Beef was interdicted, and to touch beef was considered defiling. The rea­son of this was that, from his youth, His Majesty had been in company with Hindu libertines, and had thus learnt to look upon a cow—which in their opinion is one of the reasons why the world still exists—as something holy. Besides, the Emperor was subject to the influence of the numerous Hindu princesses of the Harem, who had gained so great an ascendancy over him, as to make him forswear beef, garlic, onions, and the wearing of a beard,* which things His Majesty still avoids. He had also introduced, though modified by his peculiar views, Hindu customs and heresies into the court assemblies, and introduces them still, in order to please and win the Hindus and their castes; he abstained from everything which they think repugnant to their nature, and looked upon shaving the beard as the highest sign of friendship and affection for him. Hence this custom has become very general. Pan­dering pimps also expressed the opinion that the beard takes its nourish­ment from the testicles; for no eunuch had a beard; and one could not exactly see of what merit or importance it was to cultivate a beard. More­over, former ascetics had looked upon carelessness in letting the beard grow, as one way of mortifying one's flesh, because such carelessness exposed them to the reproach of the world; and as, at present, the silly lawyers of the Islám looked upon cutting down the beard as reproachful, it was clear that shaving was now a way of mortifying the flesh, and therefore praiseworthy, but not letting the beard grow. (But if any one considers this argument calmly, he will soon detect the fallacy.) Lying, cheating Muftís also quoted an unknown tradition, in which it was stated that ‘some Qázís’ of Persia had shaved their beards. But the words kamá yaf'alu ba'zulquzáti (as some Qázís have done), which occur in this tradition, are based upon a corrupt reading, and should be kamá yaf'alu ba'zul'uzát (as some wicked men have done). * * * *

The ringing of bells as in use with the Christians, and the showing of the figure of the cross, and*…….., and other childish playthings of theirs, were daily in practice. The words Kufr shái' shud, or ‘heresy became com­mon ’, express the Táríkh (985). Ten or twelve years after the commence­ment of these doings, matters had gone so far that wretches like Mírzá Jání, chief of Tattah, and other apostates, wrote their confessions on paper as follows:—‘I, such a one, son of such a one, have willingly and cheerfully renounced and rejected the Islám in all its phases, whether low or high, as I have witnessed it in my ancestors, and have joined the Divine Faith of Sháh Akbar, and declare myself willing to sacrifice to him my property and life, my honor and religion.’ And these papers—there could be no more effec­tive letters of damnation—were handed over to the Mujtahid (Abulfazl) of the new Creed, and were considered a source of confidence or promotion. The Heavens might have parted asunder, and earth might have opened her abyss, and the mountains have crumbled to dust!

In opposition to the Islám, pigs and dogs were no longer looked upon as unclean. A large number of these animals was kept in the Harem, and in the vaults of the castle, and to inspect them daily, was considered a religious exercise. The Hindus, who believe in incarnations, said that the boar belonged to the ten forms which God Almighty had once assumed.

The saying of some wise men that a dog had ten virtues, and that a man, if he possess one of them, was a saint, was also quoted as a proof. Certain courtiers and friends of His Majesty, who were known for their excellence in every department, and proverbial as court poets,* used to put dogs on a tablecloth and feed them, whilst other heretical poets, Per­sians and Hindustánís, followed this example, even taking the tongues of dogs into their own mouths, and then boasting of it.

The ceremonial ablution after emission of semen* was no longer con­sidered binding, and people quoted as proof that the essence of man was the sperma genitale, which was the origin of good and bad men. It was absurd that voiding urine and excrements should not require ceremonial ablutions, whilst the emission of so tender a fluid should necessitate ablution; it would be far better, if people would first bathe, and then have connexion.

Further, it was absurd to prepare a feast in honour of a dead person; for the corpse was mere matter, and could derive no pleasure from the feast. People should therefore make a grand feast on their birth-days.* Such feasts were called A´sh i hayát, food of life.*

The flesh of the wild boar and the tiger was also permitted, because the courage which these two animals possess, would be transferred to any one who fed on such meat.

It was also forbidden to marry one's cousins or near relations, because such marriages are destructive of mutual love. Boys were not to marry before the age of 16, nor girls before 14, because the offspring of early marriages was weakly. The wearing of ornaments and silk dresses at the time of prayer was made obligatory.* * * * *

The prayers of the Islám, the fast, nay even the pilgrimage, were henceforth forbidden. Some bastards, as the son of Mullá Mubárik, a worthy disciple of Shaikh Abulfazl, wrote treatises, in order to revile and ridicule our religious practices, of course with proofs. His Majesty liked such productions, and promoted the authors.

The era of the Hijrah was now abolished, and a new era was intro­duced, of which the first year was the year of the emperor's accession (963). The months had the same names as at the time of the old Persian kings, and as given in the Niçábuççibyán.* Fourteen festivals also were introduced corresponding to the feasts of the Zoroastrians; but the feasts of the Musalmáns and their glory were trodden down, the Friday prayer alone being retained, because some old, decrepit, silly people* used to go to it. The new era was called Táríkh i Iláhí, or ‘Divine Era.’ On copper coins and gold muhurs, the era of the Millenium* was used, as indicating that the end of the religion of Muhammad, which was to last one thousand years, was drawing near. Reading and learning Arabic was looked upon as a crime; and Muhammedan law, the exegesis of the Qorán, and the Tradition, as also those who studied them, were considered bad and deserving of disapproval. Astronomy, philosophy, medicine, mathematics, poetry, history, and novels, were cultivated and thought necessary. Even the letters which are peculiar to the Arabic language, as the <Arabic>, and <Arabic>, were avoided. Thus for <Arabic> 'Abdullah, people wrote <Arabic> Abdullah; and for <Arabic> Ahadí, <Arabic> Ahadí, &c. All this pleased His Majesty. Two verses from the Sháhnámah, which Firdausí gives as part of a story, were fre­quently quoted at court—

Similarly other verses were eagerly seized, if they conveyed a calumny, as the verses from the ……,* in which the falling out of the teeth of our prophet is alluded to.