Ibrāhim Khān Fateḥ Jang,* in the year 1027 A.H., corresponding to the 13th year of the Emperor’s accession, received the Viceroyalty of Bengal and Orissa. He appointed his nephew, Aḥmad Beg Khān* to be Governor of Orissa, whilst he himself resided at Jahāngirnagar (Dacca), and devoted himself to the work of administration. As during his incumbency, several grave affairs came to pass, these will be briefly narrated. In the 17th year of the Emperor’s accession, corresponding to 1031 A.H., news reached Emperor Jahāngir to the effect that the King of Persia was aiming to wrest the fort of Qandahār.* In conse­quence thereof, Zainul-‘Abidin, the Pay-Master General of the Aḥadi* troops, communicated an order to Prince Shāh Jahān at Burhānpur, directing the latter to march quickly to the Imperial presence with troops, artillery and elephants. The Prince march­ing from Burhānpur* reached Mando,* sent a message to the Emperor to the effect that as the rainy season had approached, he would make Mando his rainy-season quarter, and would afterwards wait on the Emperor. He also asked for pargannah Dholpur* being added to his jagīr, and set Dariā Khān* Afghān to take charge of it. But before the arrival of the Prince’s letter, the Emperor had negotiated the marriage of Prince Shahryār with a daughter of Nur Maḥal* by Sher Afghan,* and at Nur Mahal’s request the aforesaid Pargannah had been bestowed on Shaharyār, and Sharifu-l-Mulk, servant of Prince Shaharyār, had taken possession of the fort of Dholpur. Soon after, Dariā Khān arrived and wanted to forcibly take possession of the fort. From both sides, the fire of conflict kindled. As luck would have it, an arrow hit Sharifu-l-Mulk on the eye, and blinded him. This mishap caused the Begam* to be indignant; the fire of discord blazed up, and at the instance of the Begam, the expedition to Qandahar was entrusted to Prince Shaharyār, whilst Mirzā Rustam* Safavi was appointed ‘Ataliq of the Prince and Generalissimo of his army. On hearing of the blazing of the fire of discord, Shāh Jahān sent to the Emperor along with a letter Afẓal Khān, son of Abul Faẓl ‘Allami, who after his dismissal from the Governorship of Behar, held the office of Diwan to the Prince, so that with the aid of cajolery and civility the storm of the dust of discord might be made to subside, and relations of amity and harmony between the Emperor and the Prince might not cease. Inasmuch as the Begam held absolute sway over the mind of the Emperor, Afẓal Khān was refused an audience, and was ordered back with­out accomplishing his mission. And orders were passed on the Imperial Revenue-officers directing that the Mahals in the possession of Shāh Jahān, in the Sarkars of Hisar* and Doab,* should be transferred to Prince Shaharyār. And injunctions were issued to Prince Shāh Jahān, intimating that the Ṣūbaḥs of the Dakhīn, and Gujrāt* and Malwā* were bestowed on him, and that he might rule over them, making his head-quarters within those limits wherever he pleased, and directing that he should quickly despatch to the Emperor some troops for the expedition to Qandahar. And in the beginning of the month of Khurdād, in the 18th year of the Emperor’s accession, in the year 1032 A.H. Aṣaf Khān,* was appointed Ṣubahdār of the Provinces of Bengal and Orissa. Since a daughter of Aṣaf Khān had been married to Shāh Jahān, some malicious persons imputing to Aṣaf Khān partiality for Shāh Jahān, induced the Begam to call from Kabul Maḥabet Khān, who was an old enemy of Aṣaf Khān, and who was also ill-disposed to Shāh Jahān. And the Imperial order with the Begam’s message was sent for summon­ing Maḥabet Khān. Maḥabet Khān on arrival from Kabul, was honoured with an audience by the Emperor. Order was also passed to Sharif Khān,* Vakil of Prince Parviz, to hasten to Court with the Prince and the Behar army. And since the Begam was anxious, owing to separation from her brother, that year on the 2nd of the month of Adar, order was given to Aṣaf Khān to return to Court. In short, on being apprised of the foregoing incidents of inattention on the part of the Emperor, and of ill-will on the part of Nūr Jahān Begam, Shāh Jahān arranged that Qāẓi ‘Abdul ‘Aziz proceeding to court, should represent his wishes to the Emperor, whilst he himself would follow before the arrival of Prince Parviz and the armies from different parts of the Empire, so that the dust of discord might possibly be laid. In short, the aforesaid Qāzī met the Imperial army on the banks of the river* of Ludianah. Inasmuch as the Emperor’s mind was enamoured of the Begam’s seductions, the Qāẓī was refused access to the Emperor, and Maḥabet Khān was ordered to imprison him. Soon after, Shāh Jahān also with a large army encamped at Fateḥpūr, in the vicinity of Akbarābād (Agra). The Emperor marched back from Sirhind,* and all the grandees and officers from different jagirs joined the Emperor, and before the Capital, Delhi, was reached, a numerous force collected. The vanguard of the Imperialists was entrusted to the command of ‘Abdullāh Khān,* who was ordered to proceed one kroh in advance of the Imperial camp. But Shāh Jahān, foreseeing the result, thought that if he engaged in fighting against such a numerous army, the result might prove disastrous. Consequently, together with the Khān Khānān* and other officers, retiring by the right-side road, he marched 20 kroh northwards. He left, however, Rajah Bikramajit* and Dārab Khān, son of the Khān Khānān, together with other officers, in front of the Imperialists, so that if the latter, under the direction of the Begam, led the pursuit, the aforesaid commanders might prevent their advance, till the discord subsided. On the 20th Jamādi-al-Awwal 1032 