the mansab of 7,000 with 5,000 horse. Rāja Bhārat, the Bandīla, from the Deccan, and Dayānat K. from Agra, came and waited on me. I pardoned the offences of Dayānat K., and gave him the same mansab that he had previously held. Rājā Bhārat was raised to the mansab of 1,500 and 1,000 horse, and Mūsawī K. to that of 1,000 and 300 horse. On Thursday, the 12th, in the pargana of Thānesar, Rāja Bir Singh Deo, having waited on me, reviewed his army and elicited great praise. Rāja Sārang Deo was promoted to the mansab of 1,500 with 600 horse. In Karnāl Āṣaf K., coming from Agra, lifted up the head of honour in kissing my stirrup. His coming at this time was the herald of victory. Nawāzish K., s. Sa‘īd K., having arrived from Gujarat, paid his respects. When Bī-daulat was at Burhan-pur, at his request I had appointed Bāqī K. to Jūnāgaŗh. He had been ordered to come to Court, and now came and shared n my service. As my march from Lahore took place without previous notice, and time did not admit of delay or reflection, I came with the few Amirs who were in attendance. Until I arrived at Sihrind only a few men had the good fortune to accompany me, but after passing beyond it, great numbers of the army came in from all sides and quarters. Before arrival at Delhi such a force had come together that in any direction in which one looked the whole plain was occupied by troops.

As it was reported that Bī-daulat had left Fatḥpūr and was coming in this direction, and making continuous marches towards Delhi, I gave the victorious army orders to put on their chiltas (quilted coats). In this disturbance the pivot of the management of affairs and the arrangement of the army were entrusted to Mahābat K. The command of the van­guard was given to ‘Abdu-llah K. Of the selected young men and experienced sipāhīs, whoever was asked for by him was enrolled in his corps. I ordered him to march a koss ahead of the other forces. He was also entrusted with the intelli­gence department and the control of the routes. I was ignorant of the fact that he was in league with Bī-daulat, and that the real object of that evil-natured one was to send news from my army to him. Previously to this he used to bring long written slips of true and false news, saying that his spies had sent them from that place. The purport was that they (the spies) suspected some of my servants of being in league with Bī-daulat, and of sending him news. Had I been led away by his intrigues and become alarmed at this time when the wind of disturbance was blowing strongly I would have been obliged to destroy many of my servants. Although some faithful servants suspected his evil intentions and untruthfulness, the time was not one for removing the veil openly from the face of his deeds. I guarded my eye and tongue from doing anything which might carry terror into his evil mind, and showed him more attention and favour than before, with the idea that possibly he would be struck with shame, and might turn away from his evil deeds, and give up his evil nature and sedition. That rejected one to all eternity, in whom a tendency to vileness and falsity was natural, did not fail to do what was in accordance with himself, as will be related hereafter.

The tree* that is bitter in its nature
If you plant it in the garden of Paradise,
And water it from the eternal stream thereof,
If you pour on its root pure honey,
In the end it shows its natural quality,
And it bears the same bitter fruit.

In fine, when I was near Delhi, Sayyid Bahwa Bukhārī, Ṣadr K., and Rāja Kishan Dās came out of the city, and had the good fortune to kiss my stirrup. Bāqir K., faujdar of Oudh, also on this day came to the victorious camp. On the 25th of the month, passing by Delhi, I pitched my camp on the bank of the Jumna. Girdhar, s. Rāy Sāl Darbārī, having come from the Deccan, had the honour to pay his respects. He was promoted to the mansab of 2,000 and 1,500 horse, and obtained the title of Raja, and was clothed in a dress of honour. Zabar-dast K., Master of the Ceremonies, was honoured with a standard.