[On Thursday, the 8th Jumáda-s sání, 1014 Hijra (12th
October, 1605), I ascended the throne at Ágra, in the thirty-
[The first order which I issued was for the setting up of a Chain of Justice, so that if the officers of the Courts of Justice should fail in the investigation of the complaints of the oppressed, and in granting them redress, the injured persons might come to this chain and shake it, and so give notice of their wrongs. I ordered that the chain should be made of pure gold, and be thirty gaz long, with sixty bells upon it. The weight of it was four Hindústání mans, equal to thirty-two mans of 'Irák. One end was firmly attached to a battlement of the fort of Ágra, the other to a stone column on the bank of the river.]*
[I established twelve ordinances to be observed, and to be the common rule of practice throughout my dominions.
1. Prohibition of cesses (zakát).—I forbad the levy of duties under the names of tamghá and mír-bahrí,* together with the taxes of all descriptions which the jágírdárs of every súba and sarkár had been in the habit of exacting for their own benefit.
2. Regulation about highway robbery and theft.—In those roads which were the scenes of robbery and theft, and in those portions of road which were far from habitations, the jágírdárs of the neighbourhood were to build a saráí or a mosque, and they were to sink a well, to be the means of promoting cultivation, and to induce people to settle there. If these places were near to khálisa lands, the Government officials were to carry out these provisions.
3. Free inheritance of property of deceased persons.—Firstly.
No one was to open the packages of merchants on the roads
without their consent. Secondly. When any infidel or Musul-
4. Of wine and all kinds of intoxicating liquors.—Wine,* and every sort of intoxicating liquor is forbidden, and must neither be made nor sold; although I myself have been accustomed to take wine, and from my eighteenth year to the present, which is the thirty-eighth year of my age, have regularly partaken of it. In early days, when I craved for drink, I sometimes took as many as twenty cups of double-distilled liquor. In course of time it took great effect upon me, and I set about reducing the quantity. In the period of seven years I brought it down to five or six cups. My times of drinking varied. Sometimes I began when two or three hours of the day remained, sometimes I took it at night and a little in the day. So it was until my thirtieth year, when I resolved to drink only at night, and at present I drink it only to promote digestion of my food.
5. Prohibition of the taking possession of houses, and of cutting off the noses and ears of criminals.—No one was to take up his abode in the dwelling of another. I made an order prohibiting every one from cutting off the noses or ears of criminals for any offence, and I made a vow to heaven that I would never inflict this punishment on any one.
6. Prohibition of Ghasbí.* —The officers of the khálisa lands and the jágírdárs are not to take the lands of the ráíyats by force, and cultivate them on their own account. The collectors of the khálisa lands and the jágírdárs are not without permission to form connexions with the people in their districts.
7. Building of hospitals and appointment of physicians to attend the sick.—Hospitals were to be built in large cities, and doctors were to be appointed to attend the sick. The expenses were to be paid from the royal treasury.
8. Prohibitìon of the slaughter of animals on certain days.— In imitation of my honoured father, I directed that every year from the 18th of Rabí'u-l awwal, my birthday, no animals should be slaughtered for a number of days corresponding to the years of my age. In every week, also, two days were to be exempted from slaughter: Thursday, the day of my accession, and Sunday, the birthday of my father.
9. Respect paid to the Sunday.—He (my father) used to hold Sunday blessed, and to pay it great respect, because it is dedicated to the Great Luminary, and because it is the day on which the Creation was begun. Throughout my dominions this was to be one of the days on which killing animals is interdicted.
10. General confirmation of mansabs and jágírs.—I issued a general order that the mansabs and jágírs of my father's servants should be confirmed, and afterwards I increased the old mansabs according to the merit of each individual. He who held ten was not advanced to less than twelve, and the augmentation was sometimes as much as from ten to thirty or forty. The allowance ('alúfa) of all the ahadís was advanced from ten to fifteen, and the monthly pay of all the domestics (shágird-pesha) was from ten to twelve or ten to twenty. The attendants upon the female apartments of my father were advanced according to their position and connexions from ten to twelve, or ten to twenty.
11. Confirmation of aima lands.—The aima and madad-
12. Amnesty for all prisoners in forts and in prisons of every kind.—All prisoners who had been long confined in forts or shut up in prisons, I ordered to be set free.]
[Gold and silver coins of various weights were struck, to each one of which I gave a distinct name. The coin of 100 tolas I called Núr-i sháhí; the 50 tolas, Núr-i sultání; the 20 tolas, Núr-i daulat; the 10 tolas, Núr-i karm; the 5 tolas, Núr-i mihr; the 1 tola, Núr-i jahání; the 1/2 tola, Núrání; the 1/4 tola, Rawájí. Silver coins.—I called the 100 tolas, Kaukab-i táli'; the 50 tolas, Kaukab-i bakht; the 5 tolas, Kaukab-i sa'd; the 1 tola, Jahángírí; the 1/2 tola, Sultání; the 1/4 tola, Aishyárí; the 10th of a tola, Khair-kabúl. The copper coins in like manner each received a name.] [Legends on the coins.]
Hardás Ráí, who had received from my father the title of Ráí Ráyán, and from me that of Rájá Bikramájít (after one of the most celebrated Rájás of Hindústán, the founder of an Indian Observatory), was honoured by me with marks of the highest distinction. I made him commandant of artillery, with directions to keep 50,000 gunners and 3000 gun-carriages always in a state of readiness. Bikramájít was a Khatrí by caste. He was in my father's time examiner of the expenditure on the elephants, and was afterwards raised to the exalted grade of díwán, and enrolled among the nobles of the Court. He was not destitute of gallantry and judgment.
As it was my intention to satisfy, as far as possible, all the old dependents of my father, I issued orders to the bakhshís, that every one of them who wished to obtain a jágír in his own country must apply for a grant to that effect, and that, in accordance with the Institutes of Changíz, he should be rewarded with an Altamghá grant, and enjoy the same without apprehension of change or removal. My ancestors, whenever they wished to bestow a jágír in proprietary right, used to stamp the grant with an Altamghá seal, which means one to which red ink is applied. I ordered that the place of the seal should be covered with gold-leaf, and then stamped with the Altamghá seal. Hence I named it Altúntamghá—that is, the gold seal.
Mirzá Sultán, the favourite son of Mirzá Sháh Rukh, and grandson of Mirzá Sulaimán, the descendant of Mirzá Sultán Abú Sa'íd, chief of Badakhshán, was elevated to the grade of 1000. I had asked my father to allow him to be on my establishment. Hence I brought him up, and treated him as a son. Bháo Singh, the ablest son of Rájá Mán Singh, was rewarded by a mansab of 1500, retaining his former office, and Zamáná Beg, son of Ghayúr Beg Kábulí, had gained the dignity of 500, by serving me when I was Prince as an Ahadí. He now, having received the title of Mahábat Khán and a mansab of 1500, was nominated paymaster of my household. Rájá Nar Singh Deo, one of the Bundela Rájpúts, stood high in my favour. He was as brave, kind-hearted, and pure as any man of his age. I elevated him to the dignity of 3000. The cause of his elevation was the murder of Abú-l Fazl, a descendant of one of the Shaikhs of Hindústán, distinguished for his talents and wisdom. About the close of my father's reign, Abú-l Fazl, wearing upon his plausible exterior the jewel of probity, which he sold to my father at high price, was summoned from his appointment in the Dakhin to the Royal Court. He was not my friend. He inwardly nourished evil intentions towards me, and did not scruple to speak ill of me.