On Tuesday, the 14th, marching 6 kos, I halted at
Sīlgaṛh (Sabalgaṛh?). On Wednesday, the 15th, crossing
the Mahī River, a halt was made near Rāmgaṛh. A march
of 6 kos was made on Thursday, the 16th, and a halt was
made and a feast of cups held at a waterfall near the
camp. Distinguishing Sar-buland Khān with a standard
and giving him an elephant, I dismissed him to do duty
in the Deccan. His mansab, original and increase, was
fixed at 1,500 personal and 1,200 horse. Rāja Bhīm
Narāyan, Zamindar of Gadeha, who had been promoted to
the mansab of 1,000 horse, obtained leave to go to his
jagir. Having raised Rāja Bharjīv, Zamindar of Baglāṇa,
to the mansab of 4,000, I gave him leave to go to his
native country, and an order was given that when he
arrived there he should send to Court his eldest son, who
was his successor, that he might do duty in my presence.
I honoured Ḥājī Balūch, who was the chief of the huntsmen
and was an active and old servant, with the title of
Balūch Khān. On Friday, the 17th, marching 5 kos,
I alighted at the village of Dhāvala. On Saturday, the
18th, which was the feast of Qurbān, after the Qurbān
rites had been performed, marching 3 1/4 kos, I halted on
the bank of the tank of the village of Nāgor.*
On
Sunday, the 19th, marching about 5 kos, the royal
standards were erected on the bank of the tank of the
village of Samriya. On Monday, the 20th, marching
4 1/4 kos, we alighted at the chief place of the Doḥad*
parganah. This parganah is on the boundary between
Malwa and Gujarat. Until I passed Badnor the whole
country was a jungle, with an abundance of trees and
stony land. On Tuesday, the 21st, I halted. On Kam-
“From redness and moistness it will melt away.”*
The flower of the kaṇwal* is larger than the kumudini. Its flower is red. I have seen in Kashmir many kanwal with a hundred leaves (petals). It is certain that it opens during the day and becomes a bud at night. The kumudini, on the contrary, is a bud during the day and opens at night. The black bee, which the people of India call bhauṇrā, always sits on these flowers, and goes inside them to drink the juice that is in both of them. It often happens that the kanwal flower closes and the bee remains in it the whole night. In the same manner it remains in the kumudini flower. When the flower opens it comes out and flies away. As the black bee is a constant attendant on these flowers, the poets of India look on it as a lover of the flower, like the nightingale, and have put into verse sublime descriptions of it. Of these poets the chief was Tān Sen Kalāwant, who was without a rival in my father's service (in fact, there has been no singer like him in any time or age). In one of his compositions he has likened the face of a young man to the sun and the opening of his eyes to the expanding of the kanwal and the exit of the bee. In another place he has compared the side-glance of the beloved one to the motion of the kanwal when the bee alights on it.
At this place figs arrived from Ahmadabad. Although the figs of Burhanpur are sweet and well-grown, these figs are sweeter and with fewer seeds, and one may call them 5 per cent. better. On Kam-shamba, the 29th, and Mubārak-shamba, the 30th, we halted. At this stage Sar-faräz Khān came from Ahmadabad and had the good fortune to kiss the threshold. Out of his offerings a rosary of pearls, bought for 11,000 rupees, two elephants, two horses, two bullocks and a riding cart, and some pieces of Gujaratī cloth, were accepted, and the remainder presented to him. Sar-farāz Khān is a grandson of Muṣāḥib Beg, by which name he was called by Akbar after his grandfather, who was one of the Amirs of Humāyūn. In the beginning of my reign I increased his mansab and appointed him to the Subah of Gujarat. As he had an hereditary connection with the Court as a Khana-zada (one born in the house), he proved himself efficient in the Subah of Gujarat. Considering him worthy of patronage, I gave him the title of Sar-farāz Khān and raised him in the world, and his mansab has risen to 2,000 personal and 1,000 horse. On Friday, the 1st of Day, I marched 3 3/4 kos and halted on the bank of the tank of Jhasod.* At this stage Rāy Mān, captain of the Khidmatiya,* caught a rohū fish and brought it. As I am particularly partial to the flesh of fish, especially that of the rohu, which is the best kind of fish in Hindustan, and I had never, notwithstanding much enquiry, had one for eleven months from the time of crossing the pass of Ghātī Chand* until the present time, and now obtained it, I was greatly delighted. I presented a horse to Rāy Mān. Although the parganah of Dohad is reckoned as within the boundary of Gujarat, yet, in fact, it was from this stage that all things appeared different. The open plains and soil are of a different kind; the people are different and the language of another description. The jungle that appeared on the road has fruit-bearing trees, such as the mango and khirnī and tamarind, and the method of guarding the cultivated fields is with hedges of zaqqūm. The cultivators separate their fields with cactus, and leave a narrow road between them for coming and going. Since all this country has a sandy soil, when any movement takes place, so much dust rises that the faces of people are seen with difficulty, so that one should call Ahmadabad ‘Gardābād’* (abode of dust). On Saturday, the 2nd, having marched 3 3/4 kos, I encamped on the bank of the Mahī. On Sunday, the 3rd, again after a march of 3 3/4 kos, I halted at the village of Bardala. At this stage a number of mansabdars who had been appointed to serve in Gujarat had the good fortune to kiss the threshold. Marching 5 kos on Monday, the 4th, the royal standards halted at Chitrasīmā, and the next day, Tuesday, after a march of 5 kos, in parganah Mondā.* On this day three blue bulls were killed; one was larger than the others and weighed 13 maunds and 10 seers. On Wednesday, the 6th, I marched 6 kos and halted in parganah Naryād.* In passing through the town I scattered 1,500 rupees. On Thursday, the 7th, marching 6 1/2 kos, I halted in the parganah of Pitlād.* In the country of Gujarat there is no larger parganah than this; it has a revenue of 700,000 rupees, equal to 23,000 current tumans of Iraq. The population of the town (qaṣba), too, is dense. Whilst I passed through it I scattered 1,000 rupees. All my mind is bent upon this, that under any pretext the people of God may be benefited. As the chief way of riding among the people of this country is in carts, I also wished to travel in a cart. I sat for 2 kos in a cart, but was much troubled with the dust, and after this till the end of the stage rode on horseback. On the road Muqarrab Khān came from Ahmadabad, and had the good fortune to wait on me, and presented an offering of a pearl he had bought for 30,000 rupees. On Friday, the 8th, marching 6 1/2 kos, the place of the descent of prosperity was on the shore of the salt sea.