Be it known to the Khān-Khānān that whereas he has been nour­ished and cherished by this sublime family and his duties of good service to this Court have been ascertained, and as H.M. the king Jinnat-Dastgāh (Humāyūn)—May God be bountiful to him! on account of the good qualities and sincerity which appeared in him, bestowed favours on him, and confided to him the great office of being our guardian (atālīq), and whereas, after that king had departed from the defiles of this world to the wide spaces of the eternal world, he (Bairām) with loyalty and sincerity bound upon his waist the girdle of devotion and discharged the offices of prime minister (vakil), we, observing his alacrity in that service, and his seemingly good disposi­tions, left to him the bridle of loosening and knotting to the utmost extent conceivable. Accordingly, whatever he wished, good or bad, was carried out, and thus in these five years some improper acts of his came to light which disgusted everyone, such as his patronage of Shaikh Gadaī* so that he made him Ṣadr, and in spite of the office's requiring consummate ability and knowledge, he, on account of his own private companionship and intimacy, chose him from among all the men who were fit for it by capacity and lineage. And in addi­tion to making him Ṣadr and allowing him to endorse* decrees with his seal, he exempted him from the ceremony of homage (taslīm), and in spite of his utter ignorance and want of capacity, he gave him pre­cedence in the paradisaical assemblies over all the Saiyids of noble rank and all the distinguished 'Ulama, to whom we paid reverence on account of their rank and qualities. He thus showed in the clearest manner his contempt for the purest and holiest family, (that of Muḥammad) in spite of his boasting of his love and affection for that lineage. He gave his protegé, who was rejected* and despised by every­one precedence over those who were divinely nurtured, and feeling no shame or reverence before the holy spirits of all our ancestors, he advanced him to such a rank that he appeared before us on horseback* and took us by the hand! To his own menial servants, whose condi­tions and qualities were well-known, he gave the titles of Sulān and Khān, and presented them with flags, kettle-drums, rich fief, and productive territories, whilst he with total want of considerations made the Khāns, the princes, the officers, and the trusted servants of H.M. Jahānbanī Jinnat Āshiyānī, whose rank, claims and qualifi­cations are known to everyone, to be in want of even dry bread. Nay, he aimed at the life and honour of all of them, and he took no thought for old* servants and domestics, who had served for years in hopes (of reward) and had become entitled to kindness and favour, and did not provide them with even the smallest offices which might have been a means of livelihood to them. As for those who in hunts and expeditions had done service and had undergone thousands of labours and troubles, he every now and then fabricated lies against them and thirsted for their blood. He committed various immoderate and dis­proportioned acts. If his own servants committed a hundred faults, such as murder, theft, highway robbery, plundering, &c., and these were brought to his notice, he from partiality and hypocrisy took no notice of them; whereas if a small thing were done by the Court-servants, or were slanderously alleged against them, he had no hesitation in imprisoning them or in putting them to death, or in plundering them. He also practised various kinds of oppression and insults for purposes of espial; and some in their utter baseness had engaged them­selves in his service, and uttered flatteries to him, such as Shāh Qulī Nāranjī,* Muḥammad* āhir, and Lang Sārbān.* He in his simplicity believed them to be truth-speakers and patronised them, and sup­ported them. For instance, Shāh Qulī behaved in an offensive manner and did not listen to orders, and Muḥammad āhir gave such a rude answer that he deserved to have his tongue cut out or rather to be put to death. He (Bairām) heard of this and did nothing. Lang Sārbān uttered before a number of people and in his presence such rude expressions that he too was deserving of condign punish­ment. He himself knows what was the position and rank of Walī Beg among the Qizilbāshes. Without considering his service, his line­age or his position, and mainly on account of relationship, viz., his being his (Baīrām's) brother-in-law,)* he brought him and put him over the great officers, so that he even gave him precedence over Saiyid Qulī* Mīrzā, who is distinguished for the height of his Saiyīdship and for his connection with the sovereign. He gave Ḥusaīn Qulī, who has not even fought with a chicken,* equal position with Iskandar Khān, Ābdullah Khān, and Bahādur Khan, and gave him cultivated fiefs, while he satisfied the great Khāns with waste lands. At these times in many assemblages such deeds were performed by him as to distress and trouble our capacious soul. As we wished to please him, and regarded him as a sincere well-wisher of our family, and fully relied upon his words and actions, we considered all these unseemly actions of his as his extreme loyalty and good-will, and knowingly and intentionally passed them over with consummate benevolence. At last it was represented to us that he at the insti­gation of the same gang meditated rebellion, and the separating from us of the few who remained with us, and of reducing us to