It does not appear that Mu'tamad Khán ever strictly carried into effect the wishes of his royal master; and it is probable he never did anything more than abridge his master's original, and after adding the concluding events, he compiled, under his own name, the work called Ikbál-náma, which will shortly come under review.

Jahángír seems to have rewritten the events subsequent to the twelfth year about the same period that he left off adding to his Journal, for he sometimes alludes to events subsequent to that of the date of which he gives the occurrences. In the account, for instance, of the celestial phenomenon, which he records in the thirteenth year, he says the effects of it were felt for eight years subsequently.

Before concluding this notice, it may be as well to observe, that the probable reason for the rarity of this volume is to be found in the fact that, in the latter parts of it, the conduct of Sháh Jahán towards his father is so severely reproved that it would not have been safe to copy the work, that it was consequently suppressed through fear of Sháh Jahán, and that after his long reign, it became almost forgotten, till the time of Muhammad Sháh, when fortunately Muhammad Hádí undertook to edit it.

This will appear more probable, if we consider the following passage, which occurs in the seventeenth year of the reign, on the occasion of Jahángír's march towards Thatta, to oppose his rebellious son. “I directed that henceforward he should be called ‘Wretch,’ and whenever the word ‘Wretch’ occurs in this Ikbál-náma, it is he who is intended. I can safely assert that the kindness and instruction which I have bestowed upon him no King has ever yet bestowed upon a son. The favours which my respected father showed to my brothers I have shown ever to his servants. I exalted his titles, made him lord of a standard and drum, as may be seen recorded in this Ikbál-náma, and the fact cannot be concealed from the readers of it. The pen cannot describe all that I have done for him, nor can I recount my own grief, or mention the anguish and weakness which oppress me in this hot climate, which is so injurious to my health, especially during these journeys and marchings which I am obliged to make in pursuit of him who is no longer my son. Many nobles, too, who have been long disciplined under me, and would now have been available against the Úzbeks and the Kazilbáshes, have, through his perfidy, met with their due punishment. May God in His mercy enable me to bear up against all these calamities! What is most grievous for me to bear is this, that this is the very time when my sons and nobles should have emulated each other in recovering Kandahár and Khurásán, the loss of which so deeply affects the honour of this empire, and to effect which this ‘Wretch’ is the only obstacle, so that the invasion of Kandahár is indefinitely postponed. I trust in God that I may shortly be relieved of this anxiety!”

No one could well have ventured to give currency to such imprecations during the life of Sháh Jahán. The same objection would not apply to the twelve-year Memoirs, because in them he is mentioned throughout in extravagant terms of laudation.

[The present autobiography is longer than the one translated by Major Price. It is a plain and apparently ingenuous record of all that its author deemed worthy of note. The volume contains a good deal of matter quite uninteresting to a European reader, such as the promotions and honours bestowed upon the Emperor's followers; and the presents he gave and received; but taken as a whole, the work is very interesting, and assuming that Jahángír is mainly responsible for its authoriship, it proves him to have been a man of no common ability. He records his weaknesses, and confesses his faults, with candour, and a perusal of this work alone would leave a favourable impression both of his character and talents. Like his father, he was fond of jewels, and estimated their value as a true connoisseur. He was a mighty hunter, and took pleasure in sport, even in the later years of his life. He was a lover of nature, both animate and inanimate, and viewed it with a shrewd and observant eye. He mentions the peculiarities of many animals and birds, and shows that he watched their habits with diligence and perseverance. Trees and fruits and flowers also come under his observation, and he gives his opinions upon architecture and gardening like one who had bestowed time and thought upon them. The Extracts which follow will enable the reader to form his opinion of the work. They have been translated by various hands, some by Sir H. M. Elliot, much by his private munshi, some by a person whose handwriting is unknown to the Editor, some by the Editor, and from the beginning of the fifteenth year entirely by the Editor himself. The MS. translation of several years appears to be nearly perfect, but only a small portion of it can be printed in this volume.]

SIZE.—Small folio, containing 659 pages, of 15 lines to a page. [The copy belonging to the Royal Asiatic Society is also a small folio of 823 pages, of 15 lines each.]

The commencement of both works is the same:—

The Dwázda-Sála Jahángírí concludes at about the 150th line of the thirteenth year of the perfect Memoirs; but as the same sentence is continued in them, it is probable that the real conclusion is, as one of my copies represents a few lines above, where he indulges in his complaint of the climate of Gujarát, and especially of Ahmadábád, which he said should be called Gardábád, the City of Dust; Samúmábád, the City of Pestilential Winds, and Jahannamábád, the City of Hell.

The conclusion of the larger work is as follows:—

The copy in the King of Dehlí's Library gives the answer of Ibráhím Khán as part of the autobiography. In General Smith's copy it forms part of the continuation by Muhammad Hádí.