The
Tūzuk-i-Jahāngīrī
Or
Memoirs of Jahāngīr
Translated by
Alexander Rogers
I.C.S. (Retired)
Edited by
Henry Beveridge
I.C.S. (Retired)
Preface
After an interval of about five years, the second volume of Mr. Alexander Rogers’ translation of Jahāngīr’s Memoirs has been published by the Royal Asiatic Society. It is a smaller work than the first volume, for it only extends over six years of the reign, as against the twelve years of its predecessor. Even then it does not include the whole of the reign, for that lasted twenty-two years. The two volumes, however, contain all that Jahāngīr wrote or supervised. It will be found, I think, that the present volume is fully as interesting as its predecessor. The accounts of the Zodiacal coinage (pp. 6 and 7), and of the comet, or new star (p. 48), the notice of the Plague in Agra (pp. 65–67), and the elaborate description of Kashmīr, under the chronicle of the 15th year, are valuable, and a word should be said for the pretty story of the King and the Gardener’s daughter (p. 50), and for the allusions to painters and pictures.
If Bābur, who was the founder of the Moghul Empire in India, was the Cæsar of the East, and if the many-sided Akbar was an epitome of all the great Emperors, including Augustus, Trajan, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, Julian, and Justinian. Jahāngīr was certainly of the type of the Emperor Claudius, and so bore a close resemblance to our James I. All three were weak men, and under the influence of their favourites, and all three were literary, and at least two of them were fond of dabbling in theology. All three were in their wrong places as rulers. Had James I. (and VI. of Scotland) been, as he half wished, the Keeper of the Bodleian, and Jahāngīr been head of a Natural History Museum, they would have been better and happier men. Jahāngīr’s best points were his love of nature and powers of observation, and his desire to do justice. Unfortunately, the last of these merits was vitiated by a propensity for excessive and recondite punishments. Like his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, he was addicted to drugs and alcohol, and he shortened his life in this way. He made no addition to the imperial territories, but, on the contrary, diminished them by losing Qandahar to the Persians. But possibly his peaceful temper, or his laziness, was an advantage, for it saved much bloodshed. His greatest fault as a king was his subservience to his wife, Nūr-Jahān, and the consequent quarrel with his son, Shah Jahan, who was the ablest and best of his male children. The last years of his reign were especially melancholy, for he suffered from asthma and other diseases; and he had to endure the ignominy of being for a while a captive to one of his own servants—Mahābat K͟hān. He died on the borders of Kashmir, when on his way to Lahore, in October, 1627, in the fifty-ninth year of his age, and was buried at Shāhdara, near Lahore, where his widow, Nūr-Jahān, and her brother are also interred. At the time of his death his son Shah Jahan was at Junair in the Deccan, and there the news was conveyed in a wonderfully short time by a Hindu courier. Jahāngīr was succeeded by Shah Jahan, who lost no time in getting rid of his relatives, for, like the Turk, he bore no kinsman near the throne. Indeed, he is strongly suspected of having killed his elder brother, K͟husrau, several years before.
I am indebted to Mr. Ellis, of the India Office, for revising the proofs.
NOTE.
In the Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, p. 416, mention is made of a history of Hindustan during the reign of Jahāngīr, in two volumes, with paintings (Ouseley MSS.). I have recently ascertained that the MS. is only a modern copy of the Iqbāl-nāma.
Contents
The Thirteenth New Year’s Feast
On the eve of Wednesday, the 23rd Rabīʿu-l-awwal, 1027 (March 10, 1618), after the lapse of fourteen and a half gharīs, the entrance of the Sun—that is, H.M. the Great Light—the Benefactor of the Universe, into the constellation of the Ram, took place. Twelve years had now passed from the august Accession of this suppliant at the throne of God, in prosperity, and the New Year began in joy and thanksgiving. On Thursday, 2 Farwardīn, Divine month, the festival of my Lunar weighment took place, and the fifty-first[1] year of the age of this suppliant at God’s throne began with rejoicings. I trust that my life will be spent in the doing of God’s Will, and that not a breath of it will pass without remembering Him. After the weighment had been finished, a fresh feast of joy was arranged, and my domestic servants celebrated the day with brimming cups.
On this day Āṣaf K. (Nūr-Jahān’s brother), who held the rank of 5,000 with 3,000 horse, was favoured by the grant of 4,000 two-horsed and three-horsed troopers, and S̤ābit K. was raised to the office of Examiner of Petitions. I bestowed the post of the Artillery on Muʿtamid K. A Kachh (Cutch) horse had been brought as an offering by the son of Dilāwar K. No horse so good as this had come into my establishment till I encamped in Gujarat, and as M. Rustam showed a great liking for it, I presented it to him. On the Jām were conferred four rings—viz., diamond, ruby, emerald, and sapphire—and two hawks. I also gave four rings—viz., ruby, cat’s-eye, emerald, and sapphire—to Raja Lachmī Narāyan (of Kūch Bihār). Muruwwat K. had sent three elephants from Bengal, and two of them were included in my private stud. On the eve of Friday I ordered lamps to be placed round the tank, and this had a very good appearance. On Sunday Ḥājī Rafīq came from ʿIrāq, and had the good fortune to kiss the threshold, and laid before me a letter which my brother S͟hāh ʿAbbās had sent with him. The aforesaid person is a slave of Mīr Muḥammad Amīn K., the caravan leader, and the Mīr had brought him up from his childhood. In truth, he is an excellent servant. He frequently visited ʿIrāq, and became intimate with my brother S͟hāh ʿAbbās. This time he had brought tipchāq[2] horses and fine cloth-stuffs, such that of the horses some were put into the private stables. As he is a skilful slave, and a servant worthy of favour, I honoured him with the title of Maliku-t-tujjār (King of Merchants). On Monday I gave Raja Lachmī Narāyan a special sword, a jewelled rosary, and four pearls for ear-rings. On Mubārak-s͟hamba (Thursday) I increased by 500 horse the manṣab of 5,000 personal and 1,000 horse held by Mīrzā Rustam; Iʿtiqād K. was promoted to a manṣab of 4,000 and 1,000 horse; Sarfarāz K. was promoted to a manṣab of 2,500 and 1,400 horse; Muʿtamid K. to the rank of 1,000 with 350 horse. On Anīrāʾī Singh-dalan and Fidāʾī K., horses worth 100 muhars were conferred. As the guarding and administration of the Punjab had been entrusted to Iʿtimādu-d-daula, I, at his request, promoted to the government (ḥukūmat) of the said Ṣubah, Mīr Qāsim, the Bak͟hs͟hī of the Aḥadīs, who is related to him, and bestowed on him a manṣab of 1,000 personal with 400 horse and the title of Qāsim K. Before this I had given Raja Lachmī Narāyan an ʿIrāq horse. On this day I conferred on him an elephant and a Turkī horse, and gave him leave to go to Bengal. The Jām was dismissed to his native country with a present of a jewelled waist-sword, a jewelled rosary, two horses, one from ʿIrāq and the other a Turkī, and a dress of honour. Ṣāliḥ, brother’s son of the deceased Āṣaf K͟hān,[3] was promoted to a manṣab of 1,000 with 300 horse, and allowed to go to Bengal, and a horse was conferred on him. On this date Mīr Jumla[4] came from Persia, and had the good fortune to pay his respects. The aforesaid is one of the respectable Sayyids of Isfahan and his family have always been held in honour in Persia, and now his brother’s son, Mīr Riẓā, is in the service of my brother, S͟hāh ʿAbbās, and has the rank of Ṣadr, and the Shah has married him to his own daughter. Mīr Jumla had left Persia fourteen years before this, and gone to Golconda to Muḥammad Qulī Qut̤bu-l-mulk. His name is Muḥammad Amīn. Qut̤bu-l-mulk gave him the title of Mīr Jumla. For ten years he had been his Mudār ʿAlaihi (Centre of Affairs) and his Ṣāḥib Sāmān (factotum). After Qut̤bu-l-mulk died, and the rule came to his brother’s son, the latter did not treat the Mīr properly, and so he took leave and hastened to his native country. The Shah, on account of his connection with Mīr Riẓā, and the respect which he had for men[5] of merit, showed much consideration for and kindness to him. He (the Mīr) also presented fitting offerings, and passed three or four years in Persia, and amassed properties (estates?).[6] As he several times represented that he wished to enter the service of this Court, I sent a farmān and invited him. Immediately the farmān arrived he severed his connections there, and set the face of loyalty towards this Court. This day he attained the honour of kissing the carpet, and produced as offering twelve horses, nine tuqūz[7] of silk cloths, and two rings. As he had come with devotion and sincerity, I conferred favours and kindness on him, and presented him with 20,000 darbs (Rs. 10,000) for his expenses and a dress of honour. On the same day I gave the post of Bak͟hs͟hī of the Aḥadīs to ʿInāyat K. in place of Qāsim K. I honoured K͟hwāja ʿĀqil, who is one of the old servants, with the title of ʿĀqil K., and presented him with a horse. On Friday, Dilāwar K., coming from the Deccan, had the good fortune to kiss the threshold, and presented an offering of 100 muhars and Rs. 1,000. Bāqir K., Faujdār of Multan, was promoted to a manṣab of 800 personal and 300 horse. Tijārat K. and Bāhūʾī,[8] Zamindar of Multan, were honoured with the gift of elephants. On Saturday, the 11th, marching from Doḥad with the intention of hunting elephants, I pitched at the village of Kara Bāra (Garbara ?). On Sunday, the 12th, the village of Sajāra (Sajwara ?) became the place of alighting. It is 8 koss from this place to Doḥad, and 1½ koss to the hunting-ground. On the morning of Monday, the 13th, I went to hunt elephants with a body of my private servants. As the grazing-place of the elephants is in a hilly country, with elevations and depressions, a passage is obtained with difficulty by one on foot. Before this, a large body of horse and foot had surrounded the jungle after the manner of a qamurg͟ha, and outside the jungle, on a tree, they had prepared a wooden platform for me. On all sides of this they had arranged seats on other trees for the Amirs. They had got ready 200 male elephants with strong nooses, and many female elephants. On each elephant there were seated two elephant-drivers of the tribe of Jarga,[9] whose special employment is the hunting of elephants, and it had been arranged that they should bring the wild elephants from the jungle into my presence, that I might witness the hunt. It happened that at the time when the men from all sides entered the jungle, in consequence of the thickness of the forest and the heights and hollows, the chain was broken, and the order of the qamurg͟ha did not remain perfect. The wild elephants in bewilderment turned in every direction, but twelve male and female came to this side (where J. was). As the fear was that they might escape, they drove in the tame elephants and tied them (the wild elephants) up wherever they found them. Although many elephants were not caught, at least two excellent ones were captured, very handsome in shape, of good breed, and perfect marks. As there is a hill in the jungle in which the elephants were, called Rākas (Rākshas) Pahār,[10] or demon hill, I called these two elephants Rāvan Sar and Pāvan Sar, these being the names of two demons. On Tuesday, the 14th, and Kam-s͟hamba (Wednesday), the 15th, I halted.
On the eve of Thursday, the 16th, I marched, and halted at the stage of Kara Bāra. Ḥakīm Beg,[11] who is one of the household of the Court, was honoured with the title of Ḥakīm K., and a sum of Rs. 3,000 was given to Sangrām, a Zamindar of the hill country of the Panjab. As the heat was very great, and marching by day was to be avoided, I marched by night. On Saturday, the 18th, a halt was made in the parganah of Doḥad. On Sunday, the 19th, the sun that bestows favour on the world attained the highest point in the constellation of Aries. On this day a great entertainment was held, and I sat on the throne. I promoted S͟hāh-nawāz K., who held a manṣab of 5,000, with the favour of 2,000 horse, of two and three horses. K͟hwāja Abū-l-Ḥasan, the Chief Bak͟hs͟hī, was given a mansab, original and increased, of 4,000 with 2,000 horse. As Ahmad Beg K., of Kabul, who had obtained the governorship of Kashmir, had promised that he would conquer in the space of two years Tibet and Kis͟htwār, and the promised time had elapsed, and he had not fulfilled this service, I removed him, and promoted Dilāwar K. Kākar to the Government of Kashmir. I gave him a dress of honour and an elephant, and sent him off. He also made a promise in writing that in the course of two years he would conquer Tibet and Kis͟htwār. Badīʾu-z-Zamān, s. S͟hāhruk͟h M. came from the jagir he held in Sult̤ānpūr, and had the good fortune to kiss the threshold. Having at this time honoured Qāsim K. with a jewelled dagger and an elephant, I dismissed him to the Government of the Punjab.
