The translation will be accompanied by a preface, a biographical account of 'Abul Fazl, and several plates. The work, it is hoped, will be completed by the end of next year.
Page 32, note, line 2, Read:
He appears to have entered Akbar's service in the eighth year of the emperor's reign (vide Badáoní II., p. 80), and held first important post in the eighteenth year, when he was employed to settle the affairs of Gujrát.
Page 48, note.
Gulbadan Begum was Humáyún's sister and Akbar's aunt.
H. Bl.
The ÁÍN I AKBARI´ is the third volume of the AKBARNA´MAH, by Shaikh Abulfazl, and is by far the greatest work in the whole series of Muhammadan histories of India. The first volume of this gigantic work contains the history of Timur's family as far as it is of interest for the Indian reader, and the reigns of Bábar, the Súr kings, and Humáyún, whilst the second volume is devoted to the detailed history of nearly forty-six years of the reign of the Great Emperor. The concluding volume, the A´ín i Akbarí, contains that information regarding Akbar's reign which, though not strictly historical, is yet essential to a correct understanding of the times, and embodies, therefore, those facts for which, in modern times, we would turn to Administration Reports, Statistical compilations, or Gazetteers. It contains the áín (i. e., mode of governing) of Akbar, and is, in fact, the Administration Report and Statistical Return of his government, as it was about 1590 A. D. The contents, therefore, of the A´ín are naturally varied and detailed. The first of its five books treats of Akbar's household and court, and of the emperor himself, the soul of every department, who looks upon the performance of his duties as an act of divine worship, and who enters into the details of government, in order to create a harmonious whole. Vouchsafed as king with a peculiar light from on high, his person is prominently put forward as the guide of the people in all matters temporal and spiritual; in whose character and temper the governed find that rest and peace which no constitution can give, and in whom, as the author of a new and advanced creed, the dust of intoleration is for ever allayed.
The second book treats of the servants of the throne, the military and civil services, and the attendants at court whose literary genius or musical skill receives a lustre from the encouragement of the emperor, and who in their turn reflect a brilliant light on the government.
The third book is entirely devoted to regulations for the judicial and executive departments, the establishment of a new and more practical era, the survey of the land, the tribal divisions, and the rent-roll of the great Finance minister whose name has become proverbial in India.
The fourth book treats of the social condition and literary activity, especially in philosophy and law, of the Hindus, who form the bulk of the population, and in whose political advancement the emperor saw the guarantee of the stability of his realm. There are also a few chapters on the foreign invaders of India, on distinguished travellers, and on Muhammadan saints and the sects to which they respectively belong.
The fifth book contains the moral sentences and epigrammatical sayings, observations, and rules of wisdom of the emperor, which Abulfazl has gathered as the disciple gathers the sayings of the master.
In the A´ín, therefore, we have a picture of Akbar's government in its several departments, and of its relations to the different ranks and mixed races of his subjects. Whilst in most Muhammadan histories we hear of the endless turmoil of war and dynastical changes, and are only reminded of the existence of a people when authors make a passing allusion to famines and similar calamities, we have in the A´ín the governed classes brought to the foreground: men live and move before us, and the great questions of the time, axioms then believed in and principles then followed, phantoms then chased after, ideas then prevailing, and successes then obtained, are placed before our eyes in truthful, and therefore vivid, colours.
It is for this reason that the A´ín stands so unique among the Muhammadan histories of India, and we need not wonder that long before curious eyes turned to other native sources of history and systematically examined their contents, the A´ín was laid under contribution. Le Père Tieffentaller, in 1776, published in his ‘Description Géographique de l'Indostan’ long extracts from the rent-roll given in the Third Book; Chief Sarishtahdár Grant used it largely for his Report on Indian Finances; and as early as 1783, Francis Gladwin, a thorough Oriental scholar, dedicated to Warren Hastings his “Ayeen Akberi,” of which in 1800 he issued a printed edition in London. In his translation, Gladwin has given the greater part of the First Book, more than one-half of the Second and Third Books, and about one-fourth of the Fourth Book; and although in modern times inaccuracies have been discovered in the portions translated by him— chiefly due, no doubt, to the fact that he translated from MSS., in every way a difficult undertaking—his translation has always occupied a deservedly high place, and it may confidently be asserted that no similar work has for the last seventy years been so extensively quoted as his. The magnitude of the task of translating the A´ín from uncollated MSS. will especially become apparent, when we remember that, even in the opinion of native writers, its style is “not intelligible to the generality of readers without great difficulty.”
But it is not merely the varied information of the A´ín that renders the book so valuable, but also the trustworthiness of the author himself. Abulfazl's high official position gave him access to any document he wished to consult, and his long career and training in various departments of the State, and his marvellous powers of expression, fitted him eminently for the composition of a work like the Akbarnámah and the A´ín. His love of truth and his correctness of information are apparent on every page of the book, which he wished to leave to future ages as a memorial of the Great Emperor and as a guide for enquiring minds; and his wishes for the stability of the throne and the welfare of the people, his principles of toleration, his noble sentiments on the rights of man, the total absence of personal grievances and of expressions of ill-will towards encompassing enemies, shew that the expanse of his large heart stretched to the clear offing of sterling wisdom. Abulfazl has far too often been accused by European writers of flattery and even of wilful concealment of facts damaging to the reputation of his master. A study, though perhaps not a hasty perusal, of the Akbarnámah will shew that the charge is absolutely unfounded; and if we compare his works with other historical productions of the East, we shall find that while he praises, he does so infinitely less and with much more grace and dignity than any other Indian historian or poet. No native writer has ever accused him of flattery; and if we bear in mind that all Eastern works on Ethics recommend unconditional assent to the opinion of the king, whether correct or absurd, as the duty of man, and that the whole poetry of the East is a rank mass of flattery, at the side of which modern encomiums look like withered leaves,—we may pardon Abulfazl when he praises because he finds a true hero.
The issue of the several fasciculi of this translation has extended over a longer time than I at first expected. The simultaneous publication of my edition of the Persian Text, from which the translation is made, the geographical difficulties of the Third Book, the unsatisfactory state of the MSS., the notes added to the translation from various Muhammadan historians and works on the history of literature, have rendered the progress of the work unavoidably slow.
I am deeply indebted to the Council and the Philological Committee of the Asiatic Society of Bengal for placing at my disposal a full critical apparatus of the A´ín and entrusting me with the edition of the text, for which the Indian Government had most liberally sanctioned the sum of five thousand Rupees. My grateful acknowledgments are also due to Dr. Thomas Oldham, Superintendent of the Geological Survey of India and late President of the Asiatic Society, for valuable advice and ever ready assistance in the execution of the work; and to Col. H. Yule, C. B., and to H. Roberts Esq., of the Doveton College, for useful hints and corrections.
FIRST VOLUME
OF THE
ÁÍN I AKBARÍ.
| PLATES I TO III. THE WORKMEN OF THE MINT, pp. 20 to 27. | |
| 1, 2. | Preparation of acids.—3. Washing of ashes.—4, 9, 10, 12, melting and refining.—5. Weighing.—6, 8. Making of plates. |
| 7. | Work of the zarráb, p. 21.—11. Engraving.—12. The Sikkachí, p. 22. |
| PLATE IV. THE IMPERIAL CAMP, (p. 47). | |
| a, b, c, d, f, g, roads and bázárs. “The principal bázár is laid out into the form of a wide street, running through the whole extent of the army, now on the right, now on the left, of the Díwán i kháç.” Bernier. | |
| 1. | The Imperial Harem (shabistán i iqbál). At the right hand side is the Dúáshyánah Manzil; vide p. 54, 3. |
| 2. | Open space with a canopy (shámyánah). |
| 3. | Private Audience Hall (daulat-khánah i kháç), p. 46. |
| 4. | The great camp light (ákásdiah), pp. 47, 50. |
| “The aquacy-die resembles a lofty mast of a ship, but is very slender, and takes down in three pieces. It is fixed towards the king's quarters, near the tent called Nagar-kane, and during the night a lighted lantern is suspended from the top. This light is very useful, for it may be seen when every object is enveloped in impenetrable darkness. To this spot persons who lose their way resort, either to pass the night secure from all danger of robbers, or to resume their search after their own lodgings. The name ‘Aquacy-die’ may be translated ‘Light of Heaven,’ the lantern when at a distance appearing like a star.” Bernier. | |
| 5. | The Naqqárah-khánah, pp. 47, 50. |
| AB, or distance from the Harem to the Camp Light, = 1530 yards; AC = 360 yards; p. 47. | |
| 6. | The house where the saddles were kept (zainkhánah). |
| 7. | The Imperial stables (içṭabal). |
| 8. | Tents of the superintendents and overseers of the stables. |
| 9. | Tents of the clerk of the elephant stables. |
| 10. | The Imperial Office (daftar). |
| 11. | Tent for pálkís and carts. |
| 12. | Artillery tent (topkhánah). |
| 13. | Tent where the hunting leopards were kept (chítah-khánah). |
| 14. | The Tents of Maryam Makání (Akbar's mother), Gulbadan Begum (Humáyún's sister, p. 615), and Prince Dányál; p. 40. |
| 15. | The tents of Sulṭán Salím (Jahángír), to the right of the Imperial Harem. |
| 16. | The tents of Sulṭán Murád, to the left of the Imperial Harem; p. 48. |
| 17. | Store rooms and workshops (buyútát). |
| 18. | Tent for keeping basins (áftábchí-khánah). |
| 19. | Tent for the perfumes (khushbú-khánah). |
| 20. | Tent for storing mattress (toshak-khánah). |
| 21. | Tent for the tailors, &c. |
| 22. | Wardrobe (kurkyaráq-khánah), pp. 87, 616. |
| 23. | Tent for the lamps, candles, oil, &c. (chirágh-khánah). |
| 24. | Tents for keeping fresh Ganges water (ábdár-khánah), p. 55. |
| 25. | Tent for making sharbat and other drinks. |
| 26. | Tent for storing pán leaves. |
| 27. | Tent for storing fruit (mewah-khánah). |
| 28. | Tent for the Imperial plate (rikáb-khánah). |
| 29. | The Imperial kitchen (maṭbakh). |
| 30. | The Imperial bakery (nánbá-khánah). |
| 31. | Storeroom for spices (hawej-khánah). |
| 32. | The Imperial guard. |
| 33. | The Arsenal (qur-khánah). |
| 34. | Women's apartments. |
| 35 to 41. | Guard houses. |
| Round about the whole the nobles and Mançabdárs with their contingents pitched their tents. | |
| “The king's private tents are surrounded by small kanats (qanáts, standing screens), of the height of a man, some lined with Masulipatam chintz, worked over with flowers of a hundred differents kinds, and others with figured satin, decorated with deep silken fringes.” Bernier. Bernier's description of the Imperial camp (second letter, dated Láhor, 25th February, 1665) agrees in minute details with the above. | |
| PLATE V. CANDLESTICKS, p. 49. | |
| 1. | Double candlestick (dúshákhah).—2. Fancy candlestick with pigeons.— 3. Single candlestick (yakshákhah). |
| 4. | The Akásdiah, or Camp-light; vide Pl. IV, No. 4. |
| PLATE VI. THE EMPEROR AKBAR WORSHIPS FIRE. | |
| In front of Akbar twelves candles are placed, and the singer of sweet melodies sings to the praise of God, as mentioned on p. 49, l. 10 ff. | |
| The faces of the emperor and the singer are left blank, in accordance with the Muhammadan dislike to paint likenesses of anything on, below, or above the earth. The emperor sits in the position called dúzánú. | |
| PLATE VII. THRONES. | |
| 1, 2. | Different kinds of thrones (aurang) with pillows (masnad) to lean against, the royal umbrella (chatr), and the footstool (çandalí). |
| PLATE VIII. THE NAQQA´RAH KHA´NAH, pp. 50, 51. | |
| 1. Cymbals (sanj).—2. The large drum (kuwargah or damámah).—3, 4, 5. The Karaná.—6. The Surná.—7. The Hindí Surná.—8. The Nafír.—9. The Singh, or horn.—10. The Naqqárahs. | |
| PLATE IX. THE ENSIGNS OF ROYALTY, p. 50. | |
| 1. | The Jhanḍá, or Indian flag. “The Royal standard of the great Mogul is a Couchant Lion shadowing part of the body of a sun.” Terry. |
| 2. | The Kaukabah. |
| 3. | Sáibán or A´ftábgír. |
| 4. | The Tumantoq (from the Turkish toq, or togh, a flag, and tuman or túmán, a division of ten thousand). |
| 5. | The Chatr, or (red) royal umbrella. |
| 6. | A standard, or 'alam. |
| 7. | The Chatrtoq. As Abulfazl says that this standard is smaller than the preceding, it is possible that the word should be pronounced chuturtoq, from the Turkish chutur, or chútúr, short. The flag is adorned with bunches of hair (quṭás) taken from the tails and the sides of the Tibetan Yak. |