solitude. In order to defeat this wickedness we went from Agra towards Delhi, and wrote to him that on account of various acts which had come to light, and of speeches which had been repeated to us, we did not hold that he could serve us at this time, and that though we had received many injuries from him, we still continued to regard him as the Khān Khānān, and to style him such, and in order to comfort him we took solemn oaths that we had no design against his life, property or honour. But as we were ourselves giving our attention to affairs of government, it was considered that he should take his own position and submit what he judged proper, and that then we should according to our judgment pass orders thereon. As we had on various occasions represented that the time had come when we should address ourselves to the duties of sovereignty, it was thought that on hearing of this good news he would be pleased, and that he would be firm and con­stant in obedience. But it came to our knowledge that he had utterly forgotten the favour which had been shown to him while hold­ing his office, and the claims of our glorious family from their favour and patronage of him during forty years, and from their support of him from his cradle, and had hearkened to the words of that rebellious crew. They for their own selfish objects wished to enlist him among the rebels, and in this last stage of his life to exclude him from other-world joys and to involve him in eternal disgrace. Accordingly, from perfect devilry, baseness and arrogance, they won him over and have carried him off the (right) road. He has sent a message to the son of Iskandar to come forward in opposition, and has also sent men to Tatār Khān Panj Bhīya to invite him to come into the Dāmān-i-koh and commit violence there and then come out. He himself had thoughts of Lahore, thinking that there he might lay the foundation of strife, and come into opposition. Into the imperial dominions he has introduced dissension and has endeavoured to extinguish by a cold breath the lamp of the dominion of this family which has been kindled by the eternal radiance, and kept alight by the hand of Divine power. Seemingly the veil of pride and arro­gance has blinded the eyes of his understanding, and that he does not know that

Who puffs a God-lighted lamp,
Sets fire to his own beard.

Since from considering all that sincerity and reliability which were clearly manifested in all his behaviour, it appeared and still appears that these actions originated in wicked men and were in reality far from himself; nor can it be believed that they are his own, for he has been nourished and cherished by this great family, and obedience to our orders is for him right and proper, we directed for the sake of demonstration that he should withdraw himself from these abominable proceedings, and that he should arrest and send to Court this lost and abandoned crew who have been the cause of the destruction of his fortune and honour, and who for their own objects support his rebellion and enmity. As we, during these five years, have respected his wishes and have not shown any recusancy, and have not gone beyond his good pleasure in anything that he proposed, whether it was acceptable to us, or inacceptable, he likewise should at once submit to this our order, and not be vexed therewith. When­ever he acts according to this order, we shall clear our heart with regard to him and entirely forgive his crimes and offences. And when­ever he is inclined to serve, and there is occasion for it, we shall sum­mon him to our service, so that the veil over him may be removed. And as his services are still appreciated and approved by us, though he has received a thousand favours equal to them, we desire that his name, which has for years been celebrated in all countries and cities for sincerity, devotion, obedience, and reliability, may not become notorious for rebellion, contumacy and sedition, and that it be not included in the list of the Qarāca Qara Bakhts (see ante). Accord­ingly we make known to him the duties of obedience. Let him beware of cherishing other thoughts, and let him be assured that if out of ignorance and short-thoughtedness he leave the path, and if pride and arrogance ruin his brain and place him among the seceders, we shall proceed against him with our victorious troops, and attended by dominion and prestige, with the determination to put him down, and by the Divine favour we shall abolish him from the earth. There is hope that under these circumstances, when the fortune of our Caliphate is preluding, and his is beginning to retrograde, there will be a great victory, and that he shall be overcome by the army of fortune and put to shame and made a prisoner. Let him not show his folly by thinking that he has bestowed so many favours on his own men during these five years, in order that they might be of use in time of need. In his shortness of thought and ignorance he does not know that fortune is linked to the Divine favour. Whenever that favour does not exist, an unfaithful servant does not succeed. Accord­ingly, it is transparent that most of those who called themselves sons and brothers, and who, he thought, never would separate from him, have under the guidance of auspiciousness separated from him. Those who have remained, are separating, one by one, and coming to Court. Gradually they will leave him all alone. Under these circumstances, nothing but submission and surrender will avail.