At this time Mírán Mubárak Sháh of Burhámpúr sent ambassa­dors to the Emperor who accepted his homage. And I'timád (p.69) Khán* the chief eunuch accompanied them, and brought the daughter of Mírán, with suitable gifts and presents, to the Court. And Muqarrab Khán one of the Amirs of the Dakkan came and did homage to the Emperor. And in the month Muḥarram* of the year nine hundred and seventy-two (972) the Emperor went from Mandú to the district of Nálchah.* He appointed Qará Bahádur Khán to the Government of the district, and himself went on a hunting expedition by away of Ujain, Sárang-púr, Baródah, and Gwályár, and on the 3rd of the month Rabi'ul-awwal* returned to his capital. Twins, Ḥasan and Ḥusain by name, were in this year born of one of his wives, and in the course of one month went to the other world.

In this year the building of the city of Nagarchín took place. On this subject one of the nobles, at the time of the composition of the Akbar-námah, ordered me to compose some lines, which I here insert without alteration:—

“When* the Architect of the workshop of invention, through the promptings of original genius, suggested to the lofty thoughts of the absolute monarch, who is the builder of the metropolis of the world, and especially the artificer of the shrine of Hind, that, in accordance with [the verse]:

“The world-upholder, the world to hold, doth know,
One place to uproot, and then another sow:”

he should make resting places for the glorious imperial cavalcade, by graciously building at every stage, and on every clod of soil, where the air of the place was temperate, its fields extensive, its water sweet, and its plains were level—and what choice was there! for cool spots, and pleasant dwellings, and fragrant resting places, and sweet waters, with a view to preservation of the gift of bodily health, and with a view to the possibility of an evenly-balanced condition of the soul, all of which may possibly be conducive to the knowledge and service of God, are of the number of the six necessa­ries of existence; and especially at a time when some of the royal occupations (P. 70), such as exercise and hunting, were therein in­volved—for these reasons, in this year of happy augury, after his return from his journey to Málwah, when the friends of the empire were victorious, and the enemies of the kingdom had been disap­pointed, before the eyes of a genius lofty in its aims, and the deci­sion of a mind world-adorning, it befell, that, when he had made a place called G'hráwalí (which is one farsang distant from Ágra, and in respect of the excellence of its water, and the pleasantness of its air, has over a host of places a superiority and a perfect excellence) the camping-place of his imperial host, and the encampment of his ever-enduring prosperity, and when he had gained repose for his heaven-inspired mind from the annoyances incidental to city-life, he spent his felicity-marked moments, sometimes in chougán-playing, sometimes in racing Arabian dogs, and sometimes in flying birds of various kinds; and, accepting the building of that city of deep-foundations as an omen of the duration of the edifice of the palace of his undecaying Sultanate, and as a presage of the increase of his pomp and state, his all-penetrating firmán was so gloriously executed, that all who obtained the favour of being near to his resting-place, and were deemed worthy of the sight of his benevolence, one and all built for themselves in that happy place lofty dwellings and spacious habitations, and in a short time the plain of that pleasant valley under the ray of the favour of his Highness, the adumbra­tion of the divinity, became the mole on the cheek of the new bride of the world, and received the name of Nagar-chín, which is the Hindústání for the Persian Aman-ábád, “Security's-abode”:—

“Praise be to God! that picture, which the heart desired,
Issued forth from the invisible behind the curtain of felicity.”

It is one of the traditional wonders of the world, that of that city and edifice not a trace now is left, so that its site is become a level plain—“Profit then by this example ye who are men of insight!”* as the author of the Qámús has said: “Of seven or eight cities, called Mançúrah, or Mançúriyyah, built by a mighty king,* or mon­arch of pomp (P. 71) in their time, at this time not one is inhabit­ed:” “Will they not journey through the land, and observe what has been the end of those who were before them.”*