| PLATES X & XI. THE IMPERIAL TENTS. | |
| Plate X. The three tents on the top, commencing with the left, are (1) the Shámyánah; (2) A yakdarí Khargáh, or tent of one door; (3) the Dúdarí, or tent of two doors; p. 54, 8. Rolled up over the door is the chigh; p. 226, A´ín 88. | |
| Below these three tents, is the Sarápardah and Gulálbáṛ, p. 54. At the foot of the plate is the Namgírah (pr. dew-catcher), with carpet and pillow (masnad); p. 46. | |
| Plate XI. On the top, the bárgáh, p. 53. Below it, on the left, is the Dúáshyánah Manzil, or two-storied house; vide Pl. IV, No. 1. At the window of the upper story, the emperor shewed himself; vide Index, darsan and jharokah. To the right of this two-storied tent, is the Chobín Ráwaṭí (as the word ought to be spelt, from chobín, wooden, and ráwaṭí, a square tent), pp. 46, 53. Below it, the common conical tent, tied to pegs stuck in the ground; hence it is called zamíndoz, with one tent pole (yak-surughah, from the Turkish surugh, or surúgh, a tent pole). | |
| Below is a Zamíndoz with two poles (dúsurughah). At the bottom of the plate, to the left, is the Manḍal, p, 54, 6; and to the right, the 'Ajáibí, 54, 5. | |
| PLATE XII. WEAPONS; pp. 110 to 112. | |
| The numbers in brackets refer to the numbers on pp. 110 to 112. | |
| 1. | The sword, shamsher (1). |
| 2. | The straight sword, k'hándah (2). |
| 3, 3a. | The guptí'açá (3). |
| 4. | The broad dagger, jamdhar (4). |
| 5. | The bent dagger, khanjar (5). |
| 6. | The jamk'hák, or curved dagger (7). |
| 7. | The bent knife, báṉk (8). |
| 8. | The jhaṉbwah, or hiltless dagger (9). |
| 9. | The katárah, a long and narrow dagger (10). |
| 10. | The narsinkmoth (narsing mot'h?), a short and narrow dagger (11). |
| 11. | The bow, kamán (12). |
| 12, 13. | The small bow and arrow, takhsh kamán and tír (13). |
| 14a. | Arrow. |
| 14b. | The paikánkash, or arrow-drawer (19). |
| 15. | The quiver, tarkash (16). |
| 16. | The lance, naizah (20). |
| 17. | The Hindústání lance, barchhah (21). |
| 18. | The sánk, or broad-headed lance (22). |
| 19, 20. | The saint'hí (23) and selarah (24). |
| 21. | The shushbur, or club. This I believe to be the correct name (instead of shashpar, p. 111, No. 26), from shush, lungs, and bur, tearing. |
| 22. | The axe, tabar. |
| 23. | The club, gurz (25). On p. 111, No. 29, the word piyází has been translated by ‘club,’ and this seems to be the correct meaning; but the plates in some MSS. call ‘piyází’ a long knife with straight back, ending in a point. |
| 24. | The pointed axe, zághnol, i. e. crow-bill (30). |
| 25. | The chakar (wheel) and basolah (31). |
| 26. | The double axe, tabar-zághnol (32). |
| 27. | The tarangálah (33). |
| 28. | The knife, kárd (34). |
| PLATE XIII. WEAPONS (CONTINUED). | |
| 29. | The guptí kárd, or knife concealed in a stick (35). |
| 30. | The whip, qamchí kárd (36). |
| 31. | The clasp knife, cháqú (37). |
| 32. | A bow, unstrung. |
| 33. | The bow for clay bullets, kamṭ'ha, or kamán i gurohah (38). |
| 34. | The tube, or pea-shooter, tufak i dahán (40). |
| 35. | The pushtkhár (41). |
| 36. | A lance called girih-kushá, i. e. knot-unraveller (43). |
| 37. | The khár i máhi, i. e. fish-spine (44). |
| 38. | The sling, gobhan (45). |
| 39. | The gajbág'h, or ánkus, for guiding elephants (46); vide p. 129, No. 27. |
| 40. | The shield, sipar (47). |
| 41. | Another kind of shield, dhál (48). |
| 42. | The plain cane shield, pahrí, or pharí (50). |
| 43. | The helmet, dubalghah (52). |
| 44. | The g'hug'hwah, a mail coat for head and body, in one piece (55). |
| 45. | The helmet, with protection for the neck, zirih-kuláh (54). |
| 46. | The mailed coat, zirih (57). |
| 47. | The mailed coat, with breast-plate, bagtar (58). |
| 48. | An armour for chest and body, joshan (59). |
| 49. | The breast and back-plates, chahár-áínah (60). |
| PLATE XIV. WEAPONS AND ARMOURS (CONTINUED). | |
| 50. | The coat with plates and helmet, koṭ'hí (61). |
| 51. | An armour of the kind called çádiqí (62). |
| 52. | A long coat worn over the armour, angirk'hah (63). |
| 53. | An iron mask, chihrah-zirih i áhaní (65). |
| 54. | A doublet worn over the armour, chihil-qad (67). |
| 55. | The long glove, dastwánah (68). |
| 56. | The small one is the mozah i áhaní, or iron stocking (71); and the large one, the rák (69). |
| 57. | The kajem, or kejam, a mailed covering for the back of the horse (72). |
| 58, 59. | The artak i kajem, the quilt over which the preceding is put (73). |
| 60. | The qashqah, or head protection for the horse (74). |
| 61. | The kaṉt'hah sobhá (07) |
| 62. | The rocket, bán (77). |
| PLATE XV. AKBAR'S MACHINE FOR CLEANING GUNS: vide p. 115, A´ín 38, of the 1st Book. | |
| PLATE XVI. HARNESS FOR HORSES. A´ín 52, p. 136. | |
| PLATE XVII. GAMES; pp. 303, 304. | |
| The upper figure shews the board for Chaupaṛ, p. 303, and the lower figure is the board for the Chandal Manḍal game. Both boards were made of all sizes; some were made of inlaid stones on the ground in an open court yard, as in Fathpúr Síkrí, and slave girls were used instead of pieces. The players at Chandal Manḍal sat on the ground, round the circumference, one player at the end of each of the sixteen radii. | |
| Page | 31, | last line, for Bahrah read Bahírah. |
| ” | 32, | line 1, for Kalánwar read Kalánúr. |
| ” | 34, | note 2, add vide p. 354. |
| ” | 55, | line 12, for woolen read woollen. |
| ” | ” | line 24, for Sárún read Sorún, vide p. 615. |
| ” | 57, | line 2 from below, for Bharáij read Bahráich. |
| ” | 63, | line 5, for king read kind. |
| ” | ” | line 25, for heron read crane. |
| ” | 73, | line 15, for chalk read slaked lime. |
| ” | 84, | last line, for Maruráj (?) read Mararáj. |
| ” | 85, | line 1, for Indrakál read Indarkol. |
| ” | 104, | note 3, for III, p. 139 read II, p. 278. |
| ” | 122, | line 22 ff., vide p. 618. |
| ” | 167, | line 24, for is read are. |
| ” | 174, | line 4 from below, for Husain read Hasan. |
| ” | 176, | line 26, for Nabatís read Nuqṭawís. |
| ” | 180, | line 16, for Puzukhotam read Purukhotam. |
| ” | 190, | line 15, for the heretic of Jafrdán read the heretical wizard. |
| ” | 225, | line 23, for bricklayers read diggers. |
| ” | 226, | line 6, for p'ha read p'harí. |
| ” | 241, | line 8 from below, for duashpah read duaspah. |
| ” | 273, | line 21, for tyranical read tyrannical. |
| ” | 274, | line 3, for p. 38 read p. 33. |
| ” | 282, | line 10 from below, for p. 225 read p. 252. |
| ” | 286, | line 22, dele comma after Fathpúr. |
| ” | 309, | line 14, for Sánbbar read Sánbhar. |
| ” | ” | line 15, dele Jodh Bái, and vide Additional Notes, p. 618. |
| ” | 310, | line 23, for Dás of read Dás. |
| ” | ” | line 33, for Nisár read unnisá. |
| ” | 312, | line 2, for Ma'ání read Ma'álí. |
| ” | 313, | line 13, for Husain read Husain, son of Sulṭán Husain Mírzá. |
| ” | 315, | line 4, for Mukram read Mukarram. |
| ” | ” | line 25, for Barhámpúr read Burhánpúr. |
| ” | 318, | lines 10 and 13, for 'Abdul Fath read Abulfath. |
| ” | ” | line 9 from below, for 981 read 975; vide Proceedings, A. S. Bengal, July, 1873. |
| ” | 319, | line 9, for at Jágír read as jágír. |
| ” | 322, | line 11, for 'Abdul read Abul. |
| ” | ” | line 16, for 981 read 980. |
| ” | ” | line 23, for Ahmadnagar read Ahmadábád. |
| ” | 329, | line 14, for 147 read 174. |
| ” | 330, | line 12, add “General Cunningham tells me that the correct name is Bidhi (Sansk. Vriddhi), not Budí.” Vide Index. |
| ” | ” | line 22, for Talbanah read Talambah. |
| ” | ” | lines 2 and 7 from below, for A´k Mahall read A´g Mahall. |
| ” | 331, | note 1, for cousin read uncle. |
| ” | 333, | line 4, for Bábú read Bábá. |
| ” | 335, | line 1, for Dost read Daulat. |
| ” | ” | line 3, for Sarkij read Sarkich. |
| ” | 338, | line 9 from below, for Mecænas read Mæcenas. |
| ” | 340, | line 19, for Sing Rám read Sangrám. |
| Page | 340, | last line, dele younger son or. |
| ” | 344, | line 18, et passim, for Waijúr read Bajor. |
| ” | 345, | line 17, for Bajgorah read Pajkorah (or Panjkorah). |
| ” | 351, | line 13, for severally read several. |
| ” | ” | line 20, et passim, for Gulábí read Kolábí. |
| ” | 357, | line 7 from below, for 81 read 80. |
| ” | 358, | note 2, dele and the latter ...Editors. |
| ” | 367, | line 17, for Chandr read Chand. |
| ” | 371, | line 2 from below, for Uymaq Kál read the Uymáqs of Miyánkál (vide p. 620). |
| ” | 379, | line 20, for 330 read 333. |
| ” | 383, | line 10, for 223 read 144. |
| ” | 386, | line 22, for 362 read 361. |
| ” | 391, | line 3 from below, for Jhajhú read Chajhú. |
| ” | 395, | line 9 and 17, for Tang read Tisang. |
| ” | ” | line 17, for Tas-ha read Tis-ha. |
| ” | ” | line 18, for Sirdháolí, Kíláodah read Sandháolí, Kailáodah. |
| ” | ” | line 27, for Bhasí read Bhaiṉsí. |
| ” | 400, | line 26, for Bilkarí read Bilahrí. |
| ” | 407, | line 14, et passim, for Bandelah read Bundelah. |
| ” | 414, | line 18, for salamát read salámat. |
| ” | ” | note 2, et passim, for Rahtás read Rohtás. |
| ” | ” | ” for Tamkín read Namakín. |
| ” | 419, | line 16 from below, for son of read son of Rájah Sojá, son of. |
| ” | ” | note 2, add “Tod mentions a ‘Kandhar’ near Amber.” Vide Geogr. Index, K handár. |
| ” | 425, | line 11 from below, for Çúbah of A´grah, read near Dihlí. |
| ” | 427, | line 5 from below, for Manqalá read the manqalá. |
| ” | 437, | line 15 from below, for Jamál read Jalál. |
| ” | 440, | line 11 from below, for tuqúl read tuyúl. |
| ” | 441, | line 11 from below, for 185 read 186. |
| ” | 448, | note, line 1, for political read poetical. |
| ” | 456, | note 1, add vide p. 621. |
| ” | 472, | note, last line, for Wálí read Wálá. |
| ” | 475, | line 5 from below, for 5th read 7th. |
| ” | 478, | line 8, for 5th read 6th. |
| ” | 498, | note 1, for Bírí read Bairí. |
| ” | 501, | line 6 from below, for 396 read 392. |
| ” | 508, | line 13 from below, for Waçlí read Hijrí; vide p. 622. |
| ” | 514, | line 17, for Kingú read Kingrí. |
| ” | 539, | line 23, for Kapúr read Kipúr. |
| ” | 546, | line 6 from below, for Maláná read Mauláná. |
| ” | 567, | note, last line, for Sháh read Khán. |
| P. | 104, | note 2, read Panjú for Béchú, and Hadís &c., for Hadís, |
| P. | 180, | line 16, read Puruk'hotam for Puzukhotam. |
| P. | 190, | line 15, read the heretical wizard, for the heretic of Jafrdán. |
SHAIKH ABUL FAZL, Akbar's minister and friend, was born at A´grah on the 6th Muharram, 958,* during the reign of Islám Sháh.
The family to which he belonged traced its descent from Shaikh
Músá, Abul Fazl's fifth ancestor, who lived in the 9th century of the
Hijrah in Siwistán (Sindh), at a place called Rel (
The title of Shaikh, which all the members of the family bore, was to keep up among them the remembrance of the home of the ancestors.
Not long afterwards, in 911, Shaikh Mubárak, Abul Fazl's father, was born. Mubárak was not Shaikh Khizr's eldest child: several children had been born before and had died, and Khizr rejoicing at the birth of another son, called him Mubárak, i. e., the blessed, in allusion, no doubt, to the hope which Islám holds out to the believers, that children gone before bless those born after them, and pray to God for the continuance of their earthly life.
Shaikh Mubárak, at the early age of four, gave abundant proofs of
intellectual strength, and fashioned his character and leanings in the
company of one Shaikh 'Aṭan (
Mubárak grew up progessing in knowledge and laying the foundation of those encyclopedial attainments, for which he afterwards became so famous. He soon felt the wish and the necessity to complete his education and visit the great teachers of other parts; but love to his mother kept him in his native town, where he continued his studies, guided by the teachings of the great saint Khwájah Ahrár,* to which his attention had been directed. However, when his mother died, and when about the same time the Máldeo disturbances broke out, Mubárak carried out his wish, and went to Ahmadábád in Gujarát, either attracted by the fame of the town itself, or by that of the shrine of his countryman Ahmad of Khaṭṭú.† In Ahmadábád, he found a second father in the learned Shaikh Abul Fazl, a khaṭíb, or preacher, from Kázarún in Persia, and made the acquaintance of several men of reputation, as Shaikh 'Umar of Tattah and Shaikh Yúsuf. After a stay of several years, he returned to Hindústán, and settled, on the 6th Muharram, 950, on the left bank of the Jamuná, opposite A´grah, near the Chárbágh Villa,‡ which Bábar had built, and in the neighbourhood of the saintly Mír Rafí'uddín Safawí of Injú (Shíráz), among whose disciples Mubárak took a distinguished place. It was here that Mubárak's two eldest sons, Shaikh Abul Faiz,§ and four years later, Shaikh AbulFazl, were born. Mubárak had now reached the age of fifty, and resolved to remain at A´grah, the capital of the empire; nor did the years of extraordinary drought which preceded the first year of Akbar's reign, and the dreadful plague, which in 963 broke out in A´grah and caused a great dispersion among the population, incline him to settle elsewhere.
The universality of learning which distinguished Mubárak attracted a large number of disciples, and displayed itself in the education he gave his sons; and the filial piety with which Abul Fazl in numerous passages of his works speaks of his father, and the testimony of hostile writers as Badáoní, leave no doubt that it was Mubárak's comprehensiveness that laid in Abul Faiz and Abul Fazl the foundation of those cosmopolitan and, to a certain extent, anti-Islamitic views, for which both brothers have been branded by Muhammadan writers as atheists, or as Hindús, or as sunworshippers, and as the chief causes of Akbar's apostacy from Islám.
