On Saturday the 29th of the first Rabīa, I presented Askeri with a dagger enriched with precious stones, a belt, and a complete royal dress of honour; gave him the standard, the horsetail, the kettle-drum, and a stud of Tipchāk horses, ten elephants, a string of camels, a string of mules, and a royal equipage and camp-furniture, commanding him withal to take his seat at the head of a hall of state. I gave Mulla Dudu Atkeh a pair of buskins ornamented with rich buttons,* and presented his other servants with thrice nine vests.*
Nov. 13.On Sunday, the last day of the month, I went to Sultan Muhammed Bakhshi’s house. The streets were spread with rich stuffs, and he brought and offered me a sāchāk, or formal present*; the peshkesh, or tributary offering, which he presented, in money and effects, exceeded two laks.* After dining and receiving this peshkesh, we retired into another apartment, where we sat down and indulged in a maajūn. About the third watch I rose, crossed the river, and went to my private apartments.
Dec. 17. On Thursday, the 4th of the latter Rabīa, I directed
Chikmāk Beg, by a writing under the royal hand and seal,*
to measure the distance from Agra to Kābul; that at
every nine kos he should raise a minār, or turret, twelve
gaz in height, on the top of which he was to construct
a pavilion*;
that, every ten kos,*
he should erect a yam,
or post-house, which they call a dāk-choki, for six horses;
A. D. 1528.
that he should fix a certain allowance as a provision
for the post-house keepers, couriers, and grooms, and for
feeding the horses; and orders were given, that wherever
a post-house for horses was built near a khālseh or imperial
demesne, they should be furnished from thence with the
stated allowances; that if it was situated in a perganna,
the nobleman in charge should attend to the supply. The
Length of
the kos, &c.
same day, Chikmāk Pādshāhi*
left Agra. The kos was
fixed in conformity with the mīl, according to these verses:
(Tūrki)— Four thousand paces are one mīl,
Know that the men of Hindustan call it a kuroh (kos).
This pace is a cubit and a half;
Every cubit* is six hand-breadths*;
Each hand-breadth is six inches;* and, again, each inch
Is the breadth of six barley-corns. Know all this.*
The measuring tanāb was to consist of forty gaz or paces, each measuring one and a half of the gaz or cubit that has been mentioned,* and so equal to nine hand-breadths; and a hundred of these tanābs were to go to one kos.
Grand On Saturday the 6th, I had a feast in the garden.*
I sat
in the northern part of it, in an octagonal pavilion that
was recently erected, and covered with khas grass*
for
coolness. On my right, at the distance of five or six gaz,
sat Būgha Sultan, Askeri, and the venerable Khwājeh’s
family, Khwājeh Abdal Shahīd, Khwājeh Kalān, Khwājeh
Husseini Khalīfeh, and other comers from Samarkand,
the dependants of the Khwājeh, readers of the Korān,
and Mullas. On my left, at an interval of five or six gaz,*
were seated Muhammed Zemān Mirza, Autenk*
Itmīsh
Sultan, Syed Rafī, Syed Rūmi, Sheikh Abul Fateh,
Sheikh Jamāli, Sheikh Shahābeddīn Arab, and Syed Dakni.
The Kizilbāsh, Uzbek, and Hindu ambassadors were
present at this feast. An awning was erected at the
distance of seventy or eighty gaz*
to the right, in which
the Kizilbāsh*
ambassadors were placed, and Yunis Ali
was selected from the Amīrs to sit beside them. At the
same distance on the left, in like manner, the Uzbek ambassadors
were stationed, and Abdallah was selected from
the Amīrs to sit beside them. Before the dinner was served,
all the Khans, Sultans, grandees, and Amīrs offered
congratulatory presents*
of red, and white, and black
money,*
with cloth and other articles. I ordered woollen
cloths*
to be spread out before me, into which they threw
the gold and silver money; offerings of coloured cloth
and of white cloth, as well as purses*
of money, were
piled up beside the gold and silver. Before dining, while
the presents were coming in, there were fights of furious
camels and elephants, in an island*
in front. There were
also some ram-fights, and afterwards matches of wrestlers.