On the night of Tuesday, the 21st, I marched from the stage mentioned, and turned the reins of the army of prosperity towards Aḥmadābād. As in consequence of the great heat and the corruption of the air I would have had to undergo much hardship, and would have had to traverse a long distance before reaching Agra, it occurred to me not to proceed at this hot season to the capital. As I heard much praise of the rainy season in Gujarat, and there was no report about the evil reputation of Aḥmadābād (see infra for account of epidemic there), I finally conceived the idea of remaining there. Inasmuch as the protection and guardianship of God (to Him be praise) was in all places and at all times extended to this suppliant, just at this crisis news arrived that signs of the plague (wabā) had shown themselves again at Agra, and many people were dying, my intention of not going to Agra, which had thrown its rays on my mind through Divine inspiration, was confirmed. The entertainment of Thursday, the 23rd, was held at the station of Jalod.[12]
Previously to this, the rule of coinage was that on one face of the metal they stamped my name, and on the reverse the name of the place, and the month and year of the reign. At this time it entered my mind that in place of the month they should substitute the figure of the constellation which belonged to that month; for instance, in the month of Farwardīn the figure of a ram, and in Urdībihis͟ht the figure of a bull. Similarly, in each month that a coin was struck, the figure of the constellation was to be on one face, as if the sun were emerging from it. This usage is my own, and has never been practised until now.[13]
On this day Iʿtiqād K. was promoted to the dignity of a standard, and a standard was also conferred on Muruwwat K., who was attached to Bengal. On the night of Monday,[14] the 27th, the camp was pitched in the village of Badrwāla, in the parganah of Sahra.[15] At this stage was heard the voice of the koel (koyal). The koel is a bird of the crow tribe, but smaller. The crow’s eyes are black, and those of the koel red. The female has white spots, but the male is all black. The male has a very pleasant voice, quite unlike that of the female. It is in reality the nightingale of India. Just as the nightingale is agitated and noisy in the spring, so is the cry of the koel at the approach of the rainy season, which is the spring of Hindustan. Its cry is exceedingly pleasant and penetrating, and the bird begins its exhilaration (mastī) when the mangoes ripen. It frequently sits on the mango-trees, and is delighted with the colour and scent of the mango. A strange thing about the koel is that it does not bring up its young from the egg, but, finding the nest of the crow unguarded at the time of laying, it breaks the crow’s eggs with its beak, throws them out, and lays its own in the place of them, and flies off. The crow, thinking the eggs its own, hatches the young and brings them up. I have myself seen this strange affair at Allahabad.
On the night of Kams͟hamba (Wednesday), the 29th, the camp was on the bank of the Māhī, and the entertainment of Mubāraks͟hamba was held there. Two springs appeared on the bank of the Māhī, that had very clear water, so much so that if a poppy-seed fell into them the whole of it was visible. All that day I passed with the ladies. As it was a pleasant place to walk about in, I ordered them to build a raised seat round each of the springs. On Friday I fished in the Māhī, and large fish with scales fell into the net. I first told my son, S͟hāh-Jahān, to try his sword on them. After this I ordered the Amīrs to strike them with the swords they had in their belts. My son’s sword cut better than all of theirs. These fish were divided among the servants who were present. On the eve of Saturday, the 1st of Urdībihis͟ht, marching from the above-mentioned stage, I ordered[16] the mace-bearers (yasāwulān) and tawāchiyān to collect the widows and poor people from the villages on the road and near it, and bring them before me, so that I might bestow charity on them with my own hand, which would be an occupation, and the helpless ones might also find grace. What better occupation could there be than this? On Monday, the 3rd, S͟hajāʿat K. ʿArab, and Himmat K., and other servants who belonged to the Deccan and Gujarat, had the good fortune to kiss the threshold. The holy men and the possessors of blessing (faqīrs, etc.) who lived at Ahmadabad paid their respects to me. On Tuesday, the 4th, the bank of the river at Maḥmūdābād became the alighting place. Rustam K., whom my son, S͟hāh-Jahān, had left in the Government of Gujarat, was honoured by paying his respects. The entertainment of Thursday, the 6th, was held on the bank of the Kānkrīya tank. Nāhir K., according to order, came from the Deccan and raised the head of honour with the good fortune of prostrating himself before me.
A diamond ring was presented to my son, S͟hāh-Jahān, as part of the offering of Qut̤bu-l-mulk. It was of the value of 1,000 muhars, and on it there appeared three letters of equal size and of good form, such that they made the word Lillahi (for God). This diamond had been sent, as it was reckoned one of the marvels of the world. In fact, veins and scratches are flaws in precious stones, but it was generally thought that the marks on this one were fabricated. Moreover, the diamond did not come from any celebrated mine. As my son, S͟hāh-Jahān, wished that it should be sent to my brother, S͟hāh ʿAbbās, as a souvenir of the conquest of the Deccan it was sent to the Shah along with other gifts.[17]
On this day I presented Brikha Rāy bād-farūs͟h (panegyrist) with Rs. 1,000. He is a Gujarātī by origin, and is fully versed in the chronicles and circumstances of that country. His name was Būnṭā—that is, a sapling (nihāl). It seemed to me that it was anomalous to call an old man Būnṭā, especially now that he had become verdant (sar-sabz) and fruit-bearing through the irrigation (saḥāb, literally, cloud, or mirage) of our kindness. I therefore ordered that henceforth he should be called Brikha Rāy. Brikha means “tree” in Hindī. On Friday, the 7th of the aforesaid month, corresponding with the 1st Jumāda-l-awwal, at a chosen propitious hour, I entered the city of Ahmadabad with all enjoyment. At the time of mounting, my son of prosperous fortune, S͟hāh-Jahān, had brought 20,000 charan, or Rs. 5,000, for the nis̤ār (scattering), and I scattered them as I hastened to the palace. When I alighted there he laid before me by way of an offering a jewelled ṭurra (aigrette) of the value of Rs. 25,000, and those of his officers whom he had left in this Subah also presented offerings. They altogether amounted to nearly Rs. 40,000. As it was represented to me that K͟hwāja Beg Mīrzā Ṣafawī had reached the neighbourhood of the forgiveness of God—i.e., had died—at Aḥmadnagar, I promoted to a mansab of 2,000 personal and horse, original and increased, K͟hanjar K., whom he had adopted as his son, and, indeed, held dearer than a son of his loins, and who was in truth, an intelligent, ambitious youth, and a servant worthy of patronage, and entrusted him with the charge of the fort of Ahmadnagar.
In these days, in consequence of the great heat and the corruption of the air, sickness had broken out among the people, and of those in the city and the camp there were few who for two or three days had not been ill. Inflammatory fever or pains in the limbs attacked them, and in the course of two or three days they became exceedingly ill—so much so that even after recovery they remained for a long time weak and languid. They mostly at last recovered, so that but few were in danger of their lives. I heard from old men who resided in this country that thirty years before this the same kind of fever prevailed, and passed away happily. Anyhow, there appeared some deterioration in the climate of Gujarat, and I much regretted having come here. I trust that the great and glorious God, in His mercy and grace, will lift up this burden, which is a source of uneasiness to my mind, from off the people. On Mubārak-s͟hamba (Thursday), the 13th, Badīʿu-z-zamān, s. Mīrzā S͟hāhruk͟h, was promoted to the mansab of 1,500 personal and horse, and presented with a standard, and appointed faujdār of Sarkār Paṭan. Sayyid Niẓām, faujdār of Sarkār Lucknow, was raised to the manṣab of 1,000 personal and 700 horse. The manṣab of ʿAlī Qulī Darman, who was attached to the province of Qandahar, at the request of Bahādur K., the governor thereof, was ordered to be 1,000 personal and 700 horse. Sayyid Hizbar K. Bārha was dignified with the manṣab of 1,000 personal and 400 horse. I promoted Zabardast K. to the rank of 800 personal and 350 horse. On this day Qāsim K͟hwāja of Dihbīd[18] had sent from Mā-warāʾa-n-nahr (Transoxiana) by the hand of one of his tribesmen by way of supplication five tūyg͟hūn (white) falcons. One died on the road, and four arrived at Ujjain in safety. I ordered them to hand over the sum of Rs. 5,000 to someone among them, that he might purchase and take with him whatever things would be agreeable to the K͟hwāja, and gave a reward of Rs. 1,000 to himself. At this time K͟hān ʿĀlam, who had been sent as ambassador to the ruler of Persia, sent an ās͟hyānī falcon (bird from the nest), which in the Persian language they call ukna.[19] Outwardly one cannot distinguish between these and bāz dāmī[20] falcons by any particular mark, but after they have been flown the difference is clear. On Thursday, the 20th, Mīr Abū-ṣ-Ṣāliḥ, a relation (? son-in-law) of the deceased Mīrzā Yūsuf K., came from the Deccan by order, and enjoyed the good fortune of kissing the threshold. He presented as an offering 100 muhars[21] and a jewelled plume (kalgī). Mīrzā Yūsuf K.[22] was one of the Riẓawī Sayyids of Mashhad, and his family was always held in great honour in Khurasan, and just now my brother S͟hāh ʿAbbās has given his daughter in marriage to the younger brother of the aforesaid Abū-ṣ-Ṣāliḥ. His father, Mīrzā Atag͟h,[23] was the head of the attendants of the mausoleum of Riẓā, the 8th Imām. Mīrzā Yūsuf K͟hān, by means of the patronage of H.M. (Akbar), had risen to nobility, and attained to the manṣab of 5,000. Without doubt he was a good Mīr, and held his many servants in good order. A number of relations gathered round him. He died[24] in the Deccan. Although he left many sons, who obtained favours in consideration of former services, special attention was paid to the development of his eldest son. In a short time I advanced him to the rank of nobility. Certainly there is a great difference between him and his father.
On Mubārak-s͟hamba (Thursday), the 27th, I presented Ḥakīm Masīḥu-z-zamān with 20,000 darbs (8 anna pieces), and to Ḥakīm Rūḥu-llah 100 muhars and Rs. 1,000. As he had thoroughly diagnosed my constitution, he perceived that the climate of Gujarat was very inimical to it. He said: “As soon as you moderate your habit of taking wine and opium, all these troubles of yours will disappear.” Indeed, when I in one day diminished (the quantity I took of) both of them, there was a great gain on that first day. On Mubārak-s͟hamba (Thursday), the 3rd K͟hūrdād, Qizilbās͟h K. was promoted to the manṣab, original and increased, of 1,500 personal and 1,200 horse. A report was received from Gajpat K., superintendent of the elephant stables, and Balūch K., chief huntsman (Qarāwul Beg), that up to this time sixty-nine elephants, male and female, had been caught. Whatever took place after this would be reported. I ordered them to beware not to take old or small elephants; but with this exception they should catch all they saw, male or female. On Monday, the 14th,[25] the sum of Rs. 2,000 was presented for S͟hāh ʿĀlam’s anniversary, to Sayyid Muḥammad, his representative. A special Kachh horse, one of the good horses of the Jām which had been presented to me, was given to Rāja Bīr Singh Deo. I made a present of Rs. 1,000 to Balūch K., the chief huntsman, who is engaged in capturing elephants. On Tuesday, 15th, I found I had a severe headache, which at last ended in fever. At night I did not drink my usual number of cups, and after midnight crop-sickness[26] was added to my fever, and till morning I rolled about on my couch. On Wednesday, the 16th, at the end of the day, the fever diminished, and, after asking the advice of my doctors, I took my usual number of cups on the third night. Although they urged me to take some broth of pulse and rice, I could not make up my mind to do so. Since I arrived at the age of discretion, I never remember having taken būg͟hān[27] broth, and hope that I may not want it in future. When they brought food for me this day, I had no inclination for it. In short, for three days and two nights I remained fasting. Though I had fever for a day and a night, and my weakness was such that it appeared as if I had been confined to bed for a long time, I had no appetite left, and had no inclination towards food.
I[28] am amazed to think what pleasure or goodness the founder of this city could have seen in a spot so devoid of the favour (of God) as to build a city on it. After him, others, too, have passed their lives in precious trouble in this dustbin. Its air is poisonous, and its soil has little water, and is of sand and dust, as has already[29] been described. Its water is very bad and unpalatable, and the river, which is by the side of the city, is always dry except in the rainy season. Its wells are mostly salt and bitter, and the tanks in the neighbourhood of the city have become like buttermilk from washermen’s soap. The upper classes who have some property have made reservoirs in their houses, which they fill with rainwater in the rainy season, and they drink that water until the next year. The evils of water to which the air never penetrates, and which has no way for the vapour to come out by, are evident. Outside the city, in place of green grass and flowers, all is an open plain full of thorn-brakes (zaqqūm), and as for the breeze that blows off the thorns, its excellence is known:
“[30]O thou, compendium of goodness, by which of thy names shall I call thee?
I had already called Aḥmadābād Gardābād (the abode of dust).”
Now, I do not know whether to call it Samūmistān (the place of the samūm or simoom) or Bīmāristān (abode of sickness), or Zaqqūm-zār (the thorn-bed), or Jahannamābād (the house of Hell), for it contains all these varieties. If the rainy season had not prevented me, I would not have delayed one day in this abode of trouble, but, like Solomon, would have seated myself on the throne of the wind, and hastened out, and released the people of God from this pain and trouble. As the men of this city are exceedingly weak-hearted and wretched, in order to guard against any of the men from the camp entering their houses with a view to oppress them, or interfering with the affairs of the poor and miserable: and lest the Qāẓī and Mīr ʿAdl (judge) should, from fear of the face of men (rū-dīdagī), temporize and not stop such oppression, I, from the date on which I entered the city, notwithstanding the heat of the air, every day, after completing the midday prayer, went and sat in the Jharoka. It was towards the river, and had no impediment in the shape of gate, or wall, or watch-men (yasāwul), or chobdārs (mace-bearers). For the sake of administering justice, I sat there for two or three sidereal hours and listened to the cries for redress, and ordered punishments on the oppressors according to their faults and crimes. Even in the time of weakness I have gone every day to the jharoka, though in great pain and sorrow, according to my fixed custom, and have looked on ease of body as something unlawful[31] (ḥarām) for me.