A.H., news of Shāh Jahān’s withdrawal reached the Emperor. The Begam, under the advice of Maḥabet Khān, detached Aṣaf Khān Khwājah Abul Ḥasan,* ‘Abdullāh Khān, Lashkar Khān,* Fedaī Khān* and Nawāzish Khān,* &c., with 25,000 cavalry to fight. From Shāh Jahān’s side, Rajah Bikramajit and Dārāb Khān, arraying their forces, advanced, and on both sides the fighting commenced with arrows and muskets. As ‘Abdullāh Khān* was in intrigue with Shāh Jahān, he promised that when the two forces would encounter each other, availing himself of an opportunity, he would go over to the Prince’s side. Finding an opportunity now, he with the greatest expedition joined Shāh Jahān’s army. Rajah Bikramajit who was aware of ‘Abdullāh Khān’s plan, with great delight went to Dārāb Khān, to inform the latter of ‘Abdullāh Khān’s desertion. As luck would have it, a cannon-ball hit the Rājah on the forehead, and threw him down. From this mishap, the thread of the arrangement of Shāh Jahān’s army was broken. Although a commander like ‘Abdullāh Khān, destroying the basis of the Imperial van­guard, had joined the Prince’s army, Dārāb Khān and other commanders of Shāh Jahān’s army were not daring enough to hold their ground. On the Imperialists’ side, the desertion of ‘Abdullāh Khān, and on the Prince’s side, the fall of Rajah Bikramajit caused mutual confusion, and both the armies were dispirited. Towards the end of the day, both the forces withdrew to their quarters. At length, the Emperor withdrew from Akbar­ābād towards Ajmīr, whĭlst Prince Shāh Jahān retired towards Mando. On the 25th of the Jamādi-al-Awwal, the Emperor detached Prince Parviz with a large army to follow up Shāh Jahān; and Maḥabet Khān was entrusted with the command of Prince Parviz’s army. When Prince Parviz with his army, crossing the defile of Chanda* arrived in the Vilāyet* of Mando, Shāh Jahān with his army sallied out of the fort of Mando, and detached Rustam Khān* with a body of troops to encounter Prince Parviz. Bahāu-d-dīn Barqandāz, one of the confidants of Rustam Khān, a servant of Shāh Jahān, held treason­able correspondence with Maḥabet Khān, and was waiting for an opportunity. At the time when the two armies fell into battle-array, Rustam Khān riding forward joined the Imperialists. This wretched Rustam Khān was by Shāh Jahān elevated from the manṣab of a Sehbasti* to that of a Panjhazāri, and honoured with the title of Rustam Khān and appointed Governor of Gujrāt, and he enjoyed the Prince’s full confidence. Now that the Prince appointing him generalissimo detached him to encounter Prince Parviz, the wretch shelving the obligations of so many years’ kindness, joined Maḥabet Khān. Owing to the occurrence of this mishap, Shāh Jahān’s army got demoralised, and all confidence between each other was lost. Many, going the high-way of infidelity, fled. On hearing of this, Shāh Jahān summoned the remnant of the army to his side, crossed the river Narbada, and removed the boats to his side of the river-bank. Leaving Bairām Beg, the Pay-Master General of the Force, with a body of troops on the banks of the river, Shāh Jahān himself with the Khān-i-Khānān and ‘Abdullāh Khān and others proceeded towards the fort of Asīr and Burhānpur. Muḥammad Taqī Bakshi intercept­ing the letter of the Khān Khānān, which the latter had secretly despatched to Maḥabet Khān, produced it before Shāh Jahān. On the top of the letter, this line was written:—

Shāh Jahān summoning the Khān Khānān with his son Dārāb Khān from his house, secretly showed him the letter. The latter failed to give any satisfactory explanation. Consequently, the Khān-i-Khānān with his son was kept in surveillance close to the Prince’s quarters, and then the inauspicious presage of the line (quoted above) came to pass. Maḥabet Khān sending secret letters, had diverted the Khān Khānān from the path of loyalty, through the persuasions of traitors. And the Khān Khānān, by way of advice, told Shāh Jahān that as the times were out of joint, following the saying: <Arabic> (Translation: “If the times do not fall in with you, you must adjust yourself to the times”) he should arrange for an armistice, as that would be expedient and desirable in the interests of humanity. Shāh Jahān deeming the extinguishing of the fire of discord to be a great achievement, called the Khān Khānān to his closet, and first reas­sured his mind in respect of him by making the latter swear by the Qorān. And the Khān Khānān placing his hand on the Qorān swore with vehemence that he would never play false with the Prince, nor turn disloyal, and that he would put forth his efforts to bring about the welfare of both the parties. Thus being reas­sured, Shāh Jahān sent off the Khān Khānān, and kept Dārāb Khān and his sons with himself. It was also settled that the Khān Khānān should remain on this side of the river Narbada, and by means of correspondence arrange terms of peace. When news of the conclusion of an armistice and of the departure of the Khān Khānān became known, the troops who had been stationed to guard the banks of the river, ceasing to be vigilant and alert, neglected to guard the ferries of the river. Of a night, at a time when these were asleep, a body of Imperialists plunging into the river with their horses, gallantly crossed over. A great hubbub arose, and from panic men’s hands and feet were paralysed. Bairam Beg, ashamed of himself, went to Shāh Jahān. On hearing of the treachery of the Khān Khānān and of the crossing of the river Narbada by the Imperialists, Shāh Jahān deeming it inexpedient to halt any further at Burhānpur, crossed the river Tapti, in the thick of the rains, amidst a storm-wave, and marched towards Orissa,* scouring the Province of Qutbu-l-Mulk.*