from the fort of Rohtas, which is in the province of Patna and Behar, after orders had been sent to him six or seven times. He also, like Khān A‘ẓam, is one of the hypocrites and old wolves of this State. What they have done to me, and what has happened to them from me, God the knower of secrets knows; possibly no one could mention such another case (?). The aforesaid Raja produced as offerings 100 elephants, male and female, not one of which was fit to be included among my private elephants. As he was one of those who had been favoured by my father, I did not parade his offences before his face, but with royal condescension promoted him.
On this day they brought a talking jal (lark) which distinctly said “Miyān Ṭūṭī.” It was very strange and wonderful. In Turki they call this bird turghai.138
On Thursday, the 2nd Zī-l-ḥijja, corresponding with the 1st Farwardīn (19th March, 1608), the Sun, which enlightens and heats the world with its splendour, changed from the constellation of Pisces to the joyful mansion of Aries, the abode of pleasure and rejoicing. It gave the world fresh brightness, and being aided by the Spring clothed those who had been plundered by the cold season, and tyrannised over by the Autumn, with the robes of honour of the New Year and the garments of emerald green, and gave them compensation and recuperation.
“Again to Not-Being came the world's lord's order,
‘Restore what thou hast devoured.’”
The feast of the New Year was held in the village of Rankatta,139 which is five kos off (from Agra), and at the time of transit (of the sun) I seated myself on the throne with glory and gladness. The nobles and courtiers and all the servants came forward with their congratulations. In the same assembly I bestowed on Khānjahān the rank of 5,000 personal and horse. I selected Khwāja Jahān for the post of bakhshi. Dismissing Wazīr Khān from the Viziership of the province of Bengal, I sent in his place Abū-l-ḥasan Shihābkhānī; and Nūru-d-dīn Qulī became kotwal of Agra. As the glorious mausoleum of the late king Akbar was on the road, it entered my mind that if in passing by I should have the good fortune of a pilgrimage to it, it might occur to those who were shortsighted that I visited it because it was the place where my road crossed. I accordingly had determined that this time I would enter Agra, and after that would go on foot on this pilgrimage to the shrine, which is two and a half kos off, in the same way that the Ḥaẓrat (my father), on account of my birth, had gone from Agra to Ajmir. Would that I might also traverse the same on my head! When two watches of day had passed of Saturday, the 5th139a of the month, at an auspicious hour, I returned towards Agra, and scattering with two hands 5000 rupees in small coins on the way, entered the august palace which was inside the fort. On this day Rāja Bīr Singh Deo brought a white cheeta to show me. Although other sorts of creatures, both birds and beasts, have white varieties, which they call ṭūyghān,140 I had never seen a white cheeta. Its spots, which are (usually) black, were of a blue colour, and the whiteness of the body was also inclined to bluishness. Of the albino animals that I have seen there are falcons, sparrow-hawks, hawks (shikara) that they call bīgū140a in the Persian language, sparrows, crows, partridges, florican, podna140b (Sylvia olivacea), and peacocks. Many hawks in aviaries are albinos. I have also seen white flying mice (flying squirrels) and some albinos among the black antelope, which is a species found only in Hindustan. Among the chikāra (gazelle), which they call safīda in Persia, I have frequently seen albinos. At this time Ratan, son of Bhoj-hāra, who is one of the chief Rajput nobles, came to the camp and waited on me, bringing three elephants as an offering. One of these was much approved, and they valued it in the office at 15,000 rupees. It was entered among my private elephants, and I gave it the name of Ratangaj. The value of elephants of the former great Rajas of India was not more than 25,000 rupees, but they have now become very dear. I dignified Ratan with the title of Sarbuland Rāy. I promoted Mīrān Ṣadr Jahān to the rank of 5,000 personal and 1,500 horse and Mu‘aẓẓam Khān to 4,000 personal and 2,000 horse. ‘Abdu-llah Khān was promoted to 3,000 and 500 horse. Muẓaffar Khān and Bhāo Singh each obtained the rank of 2,000 personal and 1,000 horse. Abū-l-ḥasan diwan had 1,000 and 500 horse. I‘timādu-d-daulah that of 1,000 personal and 250 horse. On the 25th Rāja Sūraj Singh, the maternal uncle of my son Khurram, came and paid his respects to me. He brought with him Shyām, the cousin of the turbulent Umrā. In truth he possesses some skill and understands well how to ride elephants. Rāja Sūraj Singh had brought with him a poet who wrote verse in the Hindi tongue. He laid before me a poem in my praise to the purport that if the Sun had a son it would be always day and never would be night, because after his setting that son would sit in his place and keep the world in light. Praise and thanksgiving to God that God gave your father such a son that after his death men should not wear mourning which is like the night. The Sun had envy on this account, saying, “Would I might also have a son who, taking my place, should not allow night to approach the world, for from the light of your rising and the illumination of your justice, notwithstanding such a misfortune, the spheres are so bright that one might say ‘night had neither name nor sign.’” Few Hindi verses of such freshness of purport have ever reached my ear. As a reward for this eulogy I gave him an elephant. The Rajputs call a poet Chāran (name of a caste who are many of them poets). One of the poets of the age has turned141 these sentiments into (Persian) verse—
“If the world-illuminator had a son,
There would be no night; it would be always day;
For when his gold-crowned head was hidden
His son would display his tiara peak.
Thanks that after such a father
Such a son sits in his place.
For from the demise of that king
No one made black robes for mourning.”
On Thursday, the 8th Muḥarram, 1017141a (24th April, 1608), Jalālu-d-dīn Mas‘ūd, who held the rank of 400 personal and was not wanting in bravery, and who in several battles had done great deeds, died at about the age of 50 or 60 years of diarrhœa. He was an opium-eater, and used to eat opium after breaking it in pieces, like cheese, and it is notorious that he frequently ate opium from the hand of his own mother. When his disease became violent and there was a prospect of his death, his mother from excessive love for him ate more opium than was right out of that which she used to give her son, and two or three hours after his death she also died. I have never heard of such affection on the part of a mother for her son. It is the custom among the Hindus that after the death of their husbands women burn themselves, whether from love, or to save the honour of their fathers, or from being ashamed before their sons-in-law, but nothing like this was ever manifested on the part of mothers, Musulman or Hindu. On the 15th of the same month I presented my best horse by way of favour to Rāja Mān Singh. Shāh ‘Abbās had sent this horse with some other horses and fitting gifts by Minūchihr, one of his confidential slaves, to the late king Akbar. From being presented with this horse the Raja was so delighted that if I had given him a kingdom I do not think he would have shown such joy. At the time they brought the horse it was three or four years old. It grew up in Hindustan. The whole of the servants of the Court, Moghul and Rajput together, represented that no horse like this had ever come from Iraq to Hindustan. When my revered father gave the province of Khandesh and the Subah of the Deccan to my brother Dāniyāl, and was returning to Agra, he by way of kindness told Dāniyāl to ask of him whatever he desired. Seizing the opportunity, he asked for this horse, and he accordingly gave it to him. On Tuesday, the 20th, a report came from Islām Khān with the news of the death of Jahāngīr Qulī Khān, the governor of the Subah of Bengal, who was my special slave. On account of his natural excellence and innate merit he had been enrolled in the list of the great Amirs. I was much grieved at his death. I bestowed the rule of Bengal and the tutorship to Prince Jahāndār on my farzand143 Islām Khān, and in his place gave the government of the Subah of Behar to Afẓal Khān (son of Abū-l-faẓl). The son of Ḥakīm ‘Alī, whom I had sent on some duties to Burhanpur, came and brought with him some Karnatic jugglers who had no rivals or equals; for instance, one of them played with ten balls, each of which was equal to an orange and one to a citron, and one to a surkh,143a in such a way that notwithstanding some were small and some large he never missed one, and did so many kinds of tricks that one's wits became bewildered. At the same time a dervish from Ceylon came and brought a strange animal called a deonak143b (or devang). Its face was exactly like a large bat, and the whole shape was like that of a monkey, but it had no tail. Its movements were like those of the black tailless monkey which they call ban mānush (jungle man) in the Hindi language. Its body was like that of a young monkey two or three months old. It had been with the dervish for five years.143c It appeared that the animal would never grow larger. Its food is milk and it also eats plantains. As the creature appeared very strange, I ordered the artists to take a likeness of it in various kinds of movement. It looked very ugly.
On the same day Mīrzā Farīdūn Barlās was promoted to the rank of 1,500 personal and 1,300 horse. An order was given that Pāyanda143d Khān Moghul, as he had reached old age after exerting himself as a soldier, should receive a jagir equal to 2,000 personal. Ilf Khān was promoted to the rank of 700 personal and 500 horse. The rank of Islān Khān, my son (farzand), the governor of the Subah of Bengal, was fixed at 4,000 personal and 3,000 horse. The guardianship of the fort of Rohtas was bestowed on Kishwar Khān, son of Quṭbu-d-dīn Khān Koka. Ihtimām Khān was raised to the rank of 1,000 personal and 300 horse, and made mīr baḥr (admiral) and was appointed to the charge of the nawāra (fleet) of Bengal. On the 1st Ṣafar Shamsu-d-dīn Khān, son of Khān A‘ẓam, made an offering of ten elephants, and, receiving the rank of 2,000 personal and 1,500 horse, was selected for the title of Jahāngīr Qulī Khān, and Ẓafar Khān received the rank of 2,000 personal and 1,000 horse. As I had demanded in marriage the daughter of Jagat Singh, eldest son of Rāja Mān Singh, I on the 16th sent 80,000 rupees for the sāchaq (a marriage present) to the house of the aforesaid Raja in order to dignify him. Muqarrab Khān sent from the port of Cambay a European curtain (tapestry), the like of which in beauty no other work of the Frank painters had ever been seen. On the same day my aunt, Najību-n-nisā Begam,144 died in the 61st year of her age of the disease of consumption and hectic fever. I promoted her son, Mīrzā Wālī, to the rank of 1,000 personal and 200 horse. A man of Māwarā'a-n-nahr, of the name of Aqam Ḥājī, who for a long time had been in Turkey and was not without reasonableness and religious knowledge, and who called himself the ambassador of the Turkish Emperor, waited upon me at Agra. He had an unknown writing (? illegible letter). Looking to his circumstances and his proceedings none of the servants of the Court believed in his being an ambassador. When Tīmūr conquered Turkey, and Yildirīm Bāyazīd, the ruler of that place, fell alive into his hands, he, after levying tribute and taking one year's revenue, determined to hand back into his possession the whole of the country of Turkey. Just at that time Yildirīm Bāyazīd died, and (Tīmūr), having handed over the kingdom to his son Mūsā Chelebī, returned. From that time until now, notwithstanding such favours, no one had come on the part of the emperors, nor has any ambassador been sent: how, then, can it now be believed that this person from Māwarā'a-n-nahr should have been sent by the emperor? I could in no way understand the affair, and no one could bear witness to the accuracy of his claim: I therefore told him to go wherever he might wish. On the 4th Rabī‘u-l-awwal the daughter of Jagat Singh entered the harem, and the marriage ceremony was performed in the house of Her Highness Maryam-zamānī. Amongst the things sent with her by Rāja Mān Singh were 60 elephants.
As I had determined to conquer the Rānā, it occurred to me that I should send Mahābat Khān. I appointed 12,000 fully armed cavalry under able officers to go with him, and in addition 500 ahadis, 2,000 musketeers on foot, with artillery made up of 70 to 80 guns mounted on elephants and camels; 60 elephants were appointed to this duty. Two million rupees of treasure were ordered to be sent with this army. On the 16th of the said month Mīr Khalīlu-llah, grandson of Mīr Ni‘matu-llah Yazdī, the whole of whose circumstances and family history has already been written, died of diarrhœa. In his appearance the traces of sincerity and dervishhood were manifest. If he had lived and passed a long time in my service he would have risen to high rank. The bakhshi of Burhanpur had sent some mangoes, one of which I ordered to be weighed; it came to 52 1/2 tolas. On Wednesday, the 18th, in the house of Maryam-zamānī, the feast of the lunar weighing of my 40th year was held. I ordered the money used in weighing to be divided amongst women and needy persons. On Thursday, the 4th Rabī‘u-l-ākhir, Ṭāhir Beg, the bakhshi of the Ahadis, was given the title of Mukhliṣ Khān, and Mullā-i-Taqiyyā Shūstarī,146 who was adorned with excellencies and perfections, and was well acquainted with the science of history and genealogy, that of Mu'arrikh Khān. On the 10th of the same month, having given Barkhūrdār, the brother of ‘Abdu-llah Khān, the title of Bahādur Khān, I dignified him among his fellows. Mūnis Khān, son of Mihtar Khān, presented me with a jug of jasper (jade), which had been made in the reign of Mīrzā Ulugh Beg Gūrgān, in the honoured name of that prince. It was a very delicate rarity and of a beautiful shape. Its stone was exceedingly white and pure. Around the neck of the jar they had carved the auspicious name of the Mīrzā and the Hijra year in riqā‘146a characters. I ordered them to inscribe my name and the auspicious name of Akbar on the edge of the lip of the jar. Mihtar146b Khān was one of the ancient slaves of this State. He had the honour of serving the late king Humāyūn, and during the reign of my revered father had attained the rank of nobility. He regarded him as one of his confidential servants. On the 16th a firman was issued that the country of Sangrām,146c which had been given for a year by way of reward to my son (farzand) Islām Khān, should be handed over for the same purpose for a year to Afẓal Khān, the governor of the Subah of Behar. On this day I promoted Mahābat Khān to the rank of 3,000 personal and 2,500 horse, and Yūsuf Khān, son of Ḥusain Khān Tukriyah, obtained that of 2,000 personal and 800 horse. On the 24th I gave leave to Mahābat Khān and the Amirs and men who had been appointed to subdue the Rānā. The aforesaid Khan was honoured with a robe of honour, a horse, a special elephant, and a jewelled sword. Ẓafar Khān, having been honoured with a standard, was presented with a private robe of honour and a jewelled dagger. Shajā‘at Khān also was presented with a standard, and I gave him a robe of honour and a special elephant. Rāja Bīr Singh Deo received a robe of honour and a special horse, and Manglī Khān a horse and jewelled dagger. Narāyan Dās Kachhwāhah, ‘Alī Qulī Darman, and Hizabr Khān Tahamtan obtained leave. On Bahādur Khān and Mu‘izzu-l-mulk the bakhshi jewelled daggers were conferred, and in the same manner all the Amirs and leaders, each one according to his degree, were honoured with royal gifts. A watch of the day had passed when the Khankhanan, who had been selected for the high honour of my Ātālīq (guardian), came from Burhanpur and waited on me. Delight and happiness had so overpowered him that he did not know whether he came on his head or his feet. He threw himself bewildered at my feet. By way of favour and kindness I lifted up his head and held it in an embrace of kindliness and affection, and kissed his face. He brought me as offerings two strings of pearls and some rubies and emeralds. The value of the jewels was 300,000 rupees. Besides these he laid before me many valuable things. On the 17th Jumādā-l-awwal Wazīr Khān, the Diwan of Bengal, came and waited on me, and offered 60 elephants, male and female, and one Egyptian147 ruby. As he was one of the old servants and he performed every duty, I ordered him to remain in attendance on me. As Qāsim Khān and his elder brother, Islām Khān, could in no way keep the peace together, I had sent for the former to my own presence; and he yesterday came and waited on me. On the 22nd, Āṣaf Khān, made me an offering of a ruby of the weight of seven ṭānk, which Abū-l-qāsim, his brother, had bought in the port of Cambay for 75,000 rupees. It is of a beautiful colour and well-shaped, but to my belief is not worth more than 60,000 rupees. Great faults had been committed by Dulīp Rāy, son of Rāy Rāy Singh, but as he took refuge with my farzand Khān Jāhān his offences were pardoned, and I knowingly and purposely passed over his delinquencies. On the 24th the sons of Khānkhānān, who had followed after him, arrived and waited on me and produced as an offering the sum of 25,000 rupees. On the same day the said Khan offered 90 elephants. On Thursday, the 1st Jumādā-ṯ-ṯānī, the feast of my solar year was celebrated in the house of Maryam-zamānī. Some of the money I divided among the women, and an order was given that the balance should be distributed to the poor of the hereditary kingdoms. On the 4th of the month I ordered the Diwans to give a jagir, according to his rank, of 7,000 rupees to Khān A‘ẓam.
On this day a female antelope in milk was brought that allowed itself to be milked with ease, and gave every day four seers of milk. I had never seen or heard of anything of the kind before. The milk of the antelope, of the cow, and the buffalo in no way differs. They say it is of great use in asthma. On the 11th of the month Rāja Mān Singh asked for leave to complete the army of the Deccan to which he had been appointed, as well as to visit Amber, his native place. I gave him a male elephant of my own called Hushyār-mast, and gave him leave. On Monday, the 12th, as it was the anniversary of the death of the late king Akbar, in addition to the expenses of that entertainment, which are fixed separately, I sent 4,000 rupees more to be divided among the faqirs and dervishes who are present in the enlightened mausoleum of the venerated one. On that day I exalted ‘Abdu-llah, the son of Khān A‘ẓam, with the title of Sarfarāz Khān, and ‘Abdu-r-Raḥīm, son of Qāsim Khān, with that of Tarbiyat Khān. On Tuesday, the 13th, I sent for Khusrau's daughter, and saw a child so like her father as no one can remember to have seen. The astrologers used to say that her advent would not be auspicious to her father, but would be auspicious to me. At last it became known that they had augured rightly. They said that I should see her after three years. I saw her when she had passed this age. On the 21st of the month Khānkhānān determined to clear out the province of the Niẓāmu-l-mulk, into which, after the death of the late king Akbar, some disturbances had found their way, and stated in writing that “If I do not complete this service in the course of two years, I shall be guilty (of a fault), on the condition that in addition to the force that had been allotted to that Subah 12,000 more horse with 1,000,000 rupees should be sent with me.” I ordered that materials for the army and the treasure should be quickly prepared, and he should be despatched. On the 26th Mukhliṣ Khān, bakhshi of the ahadis, was appointed bakhshi of the Subah of the Deccan, and I bestowed his place on Ibrāhīm Ḥusain Khān, the Mīr Baḥr. On the 1st Rajab, Pīshrau Khān and Kamāl Khān, who belonged to the servants who were in constant attendance on me (rū-shinās), died. Shāh Ṭahmāsp had given Pīshrau Khān as a slave to my grandfather, and he was called Sa‘ādat. When he was promoted in the service of the late king Akbar to the daroghahship and superintendence of the farrāshkhāna (carpet department), he obtained the title of Pīshrau. He was so well acquainted with this service that one might say it was a garment they had sewn on the stature of his capacity. When he was 90 years old he was quicker than lads of 14. He had the good fortune to serve my grandfather, my father, and me. Until he breathed his last he was never for a moment without the intoxication of wine.
“Besmeared with wine Fighānī150 went to the dust.
Alas! if the angels150a smelt his fresh shroud!’
He left 1,500,000 rupees. He has one very stupid son, called Ri‘āyat. On account of his father's claims for services performed, I gave the superintendence of half the farrashkhana to him and the other half to Tukhmāq Khän. Kamāl Khān was one of the slaves sincerely devoted to my service; he is of the caste of the Kalāls of Delhi. On account of the great honesty and trustworthiness that he had shown I made him bakāwal-begī (chief of the kitchen). Few such servants are ever met with. He had two sons, to both of whom I showed great kindness, but where are there others like him? On the 2nd of the said month La‘l150b Kalāwant, who from his childhood had grown up in my father's service, who had taught him every breathing and sound that appertains to the Hindi language, died in the 65th or 70th year of his age. One of his girls (concubines) ate opium on this event and killed herself. Few women among the Musulmans have ever shown such fidelity.
In Hindustan, especially in the province of Sylhet,150c which is a dependency of Bengal, it was the custom for the people of those parts to make eunuchs of some of their sons and give them to the governor in place of revenue (māl-wājibī). This custom by degrees has been adopted in other provinces, and every year some children are thus ruined and cut off from procreation. This practice has become common. At this time I issued an order that hereafter no one should follow this abominable custom, and that the traffic in young eunuchs should be completely done away with. Islām Khān and the other governors of the Subah of Bengal received firmans that whoever should commit such acts should be capitally punished, and that they should seize eunuchs of tender years who might be in anyone's possession. No one of the former kings had obtained this success. Please Almighty God, in a short time this objectionable practice will be completely done away with, and the traffic in eunuchs being forbidden, no one shall venture on this unpleasant and unprofitable proceeding. I presented the Khānkhānān with a bay horse out of those sent me by Shāh ‘Abbās; it was the head of the stable of my private horses. He was so rejoiced over it that it would be difficult to describe. In truth a horse of this great size and beauty has hardly come to Hindustan. I also gave him the elephant Futūḥ, that is unrivalled in fighting, with twenty other elephants. As Kishan Singh, who was accompanying Mahābat Khān, performed laudable service, and was wounded in the leg by a spear in the fight with the Rānā's men, so that about twenty noblemen of his were killed and about 3,000 made captive, he was promoted to the rank of 2,000 personal and 1,000 horse. On the 14th of the same month I gave an order for Mīrzā Ghāzī to betake himself to Qandahar. A strange occurrence was that as soon as the aforesaid Mīrzā started from Bakhar for that province the news of the death of Sardār Khān, the governor of that place, came. Sardār Khān was one of the permanent and intimate attendants of my uncle Muḥammad Ḥakīm, and was known as Tukhta151 Beg. I gave half his rank (the pay of it) to his sons. On Monday, the 17th, I went on foot on my pilgrimage to the enlightened mausoleum of the late king. If it had been possible, I would have traversed this road with my eyelashes and head. My revered father, on account of my birth, had gone on foot on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Khwāja Mu‘īnu-d-dīn Sanjarī Chishtī, from Fatḥpūr to Ajmir, a distance of 120 kos: if I should traverse this road with my head and eyes, what should I have done? When I was dignified with the good fortune of making this pilgrimage, I saw the building that had been erected in the cemetery. It did not come up to my idea of what it ought to be, for that would be approved which the wayfarers of the world should point to as one the like of which was not in the inhabited world. Inasmuch as at the time of erecting the aforesaid building the affair of the ill-starred Khusrau took place, I started for Lahore, and the architects had built it after a design of their own. At last a certain expenditure was made until a large sum was expended, and work went on for three or four years. I ordered that experienced architects should again lay the foundations, in agreement with men of experience, in several places, on a settled plan. By degrees a lofty building was erected, and a very bright garden was arranged round the building of the shrine, and a large and lofty gateway with minarets of white stone was built. On the whole they told me the cost of this lofty edifice was 1,500,000 rupees, equivalent to 50,000 current tumans of Persia and 4,500,000 khanis, according to the currency of Tūrān.
On Sunday, the 23rd, I went with a band of courtiers who had not seen it to look at the reservoir in the house of Ḥakīm ‘Alī, like one that had been made at Lahore in the time of my father. The reservoir is 6 gaz by 6 gaz. At its side has been erected a well-lighted room, the entrance to which is through the water, but the water does not get into it. Ten or twelve people could meet in it. He made an offering of some of the cash and jewels that had accumulated153 in his time. After looking at the room, and the entering of a number of courtiers therein, I raised him to the rank of 2,000, and returned to the palace. On Sunday, the 14th Sha‘bān, the Khānkhānān was honoured with a jewelled sword for the waist, a robe of honour, and a special elephant, and was given leave to go to his duty in the Deccan. Rāja Sūraj Singh, who was attached to him in that service, was raised to the rank of 3,000 personal and 2,000 horse. As it was again represented to me that oppression was being committed by the brethren and attendants of Murtaẓā Khān on the ryots and people of Ahmadabad in Gujarat, and that he was unable properly to restrain his relations and people about him, I transferred the Subah from him and gave it to A‘ẓam Khān, and it was settled that the latter should attend at court, and that his eldest son Jahāngīr Qulī Khān should go to Gujarat as his deputy. The rank of Jahāngīr Qulī Khān was fixed at 3,000 personal and 2,500 horse. An order was given that in company with Mohan Dās dīwān and Mas‘ūd Beg Hamazānī bakhshī he should carry on the business of the province. Mohan Dās was promoted to the rank of 800 with 500 horse, and Mas‘ūd Beg to 300 with 150 horse. Tarbiyat Khān, one of the personal servants, was given the rank of 700 with 400 horse, and Naṣru-llah the same. Mihtar Khān, whose circumstances have been related, died at this time, and I promoted his son Mūnis Khān to the rank of 500 personal and 130 horse. On Wednesday, the 4th Zī-l-ḥijja, Khusrau had a son born to him by the daughter of the Khān A‘ẓam, and I gave him the name of Buland-akhtar. On the 6th of the same month Muqarrab Khān sent a picture (with a report) that the belief of the Franks was this, that the picture was that of Tīmūr. At the time when Yildirīm Bāyazīd was taken prisoner by his victorious army, a Nazarene, who at that time was ruler154 of Constantinople, had sent an ambassador with gifts and presents in token of submission and service, and an artist who had been sent with the ambassador took his likeness and brought it away. If this story were true, no better gift could be presented to me. But as the picture had no resemblance to any of his descendants I was not satisfied of the truth of the statement.
The passing of the great star that illumines the world into the constellation of Aries took place on the night of Saturday, the 14th Zī-l-ḥijja, in Hijra 1017 (21st March, 1609), and New Year's Day that made brilliant the world began with good auspices and rejoicing. On Friday, the 5th Muḥarram, in the year 1018, Ḥakīm ‘Alī died. He was an unrivalled physician; he had derived much profit from Arabic sciences. He had written a commentary on the Canon (of Avicenna) in the time of my revered father. He had greater diligence than understanding, just as his appearance was better than his disposition, and his acquirements better than his talents; on the whole he was bad-hearted, and of an evil spirit. On the 20th Ṣafar I dignified Mīrzā Barkhūrdār with the title of Khān ‘Ālam. They brought from the neighbourhood of Fatḥpūr a watermelon, greater than any I had ever seen. I ordered them to weigh it, and it came to 33 seers. On Monday, the 19th Rabī‘u-l-awwal, the feast of my annual lunar weighing was arranged in the palace of my revered mother; a part of the money was divided among the women who had assembled there on that day.