In this year, or in the year preceding which is perhaps more cor­rect, the Emperor sent to the town of Andarí-Karnál for Shaikh 'Abd-ul-nabí, the traditionist, grandson of Shaikh 'Abd-ul-Qudús of Gangóh, who is one of the greatest Shaikhs of Hind, and made him chief Çadr,* in order that in conjunction with Muzaffar Khán, he might pay the pensions.* Soon after he acquired such absolute powers, that he conferred on deserving people whole worlds of sub-sistance allowances, lands, and pensions, so much so that if the bounty of all the former kings of Hind were thrown into one scale, and the liberality of this age into the other, yet this would pre­ponderate. But gradually, little by little, it regained its former position, till eventually things became reversed, as will be related further on, (if God, He is exalted! will).

In this year Khwájah Mu'azzam, maternal uncle of the Emperor, who bore the mark of relatives, like scorpions, on the forehead of his destiny:—

“Relatives are like scorpions in the harm they do;
Therefore be not deceived by father's or mother's brother.
For verily sorrow* is increased by the father's brother,
And as for the mother's brother he is destitute of all good qualities”.

One day, when they came to his house to counsel him, and prevent his committing some unworthy actions, which he meditated, he having learnt their intentions, through malevolence and that innate insanity, which had before manifested itself in him, killed his wife. And since he was deserving of punishment, the Emperor first had him mauled with kicks and sticks, and then gave him several duckings, and packed him off to Gwályár. In that prison he was released from the prison of his natural temperament and went to his deserts:—

“Leave to Destiny the man who does you a wrong,
For Destiny is a servant, who will avenge you.”

And in this year Mírzá Sulaimán for the third time came to Kábul. And the reason for his coming was (P. 72) this: when Sháh Abu-l-Ma'álí was defeated, and Mírzá Muḥammad Ḥakím had married,* just before he went away again Mírzá [Sulaimán] gave the greater part of the district of Kábul in jágír to his own soldiers, and so [by this diminution of his revenue] the affairs of Mírzá [Ḥakím] and his people became embarrassed. So they on some pretext or other turned [Mírzá Sulaimán's] Badakhshís out of Kábul. So Mírzá Sulaimán, with a large force, came to take vengeance, and Mírzá Muḥammad Ḥakím being unable to withstand him left Báqí Qáqshál with a number of trusty vassels in Kábul, and himself went to Jallál-ábád. Mírzá Sulaimán pursued him. But when Mírzá Muḥammad Ḥakím reached the banks of the Níláb he wrote a letter to the Court, and Mírzá Sulaimán leaving Qambar, one of his followers, with a body of men at Jallál-ábád, went from Pashá-war to Kábul. In accordance with a command [received] all the Amírs of the Panjáb (such as Muḥammad Qulí Khán Barlás, and Atkah Khán, with the whole Atkah-clan,* and Mahdí Qásim Khán, and Kamál Khán Gah'kar) joined Mírzá Muḥammad Ḥákim; and having given Qambar with 200 or 300 persons (who were holding Jalál-ábád) as prey to the sword, sent Qambar's head, tegether with news of the victory, to Báqí Qáqshál at Kábul. Mírzá Sulaimán turned the face of flight towards Badakhshán. Mírzá Ḥakím came to Kábul, and Khán-i-Kalán* remained in office as guardian of Mírzá Muḥammad Ḥakím, and the remaing Amírs returned to their own jágírs. After some time Mírzá Muḥammad Ḥakím, without the permission of the Khán-i-Kalán, gave his own sister,* the widow of Sháh 'Abu-l-Ma'álí, in marriage to Khwájah Ḥasan Naqshbandí, one of the sons of Khwájah Naqshbandí* (may God sanctify his glorious tomb!). And Khwájah Ḥasan Naqshbandí, becoming absolute Prime-minister,* managed the affairs with absolute power, and some wits of the period used to say:—

“If our Master be Master Ḥasan,
We shall have neither sack, nor rope left”.

(P. 73) The Khán-i-Kalán, who had supported the authority of the deposed minister, being unable to endure the present state of affairs, without the Mírzá's leave went to Láhór, and sent a true account of matters to Court.