On the 16th Āzar news came that the watchmen had
marked down a tigress. I immediately went there and
killed it with a gun and returned. After a few days
a nilgaw (blue bull) was killed, of which I ordered them to
take off the skin in my presence and cook it as food for
the poor. Over 200 people assembled and ate it, and
I gave money with my own hand to each of them. In
the same month news came that the Franks of Goa had,
contrary to treaty, plundered four cargo vessels*
that
frequented the port of Surat in the neighbourhood of
that port; and, making prisoners a large number of
Musulmans, had taken possession of the goods and
chattels that were in those ships. This being very
disagreeable to my mind, I despatched Muqarrab Khān,
who is in charge of the port, on the 18th Āzar, giving
him a horse and elephant and a dress of honour, to obtain
compensation for this affair. On account of the great
activity and good services of Yūsuf Khān and Bahāduru-l-
It has been written that my chief object, after my visit to the Khwāja, was to put a stop to the affair of the rebel Rānā. On this account I determined to remain myself at Ajmir and send on Bābā Khurram, my fortunate son. This idea was a very good one, and on this account, on the 6th of Day, at the hour fixed upon, I despatched him in happiness and triumph. I presented him with a qabā (outer coat) of gold brocade with jewelled flowers and pearls round the flowers, a brocaded turban with strings of pearls, a gold woven sash with chains of pearls, one of my private elephants called Fatḥ Gaj, with trappings, a special horse, a jewelled sword, and a jewelled khapwa, with a phūl kaṭāra. In addition to the men first appointed to this duty under the leadership of Khān A‘am, I sent 12,000 more horse with my son, and honoured their leaders, each according to his condition, with special horses and elephants and robes of honour, and dismissed them. Fidā'ī Khān was nominated to the paymastership of this army. At the same time Ṣafdar Khān was despatched to the government of Kashmir in place of Hāshim Khān. He received a horse and robe of honour. On Wednesday, the 11th, Khwāja Abū-l-ḥasan was made general paymaster (bakhshī-kul), and received a dress of honour. I had ordered them to make a large caldron* at Agra for the revered mausoleum of the Khwāja. On this day it was brought, and I ordered them to cook food for the poor in that pot, and collect together the poor of Ajmir to feed them whilst I was there. Five thousand people assembled, and all ate of this food to their fill. After the food I gave money to each of the dervishes with my own hand. At this time Islām Khān, governor of Bengal, was promoted to the mansab of 6,000 personal and horse, and a flag was given to Mukarram Khān, son of Mu‘āam Khān.
On the 1st of Isfandārmuz, corresponding with the 10th Muḥarram, 1023 (20th February, 1614), I left Ajmir to hunt nilgaw, and returned on the 9th. I halted at the fountain of Ḥāfi Jamāl,* two kos from the city, and passed the night of Friday* there. At the end of the day I entered the city. In these twenty days ten nilgaw had been killed. As the good service of Khwāja Jahān and the smallness of his force for the defence and government of Agra and that neighbourhood were brought to my notice, I increased his mansab by 500 personal and 100 horse. On the same day Abū-l-fatḥ Dakhanī came from his jagir and waited on me. On the 3rd of the same month news came of the death of Islām Khān; he had died on Thursday, the 5th Rajab, in the year 1022 (21st August, 1613). In one day, without any previous illness, this inevitable event occurred. He was one of those born and brought up in the house (house-born). The naturally good disposition and knowledge of affairs that showed themselves in him were seen in no one else. He ruled Bengal with entire authority, and brought within the civil jurisdiction of the province countries that had never previously come under the sway of any of the jagirdars or into the possession of any of the Chiefs of the State. If death had not overtaken him he would have done perfect service.
The Khān A‘am had himself prayed that the illustrious prince should be appointed to the campaign against the Rānā, yet, notwithstanding all kinds of encouragement and gratification on the part of my son (Shāh Jahān), he would not apply himself to the task, but proceeded to act in his own unworthy manner. When this was heard by me, I sent Ibrāhīm Ḥusain, who was one of my most trusty attendants, to him, and sent affectionate messages to him to say that when he was at Burhanpur he had daily begged this duty of me, as he considered it equivalent to the happiness of both worlds, and had said in meetings and assemblies that if he should be killed in this enterprise he would be a martyr, and if he prevailed, a ghāzī. I had given him whatever support and assistance of artillery he had asked for. After this he had written that without the movement of the royal standards to those regions the completion of the affair was not free of difficulty. By his counsel I had come to Ajmir, and this neighbourhood had been thus honoured and dignified. Now that he had himself prayed for the prince, and everything had been carried out according to his counsel, why did he withdraw his foot from the field of battle and enter the place of disagreement? To Bābā Khurram, from whom up till now I had never parted, and whom I sent in pure reliance on his (Khān A‘am's) knowledge of affairs, he should show loyalty and approved good-will, and never be neglectful day or night of his duty to my son. If, contrariwise, he should draw back his foot from what he had agreed to, he must know that there would be mischief. Ibrāhīm Ḥusain went, and impressed these words on his mind in the same detailed way. It was of no avail, as he would not go back from his folly and determination. When Bābā Khurram saw that his being in the affair was a cause of disturbance, he kept him under observation and represented that his being there was in no way fitting, and he was acting thus and spoiling matters simply on account of the connection he had with Khusrau.* I then ordered Mahābat Khān to go and bring him from Udaipur, and told Muḥammad Taqī, the diwan of buildings, to go to Mandesūr and bring his children and dependants to Ajmir.
On the 11th of the month news came that Dulīp, son of Rāy Singh, who was of a seditious and rebellious disposition, had been heavily defeated by his younger brother, Rāo Sūraj Singh, who had been sent against him, and that he was making disturbance in one of the districts of the Sarkar of Ḥiṣṣar. About this time Hāshim of Khost, the faujdar, and the jagirdars of that neighbourhood seized him, and sent him as a prisoner to Court. As he had misbehaved repeatedly, he was capitally punished, and this was a warning to many of the seditious. In reward for this service an increase of 500 personal and 200 horse was made to the mansab of Rāo Sūraj Singh. On the 14th of the month a representation came from my son Bābā Khurram that the elephant ‘Ālam-gumān, of which the Rānā was very fond, together with seventeen other elephants, had fallen into the hands of the warriors of the victorious army, and that his master would also soon be captured.