As it had been evident that in order to carry on the affairs of the State in the Subah of the Deccan it was necessary to send one of the princes there, it came into my mind to send my son Parwīz there. I ordered them to send his equipments and fix the hour for his departure. I summoned to Court Mahābat Khān, who had been nominated to the command of the army against the rebel Rānā to arrange certain matters at headquarters, and appointed in his place ‘Abdu-llah Khān, whom I exalted with the title of Fīrūz-jang. I sent ‘Abdu-r-Razzāq bakhshī to carry an order to all the mansabdars of that army not to depart from the orders of the aforesaid Khān, and to pay every heed to his thanks and blame. On the 4th Jumādā-l-awwal one of the goatherds, who are a particular tribe, brought before me a gelded goat that had teats like a female, and gave every day sufficient milk to take with a cup of coffee.155 As milk is one of the favours of Allah, and the source which nourishes many animals, I looked on this strange affair as an omen for good. On the 6th of the same month, having given him the rank of 2,000 personal and 1,500 horse, I sent Khurram, son of Khān A‘ẓam, to the government of the province of Sorath, which is known as Jūnagaḍh (in Kaṭhiyawāḍ). I honoured155a Ḥakīm Ṣadrā with the title of Masīḥu-z-zamān, and gave him the rank. of 500 personal and 30 horse. On the 16th a jewelled waist-sword was sent to Rāja Mān Singh. On the 22nd, having handed over 2,000,000 rupees for the expenses of the army of the Deccan, which had been ordered for Parwīz, to a separate treasurer, 500,000 rupees more were given for the private expenses of Parwīz. On the 25th, Wednesday, Jahāndār (his son), who previously to this had been appointed, together with Quṭbu-d-dīn Khān Koka, to Bengal, came and waited on me. In reality it became known to me that he was a born devotee.156 As my mind was taken up with the preparations for the Deccan, on the 1st Jumādā-l-ākhir I nominated the Amīru-l-umarā as well to that duty. He was honoured with the favour of a robe of honour and a horse. Having promoted Karam Chand, son of Jagannāth, to the rank of 2,000 personal and 1,500 horse, I sent him in company with Parwīz. On the 4th of the month 370 ahadi horse were appointed with ‘Abdu-llah Khān to the assistance of the army employed against the Rānā. One hundred horses were also despatched from the government stables to be given as he thought proper to the mansabdars and ahadis. On the 17th I gave a ruby of the value of 60,000 rupees to Parwīz, and another ruby with two single pearls, worth about 40,000 rupees, to Khurram. On Monday, the 28th, Jagannāth was promoted to the rank of 5,000 personal and 3,000 horse, and on the 8th of Rajab, Rāy Jāy Singh was promoted to that of 4,000 personal and 3,000 horse, and was dismissed for service in the Deccan. On Thursday, the 9th, Prince Shahriyār from Gujarat came and waited on me. On Tuesday, the 4th, I despatched my son Parwīz on the service of conquering the country of the Deccan. He was presented with a robe of honour, a special horse, a special elephant, a sword, and a jewelled dagger. The Sardars and Amirs who were appointed with him each according to his condition received and were made happy with the favour of a horse, a robe of honour, an elephant, a sword, and a jewelled dagger. I appointed 1,000 ahadis to be in attendance on Parwīz for the service of the Deccan. On the same day a representation came from ‘Abdu-llah Khān that having pursued the rebel Rānā into the hill country into rough places, he had captured several of his elephants and horses. When night came on he had escaped with difficulty with his life. As he had made things go hard with him, he would soon be taken prisoner or killed. I promoted the said Khān to the rank of 5,000 personal, and a rosary of pearls, worth 10,000 rupees, was given to Parwīz. As I had given the province of Khandesh and Berar to the said son, I also conferred on him the fort of Āsīr, and 300 horses were sent with him to be given to ahadis, mansabdars, and whomever else he might consider worthy of favour. On the 26th, Saif Khān Bārha was given the rank of 2,500 personal and 1,350 horse, and appointed to the faujdarship of the Sarkar of Hisar. On Monday, the 4th Sha‘bān, an elephant was given to Wazīr Khān. On Friday, the 22nd, I gave an order that as bang and būza (rice spirit) were injurious, they should not be sold in the bazars, and that gambling should be abolished, and on this subject I issued stringent orders. On the 25th they brought a tiger from my private menagerie to fight with a bull. Many people gathered together to see the show, and a band of Jogis (religious mendicants) with them. One of the Jogis was naked, and the tiger, by way of sport, and not with the idea of rage, turned towards him. It threw him on the ground and began to behave to him as it would to its own female. The next day and on several occasions the same thing took place. As no such thing had ever been seen before and was exceedingly strange, this has been recorded.157 On the 2nd of the month of Ramaẓān, at the request of Islām Khān, Ghiyāṯ158 Khān was promoted to the rank of 1,500 personal and 800 horse. Farīdūn Khān Barlās was promoted to the rank of 2,500 with 2,000 horse. One thousand tolcha of gold and silver and 1,000 rupees were given in alms on the day of the procession of the sun into the constellation of the Scorpion, which, according to the general acceptation of the Hindoos, is called the Sankrānt. On the 10th of that month an elephant was presented to Shāh Beg Yūzī158a (? the panther-keeper), and Salāmu-llah, the Arab, who is a distinguished young man and a relative (son-in-law?) of Mubārak, the ruler of Darful.158b On account of some suspicion that Shāh ‘Abbās had entertained against him, he came to wait upon me. I patronised him, and gave him the rank of 400 personal and 200 horse. Again, another force, containing 193 mansabdars and 46 ahadis, I sent after Parwīz for service in the Deccan. Fifty horses were also entrusted to one of the servants of the Court to convoy to Parwīz.
On Friday, the 13th, a certain idea came into my mind, and this rhymed ghazal was produced:—
“What shall I do, for the arrow of loss of thee has pierced my liver!
So that the (evil) eye not reaching me again may reach another?
Thou movest as if frenzied, and the world is frenzied for thee.
I burn rue lest thy eye should reach me.
I am frenzied at union with my friend, and in despair at her absence.
Alas for the grief that has o'erwhelmed me!
I've grown mad that I may rush on the pathway of meeting:
Woe for the time that brought me the news!
Jahāngīr, the time for humility and prayer is every morning,
159 I hope that some spark of light may take effect.”
On Sunday, the 15th, I sent 50,000 rupees as sāchaq to the house of the daughter of Muẓaffar Ḥusain Mīrzā, son of Sulṭān Ḥusain Mīrzā, son of Bahrām Mīrzā, son of Shāh Isma‘īl Ṣafawī, who had been demanded in marriage for my son Khurram. On the 17th of the month Mubārak Khān Sarwānī was honoured with the rank of 1,000 personal and 300 horse. Five thousand rupees were also given to him, and 4,000 rupees to Ḥājī Bī Ūzbeg. On the 22nd a ruby and a pearl were given to Shahriyār. One hundred thousand rupees were given for the subsistence of the Ūymāqs (special cavalry) who had been appointed for service in the Deccan. Two thousand rupees were given to Farrukh Beg, the painter, who is unrivalled in the age. Four thousand rupees were sent for expenditure on Bābā Ḥasan Abdāl. One thousand rupees were handed to Mullā ‘Alī Aḥmad Muhrkan (engraver) and Mullā Rūzbihān Shīrāzī to expend on the anniversary festival of Ḥaẓrat Shaikh Salīm at his mausoleum. An elephant was given to Muḥammad Ḥusain, the writer, and 1,000 rupees to Khwāja ‘Abdu-l-Ḥaqq Anṣārī. I gave orders to the Diwans that having raised the rank of Murtaẓā Khān to 5,000 personal and horse they should give him a jagir. I ordered Bihārī Chand Qānūngū, of the Sarkar of Agra, to take 1,000 footmen and equipment from the Zamindars of Agra, and, fixing their monthly pay, to send them to Parwīz in the Deccan, and 500,000 rupees more were fixed for the expenses of Parwīz. On Thursday, the 4th Shawwāl, Islām Khān was promoted to the rank of 5,000 personal and 5,000 horse, Abū-l-walī Beg Ūzbeg to that of 1,500 and Ẓafar Khān to that of 2,500. Two thousand rupees were given to Badī‘u-z-zamān, son of Mīrzā Shāhrukh, and 1,000 rupees to Pathān Miṣr. I ordered that drums should be given to all of them as their rank had been raised to 3,000 and higher. Five thousand rupees more of the money from my weighing were entrusted for the construction of a bridge at Bābā Ḥasan Abdāl and the building that is there to Abū-l-wafā, son of Ḥakīm Abū-l-fatḥ, in order that he might exert himself and put the bridge and the aforesaid building in perfect order. On Saturday, the 13th, when four gharis of day were left, the moon began to be eclipsed. By degrees the whole of its body was obscured, and it continued till five gharis of night had passed. In order to avert the bad omen of this I had myself weighed against gold, silver, cloth, and grain, and gave away in alms all kinds of animals, such as elephants, horses, etc., the cost of all of which was 15,000 rupees. I ordered them to be distributed among the deserving and the poor. On the 25th, at the request of her father, I took the daughter of Rām Chand Bandīlah into my service (i.e. married her). I gave an elephant to Mīr Fāẓil, nephew of Mīr Sharīf, who had been appointed to the faujdarship of Qabūlah and those regions. ‘Ināyat-ullah was dignified with the title of ‘Ināyat Khān. On Wednesday, the 1st Zī-l-qa‘da, Bihārī Chand was granted the rank of 500 personal and 300 horse. A khapwa (dagger), adorned with jewels, was given to my son Bābā Khurram. Mullā Ḥayātī, by whom I had sent a message to the Khānkhānān, with a verbal message containing (expressions of) all kinds of condescension and affection, came and brought before me a ruby and two pearls of the value of about 20,000 rupees, which the Khānkhānān had sent by him. Mīr Jamālu-d-dīn Ḥusain, who was in Burhanpur and whom I had sent for, came and waited on me. I presented Shajā‘at Khān Dakhanī with 2,000 rupees. On the 6th of the aforesaid month, before Parwīz arrived at Burhanpur, a petition came from the Khankhanan and the Amirs that the Dakhanis had assembled together and were making disturbances. When I discovered that, notwithstanding the nomination of Parwīz and the army that had proceeded with him and been appointed to his service, they were still in need of support and assistance, it occurred to me that I should go myself, and by Allah's favour satisfy myself with regard to that affair. In the meanwhile a petition came also from Āṣaf Khān that my coming there would be for the advantage of the daily-increasing State. A petition from ‘Ādil Khān, from Bijapur, also came, that if one of the trusted ones of the Court could be appointed there to whom he could tell his desires and claims, so that the envoy might convey them to me, he hoped that it might become the means of affording profit to these slaves (i.e. himself). On this account I consulted with the Amirs and loyal men, and told them to represent whatever entered into anyone's mind. My son Khān Jahān represented that inasmuch as so many Amirs had been despatched for the conquest of the Deccan, it was not necessary for me to go in person. If he were ordered, he himself would go and attend on the prince and would, please God, perform this duty while serving him. Those words were approved of by all those who were loyal. I had never contemplated separation from him, but as the affair was an important one I necessarily gave him permission, and ordered that as soon as matters had been arranged he should return without delay, and should not remain more than a year in those regions. On Tuesday, the 17th Zī-l-qa‘da, he was free to go. I presented him with a special gold-embroidered robe of honour, a special horse with a jewelled saddle, a jewelled sword, and a special elephant. I also gave him a yak-tail standard (tūmān ṭūgh). I appointed Fidā Khān, who was one of my faithful servants, and to whom I gave a robe of honour and a horse and his expenses, promoting him to the rank of 1,000 personal and 400 horse, original and extra, to go with Khān Jahān, in order that if it were necessary to send anyone to ‘Ādil Khān according to his request, he might despatch him. Lankū Pandit, who in the time of the late king Akbar had come with offerings from ‘Ādil Khān, I also gave leave to go with Khān Jahān, bestowing on him a horse, a robe of honour, and money. Of the Amirs and soldiers who had been appointed with ‘Abdu-llah Khān to the duty of beating back the Rānā, men such as Rāja Bīr Singh Deo, Shajā‘at Khān, Rāja Bikramājīt, and others, with 4,000 or 5,000 horse, were nominated to support Khān Jahān. I sent Mu‘tamad Khān with the announcement that I had made him a sazāwal (i.e. one who urges on others), and that he was to act along with Khān Jahān in Ujjain. Out of the men of the palace, I sent 6,000 or 7,000 horse with him, such as Saif Khān Bārha, Ḥājī Bī Ūzbeg, Salāmullah ‘Arab, brother's son of Mubārak ‘Arab, who had in his possession the province of Jūtra (?)162 and Darfūl (?) and that neighbourhood, and other mansabdars and courtiers. At the time of giving them leave I gave each one an increase of rank and robe of honour and money for their expenses. Making Muḥammad Beg paymaster of the army, I provided him with 1,000,000 rupees to take with him. I sent to Parwīz a special horse, and to the Khankhanan and other Amirs and officers who were appointed to that Subah dresses of honour.
After carrying out these matters I left the city for the purpose of hunting. One thousand rupees were given to Mīr ‘Alī Akbar. As the Rabī‘ Faṣl (Spring season) had arrived, for fear any damage should happen to the cultivation of the ryots from the passage of the army, and notwithstanding that I had appointed a qūrīsāwul163 (Erskine has Kor, the Yasawal) (probably a kind of provost marshal) with the band of ahadis for the purpose of guarding the fields, I ordered certain men to see what damage had been done to the crops from stage to stage and pay compensation to the ryots. I gave 10,000 rupees to the daughter of the Khankhanan, the wife of Dāniyāl, 1,000 rupees to ‘Abdu-r-Raḥīm Khar (i.e. ass) for expenses, and 1,000 to Qāchā the Dakhani. On the 12th, Khānjar Khān, brother of ‘Abdu-llah Khān, received the rank of 1,000 personal and 500 horse, original and extra, and Bahādur Khān, another brother, that of 600 personal and 300 horse. On this day two antelopes with horns and one doe were taken. On the 13th I bestowed on and sent to Khān Jahān a special horse. Having promoted Badī‘u-z-zamān, son of Mīrzā Shāhrukh, to the rank of 1,000 and 500 horse, I gave him 5,000 rupees for expenses, and he was sent off with Khān Jahān for service in the Deccan. On this day two male and three female antelope were killed. On Wednesday, the 10th, I killed a female nīlgāw and a black antelope with a gun, and on the 15th a female nilgaw and a chikāra (gazelle). On the 17th of the month two rubies and a pearl were brought to me by Jahāngīr Qulī Khān from Gujarat, as well as a jewelled opium box, which Muqarrab Khān had sent from the port of Cambay. On the 20th I killed with a gun a tigress and a nilgaw. There were two cubs with the tigress, but they disappeared from view in consequence of the thickness of the jungle and the number of trees. An order was given that they should search for and bring them. When I reached the halting-place my son Khurram brought me one of the cubs, and the next day Mahābat Khān caught the other and brought it. On the 22nd, when I had got within shot of a nilgaw, suddenly a groom (jilaudār) and two kahār (bearers) appeared, and the nilgaw escaped. In a great rage I ordered them to kill the groom on the spot, and to hamstring164 the kahars and mount them on asses and parade them through the camp, so that no one should again have the boldness to do such a thing. After this I mounted a horse and continued hunting with hawks and falcons, and came to the halting-place.
Next day, under the guidance of Iskandar Mu‘īn, I shot a large nilgaw, and promoted him to the rank of 600 personal and 500 horse. On Friday, the 24th, Ṣafdar Khān, who had come from the Subah of Behar, had the good fortune to perform his obeisance to me. He presented as offerings a hundred muhrs, a sword, and five female and one male elephant. The male elephant was accepted. On the same day Yādgār Khwāja of Samarkand came from Balkh and paid his respects. He made offerings of an album, some horses, and other presents, and was dignified with a robe of honour. On Wednesday, 6th Zī-l-ḥijja, Mu‘izzu-l-mulk, who had been removed from the paymastership of the army against the rebel Rānā, ill and miserable, waited on me. On the 14th of the said month, having pardoned all the faults of ‘Abdu-r-Raḥīm Khar,164a I promoted him to the rank of yūzbāshī (centurion) and 20 horse, and ordered him to go to Kashmir, and in company with the bakhshi of that place hold a muster of the troops of Qilīj Khān and all the jagirdars and Uymaks in the service or not, and to bring the list. Kishwar Khān, son of Quṭbu-d-dīn Khān, came from the fort of Rohtas and had the good fortune to pay his respects to me.
On Sunday, the 24th Zī-l-ḥijja (20th March, 1610), after two watches and three gharis the sun entered into the constellation of Aries, which is the house of honour and good fortune, and at this auspicious hour the New Year's feast was arranged at Bāk Bhal, one of the villages of the parganah of Bārī, and according to the rules of my revered father I mounted the throne. On that morning, which was the New Year's Day that lighted up the world, and coincided with the 1st of Farwardīn of the 5th year from my accession, I held a public reception, and all the nobles and servants of the Court had the good fortune to pay their respects. Some of the nobles' offerings were laid before me. Khān A‘ẓam gave a pearl worth 4,000 rupees; Mīrān Ṣadr Jahān, twenty-eight hawks and falcons, and other gifts; Mahābat Khān, two European boxes, the sides of which were made with slabs of glass, so that whatever was placed inside could be seen from outside in a way that you might say there was nothing between them; Kishwar Khān, twenty-two male and female elephants. In the same way each of the servants of the Court laid before me the presents and offerings that they had. Nasru-llah, son of Faṭhu-llah sharbatchī (in charge of the sharbat), was placed in charge of the offerings. By Sārang Deo, who had been appointed to carry orders to the victorious army of the Deccan, I sent souvenirs (tabarruk) to Parwīz and to each of the officers. I presented Ḥusāmu-d-dīn, son of Ghāzī Khān166 Badakhshī, who had taken to the ways of a dervish and seclusion, with 1,000 rupees and a farjī shawl. The day after the New Year's Day I mounted and started for a tiger-hunt. Two males and a female were killed. I gave rewards to the ahadis who had shown bravery and gone in to the tigers, and increased their monthly pay. On the 26th of the same month I went and busied myself mostly with hunting nilgaw. As the air was hot and the (propitious) hour for re-entering Agra had nearly arrived, I went to Rūpbās, and hunted antelope in that neighbourhood for some days. On Saturday, the 1st Muḥarram, 1019, Rūp Khawāṣṣ, who was the founder of Rūpbās, presented the offering that he had prepared. That which pleased was accepted and what remained was given him back as a reward. At the same time Bāyazīd Mankalī and his brothers, who had come from the Subah of Bengal, were honoured with paying their respects. Sayyid Ādam, son of Sayyid Qāsim Bārha, who had come from Ahmadabad, also had the same good fortune. He presented an elephant as an offering. The faujdarship of the Subah of Multan was given to Walī Bī Ūzbeg in place of Tāj Khān.
On Monday, the 3rd Muḥarram of the 5th year, I halted at the Mandākar Garden, which is in the neighbourhood of the city. On the morning on which was the auspicious hour of entry into the city, after a watch and two gharis had passed I mounted and rode on a horse to the beginning of the inhabited part, and when I came to the immediate neighbourhood mounted on an elephant, so that the people from far and near might see, and scattering money on both sides of the road, at the hour that the astrologers had chosen, after midday had passed, entered with congratulation and happiness the royal palace. In accordance with the usual custom of the New Year I had ordered them to decorate the palace, which is like the courts of heaven. After seeing the decorations, Khwāja Jahān laid before me the offering that he had prepared. Having accepted out of the ornaments and jewels, dresses and goods, whatever I approved of, I gave the rest as a reward to him. I had ordered the clerks of the hunting department to write out (a list of) all the animals that had been killed from the time of my leaving until I re-entered the city. At this time they represented that in 56 days 1,362 animals, quadrupeds, and birds had been killed; the tigers were 7 in number; nilgaw, male and female, 70; black buck, 51; does and mountain goats and antelope (rojh), etc., 82; kulang (cranes), peacocks, surkhāb,167 and other birds, 129; fish, 1,023. On Friday, the 7th, Muqarrab Khān came from the ports of Cambay and Surat, and had the honour of waiting on me. He had brought jewels and jewelled things, and vessels of gold and silver made in Europe, and other beautiful and uncommon presents, male and female Abyssinian slaves, Arab horses, and things of all kinds that came into his mind. Thus his presents were laid before me for two and a half months, and most of them were pleasing to me. On this day Ṣafdar Khān, who held the rank of 1,000 personal and 500 horse, had an increase of 500 personal and 200 horse, and was presented with a standard, and given leave to return to his former jagir. Standards were also given to Kishwar Khān and Farīdūn167a Khān Barlās. A fighting elephant for Afẓal Khān (Abū-l-faẓl's son) was handed over to his son Bishūtan, to take to his father. I bestowed 1,000 rupees on Khwāja Ḥusain, a descendant of Khwāja Mu‘īnu-d-dīn Chishtī, as was usual for the half-year. The Khankhanan had sent as an offering a “Yūsuf and Zulaikhā” in the handwriting of Mullā Mīr ‘Alī,168 with illustrations and in a beautiful gilt binding, worth 1,000 muhrs. This Ma‘ṣūm, his Wakil, brought and submitted. Up to the day of culmination, which is the conclusion of the New Year's feast, every day many offerings were laid before me by the Amirs and servants of the Court. Whichever of the rarities was approved of by me I accepted, and gave back what was left. On Thursday, the 13th, corresponding to the 19th Farwardīn, which is the day of culmination of the sun and of gladness and pleasure, I ordered them to prepare an entertainment of different kinds of intoxicating drinks, and an order was given to the Amirs and servants of the Court that everyone might choose the kind of drink he affected. Many took wine and some mufarriḥ (exhilarating drinks), whilst some ate what they wished of the preparations of opium. The assembly was successfully held. Jahāngīr Qulī Khān from Gujarat had sent as an offering a throne of silver, inlaid and painted, of a new fashion and shape, which was presented to me. A standard was also conferred on Mahā Singh. In the commencement of my reign I had repeatedly given orders that no one should make eunuchs or buy or sell them, and whoever did so would be answerable as a criminal. At this time Afẓal Khān sent some of these evildoers to Court from the Subah of Behar, who were continually perpetrating this vile offence. I ordered these unthinking ones (bī-‘āqibatān) to be imprisoned for life.
On the night of the 12th an uncommon and strange event took place. Some Delhi singers (Qawwālān, see Jarrett, ii, 236) were singing songs in my presence, and Sayyidī169 Shāh was, by way of buffoonery, mimicking a religious dance. This verse of Amīr Khusrau was the refrain (miyān-khāna) of the song—
“Each nation has its right road of faith and its shrine (qibla-gāhī).
I've set up my shrine (qibla) on the path of him with the cocked cap.”
I asked what was the real meaning of the (last) hemistich. Mullā ‘Alī Aḥmad,169a the seal engraver, who in his own craft was one of the first of the age, and had the title of Khalīfa, and was an old servant, and with whose father I had learned when I was little, came forward and said, “I have heard from my father that one day Shaikh Niẓāmu-d-dīn Auliyā had put his cap on the side of his head, and was sitting on a terraced roof by the bank of the Jumna and watching the devotions169b of the Hindus. Just then Amīr Khusrau appeared, and the Shaikh turned to him and said, ‘Do you see this crowd,’ and then he recited this line:—
‘Each race has its right road of faith and its shrine’ (qibla-gāhī).
The Amīr, without hesitating, respectfully did homage to the Shaikh, and addressing him said—
‘I've set up my shrine in the direction of him with the cocked cap.’”169c
The aforesaid Mullā, when these words were uttered, and the last words of the second hemistich passed over his tongue, became senseless and fell down. Conceiving a great fear from his falling down, I went to his head. Most of those who were present doubted whether he had not had an epileptic fit. The physicians who were present distractedly made inquiry and felt his pulse and brought medicine. However much they beat their hands and feet and exerted themselves, he did not come to. Immediately he fell he had delivered his soul to the Creator. As his body was quite warm, they thought that possibly some life might be left in him. After a short time it became evident that the thing was all over and he was dead. They carried him away dead to his own house. I had never seen this kind of death, and sent money to his sons for his shroud and burial, and the next morning they sent him to Delhi and buried him in the burial-place of his ancestors.
On Friday, the 21st, Kishwar Khān, who held the rank of 1,500, was promoted to 2,000 personal and horse, and, having been presented with an Iraq horse out of my private stable, a robe of honour and a private elephant, named Bakht-jīt,170 and the Faujdarship of the country of Uch, was dismissed with a view to the punishment of the rebels of that region. Bāyazīd Mankalī, having been honoured with a robe and a horse, was sent off together with his brothers in the company of Kishwar Khān. An elephant from my private stud, by name ‘Ālam-gumān, was entrusted to Ḥabību-llah for Rāja Mān Singh and sent. A special horse was sent to Bengal for Kesho Dās Mārū,170a and a female elephant was now given to ‘Arab Khān, the jagirdar of Jalalabad. At this time Iftikhār Khān had sent an offering of a rare elephant from Bengal. As I approved of it, it was entered among my private elephants. I raised the rank of Aḥmad170b Beg Khān, who had been nominated to the command of the army of Bangash on account of his good service and that of his sons, from his original rank of 2,000 personal and 1,500 horse by 500 more personal. I sent a gold throne171 of jewelled work for Parwīz, and a sarpīch, which was of rubies and pearls, and made at a cost of 2,000 rupees, was sent for Khān Jahān by the hand of Ḥabīb, son of Sarbarāh Khān, to Burhanpur. At this time it became known that Kaukab, son of Qamar Khān, had become intimate with a Sanyasi, and by degrees his words, which were all blasphemous and impious, made an impression on that foolish fellow. He had made ‘Abdu-l-Laṭīf, son of Naqīb Khān, and Sharīf, his cousins, partners in that error. When this affair was discovered, with only a slight frightening they revealed certain circumstances with regard to themselves, the relation of which would be extremely disgusting. Considering their punishment advisable, I imprisoned Kaukab171a and Sharīf after giving them a whipping, and ordered ‘Abdu-l-Laṭīf a hundred lashes in my presence. This special chastisement (was given) for the purpose of carrying out the Divine law in order that other ignorant persons might not be disposed towards the same actions. On Monday, the 24th, Mu‘aẓẓam Khān was despatched to Delhi to punish the rebels and disaffected of that neighbourhood. Two thousand rupees were given to Shajā‘at Khān Dakhanī. I had ordered Shaikh Ḥusain Darshanī to proceed with certain firmans to Bengal and presents to each of the Amirs of that Subah. I now gave him his orders and despatched him. With an eye on his actions and his approved services, I promoted Islām Khān to the rank of 5,000 personal and horse, and bestowed on him a special dress of honour. I gave a special dress of honour also to Kishwar Khān, and presented Rāja Kalyān with an Iraq horse, and similarly to the other Amirs there were given robes of honour or horses. Farīdūn Barlās, who held the rank of 1,500 personal and 1,300 horse, I promoted to 2,000 personal and 1,500 horse.
On the night of Monday, the 1st Ṣafar, through the carelessness of the servants, a great fire occurred in the house of Khwāja Abū-l-ḥasan, and before they became aware of it and the fire could be put out many of his properties were burnt. In order to afford consolation to the mind of the Khwāja and to make up for the loss he had sustained, I gave him 40,000 rupees. On Saif Khān Bārha, who had been cherished and brought up by me, I bestowed a standard. I increased the rank of Mu‘izzu-l-mulk, who had been appointed to the Diwanship of Kabul, from his original of 1,000 personal and 225 horse by 200 personal and 275 horse, and dismissed him. The next day I sent a phūl-kaṭāra (dagger) studded with valuable jewels to Burhanpur to Khān Jahān.
A widow woman complained that Muqarrab Khān had taken her daughter by force in the port of Cambay, and after some while, during which he had kept her in his own house, when she enquired for the girl had said that she had died by an unavoidable death. I ordered an enquiry to be made into the affair. After much search I discovered that one of his attendants had been guilty of this outrage, and had him put to death, and reduced Muqarrab Khān's mansab by one half, and made an allowance to the woman who had been thus injured.
