I ordered that the officers of government and jágírdárs should not forcibly seize possession of the lands of my subjects, and cultivate them for their own benefit.
“The administration of the country had rapidly declined since Akbar's time. The governments were farmed, and the governors exacting and tyrannical.”*
“The edict of his father, enjoining the observance of kindness and conciliation towards the cultivators, goes much further than this.”*
“Bengal, Gujarát, and the Deccan, are likewise full of rebels, so that no one can travel in safety for outlaws: all occasioned by the barbarity of the government, and the cruel exactions made upon the husbandmen, which drive them to rebellion.”*
“But this observation may serve universally for the whole of this country, that ruin and devastation operates everywhere; for since the property of all has become vested in the King, no person takes care of anything; so that in every place the spoil and devastations of war appear, and nowhere is anything repaired.”*
“For all the great men live by farming the several governments, in which they all practise every kind of tyranny against the natives under their jurisdiction, oppressing them with continual exactions.”*
I prohibited the Government 'ámils and jágírdárs from contracting marriage, without my leave, with any inhabitant of the districts under their control.
This prohibition extended to other cases.
“Khojah Birkadar having married the daughter of Mehabut Khan, unknown to His Majesty, upon the discovery thereof, was ordered to the presence, where he was beaten, and then committed to prison.”*
“Before his arrival, he betrothed his daughter to a young nobleman named Berkhadar, without first asking the Emperor's leave, as was usual with persons of his high rank. Jahángír was enraged at this apparent defiance: he sent for Berkhadar, and, in one of those fits of brutality which still broke out, he ordered him to be stripped naked, and beaten with thorns in his own presence; and then seized on the dowry he had received from Mahábat, and sequestrated all his other property.”*
I established hospitals within the chief cities, and appointed physicians to attend upon the sick, and directed that the expense should be defrayed out of the royal treasury.
This is one of the Institutes of his lying ancestor Tímúr, and was, no doubt, as much observed in one instance as the other.*
In imitation of my father, I directed that on the 18th of every Rabí'u-l awwal,* my birthday, no animal should be killed. There were also two other days of prohibition; viz. Thursday, the day of my accession, and Sunday, on which my father was born, who used to pay that day extraordinary respect, not only because it was dedicated to the Sun, but because the Creation commenced on that day. On which account he also prohibited the killing of animals on Sundays.
Pope Pius V. allowed the inhabitants of Aberdeen the privilege of fishing on Sundays and Fast-days, provided the first fish caught were presented to the Church.
“The fast, which the Mahometans observe so scrupulously, for an entire month, was the subject of his derision. He invited to his table the most conscientious observers of the laws of their religion, and inveigled them into a companionship in his excesses in wine, and in eating prohibited meats. The Casi, and the Imams, who are the doctors of Mahometan law, in vain admonished him, that the use of certain meats was forbidden by the Alcoran. Fatigued with their importunities, he inquired in what religion the use of drinks and food of every species, without distinction, was permitted. The reply was, in that of the Christian religion alone. ‘We must then,’ he rejoined, ‘all turn Christians. Let there be tailors brought to us, to convert our robes into close coats, and our turbans into hats.’ At these words the doctors trembled for their sect. Fear and interest made them hold a less severe language. They all declared that the sovereign was not bound by the precepts of the Alcoran, and that the monarch might, without scruple, use whatever meats and drinks were most agreeable to him.”*
I gave a general order that the mansabs and jágírs bestowed by my father should be confirmed to their respective holders, and a short time afterwards I increased the mansab of each according to his deserts; thus, the holder of ten was raised to twelve, and so forth. The ahadís were raised from ten to fifteen, and the salaries of all the servants of my father were raised from ten to twelve; and the provisions supplied to the ladies of the royal household were raised in the proportion of ten to twelve, and ten to twenty.
“Many Subas were removed from their respective governments into other provinces; some were dismissed to make room for the Emperor's abettors and friends. The deprived governors repaired to Court to restore themselves, by money and intrigue, to their former dignities. Some succeeded in their views; others were reduced to despair, through want of success. The latter began to form treasonable designs to recover the consequence and power which they had lost.”*
Sir T. Roe would lead us to question this proclaimed liberality. “Having venison of various kinds before him, he gave me half a stag, and said I should see the rest bestowed on his ladies. This was presently cut into four pound pieces, and was sent into the interior apartments, by his young son and two women, in their bare hands, just as if he had been doling out such small fragments to the poor by way of charity.”*
“Hussein Beg Chan Buduchshe, who had been governor of the province of Cabul during a considerable part of the former reign, being turned out of his office by the Emperor, was on his way to court.”*
The holders of ayima and madad-ma'ásh, who form an army of persons invoking blessings, I at once confirmed in their holdings. according to the tenor of the farmáns held by each; and Mírán Sadr Jahán, one of the saiyids of pure descent in Hindústán, who held the high office of Sadr for some time under my father, was directed to look daily after the poor and needy.
Mírán Sadr Jehán had received the same order from Akbar. “His Majesty bestows upon the poor and needy money and necessaries of every kind. Many are allowed daily, monthly, or annual pensions, which they receive regularly, without any delay or deduction.” *
“The affair required an agreement clear and explicit in all points, and a more formal and authentic confirmation than it now had, by ordinary firmans, which were merely temporary commands, and respected accordingly.”*
“The prince gave us one day a phirmaund for our good usage, with a grant of privileges, and countermanded all the next by contradictory orders, in which proceedings there was neither honour nor good faith.”*
I ordered that all the prisoners in every fort and prison throughout the kingdom should be released.
A very foolish order, and one calculated to bring his father's police system into contempt.
Jahángír's sense of sympathy for prisoners was not always so acute.
“The King's manner of hunting is thus:—About the beginning of November he goes from Agra, accompanied by many thousands, and hunts all the country for thirty or forty coss round about, and so continues till the end of March, when the great heats drive him home again. He causes a tract of wood or desert to be encompassed about by chosen men, who contract themselves to a near compass, and whatever is taken in this inclosure is called the King's sykar or game, whether men! or beasts, and whoever lets aught escape loses his life, unless pardoned by the King. All the beasts thus taken, if man's meat, are sold, and the money given to the poor. If men, they become the King's slaves, and are sent yearly to Cabul, to be bartered for horses and dogs; these being poor, miserable and thievish people, who live in the woods and deserts, differing little from beasts.”*
Precept and practice were never more forcibly contrasted.