Cambay*
is one of the old ports. According to the
brahmins, several thousand years have passed since its
foundation. In the beginning its name was Trimbāwatī,
and Rāja Tryambak Kunwar had the government of the
country. It would take too long to write in detail the
circumstances of the aforesaid Raja as the brahmins relate
it. In brief, when the turn to the government came round
to Rāja Abhay Kumār,*
who was one of his grandsons,
by the decree of heaven a great calamity happened to
this city. So much dust and earth were poured on it
that all the houses and buildings were hidden, and
the means of livelihood of many people was destroyed.
Before the arrival of this calamity, an idol (but), which
the Raja worshipped, came in a dream and announced this
event. The Raja with his family embarked in a ship,
and carried away the idol with them with a pillar it had
behind it for a support. By chance the ship also was
wrecked by a storm of misfortune. As there was left
still a term of life for the Raja, that pillar bore the boat
of his existence in safety to the shore, and he proposed
to rebuild the city. He put up the pillar as a mark of
repopulation and the coming together of the people. As in
the Hindi language they call a pillar istambh and khambh,
they called the city Istambhnagarī and Khambāwatī, and
sometimes also Trimbāwatī, in connection with the Raja's
name; Khambāwatī has by degrees and much use become
Khambāyat (Cambay). This port is one of the largest
ports*
in Hindustan and is near a firth, which is one of
the firths of the Sea of Oman. It has been estimated
to be 7 kos in width, and nearly 40 kos in length.
Ships cannot come inside the firth, but must cast anchor
in the port of Gogā, which is a dependency*
of Cambay
and situated near the sea. Thence, putting their cargoes
into ghurābs*
(commonly called ‘grabs’) they bring them
to the port of Cambay. In the same way, at the time
of loading a ship they carry the cargo in ghurabs and put
it in the ships. Before the arrival of the victorious host
some ghurabs from European ports had come to Cambay
to buy and sell, and were about to return. On Sunday,
the 10th, they decorated them and showed them to me.
Taking leave they went about their business. On Monday,
the 11th, I myself went on board a ghurab for about
a kos on the face of the water. On Tuesday, the 12th,
I went out with cheetahs (yūz), and captured two*
antelope.
On Wednesday, the 13th, I went to see the tank of
Tārangsar (Narangsar?),*
and passed through the streets and
bazaar on the way, scattering nearly 5,000 rupees. In the
time of H.M. Akbar (may Allah's lights be his testimony),
Kalyān Rāy, the superintendent of the port, by His
Majesty's order built a wall of brick and cement round
the city, and many merchants came from various quarters
and settled there, and built fine houses and employed
themselves in gaining their livelihood under easy circumstances.
Although its market is small, it is clean and
full of people. In the time of the Sultans of Gujarat
the customs of this port came to a large sum. Now in
my reign it is ordered that they should not take more
than one in forty. In other ports, calling it a tithe, they
take one in ten or one in eight, and give all kinds of
trouble to merchants and travellers. In Jeddah, which is
the port of Mecca, they take one in four or even more.
One may imagine from this what the customs of the ports
of Gujarat must have come to in the time of the former
rulers. God be praised that this suppliant at the throne
of God obtained the grace to remit the whole of the
customs dues of his dominions, which came to a countless
sum, and the very name of customs (tamghā) has passed
away from my empire. At this time an order was given
that tankas*
of gold and silver should be coined twice
the weight of ordinary muhrs and rupees. The legend
on the gold coin was on one side the words “Jahāngīr-
“When after the conquest of the Deccan he came to Gujarat from Māndū.”
In no reign except mine have tankas been coined except
of copper*
; the gold and silver tankas are my invention.
I ordered it to be called the Jahāngīrī coinage. On
Mubārak-shamba (Thursday), the 14th, the offering of
Amānat Khān, the superintendent (mutaṣaddī) of Cambay,
was laid before me in the women's apartments. His
mansab was fixed, original and increase, at 1,500 personal
and 400 horse. Nūru-d-dīn Qulī was honoured with the
mansab, original and increase, of 3,000 personal and 600
horse. On Friday, the 15th, mounted on the elephant
Nūr-bakht, I made it run after a horse. It ran exceedingly
well, and when it was stopped stood well. This is the
third time that I myself have ridden it. On Saturday, the
16th, Rām Dās, son of Jay Singh, was promoted to the
mansab, original and increase, of 1,500 personal and 700
horse. On Sunday, the 17th, an elephant each was given
to Dārāb Khān, Amānat Khān, and Sayyid Bāyazīd Bārha.