As on Sunday, the 7th of the month, a qirān-i-naḥsīn (an unlucky conjunction) had occurred, I gave alms of gold and silver and other metals, and different kinds of cereals, to faqirs and indigent people to be divided in most parts of the dominion. On the night of Monday, the 8th, having sent for Shaikh Ḥusain Sirhindī and Shaikh Muṣṭafā, who were celebrated for the adoption of the ways of dervishdom and the state of poverty, a party was held, and by degrees the assembly engaged warmly in samā‘ and wajd (dervish dancing and ecstasy). Hilarity and frenzy were not wanting. After the meeting was over I gave money to each and gave him leave. As Mīrzā Ghāzī Beg Tarkhān repeatedly made representations with regard to provisions for Qandahar and the monthly pay of the musketeers of the said fort, I ordered 200,000 rupees to be sent there from the treasury of Lahore.173
On the 19th Urdibihisht, in the fifth year of my reign, corresponding with the 4th Ṣafar, there occurred a strange affair at Patna, which is the seat of government of the province of Behar. Afẓal Khān, the governor of the Subah, went off to the jagir to which he had just been appointed, and which was at a distance of 60 kos from Patna, and handed over the fort and the city to the charge of Shaikh Banārasī and Ghiyāṯ Zain-khānī, the Diwan of the Subah, and to a number of other man-sabdars. With the idea that there were no enemies in that region he did not satisfy himself as he should have with regard to the protection of the fort and city. By chance, at that time an unknown man of the name of Quṭb belonging to the people of Uch, who was a mischievous and seditious fellow, came to the province of Ujjainiyya,173a which is in the neighbourhood of Patna, with the look of a dervish and the clothes of a beggar, and having made acquaintance with men of that part, who were always seditious, represented to them that he was Khusrau, who had escaped from prison and conveyed himself there; saying that if they would accompany and assist him, after the affair had been completed they would be the ministers of his State. In short, deceiving those simpletons with foolish words he brought them over to him and persuaded them that he was Khusrau. He showed those deceived ones the parts about his eyes, where at some time he had produced scars, of which the marks were still apparent, and told them that in the prison they had fastened cups (kaṭorī) on them and those were the marks.174 Through these falsehoods and deceit a number of foot- and horsemen had collected round him, and had obtained information that Afẓal Khān was not at Patna. Considering this a great opportunity, they made a raid, and when two or three hours of the day had passed on Sunday came to the city, and being hindered by nothing went for the fort. Shaikh Banārasī, who was in the fort, obtaining news of this; went in a disturbed state to the gate of the fort. The enemy, who came on with speed, did not give him time to close the gate of the fort. Together with Ghiyāṯ, he betook himself to the side of the river by a wicket gate, and procuring a boat proposed to go to Afẓal Khān. Those rebels came with ease into the fort and took possession of Afẓal Khān's property and the royal treasury; and some of those wretched creatures who wait on events, who were in the city and its neighbourhood, joined them. This news reached Afẓal Khān at Gorakhpur (Kharakpūr),175 and Shaikh Banārasī and Ghiyāṯ also came to him there by way of the river. Letters came from the city that this wretch, who called himself Khusrau, was in reality not Khusrau. Afẓal Khān, placing his trust on the grace and mercy of Allah, and through my good fortune, started without delay against those rebels. In five days he reached the neighbourhood of Patna. When the news of Afẓal Khān's coming reached those scoundrels, they entrusted the fort to one of those whom they had confidence in, and the horse and foot arraying themselves went out for four kos to meet Afẓal Khān. A fight took place on the bank of the river Pūn Pūn, and after a slight skirmish the array of those ill-fated ones was broken and they became scattered. In great bewilderment a second time that wretch was coming into the fort with a few men. Afẓal Khān followed him, and did not allow them to close the gate of the fort. Going to Afẓal Khān's house in a state of confusion, they fortified the house and remained there for three watches, and fought. They wounded about thirty people with arrows. After his companions had gone to jahannam (hell) he himself became helpless, and asked for quarter, and waited upon Afẓal Khān. In order to put a stop to this affair, Afẓal Khān executed him on the same day, and imprisoned some of his companions who had fallen alive into his hand. These items of news one after another reached the royal ear. I summoned to Agra Shaikh Banārasī and Ghiyāṯ Zain-khānī and the other mansabdars who had made default in holding the fort and protecting the city, and ordered their hair and beards to be cut off, and that they should be clothed in women's clothes, seated on asses, and paraded round the city of Agra and in the bazars, as a warning and example to others.
At this time representations succeeded each other from Parwīz and the Amirs appointed to the Deccan and those who were well-wishers of the State, that ‘Ādil Khān Bījāpūrī prayed that they would send to him Mīr Jamālu-ddīn Ḥusain Injū, on whose words and acts all the rulers of the Deccan had great reliance, that he might associate himself with them and dispel the fear in their minds, and the affairs of that place might be arranged as it might seem proper to ‘Ādil Khān, who had chosen the way of loyalty and service. In any case, he might drive out of their minds the fear that was in them, and soothing them might give him hopes of the royal favour. In order to obtain this end, on the 16th of the same month I despatched the above-mentioned Mīr, giving him a present of 10,000 rupees. I increased the former rank of Qāsim Khān, which was 1,000 personal and 500 horse, by 500 personal and horse, in order that he might go to the support of his brother Islām Khān in Bengal. At the same time, in order to punish Bikramājīt, Zamindar of the province Bāndhū,176 who had withdrawn his foot from the circle of obedience and service, I appointed Mahā Singh, grandson of Rāja Mān Singh, to proceed to put down the disaffection in that region and at the same time administer the estate of the jagir of the Raja, which was in that neighbourhood.
On the 20th of the month I gave an elephant to Shajā‘at Khān Dakhanī. As the governor of Jalalabad had written and represented the ruinous state of the fort of that place, I ordered what might be required for the repair of the said fort to be taken from the treasury of Lahore. Iftikhār Khān had done approved service in Bengal. On the request of the governor of that Subah I increased his original rank, which was 1,500, by 500. On the 28th a representation came from ‘Abdu-llah Khān Fīrūz-jang, containing recommendations in favour of some of the zealous servants who had been sent with him to subdue the rebel Rana. As Ghaznīn Khān Jālwarī had shown the greatest zeal of all in this service, I increased by 500 personal and 400 horse his former rank, which was 1,500 personal and 300 horse. In the same manner each one of those persons was promoted according to his services.
Daulat Khān, who had been sent to Allahabad to bring the throne of black stone, came on Wednesday, the 4th of the month of Mihr (15th September, 1610), and had an audience and brought the stone safe and sound. In truth it was a wonderful slab, very black and shining. Many say it is of a species of touchstone; in length it was one-eighth less than four cubits, and in breadth 2 1/2 cubits and one tasū,177 whilst its thickness may be three tasū. I ordered stone-cutters to carve suitable couplets on the sides of it. They had attached feet to it of the same kind of stone. I often sat on that throne.
As the brothers of Khān ‘Ālam became security for him, I brought out of prison ‘Abdu-s-Subḥān Khān, who was in confinement for certain offences, and promoted him to the rank of 1,000 personal and 400 horse, and appointed him to the faujdarship of the Subah of Allahabad, and gave him the jagir of Qāsim Khān, the brother of Islām Khān. I sent Tarbiyat Khān to the faujdarship of the Sarkar of Alwar. On the 12th of the same month a representation arrived from Khān Jahān that the Khan-khanan, according to my order, had started for the Court in company with Mahābat Khān, and that Mīr Jamālu-ddīn Ḥusain, who had been nominated by the Court to go to Bijapur, had also gone from Burhanpur, together with the wakils of ‘Ādil Khān, to Bijapur. On the 21st of the same month I promoted Murtaẓā Khān to the subadarship of the Panjab, which is one of the largest charges in my dominions, and gave him a special shawl. Having appointed Tāj Khān, who was in the Subah of Multan, to the governorship of Kabul, I added 500 horse to the rank of 3,000 personal and 1,500 horse already held by him. At the request of ‘Abdu-llah Khān Fīrūz-jang, the son of Rānā Shankar was also promoted in rank. When Mahābat Khān, who had been sent to Burhanpur to ascertain the numbers of the forces of the Amirs appointed to the Deccan, and to bring the Khankhanan, arrived in the neighbourhood of Agra, he left the Khan-khanan some stages off the city and came on in front himself, and was honoured with the good fortune of paying his respects and kissing the threshold. After a few days, on the 12th Ābān, the Khankhanan came and waited on me. As many of those who were loyal had represented the state of his affairs, whether true or false, according to their ideas, and I was displeased with him, because the degree of favour and regard that I previously had observed in his case and that I had seen in my revered father had not produced its effect, I did justice in the matter, for previously to this a letter of appointment to the service of the Deccan for a certain time had been given to him, and he had proceeded there in attendance on Sulṭān Parwīz with other nobles for that important matter. After he arrived at Burhanpur he had not looked to the opportuneness of the time, and at an improper season for moving, and when forage and other necessaries had not been laid in, he had taken Sulṭān Parwīz and his forces above the Ghats, and by degrees, in consequence of want of concert among the Sardars and his treachery, and of conflicting opinions, things had come to such a pass that grain was obtained with difficulty, and not a mān was to be got for large sums of money. The affairs of the army became so confused that nothing went on properly, and horses, camels, and other four-footed beasts died. In consequence of the exigency of the time he had patched up a kind of peace with the enemy and withdrawn Sulṭān Parwīz and the army to Burhanpur. As this business did not turn out well, all the well-wishers of the State knew that this division (of counsels) and confusion had arisen from treachery and want of arrangement of the Khankhanan, and represented this to the Court. Although this appeared altogether incredible, at last this impression was left upon my mind, and a representation came from Khān Jahān to the effect that all this mischief and confusion had arisen through the treachery of the Khankhanan; either this service should be left entirely in his control, or, summoning him to Court, I should appoint to this duty this man whom I had myself cherished and brought up, and appoint 30,000 horse to support this slave (Khān Jahān himself), in order that in the space of two years, having freed the whole of the royal province, now in the possession of the enemy, and having brought the fort of Qandahar179 and other forts on the border into the occupation of the servants of the Court, he should include in the royal dominions the province of Bijapur. If he did not complete this service in that time, he might be debarred from the good fortune of paying his respects (to me) and would not show his face to the servants of the Court. When the relations between the Sardars and the Khankhanan reached this point, I did not consider it advisable for him to be there any longer, and handed over the command to Khān Jahān and sent for him to Court. In reality the cause of my disinclination and want of favour to him was this. The degree of inclination and disinclination towards him in future will be in accordance with whatever may become clear.
I favoured and promoted Sayyid ‘Alī Bārha, who is one of our distinguished young men, with an increase of 500 personal and 200 horse beyond his previous rank, which was 1,000 personal and 500 horse, and gave Dārāb Khān, son of the Khankhanan, the rank of 1,000 personal and 500 horse, with the Sarkar of Ghazipur as his jagir. Previously to this I had had the daughter of Mīrzā Muẓaffar Ḥusain, son of Sulṭān Ḥusain Mīrzā Ṣafawī, ruler of Qandahar, betrothed to my son Sulṭān Khurram, and on this date, the 17th Ābān, as the marriage meeting had been arranged, I went to the house of Bābā Khurram and passed the night there. I presented most of the Amirs with robes of honour. Some of those confined in the fort of Gwalior I released, and especially Ḥājī Mirak. Islām Khān had collected 100,000 rupees from the khāliṣa (directly managed) parganahs. As he was at the head of the army and the service, I handed this over to him as a present. Giving a little gold and silver and some of every kind of jewellery and graīn to trustworthy men, I determined that they should distribute them to the poor of Agra. On the same day a report came from Khān Jahān that Īraj, the son of the Khankhanan, had obtained leave from the prince, and according to orders he had despatched him to Court. With regard to what had been ordered in the case of Abū-l-fatḥ, of Bijapur, as the above-mentioned was an experienced man, and his being sent would cause despair to the other Sardars of the Deccan to whom promises had been made, he had (therefore) kept him under surveillance.181 An order had been sent that as Kesho Dās, the son of Rāy Kalah (?), was in the service of Parwīz, if any impediment should occur in sending him, he (Khān Jahān) should despatch him whether he wished it or not. Immediately on this becoming known to Parwīz, he gave him leave and said to Khān Jahān; “These few words from my mouth thou wilt represent, that as I would give my existence and life for the service of my visible God (Jahāngīr), what is there in the being or annihilation of Kesho Dās181a that I should show any resistance in sending him? When they (i.e. the king) send for my confidential servants for any reason it produces a feeling of hopelessness and disquietude of mind in the rest, and becoming known in these regions gives an idea of disfavour on the part of our lord and Qibla (place looked towards in worship). As for the rest, it is His Majesty's order.” From the date on which the fort of Ahmadnagar, by the efforts of my deceased brother Dāniyāl, came into the possession of the heads of the victorious State, up till now, the guardianship and preservation of that place had been entrusted to Khwāja Beg Mīrzā Ṣafawī, who was a relative of the asylum of pardon Shāh Ṭahmāsp. After the disturbance of the rebel Deccanis went to a great length, and they besieged the said fort, he had committed no fault in the duties of devotedness and holding of the fort. When the Khan-khanan and the Amirs and other leaders who had assembled at Burhanpur in waiting on Parwīz devoted themselves to the driving back and defeat of the rebels, and from the differences of opinion and quarrels of the Amirs, and the absence of provision of forage and grain, those who looked after matters of importance brought this large army into improper roads and among hills and difficult passes, they in a short space of time rendered it wretched and impotent, and matters had come to such a pass and the difficulty with regard to grain was such that they were giving a life for a loaf. They then turned back helplessly with their objects unfulfilled. The garrison of the fort, who were expecting aid from this army, on hearing this news, lost heart and stability, and tumultuously wished to vacate the fort at once. When Khwāja Beg Mīrzā became aware of this he endeavoured to soothe and quiet the men, but though he did his best it had no good result. At last, under an agreement, he vacated the fort, and proceeded to Burhanpur, and on the day mentioned waited on the prince. Representations with regard to his coming reached me, and, as it was clear that he had not been wanting in bravery and loyalty, I ordered his rank of 5,000 personal and horse to be confirmed and a jagir to be given him. On the 9th a petition came from some of the Amirs in the Deccan that on the 22nd Sha‘bān Mīr Jamālu-d-dīn Ḥusain had gone to Bijapur. ‘Ādil Khān sent his wakil forward for 20 kos, and himself received him at a distance of 3 kos, and took the Mīr by the same road to his own residence.
As the desire to hunt overcame me, at a propitious hour determined by the astrologers, when a watch and six gharis had passed on the night of Friday, the 15th Ramaẓān, corresponding with the 10th Āzar in the 5th year (of my reign), I started to hunt, and made my first halt in the Dahrah Garden, which is near the city. At this stage I gave Mīr ‘Alī Akbar leave to go into the city after bestowing on him 2,000 rupees and a special warm wrapper (fargul). In order that the grain and cultivation should not be trodden down by my men I ordered that all should remain in the city but the men who were actually wanted and my personal servants. Having entrusted the charge of the city to Khwāja Jahān I gave him his leave. On the 14th Sa‘du-llah Khān, son of Sa‘īd Khān, was given an elephant. On the 28th, corresponding with the 21st Ramaẓān, forty-four elephants, which Hāshim Khān, son of Qāsim Khān, had sent as an offering from Orissa, were produced before me. Of these one was very good and tame; this one I put in my private stud. On the 28th an eclipse (of the sun, kusūf) took place, in order to do away with the unluckiness of which I weighed myself against gold and silver; it came to 1,800 tolas of gold and 4,900 rupees. This, along with several kinds of vegetables and sorts of animals such as elephants and horses and cattle, I ordered to be divided among deserving people who were unprovided for and helpless poor of the city of Agra and other cities in the neighbourhood.
As the affairs of the army which had been nominated for the subjugation of the Deccan under the command of Parwīz, and leadership of the Khankhanan and other high Amirs such as Rāja Mān Singh, Khān Jahān, Āṣaf Khān, the Amīru-l-umarā, and other mansabdars, and other leaders of every tribe and condition, had ended in this, that they had turned back from half-way and returned to Burhanpur, and all the confidential servants and news-writers who spoke the truth had sent in reports to the Court, that although there were many causes for the ruin of this army, yet the chief reason was the disagreement of the Amirs, especially the treachery of the Khankhanan, it came into my mind that I must send Khān A‘ẓam with another fresh and powerful army to make amends for and set to rights some of the improper proceedings that had arisen from the disagreement of the Amirs that has been described. On the 11th of Day he (Khān A‘ẓam) was honoured with the charge of this duty, and an order was given to the Diwans to make preparations and send him off quickly. I appointed Khān ‘Ālam, Farīdūn Khān Barlās, Yūsuf Khān, son of Ḥusain Khān Tukriyah, ‘Alī Khān Niyāzī, Bāz Bahādur Qalmāq, and other mansabdars, near to the number of 10,000 horse, to accompany him. It was settled that in addition to the ahadis who were appointed to this duty 2,000 others should accompany him, making altogether 12,000 horse. Having sent with him thirty lakhs of rupees and several elephants, I gave him his leave and presented him with a magnificent dress of honour, a jewelled sword-belt, a horse with a jewelled saddle, a private elephant, and 500,000 rupees for expenses. An order was given that the chiefs of the civil department should recover this from his jagir. The Amirs who were under his orders were honoured with robes of honour, horses, and presents. I increased by 500 more horse the rank held by Mahābat Khān, of 4,000 personal and 3,000 horse, and ordered him to conduct Khān A‘ẓam and this army to Burhanpur, and having enquired into (the circumstances of) the destruction of the army, should give the order of the appointment of the Khān A‘ẓam to the Amirs of those regions and make them of one purpose and counsel with him. He was to see the state of preparation of the army of those parts, and after arranging all matters should bring the Khankhanan with him to Court. On Sunday, the 4th Shawwal, when near the end of the day, I engaged in a cheetah hunt. I had determined that on this day and Thursdays no animals should be killed and I would eat no meat, on Sunday especially because of the respect my revered father had for that day in not being inclined to eat flesh on it, and in forbidding the killing of any animals for the reason that on the night of Sunday his own honoured birth had taken place. He used to say it was better on that day that all animals should be free from the calamity of those of a butcherly disposition. Thursday is the day of my accession. On that day also I ordered that animals should not be killed, so that whilst sporting I should not shoot an arrow or a gun at wild animals. In hunting with cheetahs Anūp Rāy, who is one of my close attendants, was heading the men who were with him in the hunt at a little distance185 from me and came to a tree on which some kites were sitting. When his sight fell on those kites he took a bow and some pointless arrows (tukkā) and went towards them. By chance in the neighbourhood of that tree he saw a half-eaten bullock. Near it a huge, powerful tiger got up out of a clump that was near and went off. Though not more than two gharis of day remained, as he knew my liking for tiger-hunting, he and some of those who were with him surrounded the tiger and sent some one to me to give me the news. When it reached me I rode there at once in a state of excitement and at full speed, and Bābā Khurram, Rām Dās, I‘timād Rāy, Ḥayāt Khān, and one or two others went with me. On arriving I saw the tiger standing in the shade of a tree, and wished to fire at him from horseback, but found that my horse was unsteady, and dismounted and aimed and fired my gun. As I was standing on a height and the tiger below, I did not know whether it had struck him or not. In a moment of excitement I fired the gun again, and I think that this time I hit him. The tiger rose and charged, and wounding the chief huntsman, who had a falcon on his wrist and happened to be in front of him, sat down again in his own place. In this state of affairs, placing another gun on a tripod,185a I took aim (majrā185b giriftam). Anūp Rāy stood holding the rest, and had a sword in his belt and a baton (kutaka) in his hand. Bābā Khurram was a short distance off to my left, and Rām Dās and other servants behind him. Kamāl the huntsman (qarāwul) loaded the gun and placed it in my hand. When I was about to fire, the tiger came roaring towards us and charged. I immediately fired. The ball passed through the tiger's mouth and teeth. The noise of the gun made him very savage, and the servants who had crowded together could not stand his charge and fell over one another, so that I, through their pushing and shock, was moved a couple of paces from my place and fell down. In fact, I am sure that two or three of them placed their feet on my chest and passed over me. I‘timād Rāy and the huntsman Kamāl assisting me, I stood up. At this moment the tiger made for those who were on the left-hand side. Anūp Rāy let the rest slip out of his hand and turned towards the tiger. The tiger, with the same activity with which he had charged, turned on him, and he manfully faced him, and struck him twice with both hands on the head with the stick he had in his hand. The tiger, opening his mouth, seized both of Anūp Rāy's arms with it, and bit them so that his teeth passed through both, but the stick and the bracelets on his arms were helpful, and did not allow his arms to be destroyed. From the attack and pushing of the tiger Anūp Rāy fell down between the tiger's fore-feet, so that his head and face were opposite the tiger's chest. At this moment Bābā Khurram and Rām Dās came up to the assistance of Anūp Rāy. The prince struck the tiger on the loins with his sword, and Rām Dās also struck him twice with his sword, once on the shoulder-blade. On the whole it was very warm work, and Ḥayāt Khān struck the tiger several blows over the head with a stick he had in his hand. Anūp Rāy with force dragged his arms out of the tiger's mouth and struck him two or three times on the cheek with his fist, and rolling over on his side stood up by the force of his knees. At the time of withdrawing his arms from the tiger's mouth, as his teeth had passed through them, they were partly torn, and both his paws passed over his shoulders. When he stood up, the tiger also stood up and wounded him on the chest with his claws, so that those wounds troubled him for some days. As the ground was uneven, they rolled over each other, holding on like two wrestlers. In the place where I was standing the ground was quite level. Anūp Rāy says that God Almighty gave him so much intelligence that he bore the tiger over deliberately to187 one side (in the original, that side), and that he knew no more. At this time the tiger left him and was making off. He in that state of bewilderment raised up his sword and followed him and struck him on the head. When the tiger turned his face round, he struck him another blow on the face, so that both his eyes were cut, and the skin of the eyebrows, which had been severed by the sword, fell over his eyes. In this state of affairs, a lamp-man of the name of Ṣāliḥ, as it was time to light the lamps, came in a hurry and by a blind chance187a came across the tiger. The tiger struck him one blow with his paw and knocked him down. To fall and give up his life were the same thing. Other people came in and finished the tiger's business. As Anūp Rāy had done this service to me and I had witnessed the way in which he offered his life, after he had recovered from the pain of his wounds and had the honour of waiting on me, I bestowed on him the title of Anīrā'ī Singh-dalan. Anīrā'ī188 they call in the Hindi language the leader of an army, and the meaning of Singh-dalan is a tiger-slayer. Giving him a special sword of my own, I increased his mansab. I gave Khurram, son of Khān A‘ẓam, who had been appointed to the governorship of the province of Junagadh, the title of Kāmil Khān. On Sunday, the 3rd Zī-l-qa‘da, I employed myself in fishing, and 766 fish were caught; these were divided in my presence among the Amirs, Ibachkiān (?),188a and most of the servants. I eat no fish but those that have scales, but not because the professors of the Shiah faith look on those without scales as unlawful, but the cause of my aversion is this, that I have heard from old men, and it has become known to me by experience as well, that fish without scales eat the flesh of dead animals and fish with scales do not eat it. From this cause, to eat them is contrary to my disposition. The Shiahs know188b why they do not eat them and for what reason they consider them unlawful. One of my home-bred camels that was with me in the hunt carried five nilgaws that weighed 42 Hindustani maunds. I had before this sent for Naẓīrī of Nīshāpūr, who excelled other men in the art of poetry, and passed his time in Gujarat as a merchant. At this time he came and waited on me, and imitating a poem of Anwarī,
“Again, what youth and beauty this is for the world!”
laid before me a poem that he had composed on me. I presented him with 1,000 rupees, a horse, and a robe of honour as a gift for this poem. I had also sent for Ḥakīm Ḥamīd Gujarātī, whom Murtaẓā Khān greatly praised, and he came and waited on me. His good qualities and purity were better than his doctoring. He waited on me for some time. When it became known that there was no physician but himself in Gujarat, and I found he himself desired leave to go, I gave him and his sons 1,000 rupees and some shawls, and set aside a whole village for his maintenance; he went off to his native place quite happy. Yūsuf Khān, son of Ḥusain Khān Tukriyah, came from his jagir and waited on me. On Thursday, the 10th Zī-l-ḥijja, was the festival of the Qurbān (the sacrifice of Ishmael). As it is forbidden to take life on that day (Thursday), I ordered that on the Friday they should kill the sacrificial animals. Having sacrificed three sheep with my own hand, I mounted to go hunting, and returned when six gharis of night had passed. On this day was killed a nilgaw (commonly called blue bull) of the weight of 9 maunds and 35 seers. The story of this nilgaw is written because it is not devoid of strangeness. In the two past years, during which I had come to this same place to wander about and hunt, I had shot at him each time with a gun. As the wounds were not in a fatal place, he had not fallen, but gone off. This time again I saw that nilgaw in the hunting-ground (shikārgāh), and the watchman recognized that in the two previous years he had gone away wounded. In short, I fired at him again three times on that day. It was in vain. I pursued him rapidly on foot for three kos, but however much I exerted myself I could not catch him. At last I made a vow that if this nilgaw fell I would have his flesh cooked, and for the soul of Khwāja Mu‘īnu-d-dīn would give it to eat to poor people. I also vowed a muhr and one rupee to my revered father. Soon after this the nilgaw became worn out with moving, and I ran to his head and ordered them to make it lawful (cut its throat in the name of Allah) on the spot, and having brought it to the camp I fulfilled my vow as I had proposed. They cooked the nilgaw, and expending the muhr and rupee on sweets, I assembled poor and hungry people and divided them among them in my own presence. Two or three days afterwards I saw another nilgaw. However much I exerted myself and wished he would stand still in one place, so that I might fire at him, I could get no chance. With my gun on my shoulder I followed him till near evening until it was sunset, and despaired of killing him. Suddenly it came across my tongue, “Khwāja, this nilgaw also is vowed to you.” My speaking and his sitting down were at one and the same moment. I fired at and hit him, and ordered him, like the first nilgaw, to be cooked and given to the poor to eat. On Saturday, the 19th Zī-l-ḥijja, I fished again. This time about 330 fish were caught. On the night of Wednesday, the 28th190 of the same month, I encamped at Rūpbās. As this was one of my fixed hunting-places and there was an order that no one should hunt in the neighbourhood, a great number of antelope had come together in the desert there, so much so that they came into the inhabited parts and were not subject to any kind of molestation. I hunted for two or three days in those desert plains, and shot, and hunted with cheetahs many antelopes. As the hour for entering the city was near, making two halts on the way, I alighted on the night of Thursday, the 2nd Muḥarram, in the year 1020 (17th March, 1611), at the garden of ‘Abdu-r-Razzāq Ma‘mūrī, which is near, in fact close to, the city. On this night many of the servants of the Court, such as Khwāja Jahān, Daulat Khān, and a number who had remained in the city, came and waited on me. Īraj also, whom I had sent for from the Subah of the Deccan, had the honour of kissing the threshold. I stayed in that garden also on the Friday. On that day ‘Abdu-r-Razzāq presented his own offerings. As this was the last day for hunting, an order was given that the duration of the hunt and the number of animals killed should be counted up to me. The time of the hunt was from the 9th of the month of Āzar to the 29th Isfandārmuz of the 5th year, or three months and twenty days. In this time tigers 12, deer (gāwzan) 1, chikārah (gazelle) 44, kūtāh-pācha (hog-deer) 1 head, fawns 2 head, black buck 68 head, does 31 head, foxes 4, kūrāra deer 8, pātal (?) 1, bears 5, hyænas 3, hares 6, nilgaw 108, fish 1,096, eagle 1, bustard 1, peafowl 5, herons 5, partridges 5, brahminī ducks (surkhāb) 1, sāras 5, dhīk (?) 1; total, 1,414.
On Saturday, the 29th Isfandārmuz, corresponding to the 4th Muḥarram, I mounted an elephant and went to the city. From the garden of ‘Abdu-r-Razzāq to the palace the distance is a kos and 20 ṭanāb. I scattered 1,500 rupees to the crowd. At the fixed hour I entered the palace. The bazars had been decorated with cloths after the manner of the New Year's feast. As at the hunting-time an order had been given to Khwāja Jahān to prepare in the Maḥall (Zenanah) a building fit for me to sit in, the said Khwāja had in the space of three months prepared and brought to perfection this kind of lofty building, and with folded hands (in humility) had done exceedingly active work. Coming off the dust of the road I entered that Paradise-like building and went to look round that abode, and it was very much to my taste. Khwāja Jahān was dignified with much praise and commendation. The offerings he had prepared were displayed to me in the same building. Some of these were approved and accepted and the remainder presented to him.
