Autumn and Spring in Kashmir are things worthy to be seen. I witnessed the Autumn season, and it appeared to me to be better than what I had heard of it. I have never seen Spring in that province, but hope to do so some day. On Saturday the 1st of Muḥarram (18th April, 1607) I left the bank of the Bihat, and with one day between reached the fort of Rohtās, which was built by Shīr Khān Afghān. This fort was founded in a cleft of the ground, and the strength of it cannot be imagined. As the place is near the Ghakhar territory, and they are a proud and rebellious people, he had looked to this fort specially as a means of punishing and defeating them. When a little of the building had been done Shīr Khān died and his son, Salīm Khān, obtained the grace to complete it. On each of the gates* they have carved on a stone the cost of erecting the fort; 16 krors, 10 lakhs of dams, and more were expended, equal in Hindustan reckoning to 4,025,000 rupees, and according to the currency of Iran to 120,000 tūman, and in the currency of Turan to 1 arb, 21 lakhs and 75,000 khānī, that are now current.*

On Tuesday the 4th of the month, having travelled four kos and three-quarters, I encamped at Tīla.* Thence I came down to the village of Bhakra. In the Ghakhar tongue bhakra* is a jungle. The jungle was composed of clusters of flowers, white and scentless. I came the whole way from Tīla to Bhakra in the middle of the river-bed,* which had running water in it, with oleander flowers of the colour of peach-blossom. In Hindustan this plant is always in full bloom (purbār). There was much of it on the banks of this river. The horsemen and men on foot who were with me were told to put bunches of the flower on their heads, and whoever did not do so had his turban taken off; a wonderful flower-bed was produced.

On Thursday the 6th of the month the halting-place was at Hatyā. On this road many palās - trees (Butea frondosa) were in blossom. This flower, too, is peculiar to the jungles of Hindustan; it has no scent, but its colour is flaming orange. The base of the flower is black; the flower itself is as big as a red rose. It is so beautiful that one cannot take one's eyes off it. As the air was very sweet and clouds had hidden the sun, and rain was gently sprinkled about, I felt an inclination to drink wine. In short this road was traversed with great enjoyment and pleasure. They call the place Hatyā because it was founded by a Ghakkar named Hāthi (elephant). From Mārgala to Hatyā the country is called Pothūwār.* In these regions there are few crows. From Rohtās to Hatyā is the place and abode of the Bhūgyāls,* who are related to and of the same ancestry as the Ghakkars.

Marching on Friday the 7th, I travelled 4 1/2 kos and alighted at the station of Pakka.* This place is called Pakka because the sarāy is of burnt brick, and in the Hindi language what is ripe (that is, not raw material) is called pakka. The station was strangely full of dust and earth. The carts reached it with great difficulty owing to the badness of the road. They had brought from Kabul to this place rīwāj (rhubarb), which was mostly spoiled.

On Saturday the 8th we marched 4 1/2 kos and encamped at the village of Khar.* Khar in the Ghakkar language is a rent and breakage. There are few trees in this country. On Sunday the 9th I halted beyond Rāwalpindī. This place was founded by a Hindu named Rāwal, and pindī in the Ghakkar tongue means a village. In the valley near this station there was a stream flowing, the waters of which were collected in a pool. As this halting-place was not devoid of freshness I alighted there for a time, and I asked the Ghakkars the depth of the pool. They gave me no precise answer, but said they had heard from their fathers that there were alligators in the pool which wounded animals that came there, and on that account no one had the boldness to go in. I ordered them to throw in a sheep. It swam across the pool and came out. I then ordered a farrāsh to go in, and he also came out safe. It thus became clear that there was no foundation for what the Ghakkars had said. The pool was an arrow's flight in width.

On Monday the 10th the village of Kharbūza* was our stage. The Ghakkars in earlier times had built a dome here and taken tolls from travellers. As the dome was shaped like a melon it became known by that name. On Tuesday the 11th I halted at Kāla-pānī, which in Hindi means black water. There is a mountain pass (kotal) at this place called Mārgalla; in Hindi mār means to beat and galla is a caravan, the name therefore means the place of the plundering of the caravan. The boundary of the Ghakkar country is here. This tribe are wonder­fully like animals; they are always squabbling and fighting with one another. Although I wished to put an end to this fighting, I was unable to do so.

“The soul of the fool is doomed to trouble.”*

On Wednesday the 12th the camp was at Bābā Hasan Abdāl. One kos to the east of this station there is a waterfall over which the stream rushes with great force. There is no fall like it on the way to Kabul. On the road to Kashmir there are two or three like it.*

In the middle of the basin, in which is the source of the stream, Rāja Mān Singh has erected a small building. There are many fish in the basin of the length of half a gaz and a quarter gaz. I halted three days at this enchanting place, drinking wine with those who were intimate with me and employing myself in catching fish. Until now I had never thrown a sufra net, which is a famous kind of net, and which in Hindi they call bhanwar* jāl. It is not easy to throw. I threw it with my own hand and caught twelve fish, and putting pearls into their noses,* let them loose in the water. I enquired into the story of Bābā Ḥasan from the story-tellers and from the inhabitants of the place, but no one could tell me any particulars. The celebrated place at that station is a spring which flows from the foot of a little hill, exceedingly clear, sweet, and nice, as witness this couplet of Amīr Khusrau:—

“In the bottom of the water, from its clearness, a blind man
Can count the sand-grains in the heart of the night.”

Khwāja Shamsu-d-dīn Muḥammad Khwāfī, who was for long employed as Vizier by my revered father, had made a platform and a reservoir there, into which is led the water from the spring, and thence is used in cultivation and in gardens. On the edge of this terrace he had built a dome for his own burial. By chance his destiny was not there, and (the bodies of) Ḥakīm Abū-l-fatḥ Gīlānī and his brother Ḥakīm Humām, who were close to the person and had the complete confidence of my revered father, were placed in that dome in accordance with his order.

On the 15th the halt was at Amrohī.* It is a wonder­fully green place, in which no ups and downs were visible. In this village and its neighbourhood there are 7,000 or 8,000 households of Khaturs and Dalāzāks. All kinds of mischief and oppression and highway robbery take place through this tribe. I ordered the government of this region and Attock to be given to afar Khān, son of Zain Khān Koka, and that by the time of the return of the royal standards from Kabul they should march all the Dalāzāks to Lahore and capture the head men of the Khaturs and keep them in prison.