A few years before 963 A. H., during the Afghán rule, Shaikh Mubárak had, to his worldly disadvantage, attached himself to a religious movement, which had first commenced about the year 900, and which continued under various phases during the whole of the tenth century. The movement was suggested by the approach of the first millennium of Islám. According to an often quoted prophecy, the latter days of Islám are to be marked by a general decadence in political power and in morals, which on reaching its climax is to be followed by the appearance of Imám Mahdí, ‘the Lord of the period’,* who will restore the sinking faith to its pristine freshness. Christ also is to appear; and after all men, through his instrumentality, have been led to Islám, the day of judgment will commence. Regarding this promised personage, the Rauzat ul-Aimmah, a Persian work on the lives of the twelve Imáms,† has the following passage—
Muslim, Abú Dáúd, Nisáí, Baihaqí, and other collectors of the traditional sayings of the Prophet, state that the Prophet once said, “Muhammad Mahdí shall be of my family and of the descendants of Fáṭimah [the Prophet's daughter and wife of 'Alí].” And Ahmad, Abú Dáúd, Tirmizí, and Ibn Májah state that the Prophet at some other time said, “When of time one day shall be left, God shall raise up a man from among my descendants, who shall fill the world with justice, just as before him the world was full of oppression;” and again, “The world shall not come to an end till the King of the earth shall appear, who is a man of my family, and whose name is the same as mine.” Further, Ahmad and other collectors assert that the Prophet once said, “Muhammad Mahdí belongs to my family, eight and nine years.” Accordingly, people believe in the coming of Mahdí. But there is also a party in Islám who say that Imám Mahdí has already come into the world and exists at present: his patronymic is Abul Qásim, and his epithets are “the elect, the stablisher, Mahdí, the expected, the Lord of the age.” In the opinion of this party, he was born at Surraman-raá [near Baghdád] on the 23rd Ramazán, 258, and in 265 he came to his Sardábah [prop. ‘a cool place,’ ‘a summer villa’], and disappeared whilst in his residence. In the book entitled ‘Shawáhid’ it is said that when he was born, he had on his right arm the words written, ‘Say, the truth has come and error has vanished, surely error is vanishing’ [Qorán, xvii, 83]. It is also related that when he was born into the world, he came on his knees, pointed with his fingers to heaven, sneezed, and said, “Praise be to God, the Lord of the world.” Some one also has left an account of a visit to Imám Hasan 'Askarí [the eleventh Imám], whom he asked, “O son of the Prophet, who will be Khalífah and Imám after thee?” 'Askarí thereupon went into his room, and after some time came back with a child on his shoulders, that had a face like the full moon and might have been three years old, and said to the man, “If thou hadst not found favour in the eyes of God, He would not have shewn you this child: his name is that of the Prophet, and so is his patronymic.” The sect who believe Mahdí to be alive at present, say that he rules over cities in the far west, and he is even said to have children. God alone knows the truth!
The alleged prophecies of the Founder regarding the advent of the Restorer of the Faith, assumed a peculiar importance when Islám entered on the century preceding the first millennium, and the learned everywhere agitated the question till at last the Mahdí movement assumed in India* a definite form through the teaching of Mír Sayyid Muhammad, son of Mír Sayyid Khán, of Jaunpúr. This man was a descendant of the Prophet, and bore his name; the fall of Jaunpúr was to him a sign that the latter days had come; extraordinary events which looked like miracles, marked his career; and a voice from heaven had whispered to him the words, “Anta Mahdí,” ‘thou art Mahdí.’ Some people indeed say that Mír Sayyid Muhammad did not mean to declare that he was the promised Mahdí; but there is no doubt that he insisted on his mission as the Lord of the Age. He gained many adherents, chiefly through his great oratorical powers, but pressed by enemies he went to Gujarát, where he found an adherent in Sulṭán Mahmúd I. From Gujarát he proceeded, at the request of the king and to the joy of numerous enemies, on a pilgrimage to Makkah. From there also he seems to have been driven away. On his return, it was revealed to him that his teaching was vexatious, and he said to the disciples that accompanied him, “God has removed from my heart the burden of Mahdí. If I safely return, I shall recant all.” But when he reached the town of Faráh in Balochistán, where his arrival had created a great sensation, he died (911, A. H.; 1505, A. D.). His tomb became a place of general pilgrimage, although Sháh Ismá'íl and Sháh Ṭahmásp tried to destroy it. The movement, however, continued. Some of his followers adhered to their belief that he was Mahdí; and even the historian Badáoní, who was strongly attached to the cause, speaks of him as of a great saint.
Other Mahdís appeared in various parts of India. In 956 (A. D., 1549), a Mahdí of great pretensions arose in Biánah, S.W. of A´grah, in the person of Shaikh 'Aláí. This man was a Bangálí Musalmán. His father had been looked upon in his country as a learned saint, and after visiting Makkah, he had settled, in 935, with his younger brother Naçrullah, likewise a learned man, at Biánah, where they soon became respected and influential men. Shaikh 'Aláí had shewn from his youth the learning of the lawyer and the rigour of the saint; and on the death of his father, he gathered numerous pupils around himself. ‘But the love of power issues at last from the heads of the just,’ and on the day of the 'I´d, he kicked an influential Shaikh from his haudah, and, supported by his brothers and elder relatives, he proclaimed that he alone was worthy of being the Shaikh of the town.
About the same time, one Miyán 'Abdullah, a Niyází Afghán and disciple of Mír Sayyid Muhammad of Jaunpúr, arrived from Makkah, and settled at a retired spot near Biánah. Like his master, he was a man of oratorical powers and was given to street preaching; and in a short time he gained numerous followers among the woodcutters and water-carriers. Shaikh 'Aláí also was overawed by the impressive addresses of Miyán 'Abdullah; he gave up teaching and struggling for local influence, turned faqír, told his wife either to follow him to the wilderness or to go, distributed his whole property, even his books, among the poor adherents of the Niyází, and joined the fraternity which they had formed. The brethren had established among themselves community of property, divided the earnings obtained by begging, and gave up all work, because it was said in the Qorán, ‘Let not men be allured by trade or selling to give up meditating on God.’ Religious meetings, the object of which was to prepare people for the advent of the promised Mahdí, were daily held after the five prayers, which the brethren said together, and wherever they went they appeared armed to the teeth. They soon felt strong enough to interfere with municipal matters, and inspected the bázárs and removed by force all articles forbidden in the law, defying the magistrates, if opposed to them, or assisting them, if of their opinion. Their ranks increased daily, and matters in Biánah had come to such a pass, that fathers separated themselves from their children and husbands from their wives. Shaikh 'Aláí's former position and the thoroughness of his conversion had given him the rank of second leader; in fact, he soon outdid Miyán 'Abdullah in earnestness and successful conversions, and the latter at last tried to rid himself of his rival by sending him with six or seven hundred armed men towards Makkah. 'Aláí marched with his band over Basáwar to Khawáçpúr, converting and preaching on the way, but on account of some obstacles they all returned to Biánah.
Shaikh 'Aláí's fame at last reached the ear of Islám Sháh, who summoned him to A´grah; and although the king was resolved to put him to death as a dangerous demagogue, and was even offended at the rude way in which 'Aláí behaved in his presence, he was so charmed by an impromptu address which 'Aláí delivered on the vanities of the world and the pharisaism of the learned, that he sent cooked provisions to 'Aláí's men. To the amusement of the Afghán nobles and generals at court, 'Aláí on another occasion defeated the learned on questions connected with the advent of Mahdí, and Islám Sháh was day after day informed that another of his nobles had gone to 'Aláí's meetings and had joined the new sect.
It was at this time that Shaikh Mubárak also became a ‘disciple,’ and professed Mahdawí ideas. It is not clear whether he joined the sect from religious or from political motives, inasmuch as one of the objects of the brethren was to break up the party of the learned at Court, at whose head Makhdúm ul Mulk stood; but whatever may have been his reason, the result was, that Makhdúm became his inveterate enemy, deprived him of grants of land, made him flee for his life, and persecuted him for more than twenty years, till Mubárak's sons turned the tables on him and procured his banishment.*
The learned at Court, however, were not to be baffled by 'Aláí's success, and Makhdúm's influence was so great, that he at last prevailed on the king to banish the Shaikh. 'Aláí and his followers readily obeyed the command, and set out for the Dak'hin. Whilst at Handiah on the Narbadá, the frontier of Islám Sháh's empire, they succeeded in converting Bahár Khán A'zam Humáyún and half his army, and the king on hearing of this last success cancelled his orders and recalled Shaikh 'Aláí.
About the same time (955), Islám Sháh left A´grah, in order to put down disturbances in the Panjáb caused by certain Niyází Afgháns, and when he arrived in the neighbourhood of Biánah, Makhdúm ul-Mulk drew the king's attention to Miyán 'Abdullah Niyází, who after Shaikh 'Aláí's departure for the Dak'hin roamed about in the hills of the Biánah district with three or four hundred armed men, and was known to possess great influence over men of his own clan, and consequently over the Niyází rebels in the Panjáb. Islám Sháh ordered the governor of Biánah, who had become a Mahdawí, to bring Miyán 'Abdullah to him. The governor advised his religious leader to conceal himself; but Miyán 'Abdullah boldly appeared before the king, and so displeased him by his neglect of etiquette, that Islám Sháh gave orders to beat him to death. The king watched on horseback for an hour the execution of the punishment, and only left when Miyán 'Abdullah lay apparently lifeless on the ground. But he was with much care brought back to life. He concealed himself for a long time, renounced all Mahdawí principles, and got as late as 993 [A. D., 1585] from Akbar a freehold, because he, too, had been one of Makhdúm ul-Mulk's victims. He died more than ninety years old, in 1000, at Sarhind.*
Islám Sháh after quelling the Niyází disturbances, returned to A´grah, but almost immediately afterwards his presence was again required in the Panjáb, and it was there that Shaikh 'Aláí joined the royal camp. When Islám Sháh saw the Shaikh, he said to him in a low voice, “Whisper into my ear that you recant, and I will not trouble you.” But Shaikh 'Aláí would not do so, and Islám Sháh, to keep up the appearance of authority, ordered a menial to give him by way of punishment a few cuts with the whip in his presence. Shaikh 'Aláí had then scarcely recovered from an attack of the plague, which for several years had been raging in India, and had a few badly healed wounds on his neck. Whilst he got the cuts, one of the wounds broke open, and 'Aláí fainted and died. His body was now thrown under the feet of an elephant, and orders were given that no one should bury him, when all at once, to the terror of the whole camp and the king who believed that the last day had dawned, a most destructive cyclone broke forth. When the storm abated, 'Aláí's body was found literally buried among roses and other flowers, and an order was now forthcoming to have the corpse interred. This happened in 957 [A. D., 1550]. People prophesied the quick end of Islám Sháh and the downfal of his house.*
Makhdúm ul-Mulk was never popular after that.
The features common to all Mahdawí movements, are (1) that the preachers of the latter days were men of education and of great oratorical powers, which gave them full sway over the multitudes; and (2) that the Mahdawís assumed a hostile position to the learned men who held office at Court. Islám has no state clergy; but we find a counterpart to our hierarchical bodies in the 'Ulamás about Court, from whom the Sadrs of the provinces, the Mír 'Adls, Muftís, and Qázís were appointed. At Dihlí and A´grah, the body of the learned had always consisted of stanch Sunnís, who believed it their duty to keep the kings straight. How great their influence was, may be seen from the fact that of all Muhammadan emperors only Akbar, and perhaps 'Aláuddín Khiljí, succeeded in putting down this haughty set.
The death of Shaikh 'Aláí was a great triumph for the Court 'Ulamás, and a vigorous persecution of all Mahdawí disciples was the immediate result. The persecutions lasted far into Akbar's reign. They abated only for a short time when the return of Humáyún and the downfal of the Afghán power brought about a violent political crisis, during which the learned first thought of their own safety, well knowing that Humáyún was strongly in favour of Shí'ism; but when Akbar was firmly established, and the court at A´grah, after the fall of Bairám Khán, who was a Shí'ah, again teemed with Hindústání Sunnís, the persecutions commenced. The hatred of the court party against Shaikh Mubárak especially rose to such a height, that Shaikh 'Abdunnabí and Makhdúm ul-Mulk represented to the emperor that inasmuch as Mubárak also belonged to the Mahdawís and was, therefore, not only himself damned, but led also others into damnation, he deserved to be killed. They even obtained an order to bring him before the emperor. Mubárak wisely fled from A´grah, only leaving behind him some furniture for his enemies to reek their revenge on. Concealing himself for a time, he applied to Shaikh Salím Chishtí of Fathpúr Síkrí for intercession; but being advised by him to withdraw to Gujarát, he implored the good offices of Akbar's foster-brother, the generous Khán i A'zam Mírzá Kokah, who succeeded in allaying all doubts in the mind of the emperor by dwelling on the poverty of the Shaikh and on the fact that, different from his covetous accusers, he had not cost the state anything by way of freeholds, and thus obtained at least security for him and his family. Mubárak some time afterwards applied indeed for a grant of land for his son Abul Faiz, who had already acquired literary fame, though he was only twenty years old, and waited personally with his son on Shaikh 'Abdunnabí. But the latter, in his theological pride, turned them out his office as men suspected of Mahdawí leanings and Shí'ah tendencies. Even in the 12th year of Akbar's reign, when Faizí's poems* had been noticed at court,—Akbar then lay before Chítor— and a summons had been sent to the young poet to present himself before his sovereign, the enemies at A´grah saw in the invitation a sign of approaching doom, and prevailed on the governor to secure the victim this time. The governor thereupon sent a detachment of Mughul soldiers to surround Mubárak's house. Faizí was accidentally away from home, and the soldiers suspecting a conspiracy, subjected Mubárak to various sorts of ill-treatment; and when Faizí at last came, he was carried off by force to Chítor.† Nor did his fears for his father and his own life vanish, till his favourable reception at court convinced him both of Abkar's good will and the blindness of his personal enemies.
Abul Fazl had in the meantime grown up zealously studying under the care of his father. The persecutions which Shaikh Mubárak had to suffer for his Mahdawí leanings at the hands of the learned at Court, did not fail to make a lasting impression on his young mind. There is no doubt that it was in this school of misfortune that Abul Fazl learned the lesson of toleration, the practice of which in later years formed the basis of Akbar's friendship for him; while, on the other hand, the same pressure of circumstances stimulated him to unusual exertions in studying, which subsequently enabled him during the religious discussions at Court to lead the opposition and overthrow by superior learning and broader sentiments the clique of the 'Ulamás, whom Akbar hated so much.
At the age of fifteen, he showed the mental precocity so often observed in Indian boys; he had read works on all branches of those sciences which go by the name of hikamí and naqlí, or ma'qúl and manqúl.* Following the footsteps of his father, he commenced to teach long before he had reached the age of twenty. An incident is related to shew how extensive even at that time his reading was. A manuscript of the rare work of Içfahání happened to fall into his hands. Unfortunately, however, one half of each page, vertically downwards from top to bottom, was rendered illegible, or was altogether destroyed, by fire. Abul Fazl, determined to restore so rare a book, cut away the burnt portions, pasted new paper to each page, and then commenced to restore the missing halves of each line, in which attempt after repeated thoughtful perusals he succeeded. Some time afterwards, a complete copy of the same work turned up, and on comparison it was found that in many places there were indeed different words, and in a few passages new proofs even had been adduced; but on the whole the restored portion presented so many points of extraordinary coincidence, that his friends were not a little astonished at the thoroughness with which Abul Fazl had worked himself into the style and mode of thinking of a difficult author.