Two gharis and forty seconds of day had passed on the Monday when the sun (lit. his honour the greatest star) entered his tower of honour, which is in the constellation of Aries. That day was the 1st Farwardīn, corresponding with the 6th Muḥarram192 (21st March, 1611). The feast of the New Year having been prepared, I seated myself on the throne of good fortune. The Amirs and all the servants of the Court enjoyed the good fortune of waiting on me, and gave their congratulations. The offerings of the servants of the Court, Mīrān Ṣadr Jahān, ‘Abdu-llah Khān Fīrūz-jang, and Jahāngīr Qulī Khān, were laid before me. On Wednesday, the 8th Muḥarram, the offering of Rāja Kalyān, who had sent it from Bengal, was laid before me. On Thursday, the 9th of the same month, Shajā‘at Khān and some of the mansabdars, who had come on summons from the Deccan, waited on me. I gave a jewelled waist-dagger to Razzāq-wirdī Ūzbeg. On the same day the New Year's offering of Murtaẓā Khān was laid before me. He had prepared all kinds of things. Having inspected all these, I took what I approved in the shape of valuable jewels, fine cloths, elephants, and horses, and gave back the rest. I presented a jewelled dagger to Abū-l-fatḥ Dakhanī, 3,000 rupees to Mīr ‘Abdu-llah, and an Iraq horse to Muqīm Khān. I increased the rank of Shajā‘at Khān, which was 1,500 personal and 100 horse, by 500 personal and horse. I had summoned him from the Deccan for the purpose of sending him to Bengal to Islām Khān, in reality to take his place permanently, and I entrusted him with the charge of that Subah. Khwāja Abū-l-ḥasan laid before me (as offerings) two rubies, one royal pearl, and ten rings. I gave Īraj, the son of Khānkhānān, a jewelled dagger. The rank of Khurram was 8,000 personal and 5,000 horse; I increased his personal allowance by 2,000, and increased that of Khwāja Jahān, which was 1,500 personal, 1,000 horse by 500 personal, 200 horse. On 24th Muḥarram, 18th Farwardīn, the day of the ascendant, Yādgār ‘Alī Sulṭān, ambassador of Shāh ‘Abbās, ruler of Persia, who had come on a visit of condolence on the death of the late king and with congratulations on my accession, had the honour of waiting on me, and laid before me the gifts Shāh ‘Abbās, my brother, had sent. He had brought good horses, cloth stuffs, and every kind of fitting present. After he had presented the gifts, on the same day I gave him a superb robe of honour and 30,000 rupees, which were equivalent to 1,000 Persian tumans. He handed me a letter in which were mingled congratulations and condolences for the death of my revered father. As in the letter of congratulation he expressed the greatest friendship, and omitted no point of regard and concord, it has pleased me to enter here an exact copy of it.
“May the sprinklings of the cloud of the grace of God and the dropping of the favour of the Almighty impart freshness to the gardens of wonderful men and inventors (of new things)! May the flower-bed of sovereignty and rule and the mead of magnificence and exalted happiness of his Honour of heavenly dignity, of sun-like grandeur, the king whose fortune is young, of Saturn-like majesty, the renowned prince, possessing the authority of the spheres, the Khedive, the world-gripper (Jahāngīr) and country-conquering sovereign, the prince of the exaltedness of Sikandar, with the banner of Darius, he who sits on the throne of the pavilion of greatness and glory, the possessor of the (seven) climes, the increaser of the joys of good fortune and prosperity, adorner of the gardens of happiness, decorator of the rose-parterre, lord of the happy conjunction (of the planets), the opener of the countenance, the perfection of kinghood, expounder of the mysteries of the sky, the adornment of the face of learning and insight, index of the book of creation, compendium of human perfections, mirror of the glory of God, elevator of the lofty soul, increaser of good fortune and of the beneficent ascension, sun of the grandeur of the skies, the shadow of the benignity of the Creator, he who has the dignity of Jamshīd among the stars of the host of heaven, lord of conjunction, refuge of the world, river of the favours of Allah, and fountain of unending mercy, verdure of the plain of purity, may his land (lit. surface) be guarded from the calamity of the evil eye; may his fountain of perfection be preserved in truth, his desire and love; the tale of his good qualities and benevolence cannot be written.
“‘The pen has not the tongue to express the secret of love.’
Although outwardly the distance (between us) prevents my attaining to the ka‘bah of desire, yet he is the qiblah of my keen longing for spiritual intercourse. Thank God that by virtue of essential oneness this humble supplicant and that pure nursling of glory have in reality been united to one another. The distance of space and outward separation of the body not having prevented nearness of soul and spiritual union, my face is still towards friendship, and accordingly the dust of sorrow has not settled on the sunlike mirror of my mind, but it has received the reflection of the beauty of that exhibitor of perfection, and the olfactory of my soul has been ever scented with the sweet savour of friendship and love and the ambergris-perfumed breezes of affection and concord, and spiritual fellowship and perpetual union have rubbed off the rust from friendship.
“‘I sit beside thee in thought, and my heart is at ease,
For this is an union not followed by separation's pain.’
“Praise be given to the most mighty and pure God that the plant of the desire of true friends hath borne the fruit of fruition. Success (maqṣūd), that beauty who for years was hidden behind the veil, has by dint of humility and supplication at the throne of the Almighty, come forth and manifested herself from the hidden bridal chamber, and a ray of perfection has been thrown on the plain of the hopes of the expectants; she has ascended the auspicious throne and seated herself beside the king who adorns the assembly and enhances the glory of the tribune of the king of kings. The world-opening standard of the Caliphate and rule, and the sky-scraping umbrella of justice and world-sway of that creator of the diadem and throne, and that opener of the knots of knowledge and wisdom have cast the shade of equity and sovereignty and mercy over the heads of the inhabitants of the world. My hope is that the chief of desire-granters may make the auspicious ascension of that blessed rising of fortune brighten the crown and illuminate the throne, making it of good omen and prosperous to all, and may the things that appertain to kingship and rule of the world and the causes of dignity and prosperity be ever on the increase! For long past the customs of amity and the ways of intimacy, which have been in existence between our ancestors, and now freshly have been re-established between this one who is bent on friendship and him who is intent on equity, demanded that when the good news of the accession of him who sits on the Gūrgānī throne and is the heir of the crown of Tīmūr reached this country, one of the confidants of the royal palace should be quickly nominated to convey congratulations, but inasmuch as the business of Āzarbījān and the conquest of the province of Shirwān just then occurred, and until my loving mind was satisfied as to the affairs of that province, I could not return to my capital, some delay took place in the accomplishment of this important duty. Although outward ceremonial observances and politenesses have not much weight with people of knowledge and discernment, yet the observance of them is the observance of the dues of friendship. Of necessity, therefore, at this auspicious time when the attention of the servants of holy angels (?) has been withdrawn from the affairs of that province, which have been arranged in accordance with the desires of my well-wishers, and I am at ease in that quarter, I have returned and settled down in my capital of Isfahan, which is the permanent seat of rule. Therefore I have despatched Kamālu-d-dīn Yādgār ‘Alī, who possesses the attributes of nobility, is perfect in sinceriṭy and fully reliable, who is moreover of the number of devoted servants and Ṣūfīs of pure design of our family, to the most exalted Court, that after he has obtained the good fortune to salute you, to condole with you, and kissed the carpet of honour, and performed the dues of inquiry (after health, etc.) and congratulations, he may obtain leave to return, and may convey to the sincere mind of your well-wisher the good tidings of the safety of your angelic person and the health of your temperament that is of the brightness of the sun and increases joy. It is hoped that the tree of hereditary friendship and assiduousness, and the garden of intimacy and regard, both apparent and spiritual, which by the irrigation of the rivers of affection and the brooks of sincere regard acquire great splendour and greenness, not casting their leaves, may set in motion the cord of intimacy and drive away the misfortune of estrangement by the arrival of correspondence, which is the communication of the soul, and may connect by spiritual chains our visible friendship, and may favour the course and accomplishment of business.
“May God Almighty give the assistance of the secret powers to that living family of dignity and glory and that household of grandeur and good fortune.”
Up to this is the copy of the letter of my brother Shāh ‘Abbās.
My brothers Sulṭān Murād and Dāniyāl, who had died in the lifetime of my revered father, people had called by several names. I ordered that one of them should be called Shāhzāda maghfūr (the pardoned prince), and the other Shāhzāda marḥūm (the prince admitted to mercy). I promoted I‘timādu-d-daulah and ‘Abdu-r-Razzāq Ma‘mūrī, who each held the rank of 1,500, to that of 1,800, and increased the horse-rank of Qāsim Khān, brother of Islām Kkankhanan, by 250. I dignified Īraj, eldest son of the Khankhanan, with the title of Shāh-nawāz Khān, and Sa‘du-llah, son of Sa‘īd Khān, with the appellation of Nawāzish Khān.
At the time of my accession I had increased weights and measures (lit. gaz), viz. to the extent of three ratis (small weight equal to eight barleycorns), in the weight of muhrs and rupees. At this time it was represented to me that in mercantile transactions it would be for the convenience of the people that muhrs and rupees should be of the same weight as previously. As in all affairs the contentment and ease of the people are to be looked to, I gave an order that from the present day, that is, the 11th Urdībihisht in the 6th year of my reign, they should strike muhrs and rupees of the former weight in all the mints of my dominions. As before this, on Saturday, the 2nd of the month of Ṣafar, in the year 1020, the evil-dispositioned Aḥdād had heard that Kabul was deprived of an eminent leader, that Khān Daurān197 was in the interior, and only Mu‘izzu-l-mulk with a few servants of the aforesaid was in Kabul, thinking it a good opportunity he (Aḥdād) betook himself unexpectedly to Kabul with a large number of horsemen and foot-soldiers. Mu‘izzu-l-mulk, according to the measure of his ability, displayed activity, and the Kabulis and other inhabitants, especially the Farmulī197a tribe, barricaded up the streets and fortified their houses. The Afghans with some guns came in to the streets and bazars from different directions. The people from the shelter of their terraces and houses killed many of these wretches with arrows and guns, and Bargī,198 one of the confidential leaders of Aḥdād, was killed. From the occurrence of this affair, for fear that the people from all sides and quarters should assemble and block the road for them to get out, giving up their hearts and feet (in a state of distraction), in fear and confusion they turned back. About 800 of those dogs went to jahannam (hell), and 200, having caught horses, hastily escaped with their lives from that deadly place. Nād ‘Alī Maidānī, who was in Lahūgar, at last on the same day arrived there, and pursued them for a short distance. As the distance (between them) was too great and his band small, he turned back. For the energy he had shown in coming quickly, and for the activity displayed by Mu‘izzu-l-mulk, they were both promoted in rank; Nād ‘Alī, who held that of 1,000 personal to that of 1,500, and Mu‘izzu-l-mulk, who held the rank of 1,500, to 1,800. As it transpired that Khān Daurān and the Kabulis were in the habit of passing their days in carelessness, and the repelling of the evil disposition of Aḥdād had taken a long time, it occurred to me that as the Khankhanan was without employment I might appoint him and his sons to this duty. Soon after this idea occurred Qilīj Khān, to summon whom a firman had already been issued, came from the Panjab and obtained the honour of an audience. It became evident from the forehead of his circumstances (his manner) that he was annoyed at the duty of driving back the ill-dispositioned Aḥdād being assigned to Khānkhānān. As he faithfully promised to take up this duty, it was settled that the governorship of the Subah of the Panjab should belong to Murtaẓā Khān, and that the Khankhanan should remain at home, and that Qilīj Khān should be promoted to the rank of 6,000 personal and 5,000 horse, and be appointed to Kabul to drive back Aḥdād and the up-country robbers. I ordered the Khankhanan to have a jagir in the Subah of Agra in the Sarkars of Qanauj and Kalpi, that he might inflict condign punishment on the rebels of that region and exterminate them (pull them out by the roots). When I dismissed them I gave each of them special robes of honour and horses and elephants, and having received the robes of exaltation they started of. At the same time, on account of the sincerity of his friendship and his old services, I bestowed on I‘timādu-d-daulah the rank of 2,000 personal and 500 horse, and presented him with a sum of 5,000 rupees by way of gift. Mahābat Khān, whom I had sent to make the necessary preparations for war for the victorious army of the Deccan and point out to the Amirs the desirability of concord and unanimity, paid his respects to me at the capital of Agra on the 12th of the month of Tīr, the 21st of Rabī‘u-ṯ-ṯānī. It was brought to notice in a letter from Islām Khān that ‘Ināyat Khān had performed approved service in the Subah of Bengal; on this account I increased by 500 personal the rank he already held of 2,000. I also increased by 500 personal and 300 horse, so as to make it up altogether to 1,500 personal and 800 horse, the rank of Rāja Kalyān, who was one of the officials of that Subah. I appointed Hāshim Khān,199 who was in Orissa, to the government of Kashmir, and sent his uncle, Khwāja Muḥammad Ḥusain, there to look after the affairs of that country until his arrival. In the time of my revered father his father, Muḥammad Qāsim, had conquered Kashmir. Chīn Qilīj, who was the eldest son of Qilīj Khān, came from the Subah of Kabul and waited on me. As in addition to his natural excellence he was a khānazād (houseborn one), he was honoured with the title of Khan, and according to the prayer of his father, and on condition of his undertaking service in Tīrah, I increased his rank by 500 personal and 300 horse. On the 14th Amardād, on account of the previous service and great sincerity and ability of I‘timādu-d-daulah, I bestowed on him the high rank of the viziership of the kingdom, and on the same day presented a belt with a jewelled dagger to Yādgār ‘Alī, ambassador of the ruler of Iran. As ‘Abdu-llah Khān, who had been appointed to command the army against the rebel Rānā, promised to enter the province of the Deccan from the direction of Gujarat, I promoted him to be Subahdar of that province, and at his request appointed Rāja Bāso to the command of the army against the Rānā, increasing his rank by 500 horse. In place of Gujarat I conferred the Subah of Malwa on Khān A‘ẓam and sent 400,000 rupees to provide for the army and warlike materials for the force that had been appointed to accompany ‘Abdu-llah Khān by way of Nāsik, which is near the province of the Deccan. Ṣafdar Khān, with his brothers, came from the Subah of Behar, and had the honour of kissing the threshold.
One of the royal slaves who was serving in the seal-cutting departments prepared and laid before me a design such as I had never seen or heard of before. As it is exceedingly strange, a detailed200 description of it is given. In the shell of a filbert four compartments had been carved out of ivory. The first compartment was one of wrestlers, in which two men were engaged in wrestling, a third was standing with a spear in his hand, a fourth with a hard stone.200a Another was sitting with his hands placed on the ground, while in front of him were laid a piece of wood, a bow and a pot. In the second a throne had been made above which a shamiyāna (a tent-fly or canopy) was depicted, and a man of wealth (a prince) was seated on the throne with one leg placed over the other and a pillow at his back. Five servants were standing around and before him, and tree-boughs threw a shade over the throne. In the third compartment is a company of rope-dancers, who have raised upright a pole with three ropes fastened to it. A rope-dancer upon it (qu. on the ropes?201) has taken hold of his own right foot with his left hand behind his head, and standing on one foot has placed a goat on the top of the pole. Another person has thrown a drum on his neck and is beating it, whilst another man is standing with his hands lifted up and looking at the rope-dancer. Five other men are also standing, of whom one has a stick in his hand. In the fourth compartment there is a tree, below which the figure of the revered (ḥaẓrat) Jesus is shown. One person has placed his head at Jesus' feet, and an old man is conversing with Jesus and four others are standing by.201a As he had made such a masterpiece, I honoured him with a present and with increased salary.
On the 30th Shahrīwar, Mīrzā Sulṭān, who had been sent for from the Deccan, came and waited on me. Ṣafdar Khān had an increase of rank conferred on him, and was appointed to go to the assistance of the army against the rebel Rānā. As ‘Abdu-llah Khān Bahādur Fīrūz-jang had proposed to enter the neighbouring province of the Deccan by way of Nāsik, it occurred to me to appoint Rām Dās Kachhwāha, who was one of the sincere servants of my revered father, to accompany him in order that he might in every place look after him, and not allow him to be too rash and hasty. For this purpose I bestowed on him great favours, as well as the title of Raja, which he had not thought of for himself. I also gave him drums and the fort of Ranthanbūr, which is one of the noted castles in Hindustan, and honouring him with a superb robe of honour and an elephant and horse I dismissed him. I appointed Khwāja Abū-l-ḥasan, who had been transferred from the chief Diwanship, to the duty of the Subahdarship of the Deccan, as he had been for a long time in those regions in the service of my deceased brother (Dāniyāl). I honoured Abū-l-ḥasan, son of I‘timādu-d-daulah, with the title of I‘tiqād Khān, and having promoted the sons of Mu‘aẓẓam Khān to fitting ranks sent them to Bengal to Islām Khān. At the request of Islām Khān, Rāja Kalyān was appointed to the government of the Sarkar of Orissa and had an increase in rank of 200 personal and horse. I presented Shajā‘at Khān Dakhanī with 4,000 rupees. On the 7th Ābān Badī‘u-z-zamān, son of Mīrzā Shāhrukh, came from the Deccan and waited on me.
About this time, in consequence of the disturbances that had occurred in the country of Māwarā'a-n-nahr, many of the Amirs and Ūzbeg soldiers, such as Ḥusain Bī, Pahluwān Bābā, and Nauras Bī Darman, and Baram Bī and others came to Court and waited on me. They were all honoured with robes of honour, horses, cash, mansabs, and jagirs. On the 2nd Āzar Hāshim Khān came from Bengal and had the honour of kissing my threshold. I sent 500,000 rupees for the expenses of the victorious army of the Deccan, of which the leader was ‘Abdu-llah Khān, to Ahmadabad in Gujarat by the hands of Rūp Khawāṣṣ and Shaikh Anbiyā. On the 1st day I went to the village of Samonagar, which is one of my fixed hunting-places, to hunt. Twenty-two antelope were killed, of which I myself killed sixteen and Khurram the other six. Remaining there two days and two nights, on the night of Sunday I returned to the city in health and safety, and one night this couplet threw its brilliance on my mind:—
“As long as there's in heaven light for the sun,
Be not the reflection far from the Shah's umbrella.”
I ordered the lamplighters and the relators of stories that at the time of their salutations and telling stories they should commence with this couplet, and it is still in use. On Saturday, the 3rd day, a letter came from Khān A‘ẓam that ‘Ādil Khān Bījāpūrī had given up his evil ways and become penitent, and in the rank of servants was now more loyal than ever. On the 14th day, corresponding with the last day of Shawwāl, leave was given to Hāshim Khān to go to Kashmir. I gave a special wrapper203 (fargal) to Yādgār ‘Alī, ambassador of Persia. I presented I‘tiqād Khān with one of my special swords called Sar-andāz (thrower of heads). Having honoured Shādmān, son of Khān A‘ẓam, with the title of Shādmān Khān, I increased his rank to 1,700 personal and 500 horse. He was also honoured with a standard. Sardār Khān, brother of ‘Abdu-llah Khān Fīrūz-jang, and Arslān Bī Ūzbeg, who had been appointed to the charge of Sīvistān,203a were also presented with standards. I ordered that jā'i-namāz (prayer carpets) should be made of the skins of the antelopes I had myself killed, and be kept in the public audience hall for people to use in saying their prayers. By way of special respect to the Law I ordered that the Mīr-i-‘Adl and Qāẓī, who are the pivot of affairs of the divine law, should not kiss the ground (before me), which is a kind of sijda. On Thursday, the 22nd day, I went again to Samonagar to hunt. As many antelope had collected together in that neighbourhood I had this time sent off Khwāja Jahān to prepare a qamargah and drive in the antelope into a broad place from all sides, to place canvas-walls (sarā-parda) and a gulāl-bāṛ204 round it. They enclosed a kos and half of ground with sarapardas. When news came that the hunting-place had been prepared and a great deal of game had been confined, I went there and began to hunt on the Friday. Until the next Thursday I went every day to the qamargah with the ladies and hunted as much as I liked. Some of the deer were taken alive and some killed with arrows and guns. On the Sunday and Thursday, on which I do not fire guns at animals, they took them alive in nets. In these seven days 917 head, male and female, were caught, and of these 641 deer were caught alive. Four hundred and four head were sent to Fathpur to be let loose on the plain there, and with regard to 84 I ordered them to put silver rings in their noses and set them free in the same place. The 276 other antelope that had been killed with guns and arrows and by cheetahs were divided from day to day among the Begams and the slaves of the palace, and Amirs and servants of the palace. As I became very tired (dilgīr) of hunting, I gave orders to the Amirs to go to the shikārgāh (hunting-place) and hunt all that were left over, and myself returned in safety to the city. On the 1st Bahman, corresponding with the 17th Zī-l-qa‘da, I ordered that in the large cities of my dominions, like Ahmadabad, Allahabad, Lahore, Delhi, Agra, etc., they should arrange bulghur-khanas (places for the distribution of cooked food) for the poor; thirty mahalls (districts) had been ordered. Six had already been established, and twenty-four other districts were now ordered. On the 4th Bahman I increased the rank of Rāja Bīr Singh Deo by 1,000 personal; it was previously 4,000 personal and 2,000 horse: I gave him a jewelled sword. Another sword out of my special ones, that was called Shāh-bacha (king's child), was presented to Shāh-nawāz Khān. On the 16th Isfandārmuz, Badī‘u-z-zamān, son of Mīrzā Shāhrukh, was appointed to the army against the rebel Rānā and a sword sent by his hand for Rāja Bāso. Having again heard that the Amirs on the borders interfere with authority in matters that do not concern them, and do not observe laws and regulations, I ordered205 that the Bakhshis should circulate orders, to be obeyed amongst the Amirs of the borders, that hereafter they should not interfere in such things, which are the private affair of kings. The first thing is this, that they should not sit in the jharokha (private window), and should not trouble their officers and captains of the auxiliaries with keeping guard or saluting them, and should not have elephant fights, and should not inflict the punishment of blinding, and should not cut off ears and noses, and should not force Islam on anyone, and should not confer titles on their servants, and should not order the royal servants to do kūrnish or prostration, and should not force singers to remain on duty in the manner customary in (royal) darbars, and should not beat drums when they go out, and when they give a horse or elephant to anyone, whether to the king's attendants or to their own servants, they should not place reins or elephant's goads on their backs and make them perform obeisance. In going in procession they should not take with them on foot in their retinue the royal attendants. If they write anything to them they should not put a seal on it.205a The regulations which have been styled the rules of Jahāngīr (Āyīn-i-Jahāngīrī) are now in force.205b
On Tuesday, the 1st Farwardīn of the seventh year from my accession on the 16th Muḥarram u-l-ḥarām (19th March, 1612) in the year 1021, the New Year's assembly that illuminates the world, and the festival that brings joy, were held in the capital of Agra. After four gharis of the night had passed on Thursday, the 3rd of the aforesaid month, the hour that the astrologers had chosen, I sat on the throne. I had ordered that, according to annual custom, the bazars should be decorated and the assembly should be kept up until the day of culmination (rūz-i-sharaf). Khusrau Bī Ūzbeg, who was known among the Uzbegs as Khusrau Qimchī,206 came on these days and had the honour of waiting on me. As he was one of the influential men of Māwarā'a-n-nahr, I bestowed many favours on him, and gave him a fine robe of honour. I gave 15,000 rupees to Yādgār ‘Alī, ambassador of the ruler of Iran, for his expenses. On the same day the offering of Afẓal Khān, which he had sent from the Subah of Behar, was laid before me. There were 30 elephants and 18 ponies (gūnṭh), and pieces of Bengal cloth, sandalwood, some pods of musk, aloes-wood (Agallochum), and all kinds of things. The offering of Khān Daurān was also produced before me. He had sent 45 head of horse and two strings of camels, porcelain from China, dressing-gowns (pūstīnhā206a ) of sable (sammūr), and other valuable presents procurable in Kabul and its neighbourhood. The officers of the palace had taken trouble about their offerings, and according to the yearly custom from day to day of the festival the offerings of the servants were laid before me. Having looked at them in detail, I took what I approved and gave them the remainder. On the 13th Farwardīn, corresponding with the 29th Muḥarram, a representation from Islām Khān arrived to the effect that through the blessing of Allah's favour and through the benign influence of the royal grace, Bengal had been freed from the disturbance of ‘Uṯmān, the Afghan. Before the circumstances of this war are written down, some particulars with regard to Bengal will be recorded.207 Bengal is a country of great extent, and in the second clime its length, from the port of Chittagong to Garī, is 450 kos; and its breadth, from the Northern hills to the boundary of Sarkar Madāran, 220 kos. Its revenue is about 60 krores of dams.207a The former rulers of this place always had 20,000 horse, a lakh of foot-soldiers, 1,000 elephants, and 4,000 or 5,000 war-boats. From the time of Shīr Khān and his son Salīm Khān, this country was in the possession of the Afghans. When the throne of sovereignty of Hindustan in the hands of my revered father acquired beauty and splendour, he ordered the victorious forces (of the empire) into it, and for a long time made the conquest of it his object, until the aforesaid province, through the great efforts of the chiefs of the victorious State, passed from the possession of Dā'ūd Karānī, who was the last of its rulers. That wretch was killed in the fight with Khān Jahān, and his army became scattered and in desperate condition. From that date until now the province is in the possession of the servants of the State. In the end a few of the remaining Afghans had remained in the corners and sides of the country, and kept a few distant places in their possession, until, by degrees, most of that body became despised and helpless, and were captured by the chiefs of the State in the places of which they had still possession. When the arrangement of the affairs of rule and empire, simply through the grace of God, became entrusted to this humble servant of the throne of Allah, in the first year after my accession I sent for Rāja Mān Singh, who had been appointed to the rule and government of that place, to Court, and sent Quṭbu-d-dīn Khān, who, out of all the officials, was distinguished as my foster-brother, in his place. As he entered the province he attained to martyrdom at the hand of one of those mischievous ones who had been appointed to that country, and that man, who had not thought of the consequences, also obtained the reward of his deeds, and was slain. I promoted Jahāngīr Qulī Khān, who was governor and a Jagirdar in the province of Behar, on account of his nearness to that neighbourhood, to the rank of 5,000 personal and horse, and ordered him to go to Bengal and take possession of the province. I sent an order to Islām Khān, who was at the capital of Agra, to go to Behar and consider that province his jagir. When a short time had passed under the rule of Jahāngīr Qulī Khān, he contracted a severe illness, in consequence of the bad water and air of that place, and by degrees the power of the disease and his weakness became so great as to end in his destruction. When the news of his death came to my hearing at Lahore, an order was issued in the name of Islām Khān to proceed as soon as possible to Bengal. When I appointed him to this important duty, most of the servants of the State made remarks on his youth and want of experience. As the excellence of his disposition and his natural capacity had been noticed by my judicious eye, I myself chose him for this duty. As it happened, the affairs of this province were carried on by him in such a manner as from the time when it first entered into the possession of the Chiefs of the everlasting State until this day has never been attained to by any of the servants of the Court. One of his noteworthy deeds was the driving away of the rebel ‘Uṯmān, the Afghan. He frequently in the time of the late king encountered the royal forces, but his expulsion was not accomplished. When Islām Khān made Dhaka (Dacca) his place of abode and made the subjection of the Zamindars of that neighbourhood his chief object, it occurred to him that he should send an army against the rebel ‘Uṯmān and his province. If he agreed to serve loyally, well and good, but if not, they should punish and annihilate him like other seditious people. At that time Shajā‘at Khān209 joined Islām Khan, and the lot of leading in this service209a fell on his name. Several others of the State servants were also appointed to go with him, such as Kishwar Khān, Iftikhār Khān, Sayyid Ādam Bārha, Shaikh Achhay,209b nephew of Muqarrab Khān, Mu‘tamad Khān, the sons of Mu‘aẓẓam Khān, Ihtimām Khān, and others. He took with him also some of his own men. At the hour when Mushtarī (Jupiter) was propitious, he started off this band, and appointed Mīr Qāsim, son of Mīrzā Murād, its chief paymaster and news-writer. He took also some of the Zamindars with him to show the road. The victorious armies started. When they reached the neighbourhood of ‘Uṯmān's fort and land, they sent some eloquent men to admonish him and point out to him the way of loyalty, and bring him back from the road of rebellion to the right path. As much pride had seated itself in his brain-cup, and he had in his head a desire to seize the country, beside other fancies, he turned a deaf ear to their words and prepared himself for conflict and fight. The battlefield happened to be on the bank of a nullah in a place which was a complete bog. On Sunday (12th March, 1612), the 9th Muḥarram, Shajā‘at Khān, choosing the hour for the fight, arrayed the victorious forces, so that everyone should go to his place and be prepared for the battle. ‘Uṯmān had not settled the battle for that day with himself. When he heard that the royal army had come prepared for battle, having no remedy he himself mounted and came to the bank of the nullah, and arrayed his own horse and foot opposite the victorious army. When the affair grew hot, and the two forces opposed each other, that foolish, obstinate man at the first onset threw his own fighting raging elephant against the advanced guard. After much fighting many of the leaders of the advanced guard, as Sayyid Ādam210 Bārha and Shaikh Achhay, attained the dignity of martyrdom. Iftikhār Khān, the leader of the right wing, was in no way remiss in attacking, and sacrificed his own life. The band that was with him fought to such a degree that they were all cut to pieces. In the same way Kishwar210a Khān and his band of the left wing bravely sacrificed themselves in the affair of their master, but many of the enemy (lit. those of dark fortune) were also wounded and killed. That evil one (‘Uṯmān) took account of the combatants and ascertained that the leaders of the advanced guard and right and left wings were killed. The centre alone remained. He took no account of the killed and wounded on his own side, but attacked the centre (of the royal army) with the same energy. On this side the son and brothers and sons-in-law of Shajā‘at Khān, as well as other officers, stopped the advance of those lost ones, and attacked them like tigers and leopards armed with claws and teeth. Some of them attained the dignity of martyrdom, and those that remained alive bore away fatal wounds. At this time (‘Uṯmān) drove a raging elephant of the name of Gajpat,211 which was his premier elephant, at Shajā‘at Khān, who laid hold of his spear and struck the elephant. What does a raging elephant care for a javelin! He then seized his sword and struck him two blows one after another. How did he regard these either! He then drew his dagger and struck him twice with it, but for this, too, he did not turn back, but overthrew Shajā‘at Khān with his horse. Immediately he was separated from his horse; calling out “Jahāngīr Shāh,” he leapt up, and his equerry struck the elephant on both front legs a blow with a two-handed sword. As the elephant fell on his knees, the equerry pulled the elephant driver down off the elephant, and Shajā‘at with the dagger he had in his hand, and while on foot, struck such blows on the trunk and forehead of the elephant that the elephant roared out at the pain and turned round. As he was severely wounded, he went to his own army and fell down. Shajā‘at Khān's horse got up safely. As he was mounting his horse those vile ones drove another elephant at his standard-bearer, and overthrew his horse and standard. Shajā‘at Khān gave a manly shout and roused the standardbearer, saying: “Be bold: I'm alive and the standard is at my feet (?).”211a At this critical moment all the servants of the State who were present seized their arrows and daggers and swords, and smote the elephant. Shajā‘at himself came up and shouted to the standard-bearer to rise, and got another horse for the standard-bearer and mounted him on it. The standard-bearer unfurled the standard and maintained his ground. At the time of this struggle a (ball from a) gun struck that rebel on his forehead. However much they enquired for the man who fired it, he could not be found. When this struck him, he recognized that he was a dead man. Yet for two watches, notwithstanding this fatal wound, he urged on his men to the fight, and the battlefield was still deadly and the struggle warm. Afterwards the enemy turned their faces, and the victorious army pursued them, and continually striking them drove back those vile ones into the place where they had encamped. With arrows and guns those wretches would not allow the royal troops to enter the place where they were. When Walī, the brother of ‘Uṯmān, and Mamrez, his (‘Uṯmān's) son and other relations and followers became aware of ‘Uṯmān's wound, they made up their minds that he would not recover from it, and that if they, defeated and put to flight, should go towards their fort none would reach it alive. They thought it best to remain for the night in the place where they had encamped, and towards the end of the night seek an opportunity and get to their fort. Two watches of night had passed when ‘Uṯmān went to hell. In the third watch they raised his lifeless body, and leaving his tent and the things they had with them in the camp, proceeded to their fortress. The scouts of the victorious army, having obtained news of this, informed Shajā‘at Khān. On the morning of Monday the loyalists assembled and decided to follow them, and not allow breathing-time to those of dark fortune. In the end, in consequence of the tired state of the soldiers, and in order to bury the martyrs and out of sympathy for the wounded, they were perplexed in their minds as to going or settling down (where they were). Just at this time ‘Abdu-s-Salām, son of Mu‘aẓẓam Khān, arrived with a body of servants of the State, altogether 300 horse and 400 musketeers (tūpchī). When this fresh body of men arrived it was determined to pursue, and they accordingly went on. When Walī, who after ‘Uṯmān was the stock of the disturbance, learned that Shajā‘at Khān with the victorious army had come together with another fresh force, he saw no resource for himself but to go to Shajā‘at Khān on the straight line of faith and loyalty. In the end he sent a message that he who had been the cause of the disturbance had gone, and that the body of those who were left were servants and Musulmans. If he would give his word they would wait upon him and would agree to serve the State, giving their elephants as an offering. Shajā‘at Khān and Mu‘taqid Khān, who had arrived on the day of the battle and had done approved service, and all those who were loyal, in accordance with the necessity of the time and with what was best for the State, gave their word and encouraged them. On the next day, Walī and the sons, brothers, and sons-in-law of ‘Uṯmān all came and waited upon Shajā‘at Khān and the other servants of the State. They brought forty-nine elephants as an offering. After the completion of this work Shajā‘at Khān, leaving some of the royal servants in Adhār213 and the neighbourhood which was in the possession of that one of evil fortune, took with him Walī and the other Afghans, and on Monday, the 6th of the month of Ṣafar, came to Jahāngīrnagar (Dacca) and joined Islām Khān. When the joyful news reached in Agra this supplicant at the throne of Allah, he performed the prostrations of gratitude, and recognized that the driving away of this description of enemy was brought about simply through the unstinted mercy of the Almighty Giver. As a reward for this good service I promoted Islām Khān to the rank of 6,000 personal, and honoured Shajā‘at Khān with the title of “Rustam of the age” (Rustam-zamān), as well as increased his rank by 1,000 personal and horse. I also increased the rank of other servants according to the measure of their services, and they were selected for other honours.
