On Monday, the 17th, a march was made, and, with one stage in between, the royal standards alighted near the fort of Attock on the bank of the river Nīlāb (Indus). At this stage Mahābat Khān was promoted to the rank of 2,500. This fort was built by the late king Akbar, and was completed by the labours of Khwāja Shamsu-d-dīn Khwāfī. It is a strong fort. At this time the water of the Nīlāb was low,* and accordingly a bridge had been made with eighteen boats, and the people crossed over easily. I left the Amīru-l-umarā at Attock on account of weakness of body and illness. An order was given to the bakhshis that, as the province of Kabul could not support a large army, they should only allow the immediate attendants of the Court to cross the river, and until the return of the royal standards the royal camp should remain at Attock. On Wednesday, the 19th, with the princes and some of the private servants, having mounted on to a raft (with inflated skins underneath), and having crossed the river Nīlāb safely, I alighted on the bank of the river Kāma. The Kāma is a river that flows by the qaṣba (fortified town) of Jalālābād. The jāla is a structure they make of bamboos and grass and place underneath it skins full of air. In this province they call them shāl (or sāl). In rivers and streams in which there are rocks they are safer than boats. 12,000 rupees were given to Mīr Sharīf Āmulī and to a number of men, who had been appointed to perform services at Lahore, to divide amongst the faqirs. An order was given to ‘Abdu-r-Razzāq Ma‘mūrī* and to Bihārī Dās, bakhshi of the Ahadis, to complete the force that had been appointed to accompany afar Khān and send them away. With one stage in between, the camp halted at the saray of Bāra. On the other side of the river Kāma there is a fort which Zain Khān Koka built at the time when he was appointed to subjugate the Yūsufza'e Afghans, and called Naushahr (Newcastle). About 50,000 rupees were spent upon it. They say that Humāyūn used to hunt rhinoceros in this region. I also heard from my father that he had twice or thrice witnessed such a hunt in the company of his father. On Thursday, the 25th, I alighted at the saray of Daulatābād. Aḥmad Beg of Kabul, jagirdar of Peshawar, with the Maliks of the Yūsufza'es and the Ghoriya-khel, came and waited on me. As the service of Aḥmad Beg was not approved, I transferred him from that territory (wilāyat) and conferred it on Shīr Khān, the Afghan. On Wednesday, the 26th, I encamped in the garden of Sardār Khān, which he had made in the neighbourhood of Peshawar. I walked round Ghorkhatrī, which is the worshipping-place of the jogīs in this neighbourhood, with the idea that I might see some faqirs from association with whom I might obtain grace. But that was like looking for the phœnix or the philosopher's stone. A herd without any religious knowledge came to my view, from seeing whom I derived nothing but obscurity of mind. On Thursday, the 27th, I arrived at the halting-place of Jamrūd, and on Friday, 28th, at the Khaibar Kotal (Khyber Pass) and encamped at ‘Alī Masjid, and on Saturday I traversed the tortuous (mārpīch, i.e. snake-twisting) Pass, and alighted at Gharīb-khāna. At this stage Abū-l-qāsim Namakīn, Jagirdar of Jalālābād, brought an apricot, which was not inferior in beauty to good Kashmir apricots. At the stage of Daka they brought from Kabul gīlās (cherries), which my revered father had entitled Shāh-ālū. As I was much inclined to cat them, inasmuch as I had not (hitherto?) obtained them, I ate them with great zest as a relish to wine. On Tuesday, 2nd Ṣafar, I encamped at Basāwal, which is on the bank of the river. On the other side of the river there is a mountain which has no trees or grass on it, and on that account they call this mountain the hill of Bīdaulat (unfortunate). I heard from my father that in mountains like this there are mines of gold. On the mountain of Āla Būghān, at the time when my revered father went to Kabul, I had had a qamargāh hunt, and killed several* red deer. As I had handed over the administration of all civil affairs to the Amīru-l-umarā, and his illness increased greatly, and forgetfulness came over his faculties to such an extent that what was settled in one hour he forgot in the next, and his forgetfulness was increasing day by day, on Wednesday, the 3rd Ṣafar, I entrusted the duties of the viziership to Āṣaf Khān, presenting him with a special robe of honour, and inkstand and a jewelled pen. It was a remarkable coincidence that twenty-eight years previously to this, at the same halting-place, my revered father had promoted him* to the rank of Mīr Bakhshī (chief paymaster). A ruby which his brother* Abū-l-qāsim had bought for 40,000 rupees and sent him, he presented as an offering on obtaining the viziership. He petitioned that Khwāja Abū-l-ḥasan, who held the offices of bakhshi and the Qūr, etc., might go with him. Jalālābād was transferred from Abū-l-qāsim Namakīn to ‘Arab Khān. A white rock was present in the river-bed; I ordered them to carve it in the form of an elephant and cut upon its breast this hemistich, which agrees with the date of the Hijra year: “The white stone elephant of Jahāngīr Pādshāh,” that is, 1016.
On the same day Kalyān, son of Rāja Bikramājīt, came
from Gujarat. Certain extraordinary proceedings on the
part of this rebellious rascal had been reported to me.
Amongst these was this. He had kept a Musulmān lūlī
woman in his house, and for fear this affair should become
known had killed her father and mother and buried them
in his house. I ordered that he should be imprisoned
until I could enquire into his proceedings, and after
ascertaining the truth I ordered first that they should
cut out his tongue and place him in perpetual confinement,
and that he should eat his food with dog-keepers and
outcasts. On Wednesday. I encamped at Surkhāb. Thence
I alighted at Jagdalak. At this stage I saw many ballū*
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