Abul Fazl was so completely taken up with study that he preferred the life of a recluse to the unstable patronage of the great and to the bondage which attendance at court in those days rendered inevitable. But from the time Faizí had been asked by Akbar to attend the court, hopes of a brighter future dawned, and Abul Fazl, who had then completed his seventeenth year, saw in the encouragement held out by the emperor, in spite of Mubárak's numerous enemies at court, a guarantee that patient toil, on his part, too, would not remain without fruit. The skill with which Faizí in the meantime acquired and retained Akbar's friendship, prepared the way for Abul Fazl; and when the latter, in the very end of 981 (beginning of 1574, A. D.), was presented to Akbar as Faizí's brother, the reception was so favorable that he gave up all thoughts of leading a life among manuscripts. “As fortune did not at first assist me,” says Abul Fazl in the Akbarnámah, “I almost became selfish and conceited, and resolved to tread the path of proud retirement. The number of pupils that I had gathered around me, served but to increase my pedantry. In fact, the pride of learning had made my brain drunk with the idea of seclusion. Happily for myself, when I passed the nights in lonely spots with true seekers after truth, and enjoyed the society of such as are empty-handed, but rich in mind and heart, my eyes were opened and I saw the selfishness and covetousness of the so-called learned. The advice of my father with difficulty kept me back from outbreaks of folly; my mind had no rest, and my heart felt itself drawn to the sages of Mongolia or to the hermits on Lebanon; I longed for interviews with the lamas of Tibet or with the pádrís of Portugal, and I would gladly sit with the priests of the Pársís and the learned of the Zendavesta. I was sick of the learned of my own land. My brother and other relatives then advised me to attend the Court, hoping that I would find in the emperor a leader to the sublime world of thought. In vain did I at first resist their admonitions. Happy, indeed, am I now that I have found in my sovereign a guide to the world of action and a comforter in lonely retirement; in him meet my longing after faith and my desire to do my appointed work in the world; he is the orient where the light of form and ideal dawns; and it is he who has taught me that the work of the world, multifarious as it is, may yet harmonize with the spiritual unity of truth. I was thus presented at Court. As I had no worldly treasures to lay at the feet of his Majesty, I wrote a commentary to the A´yat ul-Kursí,* and presented it when the emperor was at A´grah. I was favourably received, and his Majesty graciously accepted my offering.”
Akbar was at that time busily engaged with his preparations for the conquest of Bihár and Bengal. Faizí accompanied the expedition; but Abul Fazl naturally stayed in A´grah. But as Faizí wrote to his brother that Akbar had enquired after him, Abul Fazl attended Court immediately on the emperor's return to Fathpúr Síkrí, where Akbar happened to notice him first in the Jámi' Mosque. Abul Fazl, as before, presented a commentary written by him on the opening of a chapter in the Qorán, entitled ‘Súrat ul Fath,’ ‘the Chapter of Victory.’†
The party of the learned and bigoted Sunnís at Court, headed by
Makhdúm ul-Mulk and Shaikh 'Abdunnabí, had every cause to feel sorry
at Faizí's and Abul Fazl's successes;*
for it was now, after Akbar's
return from Bihár, that the memorable Thursday evening discussions
commenced, of which the historian Badáoní has left us so vivid an account.
Akbar at first was merely annoyed at the “Pharaoh-like pride” of the
learned at court; stories of the endless squabbles of these pious casuits
had reached his ear; religious persecutions and a few sentences of death
passed by his Chief-Justice on Shí'ahs and “others heretics” affected him
most deeply; and he now for the first time realized the idea that the
scribes and the pharisees formed a power of their own in his kingdom,
at the construction of which he had for twenty years been working.
Impressed with a favourable idea of the value of his Hindú subjects, he
had resolved when pensively sitting in the mornings on the solitary
stone at Fathpúr Síkrí, to rule with even hand men of all creeds in his
dominions; but as the extreme views of the learned and the lawyers
continually urged him to persecute instead of to heal, he instituted the
discussions, because, believing himself to be in error, he thought it his
duty as ruler to ‘enquire.’ It is not necessary to repeat here the course
which these discussions took.†
The unity that had existed among the
learned disappeared in the very beginning; abuse took the place of argument,
and the plainest rules of etiquette were, even in the presence of the
emperor, forgotten. Akbar's doubts instead of being cleared up only
increased; certain points of the Hanafí law, to which most Sunnís
cling, were found to be better established by the dicta of lawyers belonging
to the other three sects; and the moral character of the Prophet
was next scrutinized and was found wanting. Makhdúm ul-Mulk wrote a
spiteful pamphlet against Shaikh 'Abdunnabí, the Sadr of the empire, and
the latter retorted by calling Makhdúm a fool and cursing him. Abul
Fazl, upon whom Akbar from the beginning had fixed as the leader of his
party, fanned the quarrels by skilfully shifting the disputes from one
point to another, and at last persuaded the emperor that a subject ought
to look upon the king not only as the temporal, but also as the only
spiritual guide. The promulgation of this new doctrine was the making
of Abul Fazl's fortune. Both he and Akbar held to it to the end of
their lives. But the new idea was in opposition to Islám, the law of
which stands above every king, rendering what we call a constitution
impossible; and though headstrong kings as 'Aláuddín Khiljí had before
tried to raise the law of expediency (
A few weeks afterwards, Shaikh 'Abdunnabí and Makhdúm ul-Mulk were sent to Makkah, and Shaikh Mubárak and his two sons triumphed over their enemies. How magnanimous Abul Fazl was, may be seen from the manner in which he chronicles in the Akbarnámah the banishment of these men. Not a sentence, not a word, is added indicative of his personal grievances against either of them, though they had persecuted and all but killed his father and ruined his family; the narrative proceeds as calm and statesmanlike as in every other part of his great work, and justifies the high praise which historians have bestowed upon his character that “neither abuse nor harsh words were ever found in his household.”
The disputations had now come to an end (A. D. 1579), and Faizí and Abul Fazl had gained the lasting friendship of the emperor. Of the confidence which Akbar placed in Faizí, no better proof can be cited than his appointment, in the same year, as tutor to Prince Murád; and as both brothers had entered the military, then the only, service and had received mansabs, or commissions, their employment in various departments gave them repeated opportunities to gain fresh distinctions. Enjoying Akbar's personal friendship, both remained at court in Fathpúr Síkrí, or accompanied the emperor on his expeditions. Two years later, Faizí was appointed Sadr of A´grah, Kálpí, and Kálinjar, in which capacity he had to enquire into the possibility of resuming free tenures (sayurghál), which in consequence of fraudulent practices on the part of government officers and the rapaciousness of the holders themselves had so much increased as seriously to lessen the land revenue; and Abul Fazl, in the very beginning of 1585,* was promoted to the mansab of Hazárí, or the post of a commander of one thousand horse, and was in the following year appointed Díwán of the Province of Dihlí. Faizí's rank was much lower; he was only a commander of Four Hundred. But he did not care for further promotion. Devoted to the muse, he found in the appointment as Poet Laureate, with which Akbar honored him in the end of 1588, that satisfaction which no political office, however high, would have given him. Though the emperor did not pay much attention to poetry, his appreciation of Faizí's genius was but just; for after Amír Khusrau of Dihlí, Muhammadan India has seen no greater poet than Faizí.*
In the end of 1589, Abul Fazl lost his mother, to whose memory he has devoted a page in the Akbarnámah. The emperor, in order to console him, paid him a visit, and said to him, “If the people of this world lived for ever and did not only once die, kind friends would not be required to direct their hearts to trust in God and resignation to His will; but no one lives long in the caravanserai of the world, and hence the afflicted do well to accept consolation.”†
Religious matters had in the meantime rapidly advanced. Akbar had founded a new religion, the Dín i Iláhí, or ‘the Divine Faith,’ the chief feature of which, in accordance with Shaikh Mubárak's document mentioned above, consisted in belief in one God and in Akbar as His viceregent (khalífah) on earth. The Islamitic prayers were abolished at court, and the worship of the ‘elect’ was based on that of the Pársís and partly on the ceremonial of the Hindús. The new era (táríkh i iláhí), which was introduced in all government records, as also the feasts observed by the emperor, were entirely Pársí. The Muhammadan grandees at court shewed but little resistance: they looked with more anxiety on the elevation of Hindú courtiers than on Akbar's religious innovations, which after all affected but a few. But their feeling against Abul Fazl was very marked, and they often advised the emperor to send him to the Dak'hin, hoping that some mismanagement in war or in administration would lessen his influence at court. Prince Salím [Jahángír] also belonged to the dissatisfied, and his dislike to Abul Fazl, as we shall see below, became gradually so deep-rooted, that he looked upon him as the chief obstacle to the execution of his wild plans. An unexpected visit to Abul Fazl gave him an excellent opportunity to charge him with duplicity. On entering the house, he found forty writers busy in copying commentaries to the Qorán. Ordering them to follow him at once, he took them to the emperor, and shewing him the copies, he said, “What Abul Fazl teaches me is very different from what he practises in his house.” The incident is said to have produced a temporary estrangement between Akbar and Abul Fazl. A similar, but less credible, story is told by the author of the Zakhírat-ul Khawánín. He says that Abul Fazl repented of his apostacy from Islám, and used at night to visit incognito the houses of dervishes, and, giving them gold muhurs, requested them “to pray for the stability of Abul Fazl's faith,” sighing at the same time and striking his knees and exclaiming, “What shall I do!” And just as writers on the history of literature have tried to save Faizí from apostacy and consequent damnation, by representing that before his death he had praised the Prophet, so have other authors succeeded in finding for Abul Fazl a place in Paradise; for it is related in several books that Sháh Abul Ma'álí Qádirí of Láhor, a man of saintly renown,* once expressed his disapproval of Abul Fazl's words and deeds. But at night, so runs the story, he saw in his dream that Abul Fazl came to a meeting held by the Prophet in Paradise; and when the Prophet saw him enter, he asked him to sit down, and said, “This man did for some time during his life evil deeds, but one of his books commences with the words, ‘O God, reward the good for the sake of their righteousness, and help the wicked for the sake of Thy love,’ and these words have saved him.” The last two stories flatter, in all probability, the consciences of pious Sunnís; but the first, if true, detracts in no way from that consistency of opinion and uniform philosophic conviction which pervades Abul Fazl's works; and though his heart found in pure deism and religious philosophy more comfort and more elements of harmony than in the casuistry of the Mullás, his mind from early youth had been so accustomed to hard literary work, that it was perfectly natural for him, even after his rejection of Islám, to continue his studies of the Qorán, because the highest dialectical lore and the deepest philological research of Muhammadan literature have for centuries been concentrated on the explanation of the holy book.
To this period also belong the literary undertakings which were commenced under the auspices of the Emperor himself. Abul Fazl, Faizí, and scholars as Badáoní, Naqíb Khán, Shaikh Sulṭán, Hájí Ibráhím, Shaikh Munawwar and others, were engaged in historical and scientific compilations and in translations from the Sanskrit or Hindí into Persian.† Faizí took the Líláwatí, a well-known book on mathematics, and Abul Fazl translated the Kalílah Damnah under the title of 'Ayár Dánish from Arabic into Persian. He also took a part in the translation of the Mahábhárat and in the composition of the Táríkh i Alfí, the ‘History of the Millennium.’ The lastmentioned work, curious to say, has an intimate connection with the Mahdawí movement, of which particulars have been given above. Although from the time of Shaikh 'Aláí's death the disciples of the millennium had to suffer persecution, and the movement to all appearances had died out, the idea of a restorer of the millennium was revived during the discussions in Fathpúr Síkrí and by the teachings of men of Sharíf i A´mulí's stamp,* with this important modification that Akbar himself was pointed to as the ‘Lord of the Age,’ through whom faded Islám was to come to an end. This new feature had Akbar's full approval, and exercised the greatest influence on the progress of his religious opinions. The Táríkh i Alfí, therefore, was to represent Islám as a thing of the past; it had existed thousand (alf) years and had done its work. The early history, to the vexation of the Sunnís, was related from a Shí'ah point of view, and worse still, the chronology had been changed, inasmuch as the death of the Prophet had been made the starting point, not the hijrah, or flight, of the Prophet from Makkah to Madínah.
Towards the middle of A.H. 1000 (begining of 1592, AD.), Akbar promoted Abul Fazl to the post of Dúhazárí, or commander of two thousand horse. Abul Fazl now belonged to the great Amírs (umará i kibár) at court. As before, he remained in immediate attendance on the emperor. In the same year, Faizí was sent to the Dak'hin as Akbar's ambassador to Burhán ul-Mulk and to Rájah 'Alí Khán of Khándesh, who had sent his daughter to Prince Salím. Faizí returned after an absence of more than sixteen months.
Shaikh Mubárak, who after the publication of his famous document had all but retired from the world, died in the following year at Láhor, (Sunday, 17th Zí Qa'dah, 1001, or 4th September, 1593). He had reached the age of ninety, and had occupied himself in the last years of his life with the compilation in four volumes of a gigantic commentary to the Qorán, to which he had given the title of Manba'u Nafáis ul 'Uyún. He completed it, in spite of failing eyesight, a short time before his death.
The historian Badáoní speaks of him as follows:—
Shaikh Mubárak belonged to the most distinguished men of learning of the present age. In practical wisdom, piety, and trust in God, he stood high among the people of his time. In early life he practised rigorous asceticism; in fact, he was so strict in his views regarding what is lawful and unlawful, that if any one, for example, came to a prayermeeting with a gold ring on his finger, or dressed in silk, or with red stockings on his feet, or red or yellow coloured clothes on him, he would order the offending articles to be removed. In legal decisions he was so severe as to maintain that for every hurt exceeding a simple kick, death was the proper punishment. If he accidentally heard music while walking on the street, he ran away, but in course of time he became, from divine zeal, so enamoured of music, that he could not exist without listening to some voice or melody. In short, he passed through rather opposite modes of thought and ways of life. At the time of the Afghán rule, he frequented Shaikh 'Aláí's fraternity; in the beginning of his Majesty's reign, when the Naqshbandís had the upper hand, he settled matters with that sect; afterwards he was attached to the Hamadání school; and lastly, when the Shí'ahs monopolized the court, he talked according to their fashion. ‘Men speak according to the measure of their understanding’—to change was his way, and the rest you know. But withal he was constantly engaged in teaching the religious sciences. Prosody also, the art of composing riddles, and other branches, he understood well; and in mystic philosophy he was, unlike the learned of Hindústán, a perfect master. He knew Sháṭibí* by heart, explained him properly, and also knew how to read the Qorán in the ten different modes. He did not go to the palaces of the kings, but he was a most agreeable companion and full of anecdote. Towards the end of his life, when his eyesight was impaired, he gave up reading and lived in seclusion. The commentary to the Qorán which he composed, resembles the Tafsír i Kabír [the “Great Commentary”], and consists of four thick volumes, and is entitled Manba'u Nafáis ul 'Uyún. It is rather extraordinary that there is a passage in the preface in which he seems to point to himself as the renovator of the new century.† We know what this ‘renovating’ means. About the time he finished his work, he wisely committed the Fárizí Ode (in t) which consists of seven hundred verses, and the Ode Bardah, the Ode by Ka'b ibn Zubair, and other Odes to memory, and recited them as daily homilies, till on the 17th Zí Qa'dah, 1001, he left this world at Láhor for the judgment-seat of God.
