On the 29th, which was the auspicious day of Thursday, Sayyid ‘Abdu-llah Bārha, the envoy of my son of good fortune, Bābā Khurram, waited on me, and presented a letter from that son containing news of a victory over the provinces of the Deccan. All the chiefs, laying the head of duty in the noose of obedience, had consented to service and humility, and laid before him the keys of forts and strongholds, especially the fort of Ahmadnagar. In gratitude for this great favour and beneficence, placing the head of supplication on the throne of that God who requires no return, I opened my lips in thankfulness, and, humbling myself, ordered them to beat the drums of rejoicing. Thanks be to Allah that a territory that had passed out of hand has come back into the possession of the servants of the victorious State, and that the seditious, who had been breathing the breath of rebellion and boasting, have turned towards supplication and weakness, and become deliverers of properties and payers of tribute. As this news reached me through Nūr-Jahān Begam, I gave her the parganah of Boda (Ṭoḍā?),* the revenue of which is 200,000 rupees. Please God, when the victorious forces enter the province of the Deccan and its forts, and the mind of my excellent son Khurram is satisfied with regard to their possession, he will bring with the ambassadors such an offering from the Deccan as no other king of this age has received It was ordered that he should bring with him the Amirs who were to receive jagirs in this Subah, in order that they might have the honour of waiting on me. They will thereafter get leave to depart, and the glorious royal standards will return with victory and rejoicing to the capital of Agra. Some days before the news of this victory reached me, I took one night an augury from the diwan of Khwāja Ḥāfi as to what would be the end of this affair, and this ode turned up—

“The day of absence and night of parting from the friend are o'er.
I took this augury; the star passed and fulfilment came.”*

When the secret tongue (lisānu-l-ghaib) of Ḥāfi showed such an ending it gave me a strong hope, and accordingly, after twenty-five days, the news of victory arrived. In many of my desires I have resorted to the Khwāja's diwan, and (generally) the result has coincided with what I found there. It is seldom that the opposite has happened.

On the same day I added 1,000 horse to the mansab of Āṣaf Khān, and raised it to that of 5,000 personal and horse. At the end of the day I went with the ladies to look round the building of the Haft Manar* (seven storeys), and at the beginning of the evening returned to the palace. This building was founded by a former ruler of Malwa, Sulān Maḥmūd Khaljī. It has seven storeys, and in each storey there are four chambers (ṣuffa) containing four windows. The height of this tower (mīnār) is 54 1/2 cubits, and its circumference 50 yards (gaz). There are 171 steps from the ground to the seventh storey. In going and returning I scattered 1,400 rupees.*

On the 31st I honoured Sayyid ‘Abdu-llah with the title of Saif Khān, and having exalted him with a dress of honour, a horse, an elephant, and a jewelled dagger, gave him leave and sent him to do duty with my son of lofty fortune. I also sent by him a ruby of the value of more than 30,000 rupees for my son. I did not regard its value, but as for a long time I used to bind it on my own head, I sent it him by way of good augury, considering it lucky for him. I appointed Sulān Maḥmūd, a son-in-law of Khwāja Abū-l-ḥasan bakhshi, to be bakhshi and news-writer of the Subah of Behar, and when he took leave I gave him an elephant. At the end of the day of Thursday, 5th Amurdād, I went with the ladies to see the Nīl-kunḍ, which is one of the most* pleasant places in the fort of Mandu (Mānḍogaṛh). Shāh-budāgh Khān, who was one of my revered father's most considerable Amirs, at the time when he held this province in jagir, built in this place an exceedingly pleasing and enjoyable building. Delaying there till two or three gharis of night had passed I returned to the auspicious palace.