In these few days during which I was encamped on the
shore of the salt sea, merchants, traders, indigent people,
and other inhabitants of the port of Cambay having been
summoned before me, I gave each according to his condition
a dress of honour or a horse or travelling money or assistance
in living. On this day, Sayyid Muḥammad, Ṣāḥib Sajjāda
(Lord of the prayer carpet) of Shāh ‘Ālam (a mosque
near Ahmadabad), the sons of Shaikh Muḥammad Ghau,
Shaikh Ḥaidar, grandson of Miyān Wajīhū-d-dīn, and
other Shaikhs living at Ahmadabad came to meet me
and pay their respects. As my desire was to see the
sea and the flow and ebb of the water, I halted for ten
days, and on Tuesday, the 19th (Day, about 30th December,
1618), the royal standards started for Ahmadabad. The
best description of fish procurable in this place, the name
of which is ‘arbīyat,*
was caught and frequently brought
for me by the fishermen. Without doubt these fish are,
as compared with other fish of this country, more delicious
and better, but they are not of the flavour of the rohū.
One might say as nine to ten or even eight to ten. Of
the food which is peculiar to the people of Gujarat there
is the khichṛī of bājrā (a mixture of split peas and
millet boiled together); this they also call lazīza. It
is a kind of split grain, which does not grow in any
other country but Hindustan, and which in comparison
with many other regions of India is more abundant in
Gujarat; it is cheaper than most vegetables. As I had
never eaten it, I ordered them to make some and bring
it to me. It is not devoid of good flavour, and it suited
me well. I ordered that on the days of abstinence, when
I partake of dishes not made with flesh, they should
frequently bring me this khichri. On the said Tuesday,
having marched 6 1/4 kos, I halted at the village of
Kosālā. On Wednesday, the 20th, I passed through
the parganah of Bābrā*
and halted on the bank of
the river. This was a march of 6 kos. On Mubārak-
As at this stage the tomb of Shāh ‘Ālam was by the roadside, I recited the fātiḥa in passing by it. About 100,000 rupees had been spent in building this mausoleum. Shāh ‘Ālam was the son of Qub ‘Ālam, and their family goes back to Makhdūm-i-Jahāniyān* (a saint). The people of this country, high and low, have a wonderful belief in him, and they say that Shāh ‘Ālam used to raise the dead. After he had raised several dead men, his father became aware of this and sent him a prohibition, saying it was presumption in him to meddle with the workshop of God, and was contrary to true obedience. It happened that Shāh ‘Ālam had an attendant (female) who had no children, but at Shāh ‘Ālam's prayer God Almighty bestowed a son on her. When he reached his 27th* year he died, and that slave came weeping and wailing into his presence, saying, “My son has died, and he was my only son; since God Almighty gave him to me by your favour, I am hopeful that through your prayer he may become alive.” Shāh ‘Ālam fell into thought for a time and went into his cell, and the attendant went to his son, who greatly loved her, and besought him to ask the Shah to make his son alive. The son, who was of tender years, went into his cell, and used much entreaty. Shāh ‘Ālam said, “If you are content to give up your life for him, perhaps my petition may be accepted.” He represented “I am perfectly contented with what may be your wish and the desire of God.” Shāh ‘Ālam took his son's hands, and lifting him up from the ground turned his face towards heaven and said, “O God, take this kid in place of that one.” Instantaneously the boy surrendered his soul to God, and Shāh ‘Ālam laid him down on his own bed and covered his face with a sheet, and coming out of the house said to that attendant, “Go home, and get news of thy son; perhaps he may have been in a trance and not have died.” When she arrived at her house she saw her son alive. In short, in the country of Gujarat they say many things of this sort of Shāh ‘Ālam. I myself asked Sayyid Muḥammad, who is lord of his prayer carpet (in charge of the mausoleum), and who is not wanting in excellence and reasonableness, what was the real state of the case. He said, “I have also heard the same from my father and grandfather, and it has come down in succession, and wisdom is from Allah.” Although this affair is beyond the laws of understanding, yet, as it has attained great notoriety among men, it has been recorded as a strange occurrence. His departure from this perishable mansion to the eternal world took place in 880 (1475), in the time of the reign of Sulān Maḥmūd Bīgara, and the buildings of this mausoleum are the memorial of Tāj Khān Tariyānī,* who was one of the Amirs of Sulān Muaffar, the son of Maḥmūd.