“For the care of the people of God
At night I make not mine eyes acquainted with sleep;
For the ease of the bodies of all
I approve of pain for my own body.”
By the grace of Allah, it has become my habit not to surrender the nychthemeron, for more than two or three sidereal hours of the coin of Time, to the plundering of sleep. In this there are two advantages—one, the knowledge of the kingdom; the other, wakefulness of heart in calling God to mind. God forbid that this life of a few days should pass in carelessness. As a heavy sleep is in front, I must reckon as a gain this time of my wakefulness, which I shall not see again in sleep, and must not be careless of recollecting God for a single wink. “Be wakeful, for a wondrous[32] sleep is ahead.” On the same day that I contracted fever, my son S͟hāh-Jahān, who is close to my heart, also contracted it. His attack lasted a long time, and for ten days he could not come to pay his respects. He came on Thursday, the 24th, and waited on me, and appeared very weak and powerless, so much so that if anyone had not explained the matter, one might have supposed he had been ill for a month or more. I am grateful that at last all ended well. On Thursday, the 31st, Mīr Jumla, who had come from Īrān—a summary of what had happened to him has been already written—was honoured with the mansab of 1,500 personal and 200 horse. On this day, in consequence of the weakness I suffered from, I bestowed as alms on deserving people an elephant, a horse, and varieties of quadrupeds, with a quantity of gold and silver and other valuable things. Most of my servants also brought alms according to their means. I told them that if their object was to parade their loyalty, their proceeding was not acceptable, and if they were acting from genuine piety there was no need for bringing their alms into the Presence; they could secretly and personally distribute them to the poor and needy. On Mubārak-s͟hamba (Thursday), the 7th Tīr, Divine month, Ṣādiq K. Bak͟hs͟hī was promoted to the mansab of 2,000 personal and horse, original and increased; Irādat K., the Mīr Sāmān, to that of 2,000 and 1,000 horse, Mīr Abū Ṣāliḥ Riẓawī to the mansab of 2,000 and 1,000 horse, with the title of Riẓawī K͟hān, and, being honoured with a standard and an elephant, he took leave for the Deccan.
At this time it was represented to me that the Commander-in-Chief, the Ātālīq K͟hān-k͟hānān, as a sequel to the celebrated line, “For every rose one must bear the pain of a hundred thorns,” had written an ode, and that Mīrzā Rustam Ṣafawī and Mīrzā Murād, his son, had also tried their skill. An impromptu opening couplet came into my mind:
“A cup of wine should be poured[33] on the cheek of the rosebud.
There are many clouds, much wine should be poured.”
Of those who were present at the entertainment who had the poetic temperament each composed an ode, and presented it. It became known that the hemistich was from Maulānā ʿAbdu-r-Raḥmān Jāmī. I looked at the whole of his ode (or odes). Except this hemistich, which like a proverb has become famous over the world, he has not written anything epigrammatic. All is very simple and smooth.[34] On this day arrived the news of the death of Aḥmad Beg K., governor of Kashmir. His sons, who were of the house-born ones of the Court, and on whose foreheads the signs of intelligence and zeal were manifest, obtained suitable mansabs, and were sent to do duty in the Ṣuba of Bangas͟h and Kabul. His mansab was that of 2,500; his eldest son obtained that of 3,000 (?),[35] and three other sons that of 900 each. On Thursday, the 14th, K͟hwāja Bāqī K., who was adorned with the high qualities of dignity, honour, generosity, and valour, under whose rule was one of the thānas of the country of Berār, was promoted to the mansab of 1,500 and 1,000 horse, original and increased, and the title of Bāqī K. Rāy Kahnūr (Kunwar?), who was formerly Dīwān of Gujarat, was chosen for the dīwānship of Mālwa.
At this time the pairing of the sāras, which I had never seen before, and is reported never to have been seen by man, was witnessed by me. The sāras is a creature of the crane genus, but somewhat larger.[36] On the top of the head it has no feathers, and the skin is drawn over the bones of the head. From the back of the eye to six finger-breadths of the neck it is red. They mostly live in pairs on the plains, but are occasionally seen in flocks. People bring a pair in from the fields, and keep them in their houses, and they become familiar with men. In fact, there was a pair of sāras in my establishment to which I had given the names of Lailā and Majnūn. One day a eunuch informed me that (the) two had paired in his presence. I ordered that if they showed an inclination to pair again they should inform me. At dawn he came and told me that they were about to pair again. I immediately hastened to look on. The female having straightened its legs bent down a little: the male then lifted up one of its feet from the ground and placed it on her back, and afterwards the second foot, and, immediately seating himself on her back, paired with her. He then came down, and, stretching out his neck, put his beak to the ground, and walked once round the female. It is possible they may have an egg and produce a young one. Many strange tales of the affection of the sāras for its mate have been heard. The following case has been recorded because it is very strange. Qiyām K., who is one of the k͟hānazāds (houseborn ones) of this Court, and is well acquainted with the arts of hunting and scouting, informed me that one day he had gone out to hunt, and found a sāras sitting. When he approached, it got up and went off. From its manner of walking he perceived signs of weakness and pain. He went to the place where it had been sitting, and saw some bones and a handful of feathers on which it had been sitting. He threw a net round it, and drew himself into a corner, and it tried to go and sit in the same place. Its foot was caught in the net, and he went forward and seized it. It appeared extremely light, and when he looked minutely he saw there were no feathers on its breast and belly: its flesh and skin had separated, and there were maggots. Moreover, there was no sign of flesh left on any of its members: a handful of feathers and bone came into his hand. It was clear that its mate had died, and that it had sate there from the day it lost its companion.
“My burning heart hath melted my body with separation’s pang;
A soul-consuming sigh burnt me, as ’twere a lamp.
The day of my joy became black like the night of grief,
Separation from thee hath made my day like this.”
Himmat K., who is one of my best servants, and whose word is worthy of reliance, told me that in the Doḥad[37] pargana he had seen a pair of sāras on the bank of a tank. One of his gunners shot one of them, and in the same place cut off its head and stripped[38] it of its feathers (?). By chance we halted two or three days at that place, and its mate continually walked round it, and uttered cries and lamentation. “My heart,” he said, “ached at its distress, but there was no remedy for it save regret.” By chance, twenty-five days afterwards, he passed by the same spot, and asked the inhabitants what had become of that sāras. They said it died on the same day, and there were still remains of feathers and bones on the spot. He went there himself, and saw it was as they said. There are many tales of this kind among the people, which it would take too long to tell.
On Saturday, the 16th, there came the news of the death of Rāwat S͟hankar, who was one of those on duty in Bihār. Mān Singh, his eldest son, was raised to the manṣab of 2,000 personal and 600 horse: his other sons and connections were also raised in manṣab, and were directed to obey him. On Thursday, the 21st, the elephant Bāvan,[39] the pick of my catch, which had been left in the pargana of Doḥad to be tamed, was brought to Court. I ordered him to be kept near the jharoka on the river side, that he might be constantly under my eye. In the elephant-stables of H.M. Akbar the largest elephant I saw was Durjan Sāl. It was long the premier elephant. Its height was 4 yards (daraʿ[40]), and 3½ quarters of the Ilāhī gaz, which is 8 yards and 3 fingers of the ordinary gaz. At present, among the elephants of my establishment, the largest athlete is ʿĀlam-Gajrāj, which H.M. Akbar himself had caught. It is the chief of my special elephants. Its height is 4⅛ yards, or 7 yards and 7 fingers[41] of the ordinary yard. The ordinary gaz has been fixed at 24 fingers’ breadth of an average-sized man, and the Ilāhī gaz is 40 fingers’ breadth.
On this day Muz̤affar K., who had been promoted to the Subadarship of Thatta (Sind), had the good fortune to kiss the threshold. He presented 100 muhars and Rs. 100 as naẕr, and the equivalent of Rs. 100,000 in jewels and jewelled things. At this time news came that God Almighty had bestowed on my son Parwīz a son[42] by the daughter of S͟hāh Murād, deceased. It is to be hoped that his coming will be of good omen to this State.
On Sunday, the 24th, Rāy Bihārī[43] had the good fortune to kiss the threshold: there is not a greater Zamindar than this in the country of Gujarat. His country is close to the sea. Bihārī and the Jām are from one stem. They were united ten generations ago. As far as territory and forces go, the standing of Bihārī is greater than that of the Jām. They say that he never came to see any of the Sultans of Gujarat. Sult̤ān Maḥmūd had sent an army against him, but in the fight the army of Maḥmūd was defeated. At the time when K͟hān Aʿz̤am went to conquer the fort of Jūnāgaṛh in the country of Sūrat, Nannū, who was called Sult̤ān Muz̤affar, and gave himself out as heir to the kingdom, was passing his days in a state of misery under the protection of the zamindars. After this the Jām was defeated in battle with the victorious (Royal) army, and Nannū took refuge with Rāy Bihārī. K͟hān Aʿz̤am demanded Nannū from Rāy Bihārī, and as he could not oppose the Royal army, he gave him up, and by this piece of loyalty was saved from the blows of the victorious army. At the time[44] when Ahmadabad was adorned by the presence of the retinue of fortune for a short time, he did not come to wait on me. His country was somewhat distant, and time did not admit of the appointing of a force (against him). When it happened that I returned there, my son S͟hāh-Jahān appointed Raja Bikramājīt with an army (for this purpose), and he, seeing his own safety in coming in hastened to receive the honour of kissing the threshold, giving 200 muhars and Rs. 2,000 as naẕr, and 100 horses. However, there was not one of his horses that I approved of. His age appeared to me to be more than eighty[45] years, and he himself said he was ninety. In his senses and powers there was no appearance of decay. Among his men there was an old man with white beard, moustaches, and eyebrows. He said that Rāy Bihārī remembered him when he (the old man) was a child (infant), and that he had grown up from childhood in his service.
On this day Abū-l-Ḥasan,[46] the painter, who has been honoured with the title of Nādiru-z-zamān, drew the picture of my accession as the frontispiece to the Jahāngīr-nāma, and brought it to me. As it was worthy of all praise, he received endless favours. His work was perfect, and his picture is one of the chefs d’œuvre of the age. At the present time he has no rival or equal. If at this day the masters ʿAbdu-l-Ḥayy and Bihzād were alive, they would have done him justice. His father, Āqā Riẓāʾī, of Herat,[47] at the time when I was Prince, joined my service. He (Abū-l-Ḥasan) was a k͟hānazād of my Court. There is, however, no comparison between his work and that of his father (i.e., he is far better than his father). One cannot put them into the same category. My connection was based on my having reared him. From his earliest years up to the present time I have always looked after him, till his art has arrived at this rank. Truly he has become Nādira-i-zamān (“the wonder of the age”). Also, Ustād Manṣūr[48] has become such a master in painting that he has the title of Nādiru-l-ʿAṣr, and in the art of drawing is unique in his generation. In the time of my father’s reign and my own these two have had no third. As regards myself, my liking for painting and my practice in judging it have arrived at such a point that when any work is brought before me, either of deceased artists or of those of the present day, without the names being told me, I say on the spur of the moment that it is the work of such and such a man. And if there be a picture containing many portraits, and each face be the work of a different master, I can discover which face is the work of each of them. If any other person has put in the eye and eyebrow of a face, I can perceive whose work the original face is, and who has painted the eye and eyebrows.
On the eve of Sunday, the 31st of the month of Tīr, heavy rain fell, and it went on raining with great violence till Tuesday, the 1st of Amurdād.[49] For sixteen days there were constantly clouds and (? or) rain. As this is a sandy country, and the buildings in it are weak, many houses fell, and many lives were lost. I heard from the inhabitants of the city that they remembered no rain like that of this year. Although the channel of the Sābarmatī[50] appears full of water, it is in most places fordable, and elephants can always cross it. If for a day there has been no rain, horses and men can ford it. The fountain head of this river is in the hill-country of the Rānā. It comes out from the ravine of Kokra(?),[51] and, having traversed 1½ koss, passes below Mīrpūr,[52] and in this place they call it the Wākal (?). After passing 3 koss beyond Mīrpūr, they call it the Sābarmatī.
