On the 24th I rode to go round and see the buildings of the old kings, and went first to the Jāmi‘ mosque, which is one built by Sulān Hūshang Ghūrī. A very lofty building came to view, all of cut stone, and although 180 years have passed since the time of its building, it is as if the builder had just withdrawn his hand from it. After this I went to the building containing the tombs of the Khaljī rulers. The grave of Naṣīru-d-dīn, son of Sulān Ghiyāu-d-dīn, whose face is blackened for ever, was also there. It is well known that that wretch advanced himself by the murder of his own father, Ghiyāu-d-dīn, who was in his 80th year. Twice he gave him poison, and he twice expelled it by means of a zahr-muhra (poison antidote, bezoar) he had on his arm. The third time he mixed poison in a cup of sherbet and gave it to his father with his own hand, saying he must drink it. As his father understood what efforts he was making in this matter, he loosened the zahr-muhra from his arm and threw it before him, and then turning his face in humility and supplication towards the throne of the Creator, who requires no supplication, said: “O Lord, my age has arrived at 80 years, and I have passed this time in prosperity and happiness such as has been attained to by no king. Now as this is my last time, I hope that Thou wilt not seize Naṣīr for my murder, and that reckoning my death as a thing decreed Thou wilt not avenge it.” After he had spoken these words, he drank off that poisoned cup of sherbet at a gulp and delivered his soul to the Creator. The meaning of his preamble was that he had passed the time of his reign in enjoyment such as has not been attained to by any of the kings. When in his 48th year he came to the throne, he said to his intimates and those near him, “In the service of my revered father I have passed thirty years in warfare and have committed no fault in my activity as a soldier; now that my turn to reign has arrived, I have no intention to conquer countries, but desire to pass the remainder of my life in ease and enjoyment.” They say that he had collected 15,000 women in his harem. He had a whole city of them, and had made it up of all castes, kinds, and descriptions— artificers, magistrates, qazis, kotwals, and whatever else is necessary for the administration of a town. Wherever he heard of a virgin possessed of beauty, he would not desist (lit. did not sit down from his feet) until he possessed her. He taught the girls all kinds of arts and crafts, and was much inclined to hunt. He had made a deer park and collected all kinds of animals in it. He often used to hunt in it with his women. In brief, in the period of thirty-two years of his reign, as he had determined, he went against no enemy, and passed this time in ease and enjoyment. In the same way no one invaded his country. It is reported that when Shīr Khān, the Afghan, in the time of his rule, came to the tomb of Naṣīru-d-dīn, he, in spite of his brutish nature, on account of Naṣīru-d-dīn's shameful conduct, ordered the head of the tomb to be beaten with sticks. Also when I went to his tomb I gave it several kicks, and ordered the servants in attendance on me to kick the tomb. Not satistied with this, I ordered the tomb to be broken open and his impure remains to be thrown into the fire. Then it occurred to me that since fire is Light, it was a pity for the Light of Allah to be polluted with burning his filthy body; also, lest there should be any diminution of torture for him in another state from being thus burnt, I ordered them to throw his crumbled bones, together with his decayed limbs; into the Narbada. During his lifetime he always passed his days in the water in consequence of the heat that had acquired a mastery over his temperament. It is well known that in a state of drunkenness he once threw himself into one of the basins at Kāliyādaha, which was very deep. Some of the attendants in the harem exerted themselves and caught his hair in their hands and drew him out of the water. After he had come to his senses they told him that this thing had happened. When he had heard that they had pulled him out by the hair of his head, he became exceedingly angry, and ordered the hands of the attendants to be cut off. Another time, when an affair of this kind took place, no one had the boldness to pull him out and he was drowned. By chance, after 110 years had passed since his death, it came to pass that his decayed limbs also became mingled with the water.
On the 28th, as a reward for the buildings of Māndū having been completed through his excellent exertions, I promoted ‘Abdu-l-Karīm to the rank of 800 personal and 400 horse, and dignified him with the title of Ma‘mūr Khān (the architect-Khān). On the same day that the royal standards entered the fort of Māndū, my son of lofty fortune, Sulān Khurram, with the victorious army, entered the city of Burhanpur, which is the seat of the governor of the province of Khandesh.
After some days, representations came from Afẓal Khān and the Rāy Rāyān, to whom at the time of leaving Ajmir my son had given leave to accompany the ambassador to ‘Ādil Khān, reporting that when the news of our coming reached ‘Ādil Khān he came out for 7 kos to meet the order and the litter of the prince, and performed the duties of salutation and respect which are customary at Court. He did not omit a hair's point of such ceremonies. At the same interview he professed the greatest loyalty, and promised that he would restore all those provinces that ‘Ambar of dark fate had taken from the victorious State, and agreed to send to the Court with all reverence a fitting offering with his ambassadors. After saying this he brought the ambassadors in all dignity to the place that had been prepared for them. On the same day he sent some one to ‘Ambar with a message of the matters it was necessary to acquaint him with. I heard this news from the reports of Afẓal Khān and the Rāy Rāyān.
From Ajmir up to Monday, the 23rd of the aforesaid*
month, during four months, 2 tigers, 27 blue bulls,
6 chītal (spotted deer), 60 deer, 23 hares and foxes,
and 1,200 water-fowl and other animals had been killed.
On these nights I told the story of my former hunting
expeditions and the liking I had for this occupation to
those standing at the foot of the throne of the Caliphate.
It occurred to me that I might make up the account
of my game from the commencement of my years of
discretion up to the present time. I accordingly gave
orders to the news-writers, the hunt-accountants and
huntsmen, and others employed in this service to make
enquiries and tell me of all the animals that had been
killed in hunting. It was shown that from the commencement
of my 12th year, which was in 988 (1580),
up to the end of this year, which is the 11th year after
my accession and my 50th lunar year, 28,532 head of
game had been taken in my presence. Of these, 17,167
animals I killed myself with my gun or otherwise, viz.:
Quadrupeds, 3,203; viz., tigers, 86; bears, cheetahs,
foxes, otters (ūdbilāo), and hyænas, 9; blue bulls, 889;
mhāka, a species of antelope, in size equal to a blue
bull, 35 head; of antelope, male and female, chikāra,
chītal, mountain goats, etc., 1,670*
; rams (qūj) and red
deer, 215; wolves, 64; wild buffaloes, 36; pigs, 90;
rang, 26; mountain sheep, 22; arghalī, 32; wild asses, 6;
hares, 23. Birds, 13,964; viz., pigeons, 10,348; lagaṛ-