I have known no man of more comprehensive learning; but alas! under the mantle of the dervish there was such a wicked love of worldly preferment, that he left no tittle of our religion in peace. When I was young, I studied at A´grah for several years in his company. He is indeed a man of merit; but he committed worldly and irreligiousdeeds, plunged into lust of possession and rank, was timeserving, practised deceit and falsehood, and went so far in twisting religious truth, that nothing of his former merit remains. “Say, either I am in the correct path or in clear error, or you” [Qorán, xxxiv, 23]. Further, it is a common saying that the son brings the curse on the head of his father; hence people have gone beyond Yazíd and say, ‘Curse on Yazíd,* and on his father, too.’
Two years after Shaikh Mubárak's death, Abul Fazl also lost his brother Faizí, who died at the age of fifty after an illness of six months on the 10th Safar, 1004 (5th October, 1595). When in his last moments, Akbar visited him at midnight, and seeing that he could no longer speak, he gently raised his head and said to him, “Shaikh Jío, I have brought Hakím 'Alí with me, will you not speak to me?” But getting no reply, the emperor in his grief threw his turban to the ground, and wept loud; and after trying to console Abul Fazl, he went away.† How deeply Abul Fazl loved his elder brother, is evident from the numerous passages in the Akbarnámah and the A´ín in which he speaks of him, and nothing is more touching than the lines with which he prefaces the selections in the A´ín made by him from his brother's poems. “The gems of thought in his poems will never be forgotten. Should leisure permit and my heart turn to worldly occupations, I would collect some of the excellent writings of this unrivalled author of the age, and gather, with the eye of a jealous critic, yet with the hand of a friend, some of his poems. But now it is brotherly love alone, which does not travel along the road of critical nicety, that commands me to write down some of his verses.”‡ Abul Fazl, notwithstanding his onerous duties, kept his promise, and two years after the death of his brother, he collected the stray leaves of Faizí's Markiz ul-Adwár, not to mention the numerous extracts which he has preserved in the Akbarnámah.
It was about the same time that Abul Fazl was promoted to the post of a Commander of two thousand and five hundred horse. Under this rank he has entered his own name in the list of grandees in the A´ín i Akbarí, which work he completed in the same year when he collected his brother's literary remains (1596-97).
In the following year, the forty-third of Akbar's reign, Abul Fazl went for the first time on active service. Sultán Murád* had not managed matters well in the Dak'hin, and Akbar now despatched Abul Fazl with orders to return with the Prince, whose excessive drinking caused the emperor much anxiety, provided the officers of the imperial camp made themselves responsible to guard the conquered territory. If the officers were disinclined to guarantee a faithful conduct of the war, he was to see the Prince off, and take command with Sháhrukh Mírzá.† The wars in the Dak'hin, from their first commencement under Prince Murád and the Khán Khánán, are marked by a most astounding duplicity on the part of the imperial officers, and thousands of men and immense stores were sacrificed, especially during the reign of Jahángír, by treacherous and intriguing generals. In fact, the Khán Khánán himself was the most untrustworthy imperial officer. Abul Fazl's successes, therefore, were chiefly due to the honesty and loyalty with which he conducted operations. When he arrived at Burhánpúr, he received an invitation from Bahádur Khán, king of Khándesh, whose brother had married Abul Fazl's sister. He consented to come on one condition, namely, that Bahádur Khán should vigorously assist him and thus aid the cause of the emperor. Bahádur was not inclined to aid the imperialists in their wars with the Dak'hin, but he sent Abul Fazl rich presents, hoping that by this means he would escape the penalty of his refusal. Abul Fazl, however, was not the man to be bribed. “I have made a vow,” said he in returning the presents, “not to accept presents till four conditions are fulfilled—(1) friendship; (2) that I should not value the gift too high; (3) that I should not have been anxious to get a present; and (4) necessity to accept it. Now supposing that the first three are applicable to the present case, the favour of the emperor has extinguished every desire in me of accepting gifts from others.”
Prince Murád had in the meantime retreated from Ahmadnagar to I´lichpúr, and as the death of his infant son Mírzá Rustam made him melancholy, he continued to drink, though dangerously ill with delirium tremens. When informed of Abul Fazl's mission, he returned at once towards Ahmadnagar, in order to have a pretext for not going back to his father, and he had come to the banks of the Púrná,* twenty kos from Daulatábád, when death overtook him. Abul Fazl arrived the same day, and found the camp in the utmost confusion. Each commander recommended immediate return; but Abul Fazl said that he was determined to march on: the enemy was near, the country was foreign ground, and this was no time for returning, but for fighting. Several of the commanders refused to march on, and returned; but Abul Fazl, nothing daunted, after a delay of a few days, moved forward, humoured the officers, and supplied in a short time all wants. Carefully garrisoning the country, he managed to occupy and guard the conquered districts with the exception of Násik, which lay too far to the west. But he sent detachments against several forts, and conquered Baiṭálah, Taltum, and Satondá. His headquarters were on the Godáwarí. He next entered into an agreement with Chánd Bíbí, that, after punishing Abhang Khán Habshí, who was at war with her, she should accept Janír as fief and give up the fort of Ahmadnagar.
Akbar had in the meantime gone to Ujjain. The Dak'hin operations had also become more complicated by the refusal of Bahádur Khán to pay his respects to Prince Dányál, and war with Khándesh had been determined on. Akbar resolved to march on A´sír, Bahádur Khan's stronghold, and appointed Prince Dányál to take command at Ahmadnagar. Dányál sent immediate instructions to Abul Fazl to cease all operations, as he wished to take Ahmadnagar personally. When the Prince therefore left Burhánpúr, Abul Fazl, at Akbar's reqest, left Mírzá Sháhrukh, Mír Murtazá, and Khwájah Abul Hasan in charge of his corps, and hastened to meet the emperor. On the 14th Ramazán, 1008 (beginning of the 44th year of Akbar's reign), he met Akbar at K'hargoṉ, near Bíjágaṛh. The emperor received him with the following verse—
and promoted him for his excellent management to a command of four thousand. The imperial army now marched on A´sír and commenced the siege.* One day, Abul Fazl inspected some of his trenches, when one of the besieged, who had deserted to Akbar's camp, offered to shew him a way by which the Imperialists might get over the wall of the Málai Fort, an important fortification below A´sírgaṛh itself. Half way up the mountain, to the west and slightly to the north, were two renowned outworks, called the Málai and Antar Málai, which had to be conquered before A´sír itself could be reached; and between the north-west and north, there was another bastion called Chúnah Málai. A portion of its wall was not finished. From east to south-west there were hills, and in the south was a high mountain called Korhiah. A hill in the south-west, called Sápan, was occupied by the Imperialists. Abul Fazl determined on availing himself of the information given by the deserter, and selected a detachment to follow him. Giving orders to the officer commanding the trench to watch for the sound of the trumpets and bugles, when he was to hasten to his assistance with ladders, he went in the dark of night, whilst it was raining, with his selected men on Mount Sápan, and sent a few of his men under Qará Beg along the road that had been pointed out to him. They advanced, broke open a gate of Málai Fort, and sounded the bugle. The besieged rose up to oppose them, and Abul Fazl hastened to his men and joined them at break of day when the besieged withdrew in confusion to A´sír. On the same day, other detachments of the army occupied Chúnah Málai and Mount Korhiah, and Bahádur Khán, unable to resist longer, sued for pardon (1009). Prince Dányál, who had in the meantime conquered Ahmadnagar,* now joined his father at A´sír.
About this time disturbances broke out in the Dak'hin, caused by Rájú Manná, and a party set up the son of 'Alí Sháh as king. As the latter found numerous adherents, the Khán Khánán was ordered to march against him, and Abul Fazl was sent to Násik; but a short time afterwards, he was told to join the Khán Khánán. Akbar returned, in the 46th year, to A´grah, leaving Prince Dányál in Burhánpúr. Abul Fazl had no easy life in the Dak'hin. The Khán Khánán stood idle at Ahmadnagar, because he was disinclined to fight, and left the operations to Abul Fazl, who looked upon him as a traitor. Abul Fazl vigorously pushed on operations, ably assisted by his son 'Abdurrahmán. After coming to terms with the son of 'Alí Sháh, he attacked Rájú Manná, recovered Jálnahpúr and the surrounding district, and inflicted several defeats on him. Manná found a temporary asylum in Daulatábád, and in a subsequent engagement he was nearly captured.
As early as during the siege of A´sír, Prince Salím, who had been sent against the Ráná of Udaipúr, had rebelled against his father, and had moved to Iláhábád, where he had assumed the title of king. Though on Akbar's return from Burhánpúr a reconciliation had been effected, the prince, in the forty-seventh year, shewed again signs of rebellion, and as many of Akbar's best officers appeared to favour Salím, the emperor recalled Abul Fazl, the only trustworthy servant he had. As his presence at Court was urgently required, Akbar sent him orders to leave the troops of his contingent in the Dak'hin. Putting his son 'Abdurrahmán in charge of his corps, Abul Fazl set out for A´grah, only accompanied by a few men. Salím, who looked upon him with little concealed hatred, thought Abul Fazl's journey, unprotected as he was, an excellent opportunity to get rid of him. He, therefore, persuaded Rájah Bir Singh, a Bundelá chief of U´rchah (U´ṉḍchhá),† through whose territory Abul Fazl was likely to pass, to lay in wait for him and kill him. Bir Singh, who was in disgrace at Court, eagerly seized the opportunity of pleasing the Prince, who no doubt would substantially reward him on his accession, and posted a large body of horse and foot near Narwar. When arrived at Ujjain, Abul Fazl was warned of Salím's intention, and his men tried to persuade him to go viâ Gháṭí Chándá; but Abul Fazl said that thieves and robbers had no power to stop him on his way to Court. He, therefore, continued his journey towards Narwar. On Friday, the 4th Rabí' I, 1011 (12th August, 1602), at a distance of about half a kos from Sarái Bar, which lies six kos from Narwar, Bir Singh's men came in sight. The few men that Abul Fazl had with him, strongly advised him to avoid a fight, and an old servant, Gadáí Khán Afghán, told him quickly to retreat to Antrí, which was three kos distant, as Rái Ráyán and Súraj Singh were stationed there with three thousand Imperial horse: he might first join them, and then punish Bir Singh. But Abul Fazl thought it a disgrace to fly. He defended himself bravely; but in a short time he was surrounded, and, pierced by the lance of a trooper, he fell dead to the ground. Bir Singh cut off Abul Fazl's head, and sent it to Salím in Iláhábád, who, it is said, had it thrown “into an unworthy place,” where it lay for a long time.
The Dutch traveller De Laët gives the following account of Abul Fazl's death.*
Salím returned to Halebassa [Iláhbás, the old form of Iláhábád], and began to coin gold and silver money in his own name, which he even sent to his father, to irritate him the more. The king, enraged at this, wrote an account of all that had happened to Abul Fazl, who bade the king be of good courage, for he would come to him as quickly as possible; and added that his son should be brought bound to him, either by fair means or by foul. Accordingly, a little afterwards, having obtained leave of absence from Daniel Xa [Dányál Sháh], he took to the road with about two or three hundred horsemen, leaving orders for his baggage to follow him. Xa-Selim, to whom all these things were known, recalling how hostile Fazl had always been towards him, and hence justly fearing that his father would be more exasperated than ever against him, judged it best to intercept him on his journey. So he begged Radzia Bertzingh Bondela, who lived in his province of Osseen [Ujjain], to lie in wait for Fazl near Soor [Narwar?] and Gualer [Gwáliár], and to send his head to him, promising that he would be mindful of so great a benefit, and would give him the command of five thousand cavalry. The Radzia consented, and waited with a thousand cavalry and three thousand infantry about three or four coss from Gualer, having sent out scouts into the neighbouring villages, to give him early warning of the approach of Fazl. Accordingly when the latter, ignorant of the ambuscade, had come as far as Collebaga [Kálábágh], and was going towards Soor, Radzia Bertzingh and his followers fell upon him on all sides. Fazl and his horsemen fought bravely, but being overpowered by numbers, they were gradually worn out. Fazl himself, having received twelve wounds in the fight, was pointed out by a captive slave under a neighbouring tree, and was taken and beheaded. His head was sent to the prince, who was greatly pleased.”
Prince Salím, with that selfish nonchalance and utter indifference that distinguished him throughout life, openly confesses in his ‘Memoirs ’ that he brought about Abul Fazl's murder, because he was his enemy, and, with a naïveté exclusively his own, represents himself as a dutiful son who through the wickedness of others had been deprived of his father's love. He says—
“On my accession, I promoted Rájah Bir Singh, a Bundelá Rájpút, to a command of three thousand. He is one of my favourites, and he is certainly distinguished among his equals for his bravery, good character, and straightforwardness. My reason for promoting him was this. Towards the end of my father's reign, Shaikh Abul Fazl, a Hindústání Shaikh by birth, who was well known for his learning and wisdom, and who had externally ornamented himself with the jewel of loyalty, though he sold himself at a high price to my father, had been called from the Dak'hin. He was no friend of mine, and damaged openly and secretly my reputation. Now about that time, evil-minded and mischievous men had made my father very angry with me, and I knew that, if Abul Fazl were to come back to Court, I would have been deprived of every chance to effect a reconciliation. As he had to pass on his way through the territory of BirSingh Bundelá, who at that time had rebelled against the emperor, I sent a message to the latter to say that, if he would waylay Abul Fazl and kill him, I would richly reward him. Heaven favoured him, and when Abul Fazl passed through his land, he stopped him on his way, dispersed after a short fight his men, and killed him, and sent his head to me at Iláhábád. Although my father was at first much vexed, Abul Fazl's death produced one good result: I could now without further annoyance go to my father, and his bad opinion of me gradually wore away.”
At another place in his ‘Memoirs’, when alluding to the murder, he says, as if an afterthought had occurred to him, that he ordered Bir Singh to kill Abul Fazl, because ‘he had been the enemy of the Prophet.’
When the news of Abul Fazl's death reached court, no one had the courage to break it to the emperor. According to an old custom observed by Timur's descendants, the death of a prince was not in plain words mentioned to the reigning emperor, but the prince's vakíl presented himself before the throne with a blue handkerchief round his wrist; and as no one else would come forward to inform Akbar of the death of his friend, Abul Fazl's vakíl presented himself with a blue handkerchief before the throne. Akbar bewailed Abul Fazl's death more than that of his son; for several days he would see no one, and after enquiring into the circumstances he exclaimed, “If Salím wished to be emperor, he might have killed me and spared Abul Fazl,” and then recited the following verse—
Akbar, in order to punish Bir Singh, sent a detachment under Patr Dás and Ráj Singh* to U´ṉḍchá. They defeated the Bundelá chief in several engagements, drove him from Bhánder and shut him up in I´rich. When the siege had progressed, and a breach was made in the wall, Bir Singh escaped by one of Ráj Singh's trenches, and withdrew to the jungles closely pursued by Patr Dás. As it seemed hopeless to catch him, Akbar called Patr Dás to Court; but ordered the officers stationed about U´ṉḍchá to kill the rebel wherever he shewed himself. In the beginning of the last year of Akbar's reign, Bir Singh was once surprised by Rájah Ráj Singh, who cut down a good number of his followers. Bir Singh himself was wounded and had a narrow escape. But the emperor's death, which not long afterwards took place, relieved Bir Singh of all fears. He boldly presented himself at Jahángír's Court, and received U´ṉḍchá and a command of three thousand horse as his reward.