On Thursday, the 10th, Rāy Bihārī was exalted with the favour of a male and a female elephant, a jewelled dagger, and four rings, of red ruby and yellow ruby (topaz), sapphire, and emerald. Before this, the Ātālīq Jān-sipār (life-jeoparding), K͟hān-k͟hānān (ʿAbdu-r-Raḥīm), Commander-in-Chief, by order, had sent a force under the leadership of his son Amru-llah[53] towards Gondwāna, in order to seize the diamond mine of Barākar[54] (?) that was in the possession of Panjū, a Zamindar of Khandesh. On this day a report came from him that the aforesaid Zamindar, knowing that opposition to the victorious army was beyond his power, had made an offering of the mine, and a royal superintendent had been appointed to manage it. The diamonds of that place are superior in kind and beauty to all other kinds of diamonds, and much esteemed by jewellers. They are of good shape, and larger, and superior. Of the second rank is the mine of Kokhra,[55] which is on the borders of Bihar; but the diamonds of that place are not obtained from the mine, but from a river which in the rainy season comes down in flood from the hills. Before that they dam it up, and when the flood has passed over the dam and there is little water, a number of men who are skilled in this art go into the river bed and bring out the diamonds. It is now three years since this country came into the possession of the State. The Zamindar of the place is in confinement. The climate of that land is excessively poisonous, and strangers cannot live there. The third place is in the province of the Karnatik (Carnatic), near the frontier of Qut̤bu-l-mulk. At a distance of 50 koss[56] there are four mines. Many very fine[57] diamonds are obtained there.
On Thursday, the 10th, Nāhir K. was promoted to the manṣab of 1,500 personal and 1,000 horse, and he was presented with an elephant. Maktūb K., superintendent of the Kutub-k͟hāna (library), was given the manṣab of 1,500 personal. As I had ordered that on the S͟hab-i-Barāt they should place lamps round the Kānkrīya tank, at the end of the day on Monday, the 14th Shaʿbān, I went out to look at them. The buildings all round the tank they had arranged with lanterns of different colours and all kinds of artifices that are practicable with lamps, and fireworks. Although at this season there were continually clouds and rain, by God’s favour from the beginning of the night the air had become clear, and not a trace of cloud remained, and the lights shone just as one could wish. My domestic servants were regaled with the cups of joy. I ordered them to light lamps in the same manner on the eve of Friday, and a strange thing was that at the close of the day of Thursday, the 17th, it continually rained (muttaṣil bārīdagī), but at the time of lighting the lamps the rain ceased, and the show was well seen. On this day Iʿtimādu-d-daula presented an offering of a qut̤bī (?) sapphire exceedingly delicate, and an elephant without tusks with silver housings. As it was handsome-looking and of good shape, it was put among my private elephants. On the bank of the Kānkrīya tank a sanyāsī, one of the most austere sects of Hindus, had made a hut after the dervish manner, and lived as a hermit. As I was always inclined to associate with dervishes, I hastened without ceremony to interview him, and for a while enjoyed his society. He was not wanting in information and reasonableness, and was well informed according to the rules of his own faith in the doctrines of Sufism. He had conformed to the ways of people of religious poverty and mortification, and given up all desires and ambitions. One might say that a better than he of his class was never seen.
On Monday, the 21st (Amurdād), the sāras, the pairing of which has been related in the preceding pages, collected together some straw and rubbish in the little garden, and laid first of all one egg. On the third day (afterwards) it laid a second egg. This pair of sāras were caught when they were a month old,[58] and had been in my establishment for five years. After five and a half years they paired, and continued doing so for a month; on the 21st of the month of Amurdād, which the Hindus call Sāwan (Srāvan) the hen laid the eggs. The female used to sit on the eggs the whole night alone, and the male stood near her on guard. It was so alert that it was impossible for any living thing to pass near her. Once a large weasel made its appearance, and he ran at it with the greatest impetuosity, and did not stop until the weasel got into a hole. When the sun illuminated the world with his rays, the male went to the female and pecked her back with his beak. The female then rose, and the male sate in her place. She returned, and in the same manner made him rise, and seated herself. In short, the female sits the whole night, and takes care of the eggs, and by day the male and female sit by turns. When they rise and sit down they take great precautions that no harm shall come to the eggs.
During this season, as there was still some of the hunting time left, Gajpat K., the darogha, and Balūch K., the head huntsman, had been left to hunt elephants, to catch as many as they possibly could. In the same manner the huntsmen of my son, S͟hāh-Jahān, had also been employed. On this day they came and waited on me. Altogether 185 elephants had been caught, male and female: of these, 73 were males and 112 females. Out of these, 47 males and 75 females, or 122, the imperial huntsmen and faujdārs had secured, while the huntsmen and elephant-drivers of my son, S͟hāh-Jahān, had taken 26 males and 37 females, or 63 altogether.
On Thursday, the 24th, I went to see the Bāg͟h-i-Fatḥ,[59] and spent two days there in enjoyment and pleasure. At the end of the day on Saturday I returned to the palace. As Āṣaf K. had represented that his ḥawīlī (house) garden was exceedingly green and pleasant, and all sorts of flowers and scented plants had bloomed there, at his request I went to it on Mubārak-s͟hamba (Thursday), the 31st. In truth, it was a very nice villa, and I was much pleased. His offering of jewels and jewelled things, and cloth, of the value of Rs. 35,000, was accepted. Muz̤affar K. was favoured with a dress of honour and an elephant, and, as before, was entrusted with the charge of the government of Thatta (Sind). My brother S͟hāh ʿAbbās sent a letter with some trifling presents by ʿAbdu-l-Karīm of Gīlān, who had come with merchandise from Īrān. On this day I presented him with a dress of honour and an elephant, and gave him leave to return, and sent an answer to the Shah’s letter with a memorandum. K͟hān ʿĀlam was also honoured with a gracious farman and a special dress of honour. Friday was the 1st of the month of S͟hahrīwar. From Sunday, the 3rd, till the eve of Thursday (the 7th) rain fell. It is strange that on other days the pair of sāras sate on the eggs five or six times in turn, but during this twenty-four hours, when there was constant rain and the air was somewhat cold, the male, in order to keep the eggs warm, sate from early in the morning until midday, and from that time until the next morning the female sat without an interval, for fear that in rising and sitting again the cold air should affect them, and the eggs become wet and be spoilt. Briefly, men are led by the guidance of Reason, and animals according to the Divine wisdom implanted in them by Nature. Stranger still is it that at first they keep their eggs together underneath the breast, and after fourteen or fifteen days have passed they leave a little space between them, for fear the heat should become too great from their contact with each other. Many become addled in consequence of (too great) heat.
On Thursday, the 7th, with great joy and congratulation, the advance camp was started towards Agra. The astrologers and astronomers had already fixed the auspicious hour for the march. As excessive rain fell, the main camp could not cross the river of Maḥmūdābād (the Vātrak) and the Māhī at this hour. Out of necessity, the advanced camp was started at the appointed hour, and the 21st S͟hahrīwar[60] was fixed for the march of the main camp.
My son S͟hāh-Jahān took upon himself the responsibility of the conquest of the fort of Kāngṛa, over which the noose of victory had not been thrown by any of the Sultans of lofty dignity, and an army under the leadership of Rāja Sūraj Mal, s. Rāja Bāso, and Taqī, who was one of his attached servants, had before this been sent for that purpose. It was now clear that the conquest could not be achieved by the force that had been previously appointed. Rāja Bikramājīt,[61] who was one of his principal officers, with 2,000 horse who were present of his private attendants, and a force of Jahāngīrī servants, such as S͟hāh-bāz K. Lodī, Hardī Narāyan Hāḍā, Rāy Prithī Chand, and the sons of Rām Chand, with 200 mounted musketeers and 500 foot-musketeers (topchī, perhaps cannoniers), in addition to the force that had previously been sent, were appointed to the duty. As the hour for departure was fixed on this day, the aforesaid (Bikramājīt) presented as an offering a rosary of emeralds of the value of Rs. 10,000. He was honoured with the gift of a dress of honour and a sword, and took his leave for this duty. As he had not a jagir in that Subah, my son S͟hāh-Jahān asked for him as a jagir the pargana of Barhāna (?),[62] the revenue of which was 2,200,000 of dams, which[63] he himself (? S͟hāh-Jahān) held in inʿām.[64] K͟hwāja Taqī, the Dīwān-i-Buyūtāt, who had been appointed to the Dīwānī of the Deccan, was honoured with the title of Muʿtaqid[65] K., a dress of honour, and an elephant. I appointed Himmat K. to the faujdārship of the Sarkar of Bharūch (Broach) and that neighbourhood, with the gift of a horse and a special parm narm (shawl), and despatched him. The pargana of Bharūch (Broach) was also bestowed on him as jagir. Rāy Prithī Chand, who had been nominated for service at Kāngṛa, was promoted to the rank of 700 and 450 horse. As the anniversary of S͟haik͟h Muḥammad G͟haus̤[66] had arrived, I gave his sons 1,000 darbs (Rs. 500) for its expense. Muz̤affar, s. Bahāduru-l-mulk, who was attached to the Deccan, was given the manṣab of 1,000 personal and 500 horse.
As the events of twelve years of Jahāngīr-nāma have been recorded, I ordered[67] the clerks of my private library to make one volume of these twelve years, and to prepare a number of copies so that I might give them to my special servants, and that they might be sent to the various cities, so that administrators (arbāb-i-daulat) and the auspicious might adopt them as their code. On Friday, the 8th,[68] one of the news-writers had written the whole and made a volume, which he produced to me. As it was the first copy that had been prepared, I gave it to my son S͟hāh-Jahān, whom I consider to be in all respects the first of my sons. On the back of it I wrote with my own hand that I had given it him on a certain day and at a certain place. I hope that the favour of the receipt of those writings which are intended for the satisfaction of the creature and for supplication to the Creator may be a cause of good fortune.
On Tuesday, the 12th, Subḥān Qulī, huntsman, was brought to punishment. The details of this are that he is the son of Ḥājī Jamāl Balūch, who was my father’s best huntsman, and after his (the King’s) death, he entered the service of Islām K., and went with him to Bengal. Islām K͟hān, on account of his (Subḥān Qulī’s) connection with this Court, showed him proper consideration, and considering him trustworthy always kept him near him when travelling or hunting. ʿUs̤mān, the Afghan, who for many years passed his days in that Subah in disobedience and stubbornness, and the end of whose affairs has been recorded in the preceding pages, being much troubled by Islām K͟hān, sent someone to this wretch, and made proposals for his murdering Islām. He undertook the business, and associated two or three other men with himself. By chance, before the futile idea of this ungrateful fellow was carried into execution, one of them came and informed him (Islām K.). Islām K. immediately seized and imprisoned the scoundrel. After the latter’s death he came to Court. As his brothers and relatives were included among the huntsmen, he was also ordered to be enrolled among them. At this time the son (Ikrām K.) of Islām K. represented in an enigmatical way that he was unworthy of service near my person. After explanation it appeared what the charge was. Notwithstanding this, as his brothers strenuously represented that there was only suspicion, and Balūch K., the head huntsman, became security for him, I forbore to put him to death, and ordered him to do duty with Balūch K. In spite of this grace and the gift of his life, without cause or motive he fled from the Court, and went to Agra and that neighbourhood. Balūch K., having become his security, was ordered to produce him. He sent people to inquire for him. In one of the villages of Agra, which was not wanting in sedition, and is called Jahanda,[69] the brother of Balūch K͟hān, who had gone to make inquiries, found him, and although he endeavoured to bring him by persuasion to Court, he would in no way consent, and the people rose to assist him.
Being without remedy, he (the brother) went to K͟hwāja Jahān at Agra, and told him the circumstances. He sent a detachment against that village to take him by force and bring him. The people of the village, seeing their own ruin in the mirror of the case, handed him over to him. This day he came to Court in chains. I gave an order for his execution. The man of wrath (the executioner) took him to the place of punishment with all haste. After a while, through the intercession of one of the courtiers, I gave him his life, and ordered his feet to be cut off, but according to his destiny (what was written on his head) before the order arrived he had been punished. Although that doomed man was deserving of punishment, yet I regretted[70] the circumstance, and directed that whenever an order was given for anyone’s execution, notwithstanding that the command were imperative, they should wait till sunset before putting him to death. If up to that time no order for release arrived, he should without fail be capitally punished.
On Sunday there was a great commotion in the River Māhī, and very large waves were visible. Although there formerly had been (great) rains, yet such violence, or even the half of it, had never been known. From the beginning of the day the flood began to come, and at the end of the day began to decrease. Old inhabitants of this city represented that once, during the government of Murtaẓā K. (Farīd Buk͟hārī), a similar great flood had occurred. But with that exception they did not remember another such flood.
In these days mention was made of an ode by Muʿizzī,[71] the panegyrist of Sult̤ān Sanjar, and his Poet-laureate. It is a very smooth and equable[72] composition. It begins thus:
“O thou whose commands heaven obeys
Ancient Saturn is the slave of thy young Fortune.”
Saʿīdā,[73] the chief goldsmith, has a poetical temperament and he imitated this ode, and presented his paraphrase to me. It was very well composed. The following are some verses from it:
“O thou, of whose threshold the nine spheres are an examplar
Aged Time hath grown young in thy reign
Thy heart is bounteous as the Sun, and like it needs no cause (for bounty).
All lives are devoted to thy gracious heart
Heaven is but a green[74] orange from the garden of Power
Tossed by thy gardener into the atmosphere,
O God, Thy essence has shone from eternity
The souls of all the saints receive light from Thine,
O king, may the world ever be at thy beck,
May thy S͟hāh-Jahān ever rejoice in thy shade
O Shadow of God, may the world be filled with thy light
May the Light of God ever be thy canopy.”