When this news first came of the killing of ‘Uṯmān it appeared to be a joke, but by way of ascertaining the truth or falsehood of the words I took an omen from the divān of the tongue of the unseen world, Khwāja Ḥāfiẓ of Shiraz, and this ghazal214 turned up:—
“I make my eyes red and throw patience to the wilds,
And in such a case throw my heart into the sea.
I'm wounded by the shaft of heaven:
Give wine, so that intoxicated I may cast a knot in the girdle of the Twins.”
As this couplet was very appropriate to the occasion, I drew an omen from it. After some days news came again that the arrow of Fate, or rather of God, had struck ‘Uṯmān, for however much they enquired for him, he who fired the shot was not made manifest. This has been recorded on account of its strange nature.
On the 16th Farwardīn, Muqarrab Khān, who is one of my chief retainers and the old confidants of the Jahangiri service, who had attained the rank of 3,000 personal and 2,000 horse, came from the fort of Cambay and had the honour of waiting on me. I had ordered him, on account of certain business, to go to the port of Goa215 and buy for the private use of the government certain rareties procurable there. According to orders he went with diligence to Goa, and remaining there for some time, took at the price the Franks asked for them the rareties he met with at that port, without looking at the face of the money at all (i.e. regardless of cost). When he returned from the aforesaid port to the Court, he produced before me one by one the things and rareties he had brought. Among these were some animals that were very strange and wonderful, such as I had never seen, and up to this time no one had known their names. Although King Bābar has described in his Memoirs the appearance and shapes of several animals, he had never ordered the painters to make pictures of them. As these animals appeared to me to be very strange, I both described them and ordered that painters should draw them in the Jahāngīr-nāma, so that the amazement that arose from hearing of them might be increased. One of these animals in body is larger than a peahen and smaller than a peacock.215a When it is in heat and displays itself, it spreads out its feathers like the peacock and dances about. Its beak and legs are like those of a cock. Its head and neck and the part under the throat are every minute of a different colour. When it is in heat it is quite red— one might say it had adorned itself with red coral—and after a while it becomes white in the same places, and looks like cotton. It sometimes looks of a turquoise colour. Like a chameleon it constantly changes colour. Two pieces of flesh it has on its head look like the comb of a cock. A strange thing is this, that when it is in heat the aforesaid piece of flesh hangs down to the length of a span from the top of its head like an elephant's trunk, and again when he raises it up it appears on its head like the horn of a rhinoceros, to the extent of two finger-breadths. Round its eyes it is always of a turquoise colour, and does not change. Its feathers appear to be of various colours, differing from the colours of the peacock's feathers. He also brought a monkey of a strange and wonderful form. Its hands, feet, ears, and head are like those of a monkey, and its face like that of a fox. The colour of its eyes is like that of a hawk's eye, but the eyes are larger than those of a hawk. From its head to the end of its tail it is an ordinary cubit in length. It is lower than a monkey and taller than a fox. Its hair is like the wool of a sheep and its colour like that of ashes. From the lobe of its ear to its chin it is red and of the colour of wine. Its tail is two or three finger-breadths longer than half a cubit, quite different from that of other monkeys. The tail of this animal hangs down like the tail of a cat. Sometimes it makes a sound like a young antelope. On the whole it is a very strange beast. Of the wild birds which they call tadrū (pheasant) till now it has never been heard that they breed in captivity. In the time of my revered father they made great efforts to obtain eggs and young ones but it was not managed. I ordered them to keep some of them, male and female, in one place, and by degrees they bred. I ordered them to place the eggs under hens, and in a space of two years sixty or seventy young were produced and fifty or sixty grew up. Whoever heard of this matter was astonished. It was said that in the Wilāyat (Persia?) the people there had made great efforts, but no eggs were produced and no young were obtained.
In these days I increased the mansab of Mahābat Khān by 1,000 personal and 500 horse, which thus became 4,000 personal and 3,500 horse. The mansab of I‘timādu-d-daulah, original and increased, was fixed at 4,000 personal and 1,000 horse. To the mansab of Mahā Singh also an increase of 500 personal and horse was given: it was originally and with increase 3,000 personal and 2,000 horse. The mansab of I‘tiqād Khān was increased by 500 personal and 200 horse, and made up to 1,000 personal and 300 horse. Khwāja Abū-l-ḥasan in these days came from the Deccan and waited on me. Daulat Khān, who had been appointed to the faujdarship of Allahabad and of the Sarkar of Jaunpur, came and paid his respects: an increase of 500 was made to his mansab, which was 1,000. On the day of culmination (rūz-i-sharaf), which was the 19th Farwardīn, I raised the mansab of Sulṭān Khurram, which was 10,000, to 12,000, and made that of I‘tibār Khān, which was 3,000 personal and 1,000 horse, up to 4,000. I raised the mansab of Muqarrab Khān from 2,000 personal and 1,000 horse by 500 personal and horse; and increased that of Khwāja Jahān, which was 2,000 personal and 1,200 horse, by 500. As these were the days of the New Year, many of the servants (of the State) obtained an increase of their mansabs. On the same day Dulīp came from the Deccan and waited on me. As his father Rāy Rāy Singh had died, I honoured him with the title of Rāy and clothed him in a dress of honour. Rāy Rāy Singh had another son, by name Sūraj Singh. Although Dulīp was his ṭīkā (marked with the ṭīkā) son, he wished Sūraj Singh to succeed him, in consequence of the love that he bore to his mother. When the circumstances of his death were reported to me, Sūraj Singh, in consequence of his want of intelligence and tender years, represented to me: “My father has made me his successor and given me the ṭīkā.” This remark was not to my liking, and I said: “If thy father has given the ṭīkā to thee, we shall give it to Dulīp.” Then marking the ṭīkā with my own hand, I presented the latter with his father's jagir and hereditary possessions. I bestowed on I‘timādu-d-daulah an inkstand and jewelled pen. Rūdar, the father of Lakhmī Chand, Raja of Kumaon, who is one of the considerable Rajas of the hill country, had come in the time of the late King Akbar,218 and when he came had petitioned218a that the son of Rāja Ṭoḍar Mal might take him by the hand and bring him to wait on him. In consequence, the Raja's (Ṭoḍar Mal's) son had been appointed to bring him. Lakhmī Chand now similarly asked that the son of I‘timādu-d-daulah might bring him to pay his respects. I sent Shāpūr218b to bring him to wait on me. He laid before me rare things from his own hill country, such as gūnṭh ponies, and birds of prey, such as hawks, jurra (falcons), royal falcons, qaṭās (yaks), navels of musk, and skins of the musk antelope with the musk-bags on them, swords which in their language they call khānḍā, and daggers which they call kaṭār, and all kinds of things. Amongst the Rajas of this hill country this Raja is well known for the large quantities of gold he has. They say there is a gold-mine in his territory.218c
In order to lay the foundation of a palace at Lahore, I sent there Khwāja Jahān Khwāja Dūst Muḥammad, who is well skilled in this kind of business.
As the affairs of the Deccan, in consequence of the disagreements among the Sardars and the carelessness of Khān A‘ẓam, did not look well, and the defeat of ‘Abdu-llah Khān had taken place, I had sent for Khwāja Abu-l-ḥasan to make enquiries into the real state of these quarrels. After much enquiry and investigation it became clear that the defeat of ‘Abdu-llah Khān had been caused by his pride and his sharp temper, and not listening to words (of advice), and partly by the quarrels and want of agreement between the Amirs. Briefly, it had been determined that ‘Abdu-llah Khān should start from the direction of Nāsik and Trimbak with the Gujarat army and the Amirs who had been appointed to accompany him. This army had been brought into proper order by trustworthy leaders and zealous Amirs, such as Rāja Rām Dās, Khān A‘lam, Saif Khān, ‘Alī Mardān Bahādur, Ẓafar Khān, and other servants of the State. The number of the army had passed 10,000 and come up to near 14,000. On the side of Berar it was settled that Rāja Mān Singh, Khān Jahān, the Amīru-l-umarā, and many other leaders should proceed. These two armies should be aware of each other's marches and halts, so that on an appointed day they might catch the enemy between the two. If this rule had been observed and their hearts had been in unison, and self-interest had not come between, it is most probable that Almighty God would have given them the victory of the day. When ‘Abdu-llah Khān passed the Ghats and entered the enemy's country, he did not take care to send runners (qāṣidān) to bring intelligence from the other army, nor did he, in accordance with the arrangements, make his movements harmonise with theirs, so that on an appointed day they might take the enemy between two armies. Rather he relied on his own strength, and considered that if he could gain the victory alone it would be better. This idea fixed itself in his mind, and however much Rām Dās desired him to promise to go forward with due deliberation, it was of no use. The enemy, who were observing him closely, had sent a large number of leaders and Bargīs (Mahrattas) against him, and encounters took place with them every day. They did not fail to throw rockets and different fireworks at night. At last the enemy drew near, and yet he obtained no intelligence about the other army, though he had approached Daulatabad, which was the place of assembly of the Dakhanis. ‘Ambar, the black-faced, had raised to sovereignty a child who, in his opinion, bore relationship to the family of Niẓāmu-l-mulk. In order that men might fully accept his (the child's) sovereignty, he raised him up and took him by the hand, and made himself the Peshwa and leader. He sent men again and again (against ‘Abdu-llah), and the number of the enemy was continually increasing till at last they made an attack, and by throwing rockets and other fireworks made matters hot for him.220 At length the loyalists thought it best, as no assistance had come to them from the other army and all the Dakhanis had turned against them, to retreat at once and try some other arrangement. All agreed, and with one consent started off before dawn. The Dakhanis followed them to the boundaries of their own country, and the two armies, meeting every day, did not fail in fighting. In these days several of the ambitious and zealous young men were killed. ‘Alī Mardān Khān Bahādur, behaving like a brave man, carried away terrible wounds and fell into the hands of the enemy, and showed his companions an example of fidelity to his salt and of life-sacrifice. Zū-l-faqār Beg also displayed manly actions, and a rocket struck him on the leg, and two days afterwards he died. When they entered the country of Rāja Bharjū,221 who was one of those loyal to the throne, that body (the enemy) turned back, and ‘Abdu-llah Khān proceeded towards Gujarat. The real truth is this, that if in going he had drawn his rein (gone slowly) and allowed the other army to have come up to him, the matter would have turned out according to the wish of the chief men of the victorious State.221a As soon as the news of the retreat of ‘Abdu-llah Khān reached the leaders of the army that was advancing from Berar, not seeing any advantage from further stay, they also retired, and joined the camp of Parwīz at ‘Ādilābād in the neighbourhood of Burhanpur. When this intelligence reached me at Agra I was greatly agitated, and proposed to go there myself and destroy root and branch those servants who had become masters. The Amirs and other devoted ones would in no way consent to this. Khwāja Abū-l-ḥasan represented that as no one understood the business of that region as the Khankhanan did I ought to send him, and that he should again arrange matters that had fallen into disorder, and according to the exigencies of the time should compose differences so that affairs might return to their original condition. Other well-wishers being consulted, all their opinions were at one in this, that the Khankhanan must be sent and that Khwāja Abū-l-ḥasan should accompany him. Agreeing with this determination, those who had charge of the affairs of the Khankhanan and his companions obtained leave to go on Sunday, the 17th Urdībihisht, in the 7th year. Shāh-nawāz Khān, Khwāja Abū-l-ḥasan, Razzāq-birdī Ūzbeg, and several others of his associates paid their parting salutations on the same day. The Khankhanan was promoted to the rank of 6,000 personal, Shāh-nawāz Khān to that of 3,000 and horse, that of Dārāb Khān increased by 500 personal and 300 horse (altogether 2,000 personal and 1,500 horse), and to Raḥman-dād, his (the Khankhanan's) younger son, I also gave a fitting mansab. I presented the Khankhanan with a grand dress of honour, a jewelled dagger, a special elephant with talāyir (accoutrements), and an Iraq horse. In the same way I bestowed on his sons and companions dresses of honour and horses. In the same month Mu‘izzu-l-mulk came from Kabul with his sons, and had the good fortune to kiss the threshold. Shyām Singh and Rāy Mangat Bhadauriya, who belonged to the army of Bangash, according to the request of Qilīj Khān, were promoted to higher mansabs. Shyām Singh had 1,500 personal and was increased by 500, and Rāy Mangat was also raised to a higher rank.
For a long time past news had come of the illness of Āṣaf Khān; sometimes the disease was got under and sometimes recurred, until he died at Burhanpur in the 63rd year of his age. His understanding and capacity were very good. He was very quick-witted. He also wrote poetry. He composed “Khusrau and Shīrīn,” dedicating it to me, and called it the “Nūr-nāma” (the writing of light).222 He had been ennobled in the time of my revered father and made Vizier. In the days when I was a prince he had several times done foolish things, and most men, and indeed Khusrau himself, were of opinion that after my accession I would do unpleasant things (with regard to him). In a manner contrary to what had entered the minds of himself and others, I favoured him and promoted him to the rank of 5,000 personal and horse, and after he had for some time been Vizier with full authority, neglected no point in increasing favour towards him. After his death I gave mansabs to his sons and bestowed kindnesses on them. At last it was clear that his disposition and sincerity were not as they should be, and, considering his own evil deeds, he had always been suspicious with regard to me. They say he was aware of the conspiracy and disturbance that took place on the Kabul expedition, and had given support to the wretches. Indeed, I had no confidence that notwithstanding my favour and kindness to him he was not disloyal and of perverse fortune.
After a short space of time, on the 25th of the same month of Urdībihisht, the news of Mīrzā Ghāzī's death arrived. The said Mīrzā was of the ruling family of Thatta (Tatta), of the tribe of Tarkhānī. His father, Mīrzā Jānī, in the time of my revered father became loyal, and with the Khankhanan, who had been appointed to his province, he had the good fortune to have the honour of waiting on Akbar near Lahore. By the royal favour he was given his own province, and, choosing himself to serve at Court, he sent his men to the charge and administration of Thatta, and remained in the service while he lived. At last he died at Burhanpur. Mīrzā Ghāzī Khān, his son, who was at Thatta, in accordance with the firman of the late king obtained the government of that country. Sa‘īd Khān, who was at Bhakar (Bukkur), received an order to console him and bring him to Court. The aforesaid Khan sent men to him to recommend loyalty to him. At last, having brought him to Agra, he procured him the honour of kissing the feet of my revered father. He was at Agra when my father died and I ascended the throne. After I arrived at Lahore for the pursuit of Khusrau news came that the Amirs on the borders of Khurasan had assembled together and proceeded against Qandahar, and that Shāh Beg, the governor of that place, was shut up in the fort and looking out for assistance. Of necessity an army was appointed for the relief of Qandahar under the leadership of Mīrzā Ghāzī and other Amirs and generals. When this army reached the neighbourhood of Qandahar, the army of Khurasan, not seeing in themselves the power to await it, returned. Mīrzā Ghāzī, having entered Qandahar, handed over the country and the fort to Sardār Khān, who had been appointed to the government of the place, and Shāh Beg went to his own jagir. Mīrzā Ghāzī started for Lahore by way of Bhakar. Sardār Khān was only a short time at Qandahar before he died, and that province was again in need of a leader and master. This time I added Qandahar to Thatta and handed it over to Mīrzā Ghāzī. From that time till his death he remained there continuously in performance of the duties of its protection and government. His conduct towards the disaffected was excellent. As it was necessary to send a leader to Qandahar in the place of Mīrzā Ghāzī, I appointed Abū-l-bī Ūzbeg,224 who was at Multan and in that neighbourhood, to that post. I promoted him in rank from 1,500 personal and 1,000 horse to 3,000 personal and horse, and honoured him with the title of Bahādur Khān and a standard. The governorship of Delhi and the protection and administration of that province was conferred on Muqarrab Khān. I dignified Rūp Khawāṣṣ, who was one of the personal servants of my revered father, with the title of Khawāṣṣ Khān, and, giving him the rank of 1,000 personal and 500 horse, bestowed on him the faujdarship of the Sarkar of Qanuj. As I had sought the daughter224a of I‘tiqād Khān, son of I‘timādu-d-daulah, in marriage for Khurram, and the marriage festival had been arranged for, I went on Thursday, 18th Khūrdād, to his house, and stayed there one day and one night. He (Khurram) presented offerings (to me) and he gave jewels225 to the Begams, and to his mothers (including stepmothers) and to the female servants of the harem, and dresses of honour to the Amirs.
I sent ‘Abdu-r-Razzāq, the bakhshi of the palace (darkhāna), to settle the country of Thatta (Sind) until a Sardar should be appointed who could conciliate the soldiery and the cultivators, and so bring the province into order. I increased his rank and presented him with an elephant and a shawl (parmnarm), and sent him off. I made Mu‘izzu-l-mulk bakhshi in his room. Khwāja Jahān, who had been sent to inspect the buildings in Lahore and to arrange about them, came in the end of this month and waited on me. Mīrzā ‘Īsā Tarkhān, one of the relations of Mīrzā Ghāzī, had been appointed to the army of the Deccan. I sent for him to arrange about the business of Thatta, and on the same day he had the good fortune to pay his respects. As he was deserving of favour, he was given the rank of 1,000 personal and 500 horse. The disease of khūn-pāra226 had affected my health. By the advice of the physicians on Wednesday, the (date not given) of the said month, I drew about a sir (āṯār)226a of blood from my left arm. As great lightness resulted, it occurred to me that if they were to call blood-letting ‘lightening’ it would be well. Nowadays this expression is made use of. To Muqarrab Khān, who had bled me, I gave a jewelled khapwa (dagger). Kishan Dās, accountant of the elephant department and stable, who from the time of the late king until now has been the clerk in charge of two departments, and for ages had been hopeful of the title of Raja and the rank of 1,000 personal, and before this had been gratified with a title, now had the rank of 1,000 conferred on him. Mīrzā Rustam, son of Sulṭān Ḥusain Mīrzā Ṣafawī, who had been appointed to the army of the Deccan, I sent for at his request. On Saturday, the 9th of the month of Tīr, he came with his sons and waited on me. He made an offering of a ruby and forty-six royal pearls. I increased the rank of Tāj Khān, the governor of Bhakar, who was one of the old Amirs of this State, by 500 personal and horse.
The tale of the death of Shajā‘at Khān is a very strange affair. After he had performed such services and Islām Khān had given him leave to go to the Sarkar of Orissa, one night on the road he was riding on a female elephant chaukandī-dār226b (? in a square howdah or four-pillared canopy), and had given a young eunuch a place behind him. When he left his camp they had fastened up an elephant that was in heat on the road. From the noise of the horses' hoofs and the movement of the horsemen he attempted to break his chain. On this account a great noise and confusion took place. When this noise reached the ear of the eunuch, he in a state of bewilderment awoke Shajā‘at Khān, who was asleep or in the insensibility of wine, and said: “An elephant in heat has got loose and is coming in this direction.” As soon as he heard this he became confused and threw himself down from the front of the chaukandi. When he threw himself off his too struck against a stone and was torn open, and he died in two or three days of that same wound. In short, from hearing this affair I was completely bewildered. That a brave man on the mere hearing of a cry or a word coming from a child should become so confused and throw himself down without control from the top of an elephant is in truth a matter of amazement. The news of this event reached me on the 19th of the month of Tīr. I consoled his sons with kindnesses and the conferring of offices. If this accident had not happened to him, as he had done notable service, he would have obtained exaltation with greater favours and kindnesses.
Islām Khān had sent 160 male and female elephants from Bengal; they were brought before me and placed in my private elephant stables. Rāja Tekchand, the Raja of Kumaon, asked for leave to depart. As in the time of my father there had been given to his father 100 horses, I gave him the same number as well as an elephant, and while he was at Court bestowed on him dresses of honour and a jewelled dagger. Also to his brothers I gave dresses of honour and horses. I presented him with his territory according to previous arrangements, and he went back to his home happy and successful.
It happened incidentally that this verse of the Amīru-l-umarā was quoted:—
“Pass, O Messiah, o'er the heads of us slain by love;
Thy restoring one life is worth a hundred murders.”228
As I have a poetical disposition I sometimes intentionally and sometimes involuntarily compose couplets and quatrains. So the following couplet came into my head:—
“Turn not thy cheek, without thee I cannot live a moment;
For thee to break one heart is equal a hundred murders.”
When I had recited this, everyone who had a poetical vein composed a couplet in the same mode. Mullā ‘Alī Aḥmad,228a the seal-engraver, of whom an account has been given previously, had not said badly—
“O?? Censor, fear the weeping of the old vintner;
Thy breaking one jar is equal to a hundred murders.”