As several indiscretions on the part of Mukhliṣ Khān, diwan and bakhshi of the Subah of Bengal, had come to my ears, I reduced his mansab by 1,000 personal and 200 horse. On the 7th a war (mastī) elephant from among those sent as offerings by ‘Ādil Khān, by name Gaj-rāj, was sent to Rānā Amr Singh. On the 11th, I went out to hunt, and came one stage from the fort. There was excessive rain, and the mud was such that there was hardly any moving. For the convenience of the people and the comfort of the animals I gave up this undertaking, and passing the day of Thursday outside, returned on Friday eve. On the same day Hidāyatu-llah, who is very well suited to carry out the rules and movements (in travelling) of the head­quarters (lit. presence), was honoured with the title of Fidā'ī Khān. In this rainy season rain fell in such quantities that old men said that they did not remember such rain in any age. For nearly forty days there was nothing but cloud and rain, so that the sun only appeared occasionally. There was so much wind that many buildings, both old and new, fell down. On the first night there was* such rain and thunder and lightning as has seldom been heard of. Nearly twenty women and men were killed, and the foundations even of some of the stone buildings were broken up. No noise is more terrifying than this. Till the middle of the month was passed, wind and rain increased. After this they gradually became less. What can be written of the verdure and self-grown fragrant plants? They covered valley and plain and hill and desert. It is not known if in the inhabited world there exists another such place as Mandu for sweetness of air and for the pleasantness of the locality and the neighbourhood, especially in the rainy season. In this season, which lasts for months and extends up to the hot weather, one cannot sleep inside houses without coverlets, and in the day the temperature is such that there is no need for a fan or for change of place. All that could be written would still fall short of the many beauties of the place. I saw two things that I had not seen in any other place in Hindustan. One was the tree of the wild plantain that grows in most of the uncultivated places in the fort, and the other the nest of the wagtail (mamūla), which they call in Persian the dum-sīcha (tail-wagger). Up till now none of the hunters had pointed out its nest. By chance in the building I occupied there was its nest, and it brought out two young ones.

Three watches of day had passed on Thursday, the 19th, when I mounted with the ladies in order to go round and see the courts and buildings on the Shakkar tank, founded by former rulers of Malwa. As an elephant had not been conferred on I‘timādu-d-daulah on account of his government of the Panjab, I gave him on the road one of my private elephants of the name of Jagjot. I remained in this enchanting place until the evening, and was much delighted with the pleasantness and greenness of the surrounding open spaces. After performing my evening prayer and counting my rosary, we returned to our fixed residence. On Friday an elephant named Ran-bādal (cloud of war?), which Jahāngīr Qulī Khān had sent as an offering, was brought before me. Having adopted for myself certain special cloths and cloth-stuffs, I gave an order that no one should wear the same but he on whom I might bestow them. One was a nādirī coat that they wear over the qabā (a kind of outer vest). Its length is from the waist down to below the thighs, and it has no sleeves. It is fastened in front with buttons, and the people of Persia call it kurdī (from the country of the Kurds). I gave it the name of nadiri. Another garment is a ūs shawl, which my revered father had adopted as a dress. The next was a coat (qaba) with a folded collar (batū girībān). The ends of the sleeves were embroidered. He had also appropriated this to himself. Another was a qaba with a border, from which the fringes of cloth were cut off and sewn round the skirt and collar and the ends of the sleeve. Another was a qaba of Gujarati satin, and another a chīra and waistbelt woven with silk, in which were interwoven gold and silver threads.

As the monthly pay of some of Mahābat Khān's horsemen, according to the regulation of three and two horsed men, for the performance of duty in the Deccan, had become increased and the service* had not been performed, I gave an order that the civil officers (dīwāniyān) should levy the difference from his jagir. In the end of Thursday, the 26th, corresponding with the 14th Sha‘bān, which is the Shab-i-barāt, I held a meeting in one of the houses of the palace of Nūr-Jahān Begam, which was situated in the midst of large tanks, and summoning the Amirs and courtiers to the feast which had been prepared by the Begam, I ordered them to give the people cups and all kinds of intoxicating drinks according to the desire of each. Many asked for cups, and I ordered that whoever drank a cup should sit according to his mansab and condition. All sorts of roast meats, and fruits by way of relish, were ordered to be placed before everyone. It was a wonderful assembly. In the beginning of the evening they lighted lanterns and lamps all round the tanks and buildings, and a lighting up was carried out the like of which has perhaps never been arranged in any place. The lanterns and lamps cast their reflection on the water, and it appeared as if the whole surface of the tank was a plain of fire. A grand entertainment took place, and the drinkers of cups took more cups than they could carry.

“A feast was arranged that lighted up the heart,
It was of such beauty as the heart desired.
They flung over this verdant mead
A carpet broad as the field of genius.
From abundance of perfume the feast spread far,
The heavens were a musk-bag by reason of incense,
The delicate ones of the garden (the flowers) became glorious,
The face of each was lighted up like a lamp.”*

After three of four gharis of night had passed, I dismissed the men and summoned the ladies, and till a watch of night (remained?) passed the time in this delightful place, and enjoyed myself. On this day of Thursday several special things had happened. One was that it was the day of my ascension of the throne; secondly, it was the Shab-i-barāt; thirdly, it was the day of the rākhī, which has already been described, and with the Hindus is a special day. On account of these three pieces of good fortune I called the day Mubārak-shamba.