“It has often been asserted,” says the author of the Maásir ul-Umará, “that Abul Fazl was an infidel. Some say, he was a Hindú, or a fire-worshipper, or a free-thinker, and some go still further and call him an atheist; but others pass a juster sentence, and say that he was a pantheist, and that, like other Súfís, he claimed for himself a position above the law of the Prophet. There is no doubt that he was a man of lofty character,* and desired to live at peace with all men. He never said anything improper. Abuse, stoppages of wages, fines, absence on the part of his servants, did not exist in his household. If he appointed a man, whom he afterwards found to be useless, he did not remove him, but kept him on as long as he could; for he used to say that, if he dismissed him, people would accuse him of want of penetration in having appointed an unsuitable agent. On the day when the sun entered Aries, he inspected his whole household and took stock, keeping the inventory with himself, and burning last year's books. He also gave his whole wardrobe to his servants, with the exception of his trowsers, which were burnt in his presence.
“He had an extraordinary appetite. It is said that, exclusive of water and fuel, he consumed daily twenty-two sers of food. His son 'Abdurrahmán used to sit at table as safarchí (head butler); the superintendent of the kitchen, who was a Muhammadan, was also in attendance, and both watched to see whether Abul Fazl would eat twice of one and the same dish. If he did, the dish was sent up again the next day. If anything appeared tasteless, Abul Fazl gave it to his son to taste, and he to the superintendent, but no word was said about it. When Abul Fazl was in the Dak'hin, his table luxury exceeded all belief. In an immense tent (chihilráwaṭí) one thousand rich dishes were daily served up and distributed among the Amírs; and near it another large tent was pitched for all-comers to dine, whether rich or poor, and k'hichrí was cooked all day and was served out to any one that applied for it.”
“As a writer, Abul Fazl stands unrivalled. His style is grand and is free from the technicalities and flimsy prettiness of other Munshís;† and the force of his words, the structure of his sentences, the suitableness of his compounds, and the elegance of his periods, are such that it would be difficult for any one to imitate them.”
It is almost useless to add to this encomium bestowed on Abul Fazl's style. 'Abdullah, king of Bukhárá, said that he was more afraid of Abul Fazl's pen than of Akbar's arrow. Everywhere in India he is known as ‘the great Munshí.’ His letters are studied in all Madrasahs, and though a beginner may find them difficult and perplexing, they are perfect models. But a great familiarity, not only with the Persian language, but also with Abul Fazl's style, is required to make the reading of any of his works a pleasure. His composition stands unique, and though everywhere studied, he cannot be, and has not been, imitated. The writers after him write in the style of the Pádisháhnámah, the 'A´lamárái Sikandarí, or in the still more turgid manner of the 'A´lamgírnámah, the Ruq'át Bedil, and other standard works on Inshá.
A praiseworthy feature of Abul Fazl's works lies in the purity of their contents. Those who are acquainted with Eastern literature will know what this means. I have come across no passage where woman is lightly spoken of, or where immorality is passed over with indifference. Of his love of truth and the nobility of his sentiments* I have spoken in the Preface.
Abul Fazl's influence on his age was immense. It may be that he and Faizí led Akbar's mind away from Islám and the Prophet— this charge is brought against them by every Muhammadan writer; but Abul Fazl also led his sovereign to a true appreciation of his duties, and from the moment that he entered Court, the problem of successfully ruling over mixed races, which Islám in but few other countries had to solve, was carefully considered, and the policy of toleration was the result. If Akbar felt the necessity of this new law, Abul Fazl enunciated it and fought for it with his pen, and if the Khán Khánáns gained the victories, the new policy reconciled the people to the foreign rule; and whilst Akbar's apostacy from Islám is all but forgotten, no emperor of the Mughul dynasty has come nearer to the ideal of a father of the people than he. The reversion, on the other hand, in later times to the policy of religious intoleration, whilst it has surrounded in the eyes of the Moslems the memory of Aurangzíb with the halo of sanctity and still inclines the pious to utter a rahimahu-lláhu (May God have mercy on him!) when his name is mentioned, was also the beginning of the breaking up of the empire.
Having elsewhere given numerous extracts from Badáoní to shew that Akbar's courtiers ascribed his apostacy from Islám to Faizí and Abul Fazl, I need not quote other works, and will merely allude to a couplet by 'Urfí† from one of his Odes in which he praises the Prophet—
The commentators unanimously explain this passage as an allusion to the brothers Faizí and Abul Fazl. I may also cite the Táríkh of Abul Fazl's death, which the Khán i A'zam Mírzá Kokah is said to have made—
But Abul Fazl appeared to him in a dream and said, “The date of
my death lies in the words
Abul Fazl's works are the following—
(1) The Akbarnámah with the A´ín i Akbarí, its third volume. The A´ín i Akbarí was completed in the 42nd year of Akbar's reign; only a slight addition to it was made in the 43rd year on account of the conquest of Barár (1596-97, A. D.). The contents of the Akbarnámah have been detailed in the Preface. The second volume contains an account of the first forty-six years of Akbar's reign.† There exists a continuation up to the end of Akbar's reign by 'Ináyatullah Muhibb 'Alí. Thus at least the continuator is called in two MSS. that I have seen. Elphinstone says that the name of the continuator is Muhammad Salia, which seems to be a corruption of Muhammad Sálih.
(2) The Maktúbát i 'Allámí, also called Inshái Abul Fazl. This book contains letters written by Abul Fazl to kings and chiefs. Among them are the interesting letters written to the Portuguese priests, and to 'Abdullah of Bukhárá, in reply to his question whether Akbar had renounced Islám. Besides, there are prefaces and reviews, a valuable essay on the progress of the art of writing, portions of which are given in the A´ín, &c. The collection was made after Abul Fazl's death by 'Abduççamad, son of Afzal Muhammad, who says that he was a son of Abul Fazl's sister and also his son-in-law. The book, as above remarked, is frequently read in Madrasahs, and there exist many lithographed editions. In all of them, the contents constitute three books; but Amír Haidar Husainí of Bilgrám says in the preface to his ‘Sawánih i Akbarí’* that he had a collection of four books, remarking at the same time that MSS. of the fourth are very rare. It looks, indeed, as if Amír Haidar's copy was unique.
(3) The Ayár Dánish,† which is mentioned on p. 106.
Besides, I have seen in different books that Abul Fazl also wrote a Risálah i Munáját, or ‘Treatise on Prayers’; a Jámi'ullughát, a lexicographical work; and a ‘Kashkol’. The last word means a ‘beggar's cup,’ or rather the small basket or bowl in which beggars in the East collect rice, dates, &c., given as alms, and hence the term is often applied to collections of anecdotes or short stories. But I have seen no copies of these works. It was also mentioned above that Abul Fazl presented, on his introduction at Court, two commentaries, of which no MSS. seem to exist at present. Nor need I again refer to the part which he took in the translations from Sanskrit and the compilation of the Táríkh i Alfí.
The ‘Durar ul Manshúr’, a modern Tazkirah by Muhammad 'Askarí Husainí of Bilgrám, selects the following inscription written by 'Abul Fazl for a temple in Kashmír‡ as a specimen both of Abul Fazl's writing and of his religious belief. It is certainly very characteristic, and is easily recognized as Abul Fazl's composition.
I have a few notes on Abul Fazl's family, which may form the conclusion of this biographical notice. The A´ín gives the following list of Shaikh Mubárak's sons.
1. Shaikh Abul Faiz, better known under his poetical name of Faizí. He was born in A. H. 954 (A. D. 1547), and seems to have died childless.
2. Shaikh Abul Fazl, born 14th January, 1551, murdered 12th August, 1602.
3. Shaikh Abul Barakát, born 17th Shawwál, 960 (1552). “Though he has not reached a high degree of learning, he knows much, is a practical man, and well versed in fencing. He is good-natured and fond of dervishes.” He served under Abul Fazl in Khándesh.
4. Shaikh Abul Khair, born 22nd Jumáda I, 967. “He is a well informed young man, of a regulated mind.” He, too, must have entered the Imperial service; for he is mentioned in the Akbarnámah as having been sent by the emperor to the Dak'hin to fetch Prince Dányál.
5. Shaikh Abul Makárim, born 23rd Shawwál, 976. He was wild at first, but guided by his father he learned a good deal. He also studied under Sháh Abul Fath Shírází.
The above five sons were all by the same mother, who, as remarked above, died in 998.
6. Shaikh Abú Turáb, born 23rd Zil Hijjah, 988. “Though his mother is another one, he is admitted at Court, and is engaged in self-improvement.”
Besides the above, Abul Fazl mentions two posthumous sons by qummá, or concubines, viz. Shaikh Abul Hámid, born 3rd Rabí' II, 1002, and Shaikh Abú Ráshid, born 1st Jumáda I, 1002. “They resemble their father.”
Of Mubárak's daughters, I find four mentioned in the histories—
1. One married to Khudáwand Khán Dak'hiní; vide p. 442. Badáoní calls her husband a Ráfizí, i. e., a Shí'ah, and says he died in Karí in Gujarát.
2. One married to Husámuddín; vide p. 441.
3. One married to a son of Rájah 'Alí Khán of Khándesh. Their son Safdar Khán* was made, in the 45th year of Akbar's reign, a commander of one thousand.
4. Láḍlí Begum, married to Islám Khán; vide p. 493, note 1. Mr. T. W. Beale of A´grah, the learned author of the Miftáh uttawáríkh, informs me that Láḍlí Begum died in 1017, or five years before the death of her husband. Her mausoleum, called the ‘Rauzah i Láḍlí Begum, ’ is about two miles to the east of Akbar's mausoleum at Sikandrah, near A´grah. The interior was built of marble, and the whole was surrounded by a wall of red Fathpúr sandstone. It was completed in 1004. In 1843, Mr. Beale saw in the Rauzah several tombs without inscriptions, and a few years ago the place was sold by government to a wealthy Hindú. The new owner dug up the marble stones, sold them, and destroyed the tombs, so that of the old Rauzah nothing exists now-a-days but the surrounding wall. Mr. Beale thinks that the bodies of Shaikh Mubárak, Faizí, and Abul Fazl were likewise buried there, because over the entrance the following inscription in Ṭughrá characters may still be seen—
Thus it will appear that the Rauzah was built in the year in which Faizí died. Shaikh Mubárak, as was mentioned above, died in 1593 A. D. It seems, however, as if Shaikh Mubárak and Faizí had been buried at a place opposite to A´grah, on the left bank of the Jamuná, where he first settled in 1551; for Abul Fazl says in his description of A´grah in the A´ín* —“On the other side of the river is the Chár Bágh Villa, built by Firdaus Makání [the emperor Bábar]. There the author was born, and there are the resting places of his father and his elder brother. Shaikh 'Aláuddín Majzúb and Mír Rafí'uddín Safawí and other worthies are also buried there.” We have no information regarding a removal of the bodies to the other side of the Jamuná, though Abul Fazl's inscription no doubt shews that such a removal was intended. It is a pity, however, that the Rauzah was sold and destroyed.
Abul Fazl's son is the wellknown
He was born on the 12th Sha'bán, 979, and received from his grandfather the Sunní name of 'Abdurrahmán. In the 35th year of Akbar's reign, when twenty years of age, Akbar married him to the daughter of Sa'ádat Yár Kokah's brother. By her 'Abdurrahmán had a son, to whom Akbar gave the name of Bishotan.†
When Abul Fazl was in command of the army in the Dak'hin, 'Abdurrahmán was, what the Persians call, the tír i rúi tarkash i ú, ‘the arrow at hand at the top of the quiver’, ever ready to perform duties from which others shrank, and wisely and courageously settling matters of importance. He especially distinguished himself in Talingánah. When Malik 'Ambar, in the 46th year, had caught 'Alí Mardán Bahádur (p. 496) and had taken possession of the country, Abul Fazl despatched 'Abdurrahmán and Sher Khwájah (p. 459) to oppose the enemy. They crossed the Godáwarí near Nánder, and defeated 'Amber at the Mánjará.
Jahángír did not transfer to the son the hatred which he had felt for the father, made him a commander of two thousand horse, gave him the title of Afzal Khán, and appointed him, in the third year of his reign, governor of Bihár, vice Islám Khán (the husband of Abul Fazl's sister), who was sent to Bengal. 'Abdurrahmán also received Gorák'hpúr as jágír. As governor of Bihár, he had his head-quarters at Patna. Once during his absence from Patna, a dervish of the name of Quṭbuddín appeared in the district of Bhojpúr, which belonged to the then very troublesome Ujjainiyah Rájahs (p. 513, note), and gave out that he was Prince Khusrau, whom his unsuccessful rebellion and imprisonment by Jahángír had made the favorite of the people. Collecting a large number of men, he marched on Patna, occupied the fort which Shaikh Banárasí and Ghiyás, 'Abdurrahmán's officers, cowardly gave up, and plundered Afzal Khán's property and the Imperial treasury. 'Abdurrahmán returned from Gorák'hpúr as soon as he heard of the rebellion. The pretender fortified Patna, and drew up his army at the Pun Pun River. 'Abdurrahmán charged at once, and after a short fight dispersed the enemy. Quṭb now retreated to the fort, followed by 'Abdurrahmán, who succeeded in capturing him. He executed the man at once, and sent his head to Court, together with the two cowardly officers. Jahángír, who was always minute in his punishments, had their heads shaved and women's veils put over the faces; they were then tied to donkeys, with their heads to the tails, and paraded through the towns (tashhír) as a warning to others.
Not long after this affair, 'Abdurrahmán took ill, and went to Court, where he was well received. He lingered for a time, and died of an abscess, in the 8th year of Jahángír's reign (A. H. 1022), or eleven years after his father's murder.
He was born on the 3rd Zí Qa'dah, 999. In the 14th year of Jahángír's reign, he was a commander of seven hundred, with three hundred horse. In the 10th year of Sháh Jahán's reign, he is mentioned as a commander of five hundred horse, which rank he held when he died in the 15th year of the same reign.