Abū-l-fatḥ Dakhanī,228b who was one of the most considerable of ‘Ādil Khān's Amirs, and had two years previously taken to being loyal and had entered himself among the leaders of the victorious army, on the 10th of Amurdād waited on me, and being accepted by my grace and favour had bestowed on him a special sword and a robe of honour, and after some days I also gave him a special horse. Khwājagī Muḥammad Ḥusain,229 who had gone to Kashmir as the deputy for his brother's son, when he was satisfied in his mind with the state of affairs of that place, came on the same day and waited on me. As a Sardar was needed to be sent for the governorship of Patna and the rule of that place, it occurred to me to send Mīrzā Rustam. Having raised his rank from 5,000 personal and 1,500 horse to 5,000 personal and horse, on the 26th Jumādā-ṯ-ṯānī, corresponding to the 2nd Shahrīwar, I gave him the government of Patna, and bestowing on him a special elephant, a horse with a jewelled saddle, a jewelled sword, and a superb dress of honour, I dismissed him. His sons and the sons of his brother Muẓaffar Ḥusain Khān Mīrzā'ī were exalted with increased rank, elephants, horses, and dresses of honour, and sent off with him. I appointed Rāy Dulīp to support Mīrzā Rustam. As his residence was near that place, he collected a good body of men for that service. I increased his rank by 500 personal and horse, so that it became 2,000 with 1,000 horse, and also gave him an elephant. Abū-l-fatḥ Dakhanī had obtained a jagir in the Sarkar of Nagpur and that neighbourhood. He was dismissed in order that he might administer his jagir and look to the guarding and government of that country as well. Khusrau Bī Ūzbeg was appointed to the faujdarship of the Sarkar of Mewar. His rank of 800 personal and 300 horse was now increased to 1,000 personal and 500 horse, and I also presented him with a horse. As I had my eye on the old service of Muqarrab Khān, it occurred to me that I must not pass by the desire of his heart. I had increased his rank and he had obtained good jagirs, but he longed for a standard and drums, and he was now honoured with these as well. Ṣāliḥ, the adopted son of Khwāja Beg-Mīrzā Ṣafawī, was a youth of great bravery and zeal. I gave him the title of Khanjar Khān, and made him eager in the service.
On Thursday, the 22nd Shahrīwar, corresponding with 17th Rajab, 1021, the feast of my solar weighing took place in the house of Maryam-zamānī. It is an approved custom with me to weigh myself in this manner. The late king Akbar, who was the place of manifestation of kindness and grace, also approved of the custom, and twice in every year weighed himself against several sorts of metals, gold, silver, and many precious articles, once according to the solar and once according to the lunar year, and divided their total value, which was worth about a lakh of rupees, among faqirs and needy people. I also observe this annual custom and weigh myself in the same manner, and give those valuables to faqirs. Mu‘taqid Khān, Diwan of Bengal, who had been relieved from that service, produced before me the sons and brothers and some of the servants of ‘Uṯmān, whom Islām Khān had sent with him to the Court. The charge of each one of the Afghans was entrusted to a responsible servant. Then he (Mu‘taqid) produced his own offering, which consisted of twenty-five elephants, two rubies, a jewelled phūl kaṭāra230 (a kind of dagger), trustworthy eunuchs, Bengal stuffs, etc. Mīr Mīrān, son of Sulṭān Khwāja, who was in the Deccan army, obtained the honour of kissing the threshold and gave a ruby as an offering. As between Qilīj Khān, leader of the army of Bangash on the borders of Kabul, and the Amirs of that Subah, who had been sent as companions to him under his leadership, there were quarrels, especially with Khān Daurān, I sent Khwāja Jahān to make enquiry as to which side was in fault. On the 11th of the month of Mihr, Mu‘taqid Khān was appointed to the high dignity of bakhshi, and his mansab was raised to 1,000 personal and 300 horse. Raising for the second time the mansabs of Muqarrab Khān a little, I made it 2,500 personal and 1,500 horse by an increase of 500. On the representation of the Khankhanan, Farīdūn Khān Barlās was raised to the mansab, original and increase, of 2,500 personal and 2,000 horse. Rāy Manohar received that of 1,000 personal and 800 horse, and Rāja Bīr Singh Deo that of 4,000 personal and 2,200 horse. Bhārat, grandson of Rāmchand Bandīlah, I, after the latter's death, honoured with the title of Raja. On the 28th Ābān, Ẓafar Khān, having come according to summons from the Subah of Gujarat, waited on me. He brought as offerings a ruby and three pearls. On the 6th Āzar, corresponding with the 3rd Shawwāl, news came from Burhanpur that the Amīru-l-umarā had died on Sunday, the 27th Ābān, in the parganah of Nihālpūr. After the illness he had at Lahore his intelligence appeared to be less, and a great loss of memory happened to him. He was very sincere. It is sad that he left no son capable of patronage and favour. Chīn Qilīj Khān came from his father, who was at Peshawar, on the 20th Āzar, and offered (on his father's behalf) 100 muhrs and 100 rupees, and also presented the offerings he had of his own in the shape of a horse and cloth stuffs and other things. To the government of Behar I promoted Ẓafar Khān, who is one of the trustworthy house-born ones and foster-children, and increasing his mansab by 500 personal and horse, I made it up to 3,000 personal and 2,000 horse, and also honouring his brothers with robes of honour and horses, allowed them to go off to that province. He had always hoped that he might obtain some separate service in order that he might show his natural ability. I also desired to prove him and make this service the touchstone by which to try him. As it was the season for travelling and hunting, on Tuesday, the 2nd Zī-l-qa‘da (25th December, 1612), corresponding with the 4th Day, I left Agra with the intention of hunting and encamped in the Dahrah garden, remaining there four days.232 On the 10th of the same month the news came of the death of Salīma Sulṭān Begam, who had been ill in the city. Her mother was Gul-rukh Begam, daughter of King Bābar, and her father Mīrzā Nūru-d-dīn Muḥammad, of the Naqshbandī Khwājas. She was adorned with all good qualities. In women this degree of skill and capacity is seldom found. H.M. Humāyūn, by way of kindness (to Bairām), had betrothed her who was his sister's daughter to Bairām Khān. After his death, in the beginning of the reign of the late king Akbar, the marriage took place. After the said Khan had been killed, my revered father married her himself. She received mercy (died) in the 60th year of her age.232a On the same day I marched from the Dahrah garden and sent I‘timādu-d-daulah to bury her (lit. lift her up), and ordered him to place her in the building in the Mandākar garden which she herself had made. On the 17th of the month of Day, Mīrzā ‘Alī Beg Akbarshāhī came from the army of the Deccan and waited on me. Khwāja Jahān, whom I had despatched to the Subah of Kabul, returned on the 21st of the same month and waited on me. The time for his going and coming had extended to three months and eleven days. He brought twelve muhrs and twelve rupees as an offering. On the same day Rāja Rām Dās also came from the victorious army of the Deccan and paid his respects, and made an offering of 101 muhrs. As robes of honour for the winter season had not been sent to the Amirs of the Deccan, they were forwarded by the hand of Ḥayāt Khān. As the port of Surat had been assigned in jagir to Qilīj Khān, he prayed that Chīn Qilīj (his son) might be despatched for its guardianship and administration. On the 27th Day he had a dress of honour, and being honoured with a dress of honour and the title of Khān, and a standard, obtained leave to go. For the purpose of advising the Amirs of Kabul, and on account of the disagreements that had sprung up between them and Qilīj Khān, I sent Rāja Rām Dās, and bestowed on him a horse and robe of honour and 30,000 rupees for expenses. On the 6th Bahman, when my camp was in the parganah of Bārī, there came the news of the death of Khwājagī Muḥammad Ḥusain, who was of the ancient servants of this State. His elder brother, Muḥammad Qāsim Khān, in the time of my revered father, found great favour, and Khwāja Muḥammad Ḥusain as well was one of his confidential servants, and held employments such as that of superintendent of the kitchen (bakāwul) and such like. He left no son and was beardless, and not a single hair of moustache or whiskers appeared on him. At the time of speaking he spoke very shrilly, and was looked upon as an eunuch. Shāh-nawāz Khān, whom the Khankhanan had sent from Burhanpur to make certain representations, came on the 15th of the same month and waited on me. He presented 100 muhrs and 100 rupees. As the affairs of the Deccan, in consequence of the hasty proceedings of ‘Abdu-llah Khān and the treachery of the Amirs, did not present a good prospect, the Dakhanis obtained an opportunity for speaking and began to talk of peace to the Amirs and well-wishers there. ‘Ādil Khān embraced the robe of loyalty, and prayed that if the affairs of the Deccan were entrusted to him he would so arrange that some of the districts which had been taken out of the possession of the officers of the State should be restored. The loyal ones, looking to the necessities of the time, represented this, and a settlement of some kind was arrived at, and the Khankhanan undertook to settle matters. The Khān A‘ẓam was also desirous of putting down the rebel Rānā, and begged for this service by way of obtaining merit (as a ghāzī). He was ordered to go to Malwa, which was his jagir, and after arranging matters there to take up this duty. The mansab of Abū-l-bī Ūzbeg234 was increased by 1,000 personal and 500 horse to 4,000 personal and 3,500 horse. My hunting went on for 2 months and 20 days, and during that time I went out every day to hunt. As not more than 50 or 60 days remained before the world-illumining New Year, I returned, and on the 24th Isfandiyār encamped in the Dahrah garden. The courtiers and some of the mansabdars, who by order had remained in the city, came on that day and waited on me. Muqarrab Khān presented a decorated jar, Frank hats, and a jewelled sparrow (?). I remained three days in the garden, and on the 27th Isfandiyār entered the city. During this time234a 223 head of deer, etc., 95 nilgaw, 2 boars, 36 cranes (or herons), etc., and 1,457 fish were killed.
The eighth year after my accession, corresponding with Muḥarram, 1022. On the night of Thursday, the 27th Muḥarram, corresponding with the 1st Farwardīn in the eighth year after my accession, after 3 1/2 gharis of day had elapsed, his honour the sun passed from the constellation of Pisces to that of Aries, which is his abode of rejoicing and victory. Early in the morning of the New Year's Day the feast was prepared and adorned after the custom of every year. At the end of that day I sat on the throne of State, and the Amirs and ministers of the State and the courtiers of the palace came to salute and congratulate me. On these days of happy augury I sat the whole day in the public audience hall. Those who had anything to ask or claim presented their petitions, and the offerings of the servants of the palace were laid before me. Abū-l-bī, governor of Qandahar, had sent for an offering Iraq horses and hunting dogs, and they were brought before me. On the 9th of the same month Afẓal Khān came from the Subah of Behar, and in waiting on me presented 100 muhrs and 100 rupees, as well as an elephant. On the 12th the offering of I‘timādu-d-daulah was laid before me, consisting of jewels, cloths, and other things. That which pleased me attained to the dignity of acceptance. Of the elephants of Afẓal Khān's offering ten others were inspected on this day. On the 13th the offerings of Tarbiyat Khān were laid before me. Mu‘taqid Khān bought a house at Agra, and passed some days in that place. Misfortunes happened to him one after another. We have heard that prosperity and bad luck depend on four things: first, upon your wife; second, upon your slave; third, upon your house; fourth, upon your horse. In order to know the prosperity or ill-luck of a house a rule has been established, indeed they say it is infallible. One must clear a small piece of the site from earth, and again strew the earth upon the same ground. If it cover it, one may call it middling good fortune for that house, neither prosperity nor misfortune; if it become less (i.e. does not cover it exactly) it points to ill-luck, and if it does more (than cover it) it is fortunate and auspicious. On the 14th the mansab of I‘tibār Khān was raised from 1,000 and 300 horse to 2,000 personal and 500 horse. I increased the mansab of Tarbiyat Khān by 500 personal and 50 horse, so that it became 2,000 personal and 850 horse. Hūshang, son of Islām Khān, who was in Bengal with his father, came at this time and paid his respects. He brought with him some Maghs, whose country is near Pegu and Arracan, and the country is still in their possession. I made some enquiries as to their customs and religion. Briefly they are animals in the form of men. They eat everything there is either on land or in the sea, and nothing is forbidden by their religion. They eat with anyone. They take into their possession (marry) their sisters by another mother. In face they are like the Qarā Qalmāqs, but their language is that of Tibet and quite unlike Turkī. There is a range of mountains, one end of which touches the province of Kāshghar and the other the country of Pegu. They have no proper religion or any customs that can be interpreted as religion. They are far from the Musulman faith and separated from that of the Hindus.
Two or three days before the Sharaf (the sun's highest point) my son Khurram desired me to go to his house that he might present his New Year's offerings from that place. I agreed to his request, and remained for one day and one night at his house. He presented his offerings. I took what I approved of and gave him back the rest. The next day Murtaẓā Khān presented his offerings. Every day until the day of culmination (rūz-i-sharaf) the offerings of one or of two or three of the Amirs were laid before me. On Monday, the 19th Farwardīn, the assembly of the Sharaf was held. On that auspicious day I sat on the throne of State, and an order was given that they should produce all sorts of intoxicating things, such as wine, etc., so that every one according to his desire might take what he liked. Many took wine. The offerings of Mahābat Khān were on this day brought to me. I gave one gold muhr of 1,000 tolas, which is called the star of destiny (kaukab-i-ṭāli‘), to Yādgār ‘Alī Khān, the ambassador of the ruler of Iran. The feast went off well. After the assembly broke up I ordered that they might carry off the furniture and decorations. The offering of the Muqarrab Khān had not been arranged on New Year's Day. All sorts of rareties and excellent presents were now produced which he had collected together. Amongst others, twelve Iraq and Arab horses that had been brought in a ship, and jewelled saddles of Frank workmanship237 were produced before me. To the mansab of Nawāzish Khān 500 horse were added so as to make it one of 2,000 personal and horse. An elephant called Bansībadan, which Islām Khān had sent from Bengal, was brought to me and put among my special elephants. On the 3rd Urdībihisht, Khwāja Yādgār, brother of ‘Abdu-llah Khān, came from Gujarat and waited on me; he offered 100 Jahāngīrī muhrs. After he had been in attendance a few days he was honoured with the title of Sardār Khān. As a competent bakhshi had to be sent to the army of Bangash and those regions, I chose Mu‘taqid Khān for this duty, and increased his mansab by 300 personal and 50 horse so that it became 1,500 with 350 horse, and dismissed him. It was settled that he must go quickly. I sent off Muḥammad Ḥusain Chelebī, who understood the purchase of jewels and collecting curiosities, with money to go by way of Iraq to Constantinople and buy and bring for the Sarkar curiosities and rareties. For this purpose it was necessary that he should pay his respects to the ruler of Iran. I had given him a letter and a memorandum (of what he was to procure). Briefly, he saw my brother, Shāh ‘Abbās, in Mashhad, and the king enquired from him what kind of things should be brought for his master's Sarkar. As he was urgent, Chelebī showed the list he had brought with him. In that list there were entered good turquoise and mūmīyā (bitumen) from the mine of Ispahan. He told him that these two articles were not to be bought, but he would send them for me. He authorized Uwaisī Tūpchī (gunner), who was one of his private servants, to hand over to him six bags (ambāncha) of turquoise earth holding about 30 seers, with 14 tolas of mumiya and four Iraq horses, one of which was a piebald, and he wrote a letter containing many, many expressions of friendship. With regard to the inferior quality of the turquoise dust (khāka) and the small quantity of mumiya he made many apologies. The khaka appeared very inferior. Although the jewellers and makers of rings made every endeavour, no stone that was fit to be made into a finger ring could be produced. Probably in these days turquoise dust is not procurable from the mines such as it was in the time of the late king Ṭahmāsp. He mentioned all this in the letter. With regard to the effect of mumiya I had heard much from scientists, but when I tried it no result was apparent. I do not know whether physicians have exaggerated its effect, or whether its efficacy had been lessened by its being stale. At any rate, I gave it to a fowl with a broken leg to drink in larger quantity than they said and in the manner laid down by the physicians, and rubbed some on the place where it was broken, and kept it there for three days, though it was said to be sufficient to keep it from morning till evening. But after I had examined it, no effect was produced, and the broken place remained as it was.239 In a separate letter the Shah had written a recommendation of Salāmu-llah, the Arab. I immediately increased his mansab and his jagir.
I sent one of my private elephants with trappings to ‘Abdu-llah Khān and gave another to Qilīj Khān. I ordered that assignments (tankhwāh) should be made to 12,000 horse on the establishment239a of ‘Abdu-llah Khān at the rate of three horses and two horses for each trooper. As previously with a view to service in Junagarh I had increased the mansab of his brother Sardār Khān by 500 personal and 300 horse, and had afterwards assigned the duty to Kāmil Khān, I ordered that he should retain his increase and that it should be counted (permanently) in his mansab. I increased the rank of Sarfarāz Khān, which was that of 1,500 personal and 500 horse, by 200 horse more. On the 27th Urdībihisht, corresponding with the 26th Rabī‘u-l-awwal, in the eighth year of my reign, in the year 1022 of the Hijra era, on Thursday, the meeting for my lunar weighing took place in the house of Maryam-zamānī (his mother). Some of the money that was weighed I ordered to be given to the women and the deserving ones who had assembled in my mother's house. On the same day I increased by 1,000 the mansab of Murtaẓā Khān, so that it came to 6,000 personal and 5,000 horse. Khusrau Beg, a slave of Mīrzā Khān, came from Patna in the company of ‘Abdu-r-Razzāq Ma‘mūrī and waited on me, and Sardār Khān, brother of ‘Abdu-llah Khān, obtained leave to go to Ahmadabad. An Afghan had brought from the Carnatic two goats that had pāzahar (bezoar stones, an antidote against poison). I had always heard that an animal that has pazahar is very thin and miserable, but these goats were very fat and fresh. I ordered them to kill one of them, which was a female. Four pazahar stones became apparent, and this caused great astonishment.
It is an established fact that cheetahs in unaccustomed places do not pair off with a female, for my revered father once collected together 1,000 cheetahs. He was very desirous that they should pair, but this in no way came off. He had many times coupled male and female cheetahs together in gardens, but there, too, it did not come off. At this time a male cheetah, having slipped its collar, went to a female and paired with it, and after two and a half months three young ones were born and grew up. This has been recorded because it appeared strange. As cheetahs did not pair with cheetahs, (still less) had it ever been heard in former times (?) that tigers mated in captivity. As in the time of my reign wild beasts have abandoned their savagery, tigers have become so tame that troops of them without chains or restraint go about amongst the people, and they neither harm men nor have any wildness or alarm. It happened that a tigress became pregnant and after three months bore three cubs; it had never happened that a wild tiger after its capture had paired. It had been heard from philosophers that the milk of a tigress was of great use for brightening eyes. Although we made every effort that the moisture of milk should appear in her breasts, we could not accomplish it. It occurs to me that as it is a raging creature, and milk appears in the breasts of mothers by reason of the affection they have for their young, as milk241 comes into their breasts in connection with their young ones drinking and sucking at the time of their taking (the milk), their (the mothers') rage increases and the milk in their breasts is dried up.
At the end of Urdībihisht, Khwāja Qāsim, brother of Khwāja ‘Abdu-l-‘Azīz, who is of the Naqshbandī Khwājas, came from Māwarā'a-n-nahr and waited on me. After a few days 12,000 rupees were given to him as a present. As Khwāja Jahān had made a melon-bed in the neighbourhood of the city, when two watches of day had passed on Thursday, the 10th Khūrdād, I got into a boat and went to inspect the melon-bed, and took the ladies with me. We reached there when two or three gharis of day were left, and passed the evening in walking among the beds. A wonderfully sharp wind and whirlwind sprang up, so that the tents and screens fell down. I got into the boat and passed the night in it. I also passed part of the Friday in walking about the melon-bed, and returned to the city. Afẓal Khān, who for a long time had been afflicted with boils and other sores, died on the 10th Khūrdād. I transferred the jagir and hereditary land of Rāja Jagman, who had failed in his service in the Deccan, to Mahābat Khān. Shaikh Pīr, who is one of the emancipated ones who hold aloof from the attachments of the age, and who on account of the pure friendship that he bears towards me has chosen to be my companion and servant, had before this founded a mosque in the parganah of Mairtha, which is his native place. At this time he took occasion to mention the circumstance. As I found his mind bent on the completion of this building I gave him 4,000 rupees, so that he himself might go and expend it, and also gave him a valuable shawl and dismissed him. In the public audience hall there were two railings (maḥjar) of wood. Inside the first, Amirs, ambassadors, and people of honour sat, and no one entered this circle without an order. Within the second railing, which is broader than the first, the mansabdars of inferior rank,242 ahadis, and those who had work to do are admitted. Outside this railing stand the servants of the Amirs and all the people who may enter the Diwankhana. As there was no difference between the first and second railings, it occurred to me that I should decorate the first with silver. I ordered this railing and the staircase that led from this railing to the balcony of the Jharokha, as well as the two elephants placed on the two sides of the seat of the Jharokha, which skilful people had made of wood to be decorated with silver. After this was completed it was reported to me that 125 maunds of silver in Hindustani weight, equal to 880 maunds of Persia, had been used up; indeed, it now assumed a worthy appearance.
On the 3rd of the month of Tīr, Muẓaffar Khān came from Thatta242a and waited on me. He made an offering of twelve muhrs and a Koran with a jewelled cover, and two jewelled roses (?) (dū gul). On the 14th of the same month Ṣafdar Khān came from the Subah of Behar and waited on me, offering 101 muhrs. After Muẓaffar Khān had been some days in attendance, I increased his former mansab by 500 personal, and giving him a standard and a private shawl dismissed him to Thatta.242b
I knew that every animal or living thing bitten by a mad dog died, but this had not been ascertained in the case of an elephant. In my time it so happened that one night a mad dog came into the place where was tied one of my private elephants, Gajpatī243 by name, and bit the foot of a female elephant that was with mine. She at once cried out. The elephant-keepers at once ran in, and the dog fled away into a thorn-brake that is there. After a little while it came in again and bit my private elephant's fore-foot as well. The elephant killed it. When a month and five days had passed after this event, one day when it was cloudy the growling of thunder came to the ear of the female elephant, that was in the act of eating, and it of a sudden raised a cry and its limbs began to tremble. It threw itself on the ground, but rose again. For seven days water ran out of its mouth, then suddenly it uttered a cry and showed distress. The remedies the drivers gave it had no effect, and on the eighth day it fell and died. A month after the death of the female elephant they took the large elephant to the edge of the river in the plain. It was cloudy and thundery in the same way. The said elephant in the height of excitement all at once began to tremble and sat down on the ground. With a thousand difficulties the drivers took it to its own place. After the same interval and in the same way that had happened to the female elephant this elephant also died. Great amazement was caused by this affair, and in truth it is a matter to be wondered at that an animal of such size and bulk should be so much affected by a little wound inflicted on it by such a weak creature.
As Khānkhānān had repeatedly begged for leave to be given to his son Shāh-nawāz Khān, on the 4th Amurdād I gave him a horse and a robe of honour and dismissed him to the Deccan. I promoted Ya‘qūb Badakhshī, whose mansab was 150, to 1,500 personal and 1,000 horse, on account of the bravery he had displayed, and gave him the title of Khan as well as a standard.
The Hindus are in four divisions, and each of these acts according to its own rules and ways. In every year they keep a fixed day. The first is the caste of the Brahmans,244 that is, those who know the Incomparable God. Their duties are of six kinds—(1) to acquire religious knowledge, (2) to give instructions to others, (3) to worship fire, (4) to lead men to the worship of fire, (5) giving something to the needy, (6) taking gifts. There is for this caste an appointed day, and that is the last day of the month of Sāwan, the second month of the rainy season.244a They consider this an auspicious day, and the worshippers go on that day to the banks of rivers and tanks, and recite enchantments, breathe upon cords and coloured threads; on another day, which is the first of the New Year, they fasten them on the hands of the Rajas and great men of the time, and look on them as (good) omens. They call this thread rākhī,244b that is, preservation (nigāh-dāsht). This day occurs in the month of Tīr, when the world-heating sun is in the constellation of Cancer. The second caste is that of the Chhatrī, which is known as Khatrī. Their duty is to protect the oppressed from the evil of the oppressors. The customs of this caste are three things—(1) that they study religious science themselves but do not teach others; (2) that they worship fire, but do not teach others to do so; (3) that they give to the needy, but although they are needy take nothing themselves. The day of this caste is the Bijay dasamīn, ‘the victorious tenth.’245 On this day with them it is lucky to mount and go against one's enemy with an army. Rām Chand, whom they worship as their god, leading his army on that day against his enemy won a victory, and they consider this a great day, and, decorating their elephants and horses, perform worship. This day falls in the month of Shahrīwar,245a when the Sun is in the mansion of Virgo, and on it they give presents to those who look after their horses and elephants. The third caste is that of Baish (Vaishya). Its custom is this, that they serve the other two castes of which mention has been made. They practise agriculture and buying and selling, and are employed in the business of profit and interest. This caste has also a fixed day which they call the Dewālī; this day occurs in the month of Mihr when the sun is in the constellation of Libra, the 28th day of the lunar month. On the night of that day they light lamps, and friends and those who are dear assemble in each other's houses and pass their time busily in gambling. As the eyes of this caste are on profit and interest, they consider carrying over and opening new accounts on that day auspicious. The fourth caste is the Sudras, who are the lowest caste of the Hindus. They are the servants of all, and derive no profit from those things which are the specialities of every (other) caste. Thursday is the Holī, which in their belief is the last day of the year. This day occurs in the month of Isfandārmuz, when the sun is in the constellation of Pisces. On the night of this day they light fires at the head of the streets and ways, and when it becomes day they for one watch scatter the ashes on each other's heads and faces, and make a wonderful noise and disturbance, and after this wash themselves, put on their apparel, and walk about in the gardens and on the plains. As it is an established custom of the Hindus to burn the dead, to light fires on this night, which is the last night of the year that has passed, signifies that they burn the last year, which has gone to the abode of the dead. In the time of my revered father the Hindu Amirs and others in imitation of them performed the ceremony of rakhi in adorning him, making strings of rubies and royal pearls and flowers jewelled with gems of great value and binding them on his auspicious arms. This custom was carried on for some years. As they carried this extravagance to excess, and he disliked it, he forbade it. The brahmans by way of auguries used to tie these strings and (pieces of) silk according to their custom. I also in this year carried out this laudable religious practice, and ordered that the Hindu Amirs and the heads of the caste246 should fasten rakhis on my arms. On the day of the rakhi, which was the 9th Amurdād, they performed the same rites, and other castes by way of imitation did not give up this bigotry; this year I agreed to it, and ordered that the brahmans should bind strings (of cotton) and silk after the ancient manner. On this day by chance fell the anniversary of the death of the late king.246a The commemoration of such an anniversary is one of the standing rules and customs in Hindustan. Every year on the day of the death of their fathers and those who are dear to them, each according to his circumstances and ability prepares food and all kinds of perfumes, and the learned men, the respectable and other men assemble, and these assemblies sometimes last a week. On this day I sent Bābā Khurram to the venerated tomb to arrange the assemblage, and 10,000 rupees were given to ten trustworthy servants to divide among fakirs and those who were in want.