On Mubārak-s͟hamba, the 14th, in reward for this ode, I ordered Saʿīdā to be weighed against money (zar, perhaps gold). At the end of the day I went to walk about the garden of Rustam-bārī,[75] which appeared to me very green and pleasant. Sitting in a boat in the evening, I returned to the palace.
On Friday, the 15th, a Mullā of the name of Amīrī, an old man, came from Mā-warāʾa-n-nahr (Transoxiana), and had the good fortune to kiss the threshold. He represented to me that he was one of the ancient (servants) of ʿAbdu-llah K͟hān Uzbeg, and from the days of infancy[76] and youth was brought up by the K͟hān until his death. He had been included among his old servants, and had been a confidential friend.[77] After the death of the K͟hān until now he had passed his days respected in that country. He had left his native country with a view to visit the blessed house (Mecca), and had come to pay his respects to me. I made him free to remain or go. He asked to remain in attendance on me for some days. Rs. 1,000 for expenses and a dress of honour were given him. He is an old man of very pleasing face, and full of talk and anecdote. My son S͟hāh-Jahān also gave him Rs. 500 and a robe of honour.
In the middle of the garden of K͟hurram (S͟hāh-Jahān’s) residence there is a bench and a reservoir. On one side[78] of that bench there is a Mūlsarī-tree (Mimusops elengi) against which to lean the back. As in one side of its trunk there was a hollow to the extent of three-fourths of a yard, it had an ugly look. I ordered them to cut a tablet of marble and fix it firmly in that place, so that one could lean one’s back on it and sit there. At this time an impromptu couplet came to my tongue, and I ordered the stone-cutters to engrave it on that stone, that it might remain as a memento on the page of time. This is the couplet:
“The seat of the S͟hāh of the seven worlds (kis͟hwar),
Jahāngīr, son of Akbar S͟hāhins͟hāh.
On the eve of Tuesday,[79] the 19th, a bazaar was arranged in the private palace. Up to this time the custom has been for the people of the bazaar and the artificers of the city in every place to bring their shops according to order into the courtyard of the palace (royal abode, whether in camp or elsewhere), and bring jewels and jewelled things and various kinds of cloth and other goods such as are sold in the bazaar. It occurred to me that if a bazaar were prepared in the night-time, and a number of lamps were arranged in front of the shops, it would look well. Undoubtedly it came off well and was unusual. Going round all the shops, whatever jewels and jewelled things pleased me I bought. I gave some present from each shop to Mullā Amīrī, and he received so many things that he was unable to hold them.
On Mubārak-s͟hamba (Thursday) the 21st of the Divine month of S͟hahrīwar, in the thirteenth year from my accession, corresponding with the 22nd Ramaẓān (September 2, 1618), in the Hijrī year 1027, when two and a half hours of day had passed, in prosperity and happiness, the standards of purpose turned towards the capital of Agra. From the palace as far as the Kānkrīya tank, the place of alighting, I passed along in the usual manner, scattering money (nis̤ār-kunān). On the same day the feast of my solar weighment took place, and according to solar reckoning the fiftieth year of the age of his suppliant at the throne of God commenced auspiciously. According to my usual rule I weighed myself against gold and other valuables. I scattered pearls and golden roses, and looking at night at the show of lamps passed my time in the private apartments of the royal abode in enjoyment. On Friday, the 22nd, I ordered that all the S͟haik͟hs and men of piety who lived in the city should be brought in order that they might break their fast[80] in attendance on me. Three nights were passed after this manner, and every night at the end of the meeting I stood up and recited with the tongue of ecstasy:
“Thou art the mighty One, O Lord,
Thou art the cherisher of rich and poor;
I’m not a world-conqueror or law-giver,
I’m one of the beggars at this gate.
Help me in what is good and right,
Else what good comes from me to any one?
I’m a master[81] to my servants,
To the Lord I’m a loyal servant.”
All the Faqirs who as yet had not waited on me prayed for allowances. According to their merits I gave to each of them land or money for expenses, and gratified them.
On the eve of Mubārak-s͟hamba (Thursday) the 21st, the sāras hatched one young one, and on the eve of Monday, the 25th, a second: that is, one young one was hatched after thirty-four[82] days, and the other after thirty-six days. One might say that they were one-tenth[83] larger than the young of a goose, or equal to the young of the peafowl at the age of a month. Their skin was of a blue colour. On the first day they ate nothing, and from the second day the mother, taking small locusts (or grasshoppers) in her mouth, sometimes fed them like a pigeon, or sometimes like a fowl threw them before them for them to pick up of themselves. If the locust were small, it went off well, but if it were large, she sometimes made two or three pieces of it so that the young ones might eat it with ease. As I had a great liking for seeing them I ordered them to be brought before me with every precaution that no harm might happen to them. After I had seen them I ordered them to be taken back to the same little garden inside the royal enclosure, and to be preserved with the greatest care, and that they should be brought to me again whenever they were able to walk.
On this day Ḥakīm Rūḥu-llah was exalted with the gift of Rs. 1,000. Badīʿu-z-zamān, s. M. S͟hāhruk͟h, came from his jagir and waited on me. On Tuesday, the 26th, marching from the Kānkrīya tank, I halted at the village of Kaj.[84] On Wednesday, the 27th, I pitched my camp on the bank of the river at Maḥmūdābād called the Īzak[85] (now called Meshva). As the water and air of Aḥmadābād were very bad, Maḥmūd Bīgara, by the advice of his physicians, founded a city on the bank of the aforesaid river and lived there. After he conquered Chāmpāner, he made that place his capital, and until the time of Maḥmūd the martyred[86] the rulers of Gujarat chiefly lived there. This Maḥmūd was the last of the Sultans of Gujarat, and he took up his residence at Maḥmūdābād. Undoubtedly the water and air of Maḥmūdābād have no resemblance to those of Aḥmadābād. By way of testing this I ordered them to hang up a sheep on the bank of the Kānkrīya tank after taking off its skin, and at the same time one at Maḥmūdābād, that the difference of the air might be ascertained. It happened that after seven gharīs of day had passed in that place (Aḥmadābād) they hung up the sheep. When three gharīs of day remained it became so changed and putrid that it was difficult to pass near it. They hung up the sheep at Maḥmūdābād in the morning, and it was altogether unchanged until the evening, and began to be putrid when one and a half watches of night had passed. Briefly, in the neighbourhood of Aḥmadābād it became putrid in eight sidereal hours, and in Maḥmūdābād in fourteen hours.
On Thursday, the 28th, Rustam K., whom my son of prosperous fortune, S͟hāh-Jahān, had appointed to the charge and government of Gujarat, was honoured with the gift of an elephant, a horse, and a special parm narm (shawl), and given leave to depart, and the Jahāngīrī officers who were attached to that Subah were presented with horses and dresses of honour according to the rank and standing of each. On Friday, 29th S͟hahrīwar, corresponding with 1st Shawwāl, Rāy Bihārī was honoured with the bestowal of a dress of honour, a jewelled sword and a special horse, and took leave to go to his native place. His sons were also honoured with horses and dresses of honour. On Saturday I ordered Sayyid Muḥammad, grandson[87] (?) of S͟hāh ʿĀlam, to ask for whatever he desired without concealment, and I took an oath on the Qoran to this effect. He said that as I had sworn on the Qoran he would ask for a Qoran that he might always have it by him, and that the merit of reading it might accrue to His Majesty. Accordingly, I gave the Mīr a Qoran in Yāqūt’s[88] handwriting. It was a small, elegant[89] volume, and was the wonder of the age. On the back of it I wrote with my own hand that I had made this gift on a certain day and in a certain place to Sayyid Muḥammad. The real reason for this is that the Mīr is of an exceedingly good disposition, endowed with personal nobility and acquired excellencies, of good manners and approved ways, with a very pleasing face and open forehead. I have never seen a man of this country of such a pleasing disposition as the Mīr. I told him to translate this Qoran into plain language without ornament, and that without occupying himself with explanations or fine language he[90] should translate the Qoran in simple language (lughāt-i-rīk͟hta) word by word into Persian, and should not add one letter to its exact purport. After he had completed it he should send it by his son Jalālu-d-dīn Sayyid to the Court. The Mīr’s son is also a young man of external and internal intelligence. The signs of piety and blessedness are distinct on his forehead. The Mīr is proud of his son, and in truth he is worthy, as he is an excellent youth. As I had repeatedly shown kindness to the holy men of Gujarat, according to their merits, I again bestowed on each cash and jewels, and dismissed them to their homes.
As the climate[91] of this country was not suited to my temperament, the physicians thought it right that I should decrease somewhat my usual number of cups. According to their advice I began to decrease their number, and in the course of a week reduced them by the weight of one cup. At first it was six cups every evening, each cup being 7½ tola, or altogether 45 tolas. The wine was usually mixed with water. Now I drank six cups, each of which was 6 tolas and 3 mās͟has,[92] altogether 37½ tolas.
Sixteen or seventeen years ago I had vowed with my God at Allahabad that when I reached fifty I would give up shooting with gun and bullet, and would injure no living thing with my own hand. Muqarrab K., who was one of my confidants, knew of my determination. At this date I have reached the commencement of my fiftieth year, and one day, in consequence of excessive fever (dūd u buk͟hār) my breath was short and I was very unwell. While in this condition the compact I had made with my God came, by Divine inspiration, into my mind, and I resolved that when my fiftieth year was completed and the period of fulfilling my vow had arrived, I would, on the day[93] on which I visited my father’s tomb—may the light of God be his testimony—by God’s help, seek the confirmation of my resolve from my father’s holy elements, and renounce the practice (of shooting). As soon as this thought occurred to me, my illness and trouble disappeared. I revived, and opened my mouth to praise God, and tasted the joy of thanksgiving for His mercies. I hope that I shall be sustained.
“How well said Firdūsī of pure nature
May mercy rest on that (his) pure tomb.
“Ah! spare yon emmet[94] rich in hoarded grain,
He lives with pleasure, and he dies with pain.”
On Thursday, the 4th of the Divine month, Sayyid Kabīr and Bak͟htar K., the Wakils of ʿĀdil K., who had brought his offering to the exalted Court, obtained leave to return. Sayyid Kabīr was honoured with a dress of honour, a horse, and a jewelled dagger, and Bak͟htar K. with a horse, a dress of honour, and a jewelled ūrbasī,[95] which the people of that country (the Deccan?) wear round their necks, and a present of 6,000 darbs was given to each of them for expenses.
As ʿĀdil K. was constantly asking for a likeness of myself through my prosperous son S͟hāh-Jahān, I sent him one with a ruby of great value and a special elephant. A gracious farman was issued that he should be presented with whatever territory of Niz̤āmu-l-mulk or Qut̤bu-l-mulk he might get into his possession, and whenever he should require any support and assistance, S͟hāh-nawāz K. should prepare an army and appoint it to assist him. In former days Niz̤āmu-l-mulk was the largest of the rulers of the Deccan, a superior whom all acknowledged, and whom they considered as their eldest brother. At this period ʿĀdil K. did approved service, and was honoured with the exalted title of “son.” I appointed him the head and leader of the whole country of the Deccan, and wrote this quatrain on the portrait with my own hand:
“O thou towards whom is always (turned) the eye of my kindness
Repose at ease under the shadow of my fortune.
I have sent thee my own portrait,
That thou mayest see me spiritually from my picture.”
My son S͟hāh-Jahān sent Ḥakīm K͟hūs͟h-ḥāl, son of Ḥakīm Humām, who was one of the excellent house-born ones of this Court, and from his early years had been in my son’s service, in company with the Wakils of ʿĀdil K. to convey to him the good news of the Jahāngīrī favour towards him. On the same day Mīr Jumla was honoured with the duty of ʿArẓ-mukarrir. As Kifāyat K., the Diwan of Gujarat, at the time when he was employed in the Dīwānī of Bengal, in consequence of certain accidents, had lost property (az sāmān uftāda), a sum of Rs. 15,000 was presented to him.
At this time two copies of the Jahāngīr-nāma that had been prepared were laid before me. One of these I had some days previously given to the Madāru-l-mulk (centre of the kingdom), Iʿtimādu-d-daula, and the other I on this day bestowed on my (adopted) son (farzandī), Āṣaf K. On Friday, the 5th, Bahrām, son of Jahāngīr Qulī K͟hān, came from the province of Bihar, and had the good fortune to pay his respects. He laid before me some diamonds he had obtained from the mine of Kokra. Approved service had not been performed in that province by Jahāngīr Qulī K., and it was also frequently reported that certain of his brothers and sons-in-law had stretched out the hand of tyranny in that country, and were oppressing the servants of God (the people), and that each of them, cutting out a governorship for himself, did not regard the authority of Jahāngīr Qulī. On this account a farman written with my own hand was given to Muqarrab K., one of my confidential old servants, stating that he was appointed Governor of Bihar. I ordered that immediately on receipt of the farman he should hasten to that quarter. Some of the diamonds that Ibrāhīm Fatḥ-jang had sent to Court after the taking of the mine had been given to the Government lapidaries to cut. At this time Bahrām suddenly came to Agra, and was going on to the Court (in Gujarat). K͟hwāja Jahān (the Governor of Agra) sent along with him some diamonds that were ready. One of them is of a violet[96] colour, and cannot be outwardly distinguished from a sapphire. Up to this time I had not seen a diamond of this colour. It weighed several surk͟h,[97] and jewellers estimated its value at Rs. 3,000, and represented that if it had been white (safid) and had had perfect marks, it would have been worth Rs. 20,000.