IT is proper for a man of true knowledge to praise God not only in words, but also in deeds, and to endeavour to obtain everlasting happiness, by putting the window of his heart opposite the slit of his pen, and describing some of the wondrous works of the Creator. Perhaps the lustre of royalty may shine upon him, and its light enable him to gather a few drops from the ocean, and a few atoms from the endless field of God's works. He will thus obtain everlasting felicity, and render fertile the dreary expanse of words and deeds.
I, Abulfazl, son of Mubárik, return thanksgiving to God by singing the praises of royalty, and by stringing its kingly pearls upon the thread of description; but it is not my intention to make mankind, for the first time, acquainted with the glorious deeds and excellent virtues of that remarkable man,1 who clothes our wonderful world in new colours, and is an ornament to God's noble creation. It would be absurd on my part to speak about that which is known; I should make myself the butt of the learned. It is only my personal knowledge of him, a priceless jewel, which I send to the market place of the world, and my heart feels proud of being engaged in such an undertaking. But it could not have been from self-laudation that I have taken upon myself to carry out so great a task—a work which even heavenly beings would find beset with difficulties; for such a motive would expose my inability and shortsightedness. My sole object in writing this work was, first, to impart to all that take an interest in this auspicious century, a knowledge of the wisdom, magnanimity, and energy of him who understands the minutest indications of all things, created and divine, striding as he does over the field of knowledge; and, secondly, to leave future generations a noble legacy. The payment of a debt of gratitude is an ornament of life, and a provision for man's last journey. There may be some in this world of ambitious strife, where natures are so different, desires so numerous, equity so rare, and guidance so scarce, who, by making use of this source of wisdom, will escape from the perplexities of the endless chaos of knowledge and deeds. It is with this aim that I describe some of the regulations of the great king, thus leaving for far and near, a standard work of wisdom. In doing so, I have of course, to speak of the exalted position of a king, and also to describe the condition of those who are assistants in this great office.
No dignity is higher in the eyes of God than royalty; and those who are wise, drink from its auspicious fountain. A sufficient proof of this, for those who require one, is the fact that royalty is a remedy for the spirit of rebellion, and the reason why subjects obey. Even the meaning of the word Pádisháh shews this; for pád signifies stability and possession, and sháh means origin, lord. A king is therefore the origin of stability and possession. If royalty did not exist, the storm of strife would never subside, nor selfish ambition disappear. Mankind, being under the burden of lawlessness and lust, would sink into the pit of destruction; the world, this great market place, would lose its prosperity, and the whole earth become a barren waste. But by the light of imperial justice, some follow with cheerfulness the road of obedience, whilst others abstain from violence through fear of punishment; and out of necessity make choice of the path of rectitude. Sháh is also a name given to one who surpasses his fellows, as you may see from words like sháh-suwár, sháh-ráh; it is also a term applied to a bridegroom—the world, as the bride, betrothes herself to the king, and becomes his worshipper.
Silly and shortsighted men cannot distinguish a true king from a selfish ruler. Nor is this remarkable, as both have in common a large treasury, a numerous army, clever servants, obedient subjects, an abundance of wise men, a multitude of skilful workmen, and a superfluity of means of enjoyment. But men of deeper insight remark a difference. In the case of the former, the things just now enumerated, are lasting; but in that of the latter, of short duration. The former does not attach himself to these things, as his object is to remove oppression, and provide for every thing which is good. Security, health, chastity, justice, polite manners, faithfulness, truth, an increase of sincerity, &c., are the result. The latter is kept in bonds by the external forms of royal power, by vanity, the slavishness of men, and the desire of enjoyment; hence everywhere there is insecurity, unsettledness, strife, oppression, faithlessness, robbery.
Royalty is a light emanating from God, and a ray from the sun, the illuminator of the universe,1 the argument of the book of perfection, the receptacle of all virtues. Modern language calls this light farr i ízidí (the divine light), and the tongue of antiquity called it kiyán khwarah (the sublime halo). It is communicated by God to kings without the intermediate assistance of any one, and men, in the presence of it, bend the forehead of praise towards the ground of submission. Again, many excellent qualities flow from the possession of this light. 1. A paternal love towards the subjects. Thousands find rest in the love of the king; and sectarian differences do not raise the dust of strife. In his wisdom, the king will understand the spirit of the age, and shape his plans accordingly. 2. A large heart. The sight of anything disagreeable does not unsettle him; nor is want of discrimination for him a source of disappointment. His courage steps in. His divine firmness gives him the power of requital, nor does the high position of an offender interfere with it. The wishes of great and small are attended to, and their claims meet with no delay at his hands. 3. A daily increasing trust in God. When he performs an action, he considers God as the real doer of it, (and himself as the medium,) so that a conflict of motives can produce no disturbance. 4. Prayer and devotion. The success of his plans will not lead him to neglect; nor will adversity cause him to forget God, and madly trust in man. He puts the reins of desire into the hands of reason; in the wide field of his desires he does not permit himself to be trodden down by restlessness, nor will he waste his precious time in seeking after that which is improper. He makes wrath, the tyrant, pay homage to wisdom, so that blind rage may not get the upper hand, and inconsiderateness overstep the proper limits. He sits on the eminence of propriety, so that those who have gone astray have a way left to return, without exposing their bad deeds to the public gaze. When he sits in judgment, the petitioner seems to be the judge, and he himself, on account of his mildness, the suitor for justice. He does not permit petitioners to be delayed on the path of hope; he endeavours to promote the happiness of the creatures in obedience to the will of the Creator, and never seeks to please the people in contradiction to reason. He is for ever searching after those who speak the truth, and is not displeased with words that seem bitter, but are in reality sweet. He considers the nature of the words and the rank of the speaker. He is not content with not committing violence, but he must see that no injustice is done within his realm.
He is continually attentive to the health of the body politic, and applies remedies to the several diseases thereof. And in the same manner that the equilibrium of the animal constitution depends upon an equal mixture of the elements,1 so also does the political constitution become well tempered by a proper division of ranks; and by means of the warmth of the ray of unanimity and concord, a multitude of people become fused into one body.
The people of the world may be divided into four classes.2 — 1. Warriors, who in the political body have the nature of fire. Their flames, directed by understanding, consume the straw and rubbish of rebellion and strife, but kindle also the lamp of rest in this world of disturbances. 2. Artificers and merchants, who hold the place of air. From their labours and travels, God's gifts become universal, and the breeze of contentment nourishes the rose-tree of life. 3. The learned, such as the philosopher, the physician, the arithmetician, the geometrician, the astronomer, who resemble water. From their pen and their wisdom, a river rises in the drought of the world, and the garden of the creation receives from their irrigating powers a peculiar freshness. 4. Husbandmen and labourers, who may be compared to earth. By their exertions, the staple of life is brought to perfection, and strength and happiness flow from their work.
It is therefore obligatory for a king to put each of these in its proper place, and by uniting personal ability with a due respect for others, to cause the world to flourish.
And as the grand political body maintains its equilibrium by the above four ranks of men, so does royalty receive its final tint from a similar fourfold division.
1. The nobles of the state, who in reliance on their position lead everything to a happy issue. Illuminating the battle-field with the halo of devotedness, they make no account of their lives. These fortunate courtiers resemble fire, being ardent in devotion, and consuming in dealing with foes. At the head of this class is the Vakíl, who from his having attained by his wisdom the four degrees of perfection,1 is the emperor's lieutenant in all matters connected with the realm and the household. He graces the Council by his wisdom, and settles with penetration the great affairs of the realm. Promotion and degradation, appointment and dismissal, depend on his insight. It requires therefore an experienced man, who possesses wisdom, nobility of mind, affability, firmness, magnanimity, a man able to be at peace with any one, who is frank, single-minded towards relations and strangers, impartial to friends and enemies, who weighs his words, is skilful in business, well-bred, esteemed, known to be trustworthy, sharp and farsighted, acquainted with the ceremonies of the court, cognizant of the State secrets, prompt in transacting business, unaffected by the multiplicity of his duties. He should consider it his duty to promote the wishes of others, and base his actions on a due regard to the different ranks of men, treating even his inferiors with respect, from the desire of attaching to himself the hearts of all. He takes care not to commit improprieties in conversation, and guards himself from bad actions. Although the financial offices are not under his immediate superintendence, yet he receives the returns from the heads of all financial offices, and wisely keeps abstracts of their returns.
The Mír-mál,1 the Keeper of the seal, the Mír-bakhshí,2 the Bárbégí,3 the Qurbégí,4 the Mír-tózak,5 the Mír-bahrí,6 the Mír-barr,7 the Mír-Manzil,8 the Khwánsálár,9 the Munshí,10 the Qush-bégí,11 the Akhtahbégí12, belong to this class. Every one of them ought to be sufficiently acquainted with the work of the others.
2. The assistants of victory, the collectors and those entrusted with income and expenditure, who in the administration resemble wind, at times a heart-rejoicing breeze, at other times a hot, pestilential blast. The head of this division is the Vizier, also called Díwán. He is the lieutenant of the Emperor in financial matters, superintends the imperial treasuries, and checks all accounts. He is the banker of the cash of the revenue, the cultivator of the wilderness of the world. He must be a member of the Divine Faith, a skilful arithmetician, free from avarice, circumspect, warm-hearted, abstinent, active in business, pleasing in his style, clear in his writings, truthful, a man of integrity, condescending, zealous in his work. He is in reality a book-keeper. He explains all matters which appear too intricate for the Mustaufí;13 and whatever is beyond his own ability he refers to the Vakíl. The Mustaufí, the Sáhib i Taujíh,14 the Awárjah Nawís,15 the Mír-Sámán,16 the Názir i Buyútát,17 the Díwán i Buyútát,18 the Mushrif19 of the Treasury, the Wáqi'ah Nawís,1 the 'A´mil2 of the domains, are under his orders, and act by the force of his wisdom.
Some princes consider the office of the Vizier as a part of that of the Vakíl, and are anxious to find in their realm a man who possesses the excellent qualities of these two pillars of the edifice of the State. But as they are not always able to find a person qualified for the office of a Vakíl, they make choice of a man who has some of his qualities, and appoint him as Mushrif i Díwán, which office is higher in rank than that of the Díwán, but lower than that of the Vakíl.
3. The companions of the king, who are the ornaments of the court by the light of their wisdom, the ray of their sharpsightedness, their knowledge of the times, their intimate acquaintance with human nature, their frankness and polite address. Through the excellence of their religious faith and good will, thousands open in the market place of the world the stores of virtue. Wisely fettering ambition on the battle-field of the world, they extinguish the sparks of wrath by the rain of their wisdom; whence they resemble water in the affairs of the body political. When they are of a mild temperament, they remove the dust of affliction from the hearts of men, and bestow freshness upon the meadow of the nation; but if they depart from moderation, they inundate the world with a deluge of calamity, so that numbers are driven by the flood of misfortunes into the current of utter extinction.
At the head of this class stands the philosopher, who with the assistance of his wisdom and example purifies the morals of the nation, and girds himself with the noble aim of putting the welfare of mankind upon a sound basis. The Sadr,3 the Mír-'Adl, the Qází,4 the physician, the astronomer, the poet, the soothsayer, belong to this class.
4. The servants who at court perform the duties about the king. They occupy in the system of the State the position of earth. As such, they lie on the high road of submission, and in dust before the majesty of the king. If free from chaff and dross, they are like an elixir for the body; otherwise they are dust and dirt upon the face of success. The table servant, the armour bearer, the servants in charge of the sharbat and the water, the servant in charge of the mattresses and the wardrobe, belong to this class.
If the king be waited on by servants to whom good fortune has given excellent qualities, there arises sometimes a harmony, which is like a nosegay from the flower-bed of auspiciousness.
Just as the welfare of the whole world depends upon the successful working of the above mentioned four classes, as settled by kings, so does the body politic depend upon the proper formation of the latter four divisions.
The sages of antiquity mention the following four persons as the chief supports of the State—1. An upright collector; who protects the husbandman, watches over the subjects, develops the country, and improves the revenues. 2. A conscientious commander of the army, active and strict. 3. A chief justice, free from avarice and selfishness, who sits on the eminence of circumspection and insight, and obtains his ends by putting various questions, without exclusively relying on witnesses and oaths. 4. An intelligencer, who transmits the events of the time without addition or diminution, always keeping to the thread of truth and penetration.
It is moreover incumbent on a just king to make himself acquainted with the characters of the following five kinds1 of men of whom the world is composed, and act accordingly. 1. The most commendable person is the sagacious man who prudently does that which is proper and absolutely necessary. The fountain of his virtues does not only run along his channel, but renders verdant the fields of other men. Such a one is the fittest person for a king to consult in State affairs. After him comes, secondly, the man of good intentions. The river of his virtues does not flow over its bed, and does not therefore become an irrigating source for others. Although it may be proper to shew him kindness and respect, yet he does not merit so high a degree of confidence. Inferior to him is, thirdly, the simple man, who does not wear the badge of excellence upon the sleeve of his action, yet keeps the hem of his garment free from the dust of wicked deeds. He does not deserve any distinction; but ought to be allowed to live at his ease. Worse than he is, fourthly, the inconsiderate man, who fills his house with furniture for his own mischief, without, however, doing harm to others. Him the king should keep in the hot place of disappointment, and bring him into the road of virtue by good advice and severe reprehension. The last of all is the vicious man, whose black deeds alarm others and throw, on account of their viciousness, a whole world into grief. If the remedies employed in the case of men of the preceding class, do not amend him, the king should consider him as a leper, and confine him separate from mankind; and provided this harsh treatment does not awaken him from his sleep of error, he should feel the torture of grief, and be banished from his dwelling; and if this remedy produce no effect either, he should be driven out of the kingdom, to wander in the wilderness of disappointment; and if even this should not improve his vicious nature, he should be deprived of the instruments of his wickedness, and lose his sight, or his hand, or his foot. But the king ought not to go so far as to cut the thread of his existence; for enquiring sages consider the human form as an edifice made by God, and do not permit its destruction.
It is therefore necessary for just kings, to make themselves first acquainted with the rank and character of men, by the light of insight and penetration, and then to regulate business accordingly. And hence it is that the sages of ancient times have said that princes who wear the jewel of wisdom, do not appoint every low man to their service; that they do not consider every one who has been appointed, to be deserving of daily admittance; that those who are thus favoured, are not therefore deemed worthy to sit with them on the carpet of intercourse; that those who are worthy of this station, are not necessarily admitted to the pavilion of familiar address; that those who have this privilege, are not therefore allowed to sit in the august assembly; that those upon whom this ray of good fortune falls, are not therefore let into their secrets; and that those who enjoy the happiness of this station, are not therefore fit for admission into the Cabinet Council.