On the 15th of the month of Amurdād the offering of Islām Khān was laid before me. He had sent 28 elephants, 40 horses of that part of the country which are known as ṭānghan, 50 eunuchs, 500 pargāla nafīs sitārkānī.247
It had been made a rule that the events of the Subahs should be reported according to the boundaries of each, and news-writers from the Court had been appointed for this duty. This being the rule that my revered father had laid down, I also observe it, and much gain and great advantage are to be brought about by it, and information is acquired about the world and its inhabitants. If the advantages of this were to be written down it would become a long affair. At this time the news-writer of Lahore reported that at the end of the month of Tīr ten men had gone from the city to Amānābād, which lies at a distance of 12 kos. As the air was very hot, they took shelter under a tree. Soon afterwards wind and a dust-storm (chakrī) sprang up, and when it blew on that band of men they trembled, and nine of them died under the tree, and only one remained alive; he was ill for a long time, and recovered with great difficulty. In that neighbourhood such bad air was created that numerous birds who had their nests in that tree all fell down and died, and that the wild beasts (beasts of the plain, perhaps cattle) came and threw themselves on to the cultivated fields, and, rolling about on the grass, gave up their lives. In short, many animals perished. On Thursday, the 13th Amurdād, having said my prayers (lit. counted my rosary), I embarked on board a boat for the purpose of hunting in the village of Samonagar, which is one of my fixed hunting - places. On the 3rd Shahrīwar, Khān ‘Ālam, whom I had sent for from the Deccan in order to despatch him to Iraq in company with the ambassador of the ruler of Iran, came and waited on me at this place. He offered 100 muhrs. As Samonagar was in Mahābat Khān's jagir, he had prepared a delightful halting-place there on the bank of the river, and it pleased me greatly. He presented offerings of an elephant and an emerald ring. The former was put into my private stud. Up to the 6th Shahrīwar I was employed in hunting. In these few days 47 head of antelope, male and female, and other animals were killed. At this time Dilāwar Khān sent as an offering a ruby, which was accepted. I sent a special sword for Islām Khān. I increased the mansab of Ḥasan ‘Alī Turkumān, which was 1,000 personal and 700 horse, by 500 personal and 100 horse. At the end of Thursday, the 20th of the same month, in the house of Maryam-zamānī, my solar weighing took place. I weighed myself accoṛding to the usual custom against metals and other things. I had this year attained to the age of 44 solar years. On the same day Yādgār ‘Alī, ambassador of the ruler of Iran, and Khān ‘Ālam, who had been nominated to accompany him from this side, received their leave to go. On Yādgār ‘Alī there were bestowed a horse with a jewelled saddle, a jewelled sword, a vest without sleeves with gold embroidery, an aigrette with feathers and a jīgha (turban ornament), and 30,000 rupees in cash, altogether 40,000 rupees, and on Khān ‘Ālam a jewelled khapwa or phūl kaṭāra (a sort of dagger) with a pendant of royal pearls. On the 22nd of the same month I visited the venerated mausoleum of my revered father at Bihishtābād, riding on an elephant. On the way 5,000 rupees in small coin were scattered round, and I gave other 5,000 rupees to Khwāja Jahān to divide among the dervishes. Having said my evening prayers, I went back to the city in a boat. As the house of I‘timādu-d-daulah was on the bank of the river Jumna, I alighted there until the end of the next day. Having accepted what pleased me of his offerings, I went towards the palace; I‘tiqād Khān's house was also on the bank of the river Jumna; at his request I disembarked there with the ladies, and walked round the houses he had lately built there. This delightful place pleased me greatly. He had produced suitable offerings of cloth stuffs and jewels and other things; these were all laid before me and most of them were approved. When it was near evening I entered the auspicious palace. As the astrologers had fixed an hour in this night for starting for Ajmir, when seven gharis of the night of Monday, the 2nd Sha‘bān, corresponding with the 24th Shahrīwar, had passed, I started in happiness and prosperity with intent to go there from the capital of Agra. In this undertaking two things were agreeable to me, one a pilgrimage to the splendid mausoleum of Khwāja Mu‘īnu-d-dīn Chishtī, from the blessing of whose illustrious soul great advantages had been derived by this dignified family, and whose venerable shrine I had not visited after my accession to the throne. The second was the defeat and beating back of the rebel Rānā Amar Singh, who is one of the most considerable of the Zamindars and Rajas of Hindustan, and whose headship and leadership and those of his ancestors all the Rajas and Rays of this province agree to. The administration has for long been in the hands of this family, and they have long borne rule towards the East, that is the Pūrab. They became in that time well known under the title of Rajas. After this they fell on the Deccan250 and took possession of many of the countries of that region. In the place of Raja they have taken the title of Rāwal. After this they came into the hill country of Mewāt, and by degrees got into their possession the fort of Chitor. From that date until this day, which is in the eighth year after my accession, 1,471 years have passed.250a
There are twenty-six others of this caste who have ruled for 1,010 years. They have the title of Rāwal, and from the Rāwal who was first known as Rāwal down to Rānā Amar Singh, the present Rānā, there are twenty-six individuals who have ruled for the space of 461 years. During this long time they have never bent their necks in obedience to any of the kings of the country of Hindustan, and have for most of the time been rebellious and troublesome, so much so that in the reign of the late king Bābar, Rānā Sāngā collected together all the Rajas, Rays, and Zamindars of this province, and fought a battle in the neighbourhood of Biyāna with 180,000 horse and several lakhs of footsoldiers. By the aid of Almighty God and the assistance of fortune the victorious army of Islām prevailed against the infidel forces, and a great defeat happened to them. The details of this battle have been given in the Memoirs of King Bābar. My revered father (may his bright tomb be the abode of unending Grace) exerted himself greatly to put down these rebels, and several times sent armies against them. In the twelfth year after his accession he set himself to capture the fort of Chitor, which is one of the strongest forts of the inhabited world, and to overthrow the kingdom of the Rānā, and after four months and ten days of siege took it by force from the men of Amar Singh's father, after much fighting, and returned after destroying the fort. Every time the victorious forces pressed him hard in order to capture him or make him a fugitive, but it so happened that this was not effected. In the end of his reign, on the same day and hour that he proceeded to the conquest of the Deccan, he sent me with a large army and reliable Sardars against the Rānā. By chance these two affairs, for reasons which it would take too long to recount, did not succeed. At last I came to the throne, and as this matter was only half done, the first army I sent to the borders was this one. Making my son Parwīz its leader, the leading nobles who were at the capital were appointed to this duty. I sent abundant treasure and artillery with him. As every matter depends on its own season, at this juncture the unhappy affair of Khusrau occurred, and I had to pursue him to the Panjab. The province and the capital of Agra remained void. I had necessarily to write that Parwīz should return with some of the Amirs and take charge of Agra and the neighbourhood. In short, this time again the matter of the Rānā did not go off as it should. When by the favour of Allah my mind was at rest from Khusrau's disturbance, and Agra became again the alighting place of the royal standards, a victorious army was appointed under the leadership of Mahābat Khān, ‘Abdu-llah Khān, and other leaders, and from that date up to the time when the royal standards started for Ajmir his country was trodden under foot by the victorious forces. As finally the affair did not assume an approved form, it occurred to me that, as I had nothing to do at Agra, and I was convinced that until I myself went there the affair would not be set to rights, I left the fort of Agra and alighted at the Dahrah garden. On the next day the festival of the Dasahrā took place. According to the usual custom they decorated the elephants and horses, and I had them before me. As the mothers and sisters of Khusrau repeatedly represented to me that he was very repentant of his deeds, the feelings (lit. sweat) of fatherly affection having come into movement, I sent for him and determined that he should come every day to pay his respects to me. I remained for eight days in that garden. On the 28th news arrived that Rāja Rām Dās, who was doing service in Bangash and the neighbourhood of Kabul with Qilīj Khān, had died. On the 1st of the month of Mihr I marched from the garden, and dismissed Khwāja Jahān to look after the capital of Agra and guard the treasure and the palace, and gave him an elephant and a special robe (fargul). On the 2nd Mihr news arrived that Rāja Bāso had died in the thanah of Shahabad,252 which is on the border of the territory of Amar. On the 10th of the same month I halted at Rūp Bās, which has now been named Amānābād. Formerly this district had been given as jagir to Rūp Khawāṣṣ. Afterwards, bestowing it on Amānu-llah, son of Mahābat Khān, I ordered it to be called by his name. Eleven days were passed at this halting - place. As it is a fixed hunting - place, I every day mounted to go hunting, and in these few days 158 antelopes, male and female, and other animals were killed. On the 25th of the month I marched from Amānābād. On the 31st, corresponding with the 8th Ramaẓān, Khwāja Abū-l-ḥasan, whom I had sent for from Burhanpur, came and waited on me, and presented as offerings 50 muhrs, 15 jewelled vessels, and an elephant, which I placed in my private stud. On the 2nd Ābān, corresponding with the 10th Ramaẓān, news came of the death of Qilīj Khān. He was one of the ancient servants of the State, and obtained the mercy of God in the 80th year of his age. He was employed at Peshawar in the duty of keeping in order the Afghans full of darkness.253 His rank was 6,000 personal and 5,000 horse. Murtaẓā Khān Dakhanī was unrivalled in the art of pūlta-bāzī, which in the language of the Dakhanis they call yagānagī, and the Moguls shamshīr-bāzī, ‘sword-play’ (fencing). For some time I studied it with him. At this time I exalted him with the title of Warzish Khān (Exercise - Khān). I had established a custom that deserving people and dervishes should be brought before me every night, so that I might bestow on them, after personal enquiry into their condition, land, or gold, or clothes. Amongst these was a man who represented to me that the name Jahāngīr, according to the science of abjad (numerals reckoned by letters), corresponded to the great name “Allah Akbar.”253a Considering this a good omen, I gave him who discovered (this coincidence) land, a horse, cash, and clothing. On Monday, the 5th Shawwāl, corresponding to the 26th Ābān, the hour for entering Ajmir was fixed. On the morning of the said day I went towards it. When the fort and the buildings of the shrine of the revered Khwāja appeared in sight, I traversed on foot the remainder of the road, about a kos. I placed trustworthy men on both sides of the road, who went along giving money to fakirs and the necessitous. When four gharis of day had passed, I entered the city and its inhabited portion, and in the fifth ghari had the honour of visiting the venerated mausoleum. After visiting it I proceeded to the auspicious palace, and the next day ordered all those present in this honoured resting-place, both small and great, belonging to the city, and travellers, to be brought before me, that they might be made happy with numerous gifts accoṛding to their real circumstances. On the 7th Āzar I went to see and shoot on the tank of Pushkar, which is one of the established praying-places of the Hindus, with regard to the perfection of which they give (excellent) accounts that are incredible to any intelligence, and which is situated at a distance of three kos from Ajmir. For two or three days I shot waterfowl on that tank, and returned to Ajmir. Old and new temples which, in the language of the infidels, they call Deohara254 are to be seen around this tank. Among them Rānā Shankar, who is the uncle of the rebel Amar, and in my kingdom is among the high nobles, had built a Deohara of great magnificence, on which 100,000 rupees had been spent. I went to see that temple. I found a form cut out of black stone, which from the neck above was in the shape of a pig's head, and the rest of the body was like that of a man. The worthless religion of the Hindus is this, that once on a time for some particular object the Supreme Ruler thought it necessary to show himself in this shape; on this account they hold it dear and worship it.254a I ordered them to break that hideous form and throw it into the tank. After looking at this building there appeared a white dome on the top of a hill, to which men were coming from all quarters. When I asked about this they said that a Jogī lived there, and when the simpletons come to see him he places in their hands a handful254b of flour, which they put into their mouths and imitate the cry of an animal which these fools have at some time injured, in order that by this act their sins may be blotted out. I ordered them to break down that place and turn the Jogī out of it, as well as to destroy the form of an idol there was in the dome. Another belief they have is that there is no bottom to this tank. After enquiry it appeared that it is nowhere deeper than 12 cubits. I also measured it round and it was about 1 1/2 kos.
On the 16th Āzar news came that the watchmen had marked down a tigress. I immediately went there and killed it with a gun and returned. After a few days a nilgaw (blue bull) was killed, of which I ordered them to take off the skin in my presence and cook it as food for the poor. Over 200 people assembled and ate it, and I gave money with my own hand to each of them. In the same month news came that the Franks of Goa had, contrary to treaty, plundered four cargo vessels255 that frequented the port of Surat in the neighbourhood of that port; and, making prisoners a large number of Musulmans, had taken possession of the goods and chattels that were in those ships. This being very disagreeable to my mind, I despatched Muqarrab Khān, who is in charge of the port, on the 18th Āzar, giving him a horse and elephant and a dress of honour, to obtain compensation for this affair. On account of the great activity and good services of Yūsuf Khān and Bahāduru-l-mulk in the Subah of the Deccan, I sent standards for them.
It has been written that my chief object, after my visit to the Khwāja, was to put a stop to the affair of the rebel Rānā. On this account I determined to remain myself at Ajmir and send on Bābā Khurram, my fortunate son. This idea was a very good one, and on this account, on the 6th of Day, at the hour fixed upon, I despatched him in happiness and triumph. I presented him with a qabā (outer coat) of gold brocade with jewelled flowers and pearls round the flowers, a brocaded turban with strings of pearls, a gold woven sash with chains of pearls, one of my private elephants called Fatḥ Gaj, with trappings, a special horse, a jewelled sword, and a jewelled khapwa, with a phūl kaṭāra. In addition to the men first appointed to this duty under the leadership of Khān A‘ẓam, I sent 12,000 more horse with my son, and honoured their leaders, each according to his condition, with special horses and elephants and robes of honour, and dismissed them. Fidā'ī Khān was nominated to the paymastership of this army. At the same time Ṣafdar Khān was despatched to the government of Kashmir in place of Hāshim Khān. He received a horse and robe of honour. On Wednesday, the 11th, Khwāja Abū-l-ḥasan was made general paymaster (bakhshī-kul), and received a dress of honour. I had ordered them to make a large caldron256 at Agra for the revered mausoleum of the Khwāja. On this day it was brought, and I ordered them to cook food for the poor in that pot, and collect together the poor of Ajmir to feed them whilst I was there. Five thousand people assembled, and all ate of this food to their fill. After the food I gave money to each of the dervishes with my own hand. At this time Islām Khān, governor of Bengal, was promoted to the mansab of 6,000 personal and horse, and a flag was given to Mukarram Khān, son of Mu‘āẓẓam Khān.
On the 1st of Isfandārmuz, corresponding with the 10th Muḥarram, 1023 (20th February, 1614), I left Ajmir to hunt nilgaw, and returned on the 9th. I halted at the fountain of Ḥāfiẓ Jamāl,257 two kos from the city, and passed the night of Friday257a there. At the end of the day I entered the city. In these twenty days ten nilgaw had been killed. As the good service of Khwāja Jahān and the smallness of his force for the defence and government of Agra and that neighbourhood were brought to my notice, I increased his mansab by 500 personal and 100 horse. On the same day Abū-l-fatḥ Dakhanī came from his jagir and waited on me. On the 3rd of the same month news came of the death of Islām Khān; he had died on Thursday, the 5th Rajab, in the year 1022 (21st August, 1613). In one day, without any previous illness, this inevitable event occurred. He was one of those born and brought up in the house (house-born). The naturally good disposition and knowledge of affairs that showed themselves in him were seen in no one else. He ruled Bengal with entire authority, and brought within the civil jurisdiction of the province countries that had never previously come under the sway of any of the jagirdars or into the possession of any of the Chiefs of the State. If death had not overtaken him he would have done perfect service.
The Khān A‘ẓam had himself prayed that the illustrious prince should be appointed to the campaign against the Rānā, yet, notwithstanding all kinds of encouragement and gratification on the part of my son (Shāh Jahān), he would not apply himself to the task, but proceeded to act in his own unworthy manner. When this was heard by me, I sent Ibrāhīm Ḥusain, who was one of my most trusty attendants, to him, and sent affectionate messages to him to say that when he was at Burhanpur he had daily begged this duty of me, as he considered it equivalent to the happiness of both worlds, and had said in meetings and assemblies that if he should be killed in this enterprise he would be a martyr, and if he prevailed, a ghāzī. I had given him whatever support and assistance of artillery he had asked for. After this he had written that without the movement of the royal standards to those regions the completion of the affair was not free of difficulty. By his counsel I had come to Ajmir, and this neighbourhood had been thus honoured and dignified. Now that he had himself prayed for the prince, and everything had been carried out according to his counsel, why did he withdraw his foot from the field of battle and enter the place of disagreement? To Bābā Khurram, from whom up till now I had never parted, and whom I sent in pure reliance on his (Khān A‘ẓam's) knowledge of affairs, he should show loyalty and approved good-will, and never be neglectful day or night of his duty to my son. If, contrariwise, he should draw back his foot from what he had agreed to, he must know that there would be mischief. Ibrāhīm Ḥusain went, and impressed these words on his mind in the same detailed way. It was of no avail, as he would not go back from his folly and determination. When Bābā Khurram saw that his being in the affair was a cause of disturbance, he kept him under observation and represented that his being there was in no way fitting, and he was acting thus and spoiling matters simply on account of the connection he had with Khusrau.258 I then ordered Mahābat Khān to go and bring him from Udaipur, and told Muḥammad Taqī, the diwan of buildings, to go to Mandesūr and bring his children and dependants to Ajmir.
On the 11th of the month news came that Dulīp, son of Rāy Singh, who was of a seditious and rebellious disposition, had been heavily defeated by his younger brother, Rāo Sūraj Singh, who had been sent against him, and that he was making disturbance in one of the districts of the Sarkar of Ḥiṣṣar. About this time Hāshim of Khost, the faujdar, and the jagirdars of that neighbourhood seized him, and sent him as a prisoner to Court. As he had misbehaved repeatedly, he was capitally punished, and this was a warning to many of the seditious. In reward for this service an increase of 500 personal and 200 horse was made to the mansab of Rāo Sūraj Singh. On the 14th of the month a representation came from my son Bābā Khurram that the elephant ‘Ālam-gumān, of which the Rānā was very fond, together with seventeen other elephants, had fallen into the hands of the warriors of the victorious army, and that his master would also soon be captured.
The commencement of the ninth year after my auspicious accession, corresponding with the Hijra year 1023 (1614).
Two watches and one ghari had passed on the night of Friday, the 9th Ṣafar (21st March, 1614), when the world-warming sun shed his rays on the constellation of Aries, which is his house of dignity and honour; it was the first morning of the month of Farwardīn. The assembly for the New Year's festival took place in the pleasant regions of Ajmir, and at the time of entry (of the sun into Aries), which was the propitious hour, I seated myself on the throne of good fortune. They had in the usual manner decorated the palace with rare cloth-stuffs and jewels and gem-decked things. At this auspicious moment the elephant ‘Ālam-gumān,260 which was fit to be entered in the private stud, with the seventeen other male and female elephants which my son Bābā Khurram had sent of the Rānā's elephants, were presented before me, and the hearts of the loyal rejoiced. On the 2nd day of the New Year, knowing it to be propitious for a ride, I mounted it and scattered about much money. On the 3rd I conferred on I‘tiqād Khān a mansab of 3,000 personal and 1,000 horse, increasing thus that which he had already, which was of 2,000 personal and 500 horse, and I distinguished him with the title of Āṣaf Khān, with which title two of his family had been previously honoured. I also increased the mansab of Dayānat Khān by 500 personal and 200 horse. At the same time I promoted I‘timādu-d-daulah to the mansab of 5,000 personal and 2,000 horse. At the request of Bābā Khurram I increased the mansab of Saif Khān Bārha by 500 personal and 200 horse, that of Dilāwar Khān by the same number, that of Kishan Singh by 500 horse, and that of Sarfarāz Khān by 500 personal and 300 horse. On Sunday, the 10th, the offering of Āṣaf Khān was produced before me, and on the 14th I‘timādu-d-daulah produced his own offering. From these two offerings I took what pleased me and gave back the rest. Chīn Qilīj Khān, with his brothers, relations, and the army and retinue of his father, came from Kabul260a and waited on me. Ibrāhīm Khān, who had a mansab of 700 personal and 300 horse, having been promoted to that of 1,500 personal and 600 horse, was appointed jointly with Khwāja Abū-l-ḥasan to the exalted dignity of paymaster of the household. On the 15th of this month Mahābat Khān, who had been appointed to bring Khān A‘ẓam and his son ‘Abdu-llah, came and waited on me. On the 19th the assembly of honour was held. On that day the offering of Mahābat Khān was laid before me, and I sent a private elephant called Rūp Sundar for my son Parwīz. When that day had passed I ordered them to deliver Khān A‘ẓam into the charge of Āṣaf Khān, that he might keep him in the fort of Gwalior. As my object in sending him to the fort was in case some disagreement and disturbance should occur in the matter of the Rānā in consequence of the attachment that he had to Khusrau, I ordered him not to be kept in the fort like a prisoner, but that they should provide everything necessary for his comfort and convenience in the way of eating and clothing. On the same day I promoted Chīn Qilīj Khān to a mansab of 2,500 personal and 700 horse. To the rank of Tāj Khān, who had been appointed to the charge of the province of Bhakar, I added 500 personal and horse. On the 18th Urdībihisht I forbade Khusrau to pay his respects. The reason was this, that through the affection and fatherly love (I bore him) and the prayers of his mother and sisters, I had ordered again that he should come every day to pay his respects (kūrnish). As his appearance showed no signs of openness and happiness, and he was always mournful and dejected in mind, I accordingly ordered that he should not come to pay his respects. In the time of my revered father, Muẓaffar Ḥusain Mīrzā and Rustam Mīrzā, sons of Sulṭān Ḥusain Mīrzā, nephews of Shāh Ṭahmāsp Ṣafawī, who had in their possession Qandahar and Zamīndāwar and that neighbourhood, sent petitions to the effect that in consequence of the nearness to Khurasan and the coming of ‘Abdu-llah Khān Ūzbeg to that country, they could not leave the charge of looking after the country and come (to pay their respects), but that if he (Akbar) would send one of the servants of the palace they would hand over the country to him, and themselves come to pay their respects. As they repeatedly made this request, he sent Shāh Beg Khān, who is now honoured with the title of Khān Daurān, to the governorship of Qandahar and Zamīndāwar and that neighbourhood, and wrote firmans full of favour to the Mīrzās summoning them to the Court. After their arrival favours appropriate to the case of each were bestowed on them, and he gave them a territory equal to two or three times the collections of Qandahar. In the end, the management expected from them was not achieved, and by degrees the territory deteriorated. Muẓaffar Ḥusain Mīrzā died during the lifetime of my revered father, and he sent Mīrzā Rustam with the Khankhanan to the Subah of the Deccan, where he had a small jagir. When the throne was honoured by my succession, I sent for him from the Deccan with the intention of showing him favour and sending him to one of the border territories. About the time he came Mīrzā Ghāzī Tarkhān, who held the governorship of Thatta and Qandahar and that neighbourhood, died. It occurred to me to send him to Thatta, so that he might show there his natural good qualities and administer that country in an approved manner. I promoted him to a mansab of 5,000 personal and horse, 200,000 rupees were given to him for expenses, and I despatched him to the Subah of Thatta. My belief was that he would do good service262 on those borders. In opposition to my expectation he did no service, and committed so much oppression that many people complained of his wickedness. Such news of him was heard that it was considered necessary to recall him. One of the servants of the Court was appointed to summon him, and I sent for him to Court. On the 26th Urdībihisht they brought him. As he had committed great oppression on the people of God, and inquiry into this was due according to the requirements of justice, I handed him over to Anīrā'ī Singh-dalan that he might enquire into the facts, and that if guilty he might receive prompt punishment and be a warning to others. In those days the news also came of the defeat of Aḥdād, the Afghan. The facts are that Mu‘taqid Khān came to Pūlam263 Guzar (ferry?), in the district of Peshawar, with an army, and Khān Daurān with another force in Afghanistan and blocked the path of that rascal (lit. black-faced one). Meanwhile a letter came to Mu‘taqid Khān from Pish Bulagh that Aḥdād had gone to Koṭ Tīrāh, which is 8 kos from Jalalabad, with a large number of horse and foot, and had killed a few of those who had chosen to be loyal and obey, and made prisoners of others, and was about to send them to Tīrāh, and intended to make a raid on Jalalabad and Pish Bulagh. Immediately on hearing this news Mu‘taqid Khān started in great haste with the troops he had with him. When he arrived at Pish Bulagh he sent out spies to ascertain about the enemy. On the morning of Wednesday, the 6th, news reached him that Aḥdād was in the same place. Placing his trust on the favour of God, which is on the side of this suppliant at the throne of Allah, he divided the royal army into two, and went towards the enemy, who, with 4,000 or 5,000 experienced men, had seated themselves haughtily in complete carelessness, and did not suspect that besides Khān Daurān's there was an army in the neighbourhood that could oppose itself to them. When news came that the royal forces were coming against that ill-fortuned man, and the signs of an army were becoming manifest, in a state of bewilderment he distributed his men into four bodies, and seating himself on an eminence a gunshot away, to get to which was a difficult matter, he sent his men to fight. The musketeers of the victorious army assailed the rebel with bullets, and sent a large number to hell. Mu‘taqid Khān took the centre of his army to his advanced guard, and, not giving the enemy more than time to shoot off their arrows two or three times, swept them clean away, and pursuing them for 3 or 4 kos, killed nearly 1,500 of them, horse and foot. Those left of the sword took to flight, most of them wounded and with their arms thrown away. The victorious army remained for the night in the same place on the battlefield, and in the morning proceeded with 600 decapitated heads264 towards Peshawar and made pillars of the heads there. Five hundred horses and innumerable cattle and property and many weapons fell into their hands. The prisoners of Tīrāh were released, and on this side no well-known men were killed. On the night of Thursday, the 1st of Khūrdād, I proceeded towards Pushkar to shoot tigers, and on Friday killed two of them with a gun. On the same day it was represented to me that Naqīb Khān had died. The aforesaid Khān was one of the Saifī Sayyids, and was originally from Qazwin. The tomb of his father, Mīr ‘Abdu-l-Laṭīf, is at Ajmir. Two months before his death his wife,264a between whom and her husband there was a great affection, and who for twelve days was ill with fever, drank the unpleasant draught of death. I ordered them to bury him by the side of his wife, whom they had placed in the Khwāja's venerated mausoleum. As Mu‘taqid Khān had done approved service in the fight with Aḥdād, in reward he was exalted with the title of Lashkar Khān. Dayānat Khān, who had been sent to Udaipur in the service of Bābā Khurram and to convey certain orders, came on the 7th Khūrdād and gave good account of the rules and regulations made by Bābā Khurram. Fidā'ī Khān, who in the days of my princehood was my servant, and whom after my accession I had made bakhshi in this army, and who had obtained favour, gave up the deposit of his life on the 12th of the same month. Mīrzā Rustam, as he showed signs of repentance and regret for his misdeeds, and generosity demanded that his faults should be pardoned, was, in the end of the month, summoned to my presence, and I satisfied his mind, and having given him a dress of honour, ordered him to pay his respects to me. On the night of Sunday, the 11th of the month of Tīr, a female elephant in the private elephant stud gave birth to a young one in my presence. I had repeatedly ordered them to ascertain the period of their gestation; at last it became evident that for a female young one it was 18 months and for a male 19 months. In opposition to the birth of a human being, which is in most cases by a head delivery, young elephants are born with their feet first. When the young one was born, the mother scattered dust upon it with her foot, and began to be kind and to pet it. The young one for an instant remained fallen, and then rising, made towards its mother's breasts. On the 14th the assembly of Gulāb - pāshī (sprinkling of rose-water) took place; from former times this has been known as āb-pāshī (water-sprinkling), and has become established from amongst customs of former days. On the 5th Amurdād (middle July, 1614) came news of the death of Rāja Mān Singh.266 The aforesaid Raja was one of the chief officers of my revered father. As I had sent many servants of the State to serve in the Deccan, I also appointed him. After his death in that service, I sent for Mīrzā Bhāo Singh, who was his legitimate heir. As from the time when I was prince he had done much service with me, although the chiefship and headship of their family, according to the Hindu custom, should go to Mahā Singh, son266a of Jagat Singh, the Raja's eldest son, who had died in the latter's lifetime, I did not accept him, but I dignified Bhāo Singh with the title of Mīrzā Rāja, and raised him to the mansab of 4,000 personal and 3,000 horse. I also gave him Amber, the native place of his ancestors, and, soothing and consoling the mind of Mahā Singh, increased his former mansab by 500, and gave him as an in‘ām the territory of Garha.266b I also sent him a jewelled dagger belt, a horse, and dress of honour. On the 8th of this month of Amurdād I found a change in my health, and by degrees was seized with fever and headache. For fear that some injury might occur to the country and the servants of God, I kept this secret from most of those familiar with and near to me, and did not inform the physicians and hakims. A few days passed in this manner, and I only imparted this to Nūr-Jahān Begam, than whom I did not think anyone was fonder of me; I abstained from eating heavy foods, and, contenting myself with a little light food, went every day, according to my rule, to the public Dīwān-khāna (hall of audience), and entered the Jharokha and ghusal-khāna (parlour) in my usual manner, until signs of weakness showed themselves in my skin.267 Some of the nobles267a became aware of this, and informed one or two of my physicians who were trustworthy, such as Ḥakīm Masīḥu-z-zamān, Ḥakīm Abū-l-qāsim, and Ḥakīm ‘Abdu-sh-Shakūr. As the fever did not change, and for three nights I took my usual wine, it brought on greater weakness. In the time of disquietude, and when weakness prevailed over me, I went to the mausoleum of the revered Khwāja, and in that blessed abode prayed to God Almighty for recovery, and agreed to give alms and charity. God Almighty, in His pure grace and mercy, bestowed on me the robe of honour of health, and by degrees I recovered. The headache, which had been very severe, subsided under the remedies of Ḥakīm ‘Abdu-sh-Shakūr, and in the space of twenty-two days my state returned to what it was before. The servants of the palace, and indeed the whole of the people, made offerings for this great bounty. I accepted the alms of no one, and ordered that everyone in his own house should distribute what he wished among the poor. On the 10th Shahrīwar news came that Tāj Khān, the Afghan, governor of Thatta,267b had died; he was one of the old nobles of the State.