This year I had mangoes up to the 6th Mihr (middle of September). In this country there is abundance of lemons (līmūn), and they are large (bālīda?). A Hindu brought some from a garden called Kākū (or Gangū), which were very pleasant and large (bālīda, perhaps ripe). I ordered them to weigh the largest of them, and it came to 7 tolas.
On Saturday, the 6th, the Dasahrā festival took place. First, they decked out my horses, and paraded them before me. After that they produced the elephants, decorated in a similar way.
As the Māhī had not become fordable, so that the sublime camp could cross it, and the climate of Maḥmūdābād was quite different (i.e., it was better) from that of other stages, I remained here for ten more days. On Monday, the 8th, I marched and encamped at Mūda.[98] I had already sent K͟hwāja Abū-l-Ḥasan Bak͟hs͟hī with an active body of servants, such as boatmen, and also oars,[99] to make a bridge over the Māhī, with instructions not to wait till it was fordable, so that the victorious camp might cross at ease. On Tuesday, the 9th, there was a halt, and on Kams͟hamba (Wednesday), the 10th, the camp was at the village of Aina.[100]
At first the male sāras used to hold its young one by its leg upside down in his beak, and there was a fear that he might be unkind to it and it might be destroyed. I accordingly ordered them to keep the male separately, and not allow it near its young ones. I now ordered by way of experiment that it should be allowed near them, that the real degree of its unkindness and affection might be ascertained. After allowing it, he displayed much attachment and kindness, and his affection was found to be no less than that of the female; I thus knew that this performance was out of real love. On Thursday, the 11th, there was a halt, and at the end of the day I went to hunt with cheetahs, and two black buck, four does, and a chikāra were caught. On Sunday, the 14th, I also went to hunt with cheetahs, and caught fifteen head of male and female antelopes. I had ordered Rustam and Suhrāb[101] K͟hān, his son, to go out hunting and shoot as many nilgaw as they could. The father and son together killed seven head, male and female. As it was represented to me that there was a tiger in this neighbourhood, a man-killer that had taken to eating men’s flesh, and the people of God were afflicted by it, I ordered my son S͟hāh-Jahān to save them from its wickedness. He, as ordered, shot it with his gun, and brought it to me at night. I ordered them to skin it in my presence. Although large in appearance, as it was thin, it turned out less in weight than the large tigers I had myself killed. On Monday, the 15th, and Tuesday, the 16th, I went to shoot nilgaw, and on each day shot two blue bulls. On Thursday, the 18th, on the bank of a tank at which I pitched, a feast of cups was held. Rare lotus (kanwal) flowers had blossomed on the face of the water. My private servants enjoyed themselves greatly with cups of wine. Jahāngīr Qulī had sent twenty elephants from Bihar, and Muruwwat K. eight from Bengal, and these were brought before me. One of Jahāngīr Qulī’s and two of Muruwwat’s were placed in my private stud, and the rest were divided amongst my followers. Mīr K., s. Mīrzā Abū-l-Qāsim Namakīn, who was one of the khanazads of this Court, was promoted to the mansab, original and increased, of 800 personal and 600 horse. Qiyām K. was appointed to the duty of chief huntsman, and had given him the rank of 600 personal and 150 horse. ʿĪzzat[102] K., one of the Bārha Sayyids, who was distinguished for bravery and ambition, is attached to the province of Bangash. At the request of Mahābat K., the Governor of that Subah, he was promoted to the mansab of 1,500 personal and 800 horse. Kifāyat K., Diwan of Gujarat, had an elephant given him, and was allowed to depart. I conferred a sword on Ṣafī K., Bakhshi of that Subah. On Friday, the 19th, I went to hunt, and killed a blue bull. I do not remember a bullet passing through a large male nilgaw. Many have passed through females. On this day, at a distance of forty-five paces (qadam), it went through both skins. In the language of hunters a qadam means two feet (gām[103]) placed one in front of the other. On Sunday, the 21st, I enjoyed myself with hawking, and ordered Mīrzā Rustam, Dārāb K., Mīr Mīrān, and other servants to go and shoot as many nilgaw as they could. They killed nineteen head, male and female. Ten head of antelope were also caught with cheetahs. Ibrāhīm K., Bakhshi of the Deccan, was, at the request of the Commander-in-Chief, K͟hān K͟hānān, promoted to the mansab of 1,000 personal and 200 horse. On Monday, the 22nd, a march was made, and on Tuesday, the 23rd, I again marched. The huntsmen represented that there had been seen in the neighbourhood a tigress with three cubs. As it was on the road I went myself after them and shot all four, and then went on to the next stage. I crossed the Māhī by the bridge that had been made. Though there were no boats on this river of which a bridge could be made, and the water was very deep and flowing rapidly, K͟hwāja Abū-l-Ḥasan, the chief Bakhshi, had built with great exertions a very strong bridge two or[104] three days before. Its length was 140 yards and its breadth 4 yards (daraʿ). By way of testing it I ordered the elephant Gun Sundar K͟hāṣṣ which is one of the large and strong elephants, with three females, to be sent across it. It was so firmly built that its supports did not shake with the weight of elephants of mountainous form.
From the most honoured lips of my father I heard as follows: “In early youth I had taken two or three cups (of wine), and had mounted a full-blooded (mast) elephant. Though I was in my senses, and the elephant in very good training, and was under my control, I pretended that I was out of my senses, and that the elephant was refractory and vicious, and that I was making him charge the people. After that, I sent for another elephant, and made the two fight. They fought, and in doing so went to the head of the bridge that had been made over the Jumna. It happened that the other elephant ran away, and as there was no other escape, he went towards the bridge. The elephant I was on pursued him, and although I had him under control, and he would have halted at the slightest signal, I thought that if I held him back from the bridge the people would regard those drunken ways (of mine) as a sham, and would believe that neither was I beside myself, nor was the elephant violent and headstrong. Such pretences on the part of kings are disapproved of, and so after imploring the aid of God—Glory be to Him—I did not restrain my elephant. Both of them went upon the bridge, and as it was made of boats, whenever an elephant put his forefeet on the edge of a boat, half of it sank, and the other half stood up. At each step there came the thought that the lashings might give way. People on seeing this were overwhelmed in the sea of perplexity and alarm. As the care and guardianship of the Great and Glorious God is ever and in all places the protection of this suppliant, both elephants crossed the bridge in safety.”[105]
On Thursday, the 25th, a wine-feast was held on the banks of the Māhī, and some of my intimate servants who had admittance to such assemblies had their hearts delighted by brimming cups and ample favours. Certainly it was an entrancing halting-ground. I stayed here four days for two reasons—first, because of the beauty of the spot, and secondly in order that the people might not be confused in crossing the river.
On Sunday, the 28th, I marched from the bank of the Māhī. On Monday I marched again. On this day a strange sight was witnessed. The pair of sāras that had had young ones had been brought from Aḥmadābād on Thursday (the 25th). In the Court of the royal enclosure, which had been placed on the bank of a tank, they were walking about with their young ones. By chance both the male and female raised a cry, and a pair of wild sāras hearing it, and crying out from the other side of the tank, came flying towards them. The male with the male, and the female with the female, engaged in a fight, and although some people were standing about, the birds paid no heed to them. The eunuchs who had been told off to protect them hastened to seize them. One clung to the male and the other to the female. He who had caught the male kept hold of it after much struggling, but the one who seized the female could not hold her, and she escaped from his hand. I with my own hand put rings in his beak and on his legs, and set him free. Both went and settled in their own place.[106] Whenever the domestic sāras raised a cry they responded. I saw a sight of this kind in wild antelopes when I had gone to hunt in the pargana of Karnāl. About thirty of my huntsmen and servants were in attendance when a black buck with some does came in sight, and we let loose the decoy-antelope[107] to fight him. They butted two or three times, and then the decoy came back. A second time I wanted to put a noose on its horns and to let it go, that it might capture (the wild one). Meanwhile the wild antelope, in the excess of its rage, not looking at the crowd of men, ran without regard to anything, and butting the tame buck two or three times fought with it till it fled. The wild antelope thereupon made its escape.
On this day news came of the death of ʿInāyat K. He was one of my intimate attendants. As he was addicted to opium, and when he had the chance, to drinking as well, by degrees he became maddened with wine. As he was weakly built, he took more than he could digest, and was attacked by the disease of diarrhœa, and in this weak state he two or three times fainted. By my order Ḥakīm Ruknā applied remedies, but whatever methods were resorted to gave no profit. At the same time a strange hunger came over him, and although the doctor exerted himself in order that he should not eat more than once in twenty-four hours, he could not restrain himself. He also would throw[108] himself like a madman on water and fire until he fell into a bad[109] state of body. At last he became dropsical, and exceedingly low and weak. Some days before this he had petitioned that he might go to Agra. I ordered him to come into my presence and obtain leave. They put him into a palanquin and brought him. He appeared so low and weak that I was astonished.
“He was skin drawn over bones.”
Or rather his bones, too, had dissolved. Though painters have striven much in drawing an emaciated face, yet I have never seen anything like this, nor even approaching to it. Good God, can a son of man come to such a shape and fashion? These two couplets of Ustād[110] occurred as appropriate:
“If my shadow do not hold my leg
I shall not be able to stand till the Resurrection
Nor, from weakness, does my soul see a refuge
Where it may for a while rest on my lips.”
As it was a very extraordinary case I directed painters to take his portrait. In fact, I found him wonderfully changed. I said to him: “Beware; in your present state do not for a moment forget God, nor despair of His mercy! If Death grant you quarter (amān), regard the reprieve as a time for apologizing and for amendment. If your life has come to its close, consider every moment passed in remembrance of God as gain. Trouble not your head about those you are leaving behind. A slight claim of service is a great thing with us.” As they had spoken to me about his poverty, I gave him Rs. 2,000 for road-expenses, and let him go. Next day he travelled the road of non-existence.
On Tuesday, the 30th, the bank of the River Mānab[111] became the halting-place for the sublime camp. The New Year’s[112] feast of Thursday was prepared at this place on the 2nd of the Ilāhī month of Ābān. Amānu-llah, s. Mahābat K., at his request, was promoted to the mansab of 1,000 personal and 300[113] horse, and Girdhar, s. Rāy Sāl, to that of 1,000 personal and 800 horse. ʿAbdu-llah, son of K͟hān Aʿz̤am, obtained the mansab of 1,000 personal and 300 horse. Dilīr K., who was one of the jagirdars of Gujarat, I presented with a horse and an elephant. Ran-bāz K., s. S͟hāh-bāz K. Kāmbū, came by order from the Deccan, and was promoted to the post of Bakhshi and Recorder of the army of Bangas͟h, and his mansab was fixed at 800 personal and 400 horse. I marched on Friday, the 3rd. At this stage[114] Prince S͟hujāʿ, the beloved son (liver-corner) of my son S͟hāh-Jahān, who was being brought up in the chaste lap of Nūr-Jahān Begam, and towards whom I have so much affection that he is dearer to me than life, was attacked by a specially infantile disease which they call “ummu-ṣ-ṣibyān,”[115] and for a long time his senses left him. Although experienced people devised many remedies, they were unprofitable, and his insensibility (bī-hūs͟hī) took away my senses (hūs͟h). As visible remedies were hopeless, by way of humility and submission I rubbed the head of supplication on the Court of the gracious Ruler who cherishes his slaves, and begged for the child’s recovery. In this state it occurred to me that as I had made a vow[116] to my God that after I had passed my fiftieth year, this suppliant would give up hunting with bullet and gun, and would injure no creature with his own hand, if for the sake of his safety I were to give up shooting from the present date, it were possible that his life would become the means of preserving the lives of many animals, and God Almighty might give him to me. In fine, with true purpose, and sincere belief I vowed[117] to God that I would thenceforward not harm any living thing with my own hand. By the grace of Allah his illness diminished. At the time when this suppliant was in his mother’s womb, one day I made no movement after the manner that other children make. The attendants were amazed, and inquiring into the cause stated the case to my father (Akbar). At that time my father was engaged in hunting with cheetahs. As that day was a Friday, for the purpose of my safety he made a vow that during his life he would not hunt with cheetahs on a Friday. Till the end of his life he remained firm in this determination, and I also in obedience to him until now have never hunted with cheetahs on a Friday. Finally, on account of the weakness of the light of my eye, S͟hāh S͟hujāʿ, for three days I halted at this stage, that God Almighty might give him his natural[118] life.