When the dinner was placed, Khwājeh Abdal Shahīd and
Khwājeh Kalān were invested with muslin robes of very
fine cotton,*
with suitable dresses of honour. Mulla Farrukh,
Hāfiz, and those who were with them, received gowns of
cloth. On the ambassador of Kūchim Khan,*
and the
younger brother of Hassan Chalebi,*
were bestowed sirkamash
robes of muslin, with rich buttons,*
and dresses of
honour suited to their rank. To the ambassadors of
Abusaīd Sultan, and Miherbān Khānum and her son Pūlād
Sultan, and to the ambassadors of Shah Hassan, were
given vests with buttons, and robes of rich cloth. A stone*
of gold was weighed with the silver weights, and a stone
of silver with the gold weights, and given to Dosta Khwājeh
and the two great ambassadors, who were the servants
of Kūchim Khan, and to the younger brother of Hassan
Khan Chalebi.*
The gold stone contains five hundred
mishkāls, which is one sīr Kābul measure. The silver
measure is two hundred and fifty mishkāls, which is half
a Kābul sīr. Khwājeh Mīr Sultāni, his sons, and Hāfiz
Tāshkendi, Mulla Farrukh and his followers,*
the servants
of the Khwājeh, and the other ambassadors, had each of
them presents of silver and gold.*
Yādgār Nāsir had
a hanger and belt. Mīr Muhammed Jālehbān had deserved
great rewards,*
for the skill with which he had constructed
the bridge over the Ganges. He and the other*
musketeers,
Pahlwān*
Hāji Muhammed, and Pahlwān Bahlūl, and
Wali Pārschi,*
were presented each with a dagger.*
Syed
Daūd Garmsīri had a present in silver and gold. The
servants of my daughter Maasūmeh, and of my son Hindāl,
received vests ornamented with buttons, and dresses of
honour made of rich cloth. To the men who had come
from Andejān, who, without a country, without a home,
had roamed with me in my wanderings in Sūkh and
Hushiār,*
and many lands, to all my veterans and tried
men,*
I gave vests and rich dresses of honour, with gold
and silver clothes,*
and other articles of value. To the
servants of Kurbān and Sheikhi, and the natives of Kahmerd,
presents were, in like manner, given. When the
Jugglers
and
tumblers.
dinner was placed, the Hindustāni jugglers were brought
in and performed their tricks, and the tumblers and rope-dancers
exhibited their feats. The Hindustāni sleight-of-hand
men do several feats which I never saw performed
by those of our countries. One of these is the following:
They take seven rings, one of which they suspend over
their forehead, and two on their thighs*;
the other four
they place, two on two of their fingers, and the other two
on two of their toes, and then whirl them all round with
A. D 1528.
a quick uninterrupted motion. Another is this: they
place one of their hands on the ground, and then raise up
their other hand and their two feet, which they spread
out so as to represent the port of a peacock, all the while
turning round, with a continued rapid motion, three rings
placed on their hand and two feet. The tumblers of our
country fix two wooden poles*
to their feet, and walk
on these wooden supports; the Hindustāni tumblers,
clinging to a single wooden support, walk on it, and that
without fastening it to their feet. In our countries, two
tumblers lay hold of each other, and go on tumbling
when thus linked together; whereas the Hindustāni
tumblers lay hold of each other to the number of three and
four, and go on tumbling intertwined in a circle. One
of the most remarkable feats which they exhibit is when
a tumbler, placing the lower part of a pole, of six or seven
gaz in length, on his middle, holds it erect, while another
tumbler mounts the pole, and plays his feats on the top
of it. In other cases, a young*
tumbler climbs up, and
stands on the head of an elder*
one; the lower one walks
fast about from side to side playing his feats, with the
younger one all the while standing erect and firm on his
head, and also exhibiting his tricks. Many pateras, or
dancing-girls, were also introduced, and danced. Towards
evening prayers, a great quantity of gold, silver, and
copper money was scattered; there was a precious hubbub
and uproar.*
Between evening and bed-time prayers,
I made five or six of the most distinguished of my guests*
sit down near me, and I continued with them till the end
of the first watch. Next morning, in the forenoon,*
I
went to the Hasht-Behisht in a boat.