During my illness it had occurred to me that when I completely recovered, inasmuch as I was inwardly an ear-bored slave of the Khwāja (Mu‘īnu-d-dīn) and was indebted to him for my existence, I should openly make holes in my ears and be enrolled among his ear-marked slaves. On Thursday, 12th Shahrīwar,267c corresponding to the month of Rajab, I made holes in my ears and drew into each a shining pearl. When the servants of the palace and my loyal friends saw this, both those who were in the presence and some who were in the distant borders diligently and eagerly made holes in their ears, and adorned the beauty of sincerity with pearls and rubies which were in the private treasury, and were bestowed on them, until by degrees the infection caught the Ahadis and others. At the end of the day of Thursday, the 22nd of the said month, corresponding with the 10th Sha‘bān, the meeting for my solar weighing was arranged in my private audience hall, and the usual observances were carried out. On the same day Mīrzā Rāja Bhāo Singh, gratified and prosperous, returned to his native country with the promise that he would not delay (there) more than two or three months. On the 27th of the month of Mihr news came that Farīdūn Khān Barlās had died at Udaipur. In the clan of Barlās no leader remained but he. As his tribe had many claims on this State and endless connection with it, I patronised his son Mihr ‘Alī, and raised him to the mansab of 1,000 personal and horse. On account of the approved services of Khān Daurān, I increased by 1,000 his mansab, which became 6,000 personal and 5,000 horse, original and increase. On the 6th Ābān the qarāwuls (shikārīs) reported that three tigers had been met at a distance of 6 kos. Starting after midday, I killed all three of them with a gun. On the 8th of the month the festival of the Dewālī came on. I ordered the attendants of the palace to have games with each other for two or three nights in my presence; winnings and losings took place. On the 8th of this month they brought to Ajmir the body of Sikandar Mu‘īn Qarāwul (Shikārī), who was one of my old attendants and had done much service for me when I was prince, from Udaipur, which was the place where my son Sulṭān Khurram was staying. I ordered the qarawuls and his fellow-tribesmen to take his body and bury it on the bank of Rānā Shankar's tank. He was a good servant to me. On the 12th Āzar two daughters whom Islām Khān in his lifetime had taken from the Zamindar of Kūch (Behar), whose country is on the boundary of the eastern provinces, together with his son and 94 elephants, were brought before me. Some of the elephants were placed in my private stud. On the same day, Hūshang, Islām Khān's son, came from Bengal, and had the good fortune to kiss the threshold, and presented as offerings two elephants, 100 muhrs, and 100 rupees. On one particular night in Day I dreamt that the late king (Akbar) said to me: “Bābā, forgive for my sake the fault of ‘Azīz Khān, who is the Khān A‘ẓam.” After this dream, I decided to summon him from the fort (of Gwalior).
There is a ravine in the neighbourhood of Ajmir that is very beautiful. At the end of this ravine a spring appears which is collected in a long and broad tank, and is the best water in Ajmir. This valley and spring are well known as Ḥāfiẓ Jamāl. When I crossed over to this place I ordered a suitable building to be made there, as the place was good and fit for developing. In the course of a year a house and grounds were made there, the like of which those269 who travel round the world cannot point out. They made a basin 40 gaz by 40, and made the water of the spring rise up in the basin by a fountain. The fountain leaps up 10 or 12 gaz. Buildings are laid on the edge of this basin, and in the same way above, where the tank and fountain are, they have made agreeable places and enchanting halls and resting-rooms pleasant to the senses. These have been constructed and finished off in a masterly style by skilled painters and clever artists. As I desired that it should be called by a name connected with my august name, I gave it the name of Chashma-i-Nūr, or ‘the fountain of light.’ In short, the one fault it has is this, that it ought to have been in a large city, or at a place by which men frequently pass. From the day on which it was completed I have often passed Thursdays and Fridays there. I ordered that they should think out a chronogram for its completion. Sa‘īdā Gīlānī, the head of the goldsmiths, discovered it in this clever hemistich:—
“The palace270 of Shāh Nūru-d-dīn Jahāngīr” (1024).
I ordered them to put a stone with this carved upon it on the top of the portico of the building.
In the beginning of the month of Day, merchants came from Persia and brought pomegranates of Yazd and melons from Kārīz, which are the best of Khurasan melons, so many that all the servants of the Court and the Amirs of the frontiers obtained a portion of them and were very grateful to the True Giver (God) for them. I had never had such melons and pomegranates. It seemed as if I had never had a pomegranate or a melon before. Every year I had had melons from Badakhshan and pomegranates from Kabul, but they bore no comparison with the Yazd pomegranates and the Kārīz melons. As my revered father (may God's light be his witness!) had a great liking for fruit, I was very grieved that such fruits had not come to Hindustan from Persia in his victorious time, that he might have enjoyed and profited by them. I have the same regret for the Jahāngīrī ‘iṭr (so-called otto of roses), that his nostrils were not gratified with such essences. This ‘itr is a discovery which was made during my reign through the efforts of the mother of Nūr-Jahān Begam. When she was making rose-water a scum formed on the surface of the dishes into which the hot rose-water was poured from the jugs. She collected this scum little by little; when much rosewater was obtained a sensible portion of the scum was collected. It is of such strength in perfume that if one drop be rubbed on the palm of the hand it scents a whole assembly, and it appears as if many red rosebuds had bloomed at once. There is no other scent of equal excellence to it. It restores hearts that have gone and brings back withered souls. In reward for that invention I presented a string of pearls to the inventress. Salīma271 Sulṭān Begam (may the lights of God be on her tomb) was present, and she gave this oil the name of ‘‘itr-i-Jahangiri.’
Great difference appeared in the climates of India. In this month of Day, in Lahore, which is between Persia and Hindustan, the mulberry-tree bore fruit of as much sweetness and fine flavour as in its ordinary season. For some days people were delighted by eating it. The news-writers of that place wrote this. In the same days Bakhtar Khān Kalāwant, who was closely connected with ‘Adil Khān, inasmuch as he (‘Ādil) married his own brother's daughter to him, and made him his preceptor in singing and durpat271a guftan, appeared in the habit of a dervish. Summoning him and enquiring into his circumstances, I endeavoured to honour him. In the first assembly I gave him 10,000 rupees in cash and 50 pieces of cloth of all sorts and a string of pearls, and having made him a guest of Āṣaf Khān, ordered him to enquire into his circumstances. It did not appear whether he had come without ‘Ādil Khān's permission, or the latter had sent him in this guise in order that he might find out the designs of this Court and bring him news about them. Considering his relationship to ‘Ādil Khān, it is most probable that he has not come without ‘Ādil Khān's knowledge. A report by Mīr Jamālu - d - dīn Ḥusain, who at this time was (our) ambassador at Bijapur, corroborates this idea, for he writes that ‘Ādil Khān has, on account of the kindness which has been shown by H.M. (Jahāngīr) to Bakhtar Khān, been very gracious to him (Jamālu-d-dīn). Every day he has shown him more and more favour, keeps him beside him at nights, and recites to him durpats, which he (‘Ādil Khān) has composed, and which he calls nauras272 (Juvenilia). “The remainder of the facts will be written on the day when I get my dismissal.”
In these days they brought a bird from the country of Zīrbād (Sumatra, etc., Blochmann, p. 616) which was coloured like a parrot, but had a smaller body. One of its peculiarities is that it lays hold with its feet of the branch or perch on which they may have placed it and then makes a somersault, and remains in this position all night and whispers to itself. When day comes it seats itself on the top of the branch. Though they say that animals also have worship, yet it is most likely that this practice is instinctive. It never drinks water, and water acts like poison upon it, though other birds subsist on water.
In the month272a of Bahman there came pieces of good news one after the other. The first was that the Rānā Amar Singh had elected for obedience and service to the Court. The circumstances of this affair are these. My son of lofty fortune, Sulṭān Khurram, by dint of placing a great many posts, especially in some places where most people said it was impossible to place them on account of the badness of the air and water and the wild nature of the localities, and by dint of moving the royal forces one after another in pursuit, without regard to the heat or excessive rain, and making prisoners of the families of the inhabitants of that region, brought matters with the Rānā to such a pass that it became clear to him that if this should happen to him again he must either fly the country or be made prisoner. Being without remedy, he chose obedience and loyalty, and sent to my fortunate son his maternal uncle, Subh Karan, with Haridās Jhālā, who was one of the men in his confidence, and petitioned that if that fortunate son would ask forgiveness for his offences and tranquillise his mind, and obtain for him the auspicious sign-manual,273 he would himself come and wait on my son, and would send his son and successor Karan to Court, or he, after the manner of other Rajas, would be enrolled amongst the servants of the Court and do service. He also begged that he himself might be excused from coming to Court on account of his old age. Accordingly my son sent them in company with his own Diwan Mullā Shukru-llah, whom after the conclusion of this business I dignified with the title of Afẓal Khān, and Sundar Dās, his major-domo, who, after this matter was settled, was honoured with the title of Rāy Rāyān, to the exalted Court, and represented the circumstances. My lofty mind was always desirous, as far as possible, not to destroy the old families. The real point was that as Rānā Amar Singh and his fathers, proud in the strength of their hilly country and their abodes, had never seen or obeyed any of the kings of Hindustan, this should be brought about in my reign. At the request of my son I forgave the Rānā's offences, and gave a gracious farman that should satisfy him, and impressed on it the mark of my auspicious palm.274 I also wrote a farman of kindness to my son that if he could arrange to settle the matter I should be much pleased. My son also sent them274a with Mullā Shukru-llah and Sundar Dās to the Rānā to console him and make him hopeful of the royal favour. They gave him the gracious farman with the sign-manual of the auspicious hand, and it was settled that on Sunday, the 26th of the month of Bahman, he and his sons should come and pay their respects to my son. The second piece of good news was the death of Bahādur, who was descended from the rulers of Gujarat, and was the leaven of disturbance and mischief (there). Almighty God had annihilated him in His mercy: he died of a natural illness. The third piece of news was the defeat of the Warzā (Portuguese Viceroy), who had done his best to take the castle and port of Surat. In the roadstead274b of the port of Surat a fight took place between the English, who had taken shelter there, and the Viceroy. Most of his ships were burnt by the English fire. Being helpless he had not the power to fight any more, and took to flight. He sent some one to Muqarrab Khān, who was the governor of the ports of Gujarat, and knocked at the door of peace, and said that he had come to make peace and not to make war. It was the English who had stirred up the war. Another piece of news was that some of the Rajputs, who had determined to attack and kill ‘Ambar (misprinted Ghīr), had made an ambush, and finding a good opportunity had gained access to him, when a slight wound had been inflicted on him by one of them. The men who were round ‘Ambar (again misprinted Ghīr) had killed the Rajputs and taken ‘Ambar to his quarters. A very little275 more would have made an end of him. In the end of this month, when I was employed in hunting in the environs of Ajmir, Muḥammad Beg,275a an attendant on my fortunate son Sulṭān Khurram, came and brought a report from that son, and stated that the Rānā had come with his sons and paid his respects to the prince; “the details would be made known by the report.” I immediately turned the face of supplication to the Divine Court, and prostrated myself in thanksgiving. I presented a horse, an elephant, and a jewelled dagger to the aforesaid Muḥammad Beg, and honoured him with the title of Zū-l-faqār Khān.275b From the report it appeared that on Sunday, the 26th Bahman, the Rānā paid his respects to my fortunate son with the politeness and ritual that servants pay their respects, and produced as offerings a famous large ruby that was in his house, with some decorated articles and seven elephants, some of them fit for the private stud, and which had not fallen into our hands and were the only ones left him, and nine horses.
My son also behaved to him with perfect kindness. When the Rānā clasped his feet and asked forgiveness for his faults, he took his head and placed it on his breast, and consoled him in such a manner as to comfort him. He presented him with a superb dress of honour, a jewelled sword, a horse with a jewelled saddle, and a private elephant with silver housings, and, as there were not more than 100 men with him who were worthy of complete robes of honour (sar u pā), he gave 100 sarupa and 50 horses and 12 jewelled khapwa (daggers). As it is the custom of the Zamindars that the son who is the heir-apparent should not go with his father to pay his respects to a king or prince, the Rānā observed this custom, and did not bring with him Karan, the son who had received the ṭīkā. As the hour (fixed by astrology) of the departure of that son of lofty fortune from that place was the end of that same day, he gave him leave, so that, having himself gone, he might send Karan to pay his respects. After he had gone, Karan also came and did so. To him also he gave a superb dress of honour, a jewelled sword and dagger, a horse with a gold saddle, and a special elephant, and on the same day, taking Karan in attendance, he proceeded towards the illustrious Court. On the 3rd Isfandārmuz my return to Ajmir from hunting took place. From the 17th Bahman up to that date, during which I was hunting, one tigress with three cubs and thirteen nilgaw had been killed. The fortunate prince encamped on Saturday, the 10th of the same month, at the village of Devrānī, which is near the city of Ajmir, and an order was given that all the Amirs should go to meet him, and that each should present an offering according to his standing and condition, and on the next day, Sunday, the 11th, he should have the good fortune to wait upon me. The next day the prince, with great magnificence, with all the victorious forces that had been appointed to accompany him on that service, entered the public palace. The hour for him to wait on me was when two watches and two gharis of the day had passed, and he had the good fortune to pay his respects, and performed his prostrations and salutations. He presented 1,000 ashrafis and 1,000 rupees by way of offering, 1,000 muhrs and 1,000 rupees by way of charity. I called that son forward and embraced him, and having kissed his head and face, favoured him with special kindnesses and greetings. When he had finished the dues of service and had presented his offerings and charities, he petitioned that Karan might be exalted with the good fortune of prostrating himself and paying his respects. I ordered them to bring him, and the Bakhshis with the usual ceremonies of respect produced him. After prostration and salutation were completed, at the request of my son Khurram, I ordered them to place him in front on the right hand of the circle. After this I ordered Khurram to go and wait on his mothers, and gave him a special dress of honour, consisting of a jewelled chārqab (sleeveless vest), a coat of gold brocade, and a rosary of pearls. After he had made his salutation, there were presented to him a special dress of honour, a special horse with a jewelled saddle, and a special elephant. I also honoured Karan with a superb robe of honour and a jewelled sword, and the Amirs and mansabdars had the honour of prostrating themselves and paying their respects, and presented their offerings. Each of these, according to his service and rank, was honoured with favours. As it was necessary to win the heart of Karan, who was of a wild nature and had never seen assemblies and had lived among the hills, I every day showed him some fresh favour, so that on the second day of his attendance a jewelled dagger, and on the next day a special Iraqi horse with jewelled saddle, were given to him. On the day when he went to the darbar in the female apartments, there were given to him on the part of Nūr-Jahān Begam a rich dress of honour, a jewelled sword, a horse and saddle, and an elephant. After this I presented him with a rosary of pearls of great value. On the next day a special elephant with trappings (talāyir) were given. As it was in my mind to give him something of every kind, I presented him with three hawks and three falcons, a special sword, a coat of mail, a special cuirass, and two rings, one with a ruby and one with an emerald. At the end of the month I ordered that all sorts of cloth stuffs, with carpets and cushions (named takiya) and all kinds of perfumes, with vessels of gold, two Gujrati carts, and cloths, should be placed in a hundred trays. The Ahadis carried them in their arms and on their shoulders to the public audience hall, where they were bestowed on him.
Ṯābit Khān278 at the paradise - resembling assemblies was always addressing unbecoming speeches and making palpable allusions to I‘timādu-d-daulah and his son Āṣaf Khān. Once or twice, showing my dislike of this, I had forbidden him to do so, but this was not enough for him. As I held very dear I‘timādu-d-daulah's goodwill towards me, and was very closely connected with his family, this matter became very irksome to me. As one night without reason and without motive he began to speak unpleasant words to him, and said them to such an extent that signs of vexation and annoyance became evident in I‘timādu-d-daulah's face, I sent him next morning, in the custody of a servant of the Court, to Āṣaf Khān to say that as on the previous evening he had spoken unpleasant words to his father, I handed him over to him, and he might shut him up either there or in the fort of Gwalior, as he pleased; until he made amends to his father I would never forgive his fault. According to the order Āṣaf Khān sent him to Gwalior fort. In the same month Jahāngīr Qulī Khān was promoted to an increased mansab, and was given that of 2,500 personal and 2,000 horse. Aḥmad Beg Khān, who is one of the old retainers of the State, committed some faults on the journey to the Subah of Kabul, and Qilīj Khān, who was the commander of the army, had repeatedly complained of his making himself disagreeable. Necessarily I summoned him to Court, and in order to punish him handed him over to Mahābat Khān to confine him in the fort of Ranṭambhor. Qāsim Khān, governor of Bengal, had sent two rubies as an offering, and they were laid before me. As I had made a rule that they should bring before me after two watches of the night had passed the dervishes and necessitous people who had collected in the illustrious palace, this year also after the same manner I bestowed on the dervishes with my own hand and in my own presence 55,000 rupees and 190,000 bighas of land, with fourteen entire villages, and twenty-six ploughs,279 and 11,000 kharwār279a (ass-loads) of rice; I presented as well 732 pearls, of the value of 36,000 rupees, to the servants who by way of loyalty had bored their ears.
At the end of the aforesaid month news came that when four and a half gharis of night had passed on Sunday, the 11th of the month, in the city of Burhanpur, God Almighty had bestowed on Sulṭān Parwīz a son by the daughter of Prince Murād. I gave him the name of Sulṭān Dūr-andīsh279b (long-thoughted).
When 55 seconds had passed on Saturday, 1st Farwardīn, in my 10th year, corresponding with the 8th280 of the month of Ṣafar (March, 1615), 1024 Hijra, the sun from the constellation of Pisces entered the house of honour of Aries. When three gharis had passed on the night of Sunday I seated myself on the throne of State. The New Year's feast and ceremonials were prepared in the usual manner. The illustrious princes, the great Khans, the chief officers and Ministers of State made their salutations of congratulation. On the 1st of the month the mansab of I‘timādu-d-daulah was increased from 5,000 personal and 2,000 horse by 1,000 personal and horse. Special horses were given to the Kunwar Karan, Jahāngīr Qulī Khān, and Rāja Bīr Singh Deo. On the 2nd the offering of Āṣaf Khān was laid before me; it was an approved offering of jewels and jewelled ornaments and things of gold, of cloth stuffs of all kinds and descriptions, and was looked over in detail. That which I approved was worth 85,000 rupees. On this day a jewelled sword with a belt and band (?) (band u bār) was given to Karan, and an elephant to Jahāngīr Qulī Khān. As I had made up my mind to proceed to the Deccan, I gave an order to ‘Abdu-l-Karīm Ma‘mūrī, to go to Mandu and prepare a new building for my private residence, and repair the buildings of the old kings. On the 3rd day the offerings of Rāja Bīr Singh Deo were laid before me, and one ruby, some pearls, and one elephant had the honour of being accepted. On the 4th day the mansab of Muṣṭafā Khān was increased by 500 personal and 200 horse to 2,000 personal and 250 horse. On the 5th I gave a standard and drums to I‘timādu-d-daulah, and an order was given him to beat his drums. The mansab of Āṣaf Khān was increased by 1,000 personal and horse to 4,000 personal and 2,000 horse, and having increased the mansab of Rāja Bīr Singh Deo by 700 horse, I dismissed him to his own country, directing that he should present himself at Court at stated periods. On the same day the offering of Ibrāhīm Khān was laid before me. Some of all the kinds of things pleased me. Kishan Chand, of the sons of the Rajas of Nagarkot, was honoured with the title of Raja. On Thursday, the 6th, the offerings of I‘timādu-d-daulah were laid before me at Chashma-i-Nūr; a large meeting had been arranged, and by way of favour the whole of his offerings were inspected. Of the jewels and jewelled things and choice cloth stuffs the value of 100,000 rupees was accepted, and the remainder given back. On the 7th day I increased by 1,000 personal the mansab of Kishan Singh, which had been 2,000 personal and 1,500 horse. On this day a tiger was killed in the neighbourhood of Chashma-i-Nūr. On the 8th I gave Karan the mansab of 5,000 personal and horse, and gave him a small rosary of pearls and emeralds with a ruby in the centre, which in the language of the Hindus is called smaran (Sanskrit for ‘remembrance’). I increased the mansab of Ibrāhīm Khān by 1,000 personal and 400 horse, so as to make it 2,000 personal and 1,000 horse, original and increase. The mansab of Ḥājī Bī Ūzbeg was increased by 300 horse, and that of Rāja Shyām Singh by 500 personal, so as to make it 2,500 personal and 1,400 horse. On Sunday, the 9th, there was an eclipse of the sun, when twelve gharis of the day had passed. It began from the west, and four out of five parts of the sun were eclipsed in the knot of the dragon. From the commencement of the seizure until it became light eight gharis elapsed. Alms of all kinds, and things in the shape of metals, animals, and vegetables, were given to fakirs and the poor and people in need. On this day the offering of Rāja Sūraj Singh was laid before me; what was taken was of the value of 43,000 rupees. The offering of Bahādur Khān, the governor of Qandahar, was also laid before me on this day; its total value came to 14,000 rupees. Two watches of the night had passed on the night of Monday, the 29th Ṣafar (30th March, 1615), in the ascension of Sagittarius, when a boy was born to Bābā Khurram by the daughter of Āṣaf Khān; I gave him the name of Dārā Shukūh. I hope that his coming will be propitious to this State conjoined with eternity, and to his fortunate father. The mansab of Sayyid ‘Alī Bārha was increased by 500 personal and 300 horse, so as to bring it to 1,500 personal and 1,000 horse. On the 10th the offering of I‘tibār Khān was laid before me, and what was of the value of 40,000 rupees was accepted. On this day the mansab of Khusrau Bī Ūzbeg was raised by 300 horse, and that of Manglī Khān by 500 personal and 200 horse. On the 11th the offering of Murtaẓā Khān was laid before me. Of it seven rubies, one rosary of pearls, and 270 other pearls were accepted, and their value was 145,000 rupees. On the 12th the offerings of Mīrzā Rāja Bhāo Singh and Rāwat Shankar were laid before me. On the 13th, out of the offering of Khwāja Abū-l-ḥasan, one quṭbī (Egyptian?) ruby, one diamond, one string of pearls, five rings, four pearls, and some cloths, altogether the value of 32,000 rupees, were accepted. On the 14th the mansab of Khwāja Abū-l-ḥasan, which was 3,000 personal and 700 horse, was increased by 1,000 personal and 500 horse, and that of Wafādār Khān, of 750 personal and 200 horse, by 2,000 personal and 1,200 horse. On the same day Muṣṭafā Beg, the ambassador of the ruler of Iran, had the good fortune to wait upon me. After completing the matter of Gurjistan (Georgia), my exalted brother sent him with a letter consisting of expressions of friendship and assurances of sincerity, with several horses, camels, and some stuffs from Aleppo, which had come for that fortunate brother from the direction of Rūm. Nine large European hunting dogs, for which a request had gone, were also sent by him.
Murtaẓā Khān, on this day, obtained leave to go for the capture of the fort of Kāngra, the equal of which for strength they cannot point to in the hill country of the Panjab or even all the habitable world. From the time when the sound of Islam reached the country of Hindustan up to this auspicious time when the throne of rule has been adorned by this suppliant at the throne of Allah, none of the rulers or kings has obtained possession of it. Once in the time of my revered father, the army of the Panjab was sent against this fort, and besieged it for a long time. At length they came to the conclusion that the fort was not to be taken, and the army was sent off to some more necessary business. When he was dismissed, I gave Murtaẓā Khān a private elephant with trappings. Rāja Sūraj Mal, son of Rāja Bāso, as his country was near that fort, was also appointed, and his previous mansab was increased by 500 personal and horse. Rāja Sūraj Singh also came from his place and jagir and waited on me, and presented an offering of 100 ashrafis. On the 17th the offering of Mīrzā Rustam was laid before me. Two jewelled daggers, one rosary of pearls, some pieces of cloth, an elephant, and four Iraq horses were accepted, and the rest returned; their value was 15,000 rupees. On the same date the offering of I‘tiqād Khān, of the value of 18,000 rupees, was laid before me. On the 18th the offering of Jahāngīr Qulī Khān was inspected. Of jewels and cloth stuffs the value of 15,000 rupees was accepted. The mansab of I‘tiqād Khān, which was 700 personal and 200 horse, I increased by 800 personal and 300 horse, so that with original and increase it came to 1,500 personal and 500 horse. Khusrau Bī Ūzbeg, who was one of the distinguished soldiers, died of the disease of dysentery. On the 8th day, which was Thursday, after two watches and four and a half gharis had passed, the sharaf (highest point of the sun's ascension) began. On this auspicious day I ascended the throne in happiness and prosperity, and the people saluted and congratulated me. When one watch of the day remained I went to the Chashma-i-Nūr. According to agreement the offering of Mahābat Khān was laid before me at that place. He had arranged beautiful jewels and jewellery, with cloth stuff and articles of all kinds that were pleasing to me. Among these, a jewelled khapwa (dagger), which at his request the royal artificers had made, and the like of which in value there did not exist in my private treasury, was worth 100,000 rupees. In addition to this, jewels and other things of the value of 138,000 rupees were taken. Indeed, it was a splendid offering. To Muṣṭafā Beg, the ambassador of the ruler of Iran, I gave 20,000 darab, or 10,000 rupees. On the 21st I sent robes of honour by the hand of ‘Abdu-l-Ghafūr to fifteen of the Amirs of the Deccan. Rāja Bikramājīt obtained leave to go to his jagir, and a special shawl (parm narm284) was given to him. On the same day I gave a jewelled waist-dagger to Muṣṭafā Beg, the ambassador. I increased the mansab of Hūshang, the son of Islām Khān, which was 1,000 personal and 500 horse, by 500 personal and 200 horse. On the 23rd, Ibrāhīm Khān was promoted to the Subah of Behar. Ẓafar Khān was ordered to present himself at Court. To the mansab of Ibrāhīm Khan, which was 2,000 personal and 1,000 horse, I added 500 personal and 1,000 horse. Saif Khān on the same day was dismissed to his jagir, as well as