On Tuesday, the 7th, I marched. One day the son of Ḥakīm[119] ʿĀlī was praising the milk of a camel. It occurred to me that if I could continue that for some days, it was possible that it might do some good, and it might prove agreeable to me. Āṣaf K͟hān had a Persian camel in milk, and I took a little of it. Contrary to the milk of other camels, which is not devoid of saltness, it appeared to my taste sweet and delicious, and now for a month past I have been drinking every day a cup of it, equal in quantity to half a water-cup, and it is clearly advantageous, for it quenches my thirst. It is strange that two years ago Āṣaf K. bought this camel, but at that time it had not a young one, and had no sign of milk. At this time by chance milk flowed from its dugs. They gave it every day to drink four seers of cow’s milk with five seers of wheat, one seer of black[120] sugar, and one seer of fennel (bādyān), to make its milk delicious, sweet, and profitable. Certainly it suited me admirably, and was to my taste. By way of testing it, I sent for some cow’s and buffalo’s milk, and tasted all three. There was no comparison in sweetness and flavour with the milk of this camel. I ordered them to give the same kind of food to some other female camels, that it might become clear whether the purity was in consequence of eating good food, or whether it was due to the natural sweetness of this (particular) camel’s milk.[121]
On Wednesday, the 8th, I marched, and halted on the 9th. The royal tent was pitched near a large tank. S͟hāh-Jahān presented me with a boat made after the Kashmīr fashion, the sitting-place of which they had made of silver. At the end of that day I embarked in that boat and went round the tank. On this day ʿĀbid K., Bakhshi of Bangas͟h, who had been summoned, came and had the good fortune to kiss the threshold, and was honoured with the post of Dīwān-i-buyūtāt. Sar-farāz K͟hān, who was one of the auxiliaries of Gujarat, received a standard, a private tipchāq horse, and an elephant, and, overwhelmed with honour, obtained leave to go. ʿĪzzat[122] K͟hān, who was one of those attached to the army of Bangas͟h, was exalted with the gift of a standard. Marching was ordered on Friday, the 10th. Mīr Mīrān was promoted to the mansab of 2,000 personal and 600 horse. On Saturday, the 11th, the auspicious equipage alighted in the pargana of Doḥad. On the eve of Sunday, the 12th of the Ilāhī month of Ābān, in the thirteenth year from my accession, corresponding with the fifteenth Ẕī-l-Qaʿda of the Hijrī year 1027, in the nineteenth degree of Libra, the Giver of blessings gave my prosperous son S͟hāh-Jahān a precious son by the daughter of Āṣaf K. I hope that his[123] advent may be auspicious and blessed to this everlasting State. Halting for three days at this place, on Wednesday,[124] the 15th Ābān, the camp was pitched at the village of S̤amarna.[125] As it was necessary that the Mubārak-s͟hamba entertainment should as far as possible be arranged for on the bank of a river and a clean place, and there was in this neighbourhood no spot which met those requirements, there was no help for it but to order a start when half of the night of Thursday (i.e., Wednesday), the 16th, had passed, and when the sun rose the camp was pitched on the bank of the tank of Bākhūr. At the end of the day, the feast of cups was held and I presented cups to some of my private servants. On Friday, the 17th, I ordered a march. Kes͟ho Dās Mārū is a jagirdar in that neighbourhood. According to orders, he came from the Deccan, and was honoured by doing homage.
On Saturday, the 18th (Ābān), the camp was at Rāmgaṛh. For some nights before this there appeared, at three gharīs before sunrise, in the atmosphere, a (luminous) vapour in the shape of a pillar.[126] At each succeeding night it rose a g͟haṛī earlier. When it assumed its full form, it took the shape of a spear (ḥarba), thin at the two ends, and thick in the middle. It was curved like a sickle, and had its back to the south, and its face to the north. It now showed itself a watch (pahar) before sunrise. Astronomers took its shape and size by the astrolabe, and ascertained that with differences of appearance (?) it extended over twenty-four degrees. It moved in high heaven, but it had a movement of its own, differing from that of high heaven, for it was first in Scorpio and afterwards in Libra. Its declination (ḥarakat-i-ʿarẓ?) was mainly southerly. Astrologers call such a phenomenon a spear (ḥarba) in their books, and have written that its appearance portends weakness to the kings of Arabia, and points to their enemies prevailing over them. God knows! Sixteen nights after this phenomenon, a star showed itself in the same quarter. Its head was luminous, and its tail was two or three yards long, but the tail was not luminous. It has now appeared for eight nights; when it disappears, the fact will be noticed, as well as the results of it.
I halted on Sunday, the 19th, and on Monday I alighted at the village of Sītalkhera.[127] On Tuesday, the 21st, there was again a halt. I presented Ras͟hīd K., the Afghan, with a robe of honour and an elephant, sending them to him by Ran-bāz K. On Wednesday, the 22nd, the camp rested in pargana Madanpūr.[128] On Thursday, the 23rd, I halted and had a feast of cups, and Dārāb K. had a nādirī dress of honour given to him. Halting on Friday, on Saturday the camp was pitched in the pargana of Nawārī.[129] On Sunday, the 26th, I pitched on the bank of the River Chambal, and on Monday on the bank of the River Kahnar[130] (?). On Tuesday, the 28th, the royal standards were raised in the neighbourhood of the city of Ujain. From Aḥmadābād to Ujain is a distance of ninety-eight kos. It was traversed in twenty-eight marches and forty-one halts—that is, in two months and nine days. On Wednesday, the 29th, I had an interview with Jadrūp, who is one of the austere ones of the Hindu religion, and the particulars of whose circumstances have been described in the preceding pages, and went with him to see Kāliyādaha. Certainly association with him is a great privilege.
On this day it was made known to me in the contents of a report from Bahādur K., the Governor of Qandahar, that in the Hijrī year 1026—that is, last year—the number of mice in Qandahar and the neighbourhood was so great that they destroyed all the crops and grain and cultivation and the fruits of the trees of the province, so that there had been no produce. They (the mice) cut off the ears of corn and ate them. When the cultivators gathered their crops, before they were threshed and cleaned, another[131] half was destroyed, so that perhaps one-fourth of the crops only came to hand. In the same way no vestige was left of the melons (melon-beds) or garden produce. After some time the mice disappeared.
As my son S͟hāh-Jahān had not made a birthday entertainment for his son (Aurangzīb), he petitioned at Ujain, which is the place of his jagir, that the Thursday entertainment of the 30th should be held at his abode. Of necessity, having consented to the carrying out of his wish, the day was passed in enjoyment at his quarters. My private servants who have the entrée into this kind of parties and assemblies were delighted with brimming cups. My son S͟hāh-Jahān brought that auspicious child before me, and, presenting as offerings a tray of jewels, and jewelled ornaments, and fifty elephants, thirty male and twenty female, asked me for a name for him. Please God it will be given him in a favourable hour. Of his elephants seven were included in my private stud; the rest were distributed among the faujdārs. The value of the offerings that were accepted will be Rs. 200,000.
On this day ʿAẓudu-d-daula (Jamālu-d-dīn Ḥusain Anjū) came from his jagir, and had the good fortune to kiss the threshold. He gave eighty-one muhars as naẕr, and an elephant as an offering. Qāsim K., whom I had dismissed from the government of Bengal, had been sent for, and having had the good fortune to do homage, presented 1,000 muhars as naẕr. On Friday, the 1st of Āẕar, I amused myself with hawking. As the retinue passed along, a field of millet (jwār) was met with. Though generally a stem has only one head, each of them had twelve. I was astonished, and at this time the tale of “The King and the Gardener” occurred to me.
Tale of “The King and the Gardener.”[132]
A King came to the gate of a garden in the heat of the day. He saw an old gardener standing at the gate, and asked him if there were any pomegranates in the garden. He said: “There are.” He told him to bring a cup of pomegranate juice. The gardener had a daughter adorned with grace of person, and beauty of disposition. He made a sign to her to bring the pomegranate juice. The girl went and at once brought a cup full of pomegranate juice, and placed some leaves upon it. The King took it from her hand and drank it. Then he asked the girl what was her reason for placing leaves on the top of the juice. She, with an eloquent tongue and a sweet voice, represented that it was not wise at once to drink off a quantity of liquid when he was bathed in perspiration, and in such a hot air. On this account she had placed the leaves on the liquid by way of precaution, so that he might drink it slowly. The King was greatly pleased with her sweet ways, and it crossed his mind to admit the girl into his Palace. After this he asked the gardener: “How much profit do you derive from this garden every year?” He answered: “Three hundred dīnārs.” The King asked: “What do you pay the Diwan (tax-collector)?” He answered: “The King takes nothing from the trees, but takes a tenth of the cultivated crops.” It came into the King’s mind that there were in his dominions many gardens and countless trees. If he were to get a tenth of the garden produce as well, it would amount to a large sum, and there would be no great loss to the cultivator. Hereafter he would order a tax to be levied on garden produce. He said then: “Bring me a little more pomegranate juice.” The girl went, and after a long time brought a small quantity. The King said: “The first time thou camest quickly, and broughtest more. This time thou didst stay a long time, and broughtest less.” The girl said: “The first time I had filled the cup with the juice of one pomegranate, and brought it; this time I pressed out five or six pomegranates and did not get as much juice.” The astonishment of the King increased. The gardener represented: “The blessing of produce depends on the goodwill of the King. It occurs to me that you must be a King. At the time when you inquired of me the income from the garden, your disposition must have changed. Consequently the blessing passed away from the fruit.” The Sultan was impressed, and drove that idea out of his heart. He then said: “Bring me once more a cup of pomegranate juice.” The girl went again, and quickly bringing a cup full to the brim, gave it, smiling and gladly, into the Sultan’s hand. He praised the intelligence of the gardener, and explained the actual state of affairs, and begged the girl of him in marriage, and married her.
This true tale of that truth-preserving King has remained as a memento on the page of time. In truth, the manifestation of such spiritual (?)[133] results is the mark of good intentions, and the fruit of justice. Whenever all the energies and purposes of justice-observing Kings are devoted to the comfort of the people and the contentment of their subjects, the manifestations of well-being and the productions of fields and gardens are not far off. God be praised that in this age-enduring State no tax has ever been levied on the fruit of trees, and is not levied now. In the whole of the dominion not a dām nor one grain (ḥabba)[134] on this account enters the public treasury, or is collected by the State. Moreover, there is an order that whoever makes a garden on arable land, its produce is exempted. I trust that God (to whom be glory!) will always incline this suppliant towards what is good.
“When my purpose is good, do Thou grant me good.”[135]
On Saturday, for the second time, my desire for the company of Jadrūp increased. After performing the midday devotions, I embarked in a boat and hastened to meet him, and at the close of day I ran and enjoyed his society in the retirement of his cell. I heard many sublime words of religious duties and knowledge of divine things. Without immoderate praise, he sets forth clearly the doctrines of wholesome Sufism, and one can find delight in his society. He is sixty years old. He was twenty-two years of age, when, forsaking all external attachments, he placed the foot of determination on the highroad of asceticism, and for thirty-eight years he had lived in the garment of nakedness. When I took leave he said: “In what language can I return thanks for this gift of Allah that I am engaged in the reign of such a just King in the worship of my own Deity in ease and contentment, and that the dust of discomposure from any accident settles not on the skirt of my purpose?”
On Sunday, the 3rd, marching from Kāliyādaha, I encamped at the village of Qāsimkhera. I employed myself on the road in hawking. By chance a crane rose, and the tūyg͟hūn falcon, of which I am very fond, was let fly after it. The crane sought to escape, and the falcon soared and flew so high as to disappear from sight. Although the huntsmen and the head-beaters ran after it in all directions, they found no trace of it, and it was impossible for the falcon to be caught in such a desert. Las͟hkar Mīr Kas͟hmīrī, who is the head of the Kashmir huntsmen, in whose charge the falcon was, ran in a bewildered state through the desert in all directions without finding a sign or trace. Suddenly he saw a tree in the distance, and when he went up to it he found the falcon sitting on the end of a branch. Showing a domestic fowl, he called to the falcon. Three gharīs more had not passed when he brought it to me. This gift from the hidden world, that had entered into the thoughts of no one, increased the joy of my mind. Increasing his mansab as a reward for this service, I gave him a horse and a dress of honour.
On Monday, the 4th, Tuesday, the 5th, Wednesday, the 6th, I marched continuously, and, halting on Thursday, the 7th, I arranged a feast of pleasure on the bank of a tank. Nūr-Jahān Begam had been ill for some time, and the physicians who had the good fortune to be chosen to attend on her, Musulmans and Hindus, perceived no gain from all the medicines they gave her, and confessed their helplessness in treating her. At this time Ḥakīm Rūḥu-llah began to wait upon her, and undertook (to find) a remedy. By the aid of God (Glory be to His name!), in a short time she quite recovered. In reward for this excellent service I increased his mansab and bestowed on the Ḥakīm three villages in his native country as his private property, and an order was given that he should be weighed against silver, which should be given him as a reward. From Friday, the 8th, until Sunday,[136] the 13th, I made successive marches, and every day up to the end of the stage employed myself in hunting with hawks and falcons (bāz u jurra). Many durrāj (partridges) were caught. On last Sunday, Kunwar Karan, s. Rānā Amar Singh, having enjoyed the good fortune of kissing the ground, presented his congratulations on the conquest of the Deccan, offering 100 muhars and Rs. 1,000 by way of naẕr, and the value of Rs. 21,000 in jewelled vessels, with some horses and elephants as pīs͟hkas͟h. The horses and elephants I returned to him, and the rest was accepted. The next day I presented him with a dress of honour. To Mīr S͟harīf, Vakil of Qut̤bu-l-mulk, and to Irādat K., the chief butler, an elephant each was given. Sayyid Hizabr K. was given the faujdāri of Mewāt, and his mansab, original and increased, was fixed at 1,000 personal and 500 horse. Having selected Sayyid Mubārak for the charge of the fort of Rohtās, I conferred on him the mansab of 500 personal and 200 horse. On Thursday, the 14th, the camp was pitched on the bank of the tank of the village of Sandhāra, and the feast of cups was held, and chosen servants were made happy with cups of pleasure. The birds of chase, “that had been shut up in Agra to moult” (ba-kurīz basta būdand), were this day brought to me by K͟hwāja ʿAbdu-l-Lat̤īf, the Chief Fowler. Picking out those that were fit for my own use, the rest were given to the Amīrs and other servants.