Praise be to God, the Giver of every good gift! The exalted monarch of our time is so endowed with these laudable dispositions, that it is no exaggeration to call him their exordium. From the light of his wisdom, he discerns the worth of men, and kindles the lamp of their energy; whilst ever clear to himself, and without an effort, he adorns his wisdom with the beauty of practice. Who can measure, by the rules of speech, his power as a spiritual leader, and his works in the wide field of holiness;1 and even if it were possible to give a description of it, who would be able to hear and comprehend it? The best thing I can do is to abstain from such an attempt, and to confine myself to the description of such of his wonderful doings as illustrate the worldly side of his nature, and his greatness as a king. I shall speak—
First, of his regulations concerning the household; secondly, of the regulations concerning the army; thirdly, of the regulations concerning the empire, as these three contain the whole duty of a king. In doing so, I shall leave practical enquirers a present, which may seem difficult to understand, but which is easy; or rather, which may seem easy, but is in reality difficult.
Experienced men who are acquainted with the art of governing, and versed in the history of the past, cannot comprehend, how monarchs have hitherto governed without these wise regulations, and how the garden of royalty could have been fresh and verdant, without being irrigated by this fountain of wisdom.
This sublime volume then, is arranged under three heads: it enables me, in some measure, to express my feelings of gratitude for favours received.
Remark by the Author. As I had sometimes to use Hindí words, I have carefully described the consonants and vowels. Enquirers will therefore have no difficulty in reading; nor will any confusion arise from mistakes in copying. Letters like alif, lám, and a few more, are sufficiently clear from their names. Some letters I have distinguished as manqúṭah, and letters similar in form, without such a limitation. Letters which are purely Persian, have been distinguished as such; thus the p in padíd, the ché in chaman, the gáf in nigár, the zh in muzhdah. Sometimes I have added to the names of these letters, the phrase having three points. Letters peculiar to the Hindí language I have distinguished as Hindí. The letter yá, as in rúy, I have called tahtání, and the té, as in dast, fauqání. The b in adab, I have merely called bé. Similarly, the letters nún, wáw, yá, and hé, when clearly sounded, have been merely described as nún, wáw, &c. The nasal nún I have called nún i khafí, or nún i pinhán. The final and silent h, as in farkhundah, I have called maktúb, i. e., written, but not pronounced. The i and u, when modified to é or ó, I have called majhúl. As consonants followed by an alif have the vowel a, it was not necessary to specify their vowels.
14th January, 1551.
↩Died at Samarqand, 29th Rabí' I, 895, or 20th February, 1490.
↩Vide p. 507, note. Ahmad of Khaṭṭú is buried at Sark'hich near Ahmadábád. He died in 849 (A. D. 1445).
↩Later called Hasht Bihisht, or the Núrafshán Gardens. It is now called the Rám Bágh.
↩Born A.H. 954, or A.D. 1547. Vide p. 490.
↩Çáhib i zamán. He is the 12th Imám. The first eleven succeeded the Prophet. ‘Mahdí’ (which in India is wrongly pronounced Mehṉdí, ‘myrtle’) means ‘guided’; Hádí means ‘a guide’.
↩By Sayyid 'Izzat 'Alí, son of Sayyid Pír Alí of Rasúlpúr. Lithographed at Lak'hnau, 1271, A. H., 144 pp., royal 8vo.
↩Badáoní, in his ‘Najáturrashíd,’ gives a few particulars regarding the same movement in Badakhshán, from where the idea seems to have spread over Persia and India. In Badakhshán, it was commenced by Sayyid Muhammad Núrbakhsh, a pupil of Abú Is-háq Khatlání, who gained numerous adherents and created such disturbances, that troops were sent against him. He was defeated and fled to 'Iráq, in the mountainous districts of which country he is said to have gained thirty thousand followers. He had often to fight with the governors, but defied them all. Badáoní has preserved a copy of the proclamation which Núrbakhsh sent unto all the saints. One of his disciples was Shaikh Muhammad Láhijí, the commentator of the ‘Gulshan i Ráz.’
↩‘Makhdúm ul-Mulk’ was the title of 'Abdullah of Sulṭánpúr, regarding whom the reader may consult the index for references. The following biographical notice from the Khazínatul Açfiá (Láhor, pp. 443, 464) shews the opinion of good Sunnís regarding Makhdúm.
‘Máuláná 'Abdullah Ançárí of Sulṭánpúr belongs to the most distinguished
learned men and saints of India. He was a Chishtí in his religious opinions. From
the time of Sher Sháh till the reign of Akbar, he had the title of ‘Makhdúm-ul-Mulk’
(prop. served by the empire). He was learned in the law and austere in practice.
He zealously persecuted heretics. When Akbar commenced his religious innovations
and converted people to his ‘Divine Faith’ and sunworship, ordering them to substitute
for the creed the words ‘There is no God but Allah, and Akbar is the viceregent
of God,’ Mauláná 'Abdullah opposed the emperor. Driven at last from Court, he
retired to a mosque; but Akbar said that the mosque belonged to his realm, and he
should go to another country. Makhdúm therefore went to Makkah. On his
return to India, Akbar had him poisoned. He has written several works, as the
‘His son Hájí 'Abdul Karím went after the death of his father to Láhor, where he became a religious guide. He died in 1045, and lies buried at Láhor, near the Zíb-unnisá Villa, at Mauza' Koṭ. His sons were Shaikh Yahyá, Iláh Núr, 'Abdul Haq and A'lá Huzúr. Shaikh Yahyá, like his father, wrought miracles.’
In this account the date is wrong; for Makhdúm ul-Mulk died in 990, and as Badáoní, Makhdúm's supporter, says nothing of poison (Bad. II., 311), the statement of the Khazínat ul Açfiá may be rejected. Badáoní also says that Makhdúm's sons were worthless men.
The titles of Makhdúm ul-Mulk's works are not correctly given either; vide p. 544.
↩Badáoní visited him in Sarhind, and it was from 'Abdullah that he heard of Mír Sayyid Muhammad's repentance before death. Among other things, 'Abdullah also told him that after the Mír's death in Faráh, a well-known man of that town seized on lands belonging to Balochís and proclaimed himself Christ; and he added that he had known no less than thirteen men of respectable parentage, who had likewise claimed to be Christ.
↩The circumstances connected with 'Aláí's death resemble the end of Sídí Múlah during the reign of Jalál-uddín Fírúz Sháh.
The place in the Panjáb, where the scene took place, is called Ban. (Bad. I., 408.)
The fact that Badáoní spent his youth at Basáwar near Biánah, i.e., in the very centre of the Mahdawí movement, accounts perhaps for his adherence, throughout his life, to Mahdawí principles.
↩Abul Faiz wrote under the nom-de-plume of Faizí.
↩20th Rabí' I, 975, or 24th September, 1567. The ode which Faizí presented will be found in the Akbarnámah.
↩Page 540, note.
↩Name of the 256th verse of the second chapter of the Qorán.
↩The details of Abul Fazl's introduction at Court given in Badáoní differ slightly from Abul Fazl's own account.
↩Badáoní ascribes to Makhdúm ul-Mulk an almost prophetic insight into Abul Fazl's character; for the first time he saw Abul Fazl, he said to his disciples, “What religious mischief is there of which that man is not capable?” Bad. III, 72.
↩Vide pp. 170 ff.
↩Pages 178, 179.
↩Vide p. 186.
↩Akbarnámah, III, 463.
↩For his works, vide p. 548.
↩Born A. H. 960; died at Láhor, 1024. Khazínat ul-Açfiá, p. 139.
↩Vide pp. 104, 105.
↩Page 452. We hear the last of the Mahdawí movement in 1628, at the accession of Sháhjahán. Akbar was dead and had not restored the Millennium; during Jahángír's reign, especially in the beginning, the court was indifferent to religion, and the king retained the ceremony of sijdah, or prostration, which Muhammadans believe to be due to God alone. But Sháhjahán, on his accession, restored many Muhammadan rites that had fallen in abeyance at court; and as he was born in 1000 A. H., he was now pointed to as the real restorer. Since that time the movement has found no disciples.
↩A writer on ‘Tajwíd,’ ‘the art of reading the Qorán correctly’.
↩Badáoní says in his ‘Naját urrashíd’ that Jaláluddín Suyúṭí, in his time the most universal scholar of all Arabia, pointed likewise to himself as the renovator of the 10th century.
↩Husain, in whose remembrance the Muharram lamentations are chanted, was murdered by Yazíd; hence the latter is generally called Yazíd i mal'ún, ‘Yazíd, the accursed.’ Badáoní here calls Abul Fazl Yazíd. Poor Badáoní had only the thousand bíg'habs which Akbar had given him rent-free, but his school follow, Yazíd Abul Fazl, was a commander of two thousand and the friend of the emperor.
↩Badáoní, II, 406.
↩Page 549.
↩Page 335.
↩Page 312.
↩The southern Púrná is meant. The northern Púrná flows into the Taptí in Khándesh; whilst the southern Púrná, with the Dúdná, flows into the Godáwarí. Prince Murád had gone from I´lichpúr to Narnálah, and from there to Sháhpúr, which he had built about eight miles south of Bálápúr. It is now in ruins.
↩“Akbar had no sooner crossed the Nerebada [Narbadá], when Radzia Bador-xa [Rájah Bahádur Sháh], who had possession of the fortress of Hasser [A´sír], fortified the same against the king, and collected provisions from the neighbourhood. The king, thinking it dangerous to leave this fortress in his rear, considered how it might be captured. This fortress has three castles, of which the first is called Cho-Tzanin, the second Commerghar: and the third is placed on the very summit of the hill, so that it is a conspicuous object at the distance of six coss. The king with no delay surrounded it on all sides; and so energetically pressed the siege night and day, that at the end of six months it was on the point of being captured. Bador-xa however perceiving his danger, having obtained a pledge that his life and property should be safe, came as suppliant to the king and surrendered himself****. Whilst the king was at this place, Abdul Fazel [Abul Fazl] came to him, and so worked upon his mind, that he fully determined to set out for the war in the Deccan.” From Prof, Lethbridge's ‘Fragment of Indian History,’ translated from De Laët's ‘India Vera,’ and published in the Calcutta Review for 1873.
De Laët is wrong in a few minor details. I cannot identify the name Cho-Tzanin. ‘Commerghar’ is the Persian ‘Kamargáh’, ‘the middle of a mountain.’ The names of Fort Chúnah Málai and of Mount Korhiah are doubtful, the MSS. having Khwájah Málai and Korthah, Kortah, Koḍhiah, and similar variations.
Vide also Gazetteer, Central Provinces, p. 8.
↩Among the plunder taken at Ahmadnagar was a splendid library. Faizí's library, having on his death lapsed to the state, had been incorporated with the Imperial Library.
↩Vide p. 488.
↩From Prof. E. Lethbridge's ‘Fragment of Indian History’, Calcutta Review, 1873.
The place near which Abul Fazl was killed, is called in the MSS.
Pages 469 and 458.
↩I may remark here that Abul Fazl never accepted a title.
↩This is also the opinion of the author of the Haft Iqlím (vide p. 508).
↩Let the reader consult Gladwin's rendering of Abul Fazl's introduction to the fourth book of the A´ín. Gladwin's A´ín, II, pp. 285 to 291. The passage is anti-Islamitic.
↩For 'Urfí vide p. 569. The metre of the couplet is Long Ramal.
↩ The word
The 46th year lasted from the 15th Ramazán, 1009, to 26th Ramazán, 1010, i. e. to about five months before Abul Fazl's death.
↩Regarding this valuable work, vide p. 316, note.
↩As the word is pronounced in India, instead of ‘Iyár i Dánish,’ ‘the test of wisdom.’ The author of the Haft Iqlím seems to allude to this work; for he says that Abul Fazl, when he saw him in 1000 A. H., was engaged in re-writing the Nawádir i Hikáyát.
↩Abul Fazl says in the fourth book of the A´ín—“The best people in Kashmír are the Brahmans. Although they have not yet freed themselves from the fetters of blind belief and adherence to custom, they yet worship God without affectation. They do not sneer at people of other religions, utter no desires, and do not run after lucre. They plant fruit trees and thus contribute to the welfare of their fellow-creatures. They abstain from meat, and live in celibacy. There are about two thousand of them in Kashmír.”
Akbar seems to have looked upon these Kashmírí Rishis as model men.
↩This line is Súfistic. The longing of the heart after God is compared to the perfume which rises from the rose petals. The perfume-seller, i. e. the Unitarian, is truly religious, and is equally removed from heresy and orthodoxy.
↩I. e. Akbar is the insán i kámil, or perfect man.
↩The Lak'hnau edition of the Akbarnámah (III, 830) calls him Sundar Khán.
↩My text edition, p. 441. Vide also p. 539; Keene's Agra Guide, p. 47, and regarding Láḍlí Begum, p. 45. ‘Láḍlí’ means in Hindústání ‘a pet.’
↩Which name was borne by the brother of Isfandiyár, who is so often mentioned in Firdausí's Sháhnámah.
↩Akbar.
↩Akbar worshipped the sun as the visible representative of God, and the immediate source of life. Regarding his form of worship, vide below.
↩Thus, according to the medical theories of the middle ages.
↩This passage resembles one in Firdausí's Sháhnámah, in the chapter entitled dar dástán i Jamshéd; vide also Vullers' Persian Dictionary, II., 756, s. kátúzí. It is also found in the Akhláq i Muhsiní, chapter XV., dar 'adl, in the Akhláq i Jalálí, and the Akhláq i Náçirí, the oldest of the three Akhláqs mentioned.
↩Akbar said that perfect devotedness consisted in the readiness of sacrificing four things,—ján (life), mál (property), dín (religion), námús (personal honour). Those who looked upon Akbar as a guide in spiritual matters (pír)—an honour which Akbar much coveted—promised to shew this devotedness, and then belonged to the dín i iláhí, or the Divine Faith, the articles of which Akbar had laid down, as may be seen below.
↩Perhaps an officer in charge of the Emperor's Private purse.
↩Paymaster of the Court.
↩An officer who presents people at Court, their petitions, &c. He is also called Mír 'Arz.
↩Bearer of the Imperial insignia.
↩Master of Ceremonies.
↩Harbour Master General and Admiral.
↩Superintendent of the Imperial Forests.
↩Quarter Master General of the Court. Akbar's court was frequently travelling.
↩Superintendent of the Imperial Kitchen.
↩Private Secretary.
↩Superintendent of the aviaries (falcons, pigeons).
↩Superintendent of the Stud.
↩Deputy Díwán.
↩The Accountant of the Army.
↩The Accountant of the daily expenditure at Court.
↩The officer in charge of the Court-furniture, stores, &c.
↩Superintendent of the Imperial workshops.
↩The Accountant of the Imperial workshops.
↩Clerk.
↩The Recorder.
↩Collector.
↩Also called Sadr i Jahán, the Chief-Justice and Administrator General of the empire.
↩The Qází hears the case: the Mír 'Adl passes the sentence.
↩The following is a free paraphrase of a passage in the Akhláq i Muhsiní, Chapter XXXII., entitled dar siyásat.
↩Akbar as the spiritual leader of the members belonging to the Divine Faith, wrought many miracles, of which some are related in the seventy-seventh A´ín of this book.
↩