On this day the news of the revolt and ingratitude for favours of Rāja Sūraj Mal, s. Rāja Bāso, came to my ear. Bāso had several[137] sons. Although the above-mentioned was the eldest, his father mostly kept him in confinement on account of his evil thoughts and mischievous tendencies, and regarded him with displeasure. After his (Bāso’s) death, as this wretch was the eldest, and he had no other capable or intelligent son, I, looking to the services rendered by Rāja Bāso, for the purpose of preserving the family of a Zamindar, and the protection of his hereditary property and country, conferred on this wretch the title of Raja, with a mansab of 2,000, and gave him the position and jagir of his father, which the latter had obtained by his loyalty and good service. I also gave him the sums of money and goods that his father had collected during long years. When the deceased Murtaẓā K. was sent off on the duty of conquering Kāngṛa, as this wretch was the chief Zamindar of that hill country, he outwardly displayed zeal in the service and loyalty, and was nominated as an auxiliary. After he reached the spot, Murtaẓā K. pressed the siege tightly against the garrison. This evil-minded fellow discovered from the appearance of things that he would soon be victorious, and began to disagree and be troublesome. He took off the veil of respect from his face, and proceeded to quarrel and be hostile to Murtaẓā K.’s men. Murtaẓā K. read the writing of misery and ruin on the page of the wretch’s forehead, and reported unfavourably of him to the Court, or rather wrote plainly that the signs of rebellion and want of loyalty were clear in his conduct. As there was there such an officer as Murtaẓā K. and a large army in the hill-country, the wretch did not find the time convenient for the preparation of a disturbance. He sent a report to my son S͟hāh-Jahān that Murtaẓā K., at the instigation of interested parties, had turned against him, and desired to overthrow and ruin him, and was accusing him of wrong-doing and rebellion. He hoped that he would summon him to Court, and thus provide a means for his escape and (the prolonging of) his life. Although I had every confidence in the words of Murtaẓā K., yet as he (Sūraj Mal) begged to be sent for to Court, a doubt passed into my mind that possibly Murtaẓā K., at the instigation of seditious people, might cause a confusion, and might have accused him without due reflection. Briefly, at the request of my son S͟hāh-Jahān, passing over his offence, I summoned him (Sūraj Mal) to Court. Just at this time Murtaẓā K. died, and the conquest of the fort of Kāngṛa was delayed till the dispatch of another leader. When this seditious fellow arrived at Court, I, under the pressure of affairs, rapidly encompassed him with favours and sent him off to do duty with my son S͟hāh-Jahān in the conquest of the Deccan. After this, when the Deccan had come into the possession of the servants of the enduring State, he, having acquired influence in my son’s service, was appointed to superintend the taking of the fort of Kāngṛa. Although the sending back of this ungrateful and untruthful one into that hill-country showed a want of caution and care, yet as my son had taken on himself the responsibility of the undertaking, I was obliged to give in to his wish and to leave the matter to him. My fortunate son appointed him, along with one of his own servants of the name of Taqī and a suitable army of manṣabdārs, aḥadīs, and royal musketeers, as has already been related summarily in these pages. When he arrived at the place, he began to show enmity and trickery toward Taqī also, and displayed his natural disposition. He continually reported unfavourably of him (Taqī), until he wrote plainly that he could not get on with him, and that Taqī could not do the work. If another general were appointed, the fort would be quickly conquered. In fine, he (S͟hāh-Jahān) had no choice but to summon Taqī to Court, and to appoint Rāja Bikramājīt, who was one of his chief servants, with an army of fresh men on this service. When the wretch discovered that his stratagems could no longer continue, and his deceit go no farther, he, before the arrival of Bikramājīt, gave leave to a number of the servants of the Court, on the pretence that they had been on service a long time without proper arrangements (commissariat), to hasten to their jagirs and provide themselves with their equipments before the arrival of Rāja Bikramājīt. As palpably this came to a dispersion of the forces of the loyal, and most of them left for their own jagirs, only a few experienced men remained there. Seeing his opportunity, he showed the signs of revolt and sedition. Sayyid Ṣafī Bārha, who was distinguished for his bravery, with some of his brothers and relatives, advanced the feet of courage, and tasted the wholesome draught of martyrdom, and some who were wounded with severe wounds, which are the adornment of the lions of battle, that rascal took captive from the field of strife and carried off to his own house of calamity.[138] Some from love[139] of life hastily withdrew themselves to the corner of safety. That rascal stretched out the hand of oppression and possession over the parganas on the skirts of the hill-country (daman-i-kūh), which mostly belonged to the jagir of Iʿtimādu-d-daula, and did not abate a hair’s breadth from attacking and plundering. It is hoped that with the same swiftness, he will be caught with the reward of his deeds and the recompense of his actions, and that the spirit[140] of this State will do its work, please God!
On Sunday, the 17th, I crossed Ghāṭī Chānḍā. On Monday, the 18th, the Jān-sipār Ātālīq K͟hān-k͟hānān, Commander-in-Chief, had the honour of kissing the threshold. As he had been absent from my presence for a long time, and the victorious retinue was passing by near the Sarkars of Khandesh and Burhānpur, he asked to wait upon me, and an order was given that if his mind were at ease in all respects, he should come unattended and return quickly. He accordingly came with all speed, and had the good fortune to pay his respects on this day, and, having been exalted by the receipt of all kinds of royal favours and kingly benefits, he presented an offering of 1,000 muhars and Rs. 1,000.
As the camp had undergone great hardship in crossing the Ghāṭī, I ordered a halt for the refreshment of the people on Tuesday, the 19th. I marched on Wednesday, the 20th, and on Thursday, the 21st, halted again and held a feast of cups on the bank of a river that is known as the Sind.[141] I gave a special horse, of the name of Sumer, which was one of the finest horses, to the K͟hān-k͟hānān. In the Hindi language they call a hill of gold Sumer (Sumeru), and he was called by this name on account of his colour and size. On Friday, the 22nd, and Saturday, the 23rd, two successive marches were made. On this day a wonderful waterfall was seen. The water is exceedingly clear, and pours down with boiling and noise from a lofty place. On all sides of it there are halting places where one may praise God. Certainly I have not recently seen such another fine waterfall, and it is a delightful recreation-place. I was delighted with the spectacle for a while. On Sunday, the 24th, I halted, and, sitting in a boat on a tank which was in front of the royal enclosure (daulat-k͟hāna), were shot[142] ducks (murg͟hābī). On Monday, the 25th, Tuesday, the 26th, and Wednesday, the 27th, I marched one after the other. I bestowed on the K͟hān-k͟hānān the pūstīn (sheep-skin coat) I had on my own person, and seven horses from my stable, on which I always rode, were also given him. On Sunday, the 2nd of the Ilāhī month of Dai, the royal standards were raised at the fort of Ranthambūr. This is one of the great forts of the Indians. In the time of Sult̤ān ʿAlāʾu-d-dīn K͟haljī, Rāy Pitambar Deo was in possession of it. The Sultan besieged it for a long time, and conquered it with labour and great exertions, and in the beginning[143] of the reign of H.M. (Akbar)—may the light of God be his witness!—Rāy Surjan Hāḍā had it in his possession. He had always 6,000 or 7,000 horse in attendance on him. That revered one, by the aid of the glorious God, conquered it in the space of one month and twelve days, and Rāy Surjan, by the guidance of fortune, having had the good fortune to kiss the threshold, was enrolled among the number of the loyal, and became one of his respectable and trusted Amīrs. After him his son Rāy Bhoj also was included among the great Amīrs. Now his grandson, Sar-buland Rāy, is among the chief officers. On Monday,[144] the 3rd, I went to inspect the fort. There are two hills close to each other. They call one Ran, and the other Thanbūr. The fort is built on the top of Thanbūr, and, putting these two names together, they have called it Ranthambūr. Although the fort is exceedingly strong, and has plenty of water, the hill of Ran is a specially strong fortress (in itself), and the capture of the fortress depends upon the possession of this hill. Accordingly, my revered father ordered that they should plant cannon on the top of the hill of Ran, and aim at (majrā gīrand) the buildings inside the fort. The first gun they fired reached the square building (chaukandī)[145] of the palace of Rāy Surjan. From the fall of that building, a trembling found its way into the foundations of his courage, and a great perplexity overpowered his heart, and thinking he would best consult his own safety in delivering up the fort, he rubbed the head of worship and humility on the throne of the king of kings, who forgave faults and accepted excuses.
I had intended to pass the night in the fort, and the next day to return to camp. As the buildings inside the fort had been built after the fashion of the Hindus, and the rooms were without air and with little space, they did not please me, nor was I disposed to stay there. I saw a bath house, which one of the servants of Dastam[146] K͟hān had built near the wall of the fort. A little garden and a lodging (nis͟hīman) which overlooks (mus͟hrif) the open space is not wanting in space and air, and there is no better place in the whole fort.[147] Dastam K. was one of the Amīrs of the late King (Akbar), and from his early years had been brought up in his service. His connection with him was confidential and intimate. H.M. had entrusted this fort to him from his exceeding confidence in him.
After completing my inspection of the fort and houses, I ordered that they should bring before me the criminals who were confined in the fort, so that I might look into the case of each of them and give an order in accordance with justice. In brief, with the exception of affairs of murder, and of any person through whose release disturbance or calamity might ensue in the country, I freed them all, and to each one in accordance with his circumstances gave his expenses and dresses[148] of honour. On the eve of Tuesday, the 4th, I returned to the royal abode after a watch and three gharis had passed. On Sunday (properly Wednesday), the 5th, having marched nearly 5 koss, I halted on Thursday, the 6th. On this day the K͟hān-k͟hānān presented his offering of jewels, ornamented vessels, cloth, and an elephant. Of these I chose whatever pleased me, and returned the rest. What was accepted of his offering was of the value of Rs. 150,000. On Friday, the 7th, I marched 5 koss. I had before this captured a sāras with a falcon, but until now I had never seen the hunting of a durnā[149] (crane). As my son S͟hāh-Jahān had great pleasure in durnā hunting with the falcon (s͟hāhīn), and his falcons were well grown, at his request I rode out early in the morning, and caught one durnā myself, whilst the falcon my son had on his wrist caught another. Certainly, of all good hunting amusements, this is the best. I was exceedingly pleased with it. Although the sāras is large, it is lazy and heavy on the wing. The chase of the durnā has no resemblance to it. I praise the heart and courage of the falcon that can seize such strong-bodied animals, and with the strength of his talons can subdue them. Ḥasan K., the chief huntsman of my son, was honoured with an elephant, a horse, and a dress of honour, as a reward for this exhibition of sport, and his son also received a horse and a dress of honour. On Saturday, the 8th, having marched 4¼ koss, I halted on Sunday, the 9th. On this day the K͟hān-k͟hānān, the Commander-in-Chief, having raised the head of dignity through the gift of a special dress of honour, a jewelled waist-sword, and a private elephant with trappings, was reappointed to Khandesh and the Deccan. The mansab of that pillar of the kingdom, original and increase, was fixed at 7,000 personal and horse. As he did not get on with Las͟hkar K., at his request I assigned to ʿĀbid K. the duty of Dīwān-i-buyūtāt,[150] and having given him the mansab of 1,000 personal and 400 horse, as well as a horse, an elephant, and a dress of honour, sent him to that Subah. On the same day K͟hān Daurān arrived from Kabul, and had the good fortune to pay his respects, and presented as naẕr 1,000 muhars and Rs. 1,000, as well as an offering of a pearl rosary, fifty horses, ten Persian male and female camels, and some hawks, and china,[151] and porcelain (?), and other things. On Monday, the 10th, I marched 3¼ koss, and on Tuesday, the 11th, 5¾ koss. On this day the K͟hān Daurān arranged his men before me, and passed in review a thousand Mug͟hal cavalry, most of whom had Turkī horses, and some ʿIrāq and some Mujannas[152] horses. Though his troopers had been mostly dispersed, some going into the service of Mahābat K. and remaining in that Subah, whilst a number left him at Lahore and went into different parts of the dominion, yet he could show this body of well-mounted men. Certainly the K͟hān Daurān for valour and generalship is one of the unique of the ages, but alas! I found he had become a decrepit old man, and his sight was very weak. He has two intelligent young sons, who are not wanting in reasonableness, but it will certainly be a great and difficult thing for them to show themselves his equals. On this day I gave him and his sons dresses of honour and swords. On Sunday, the 12th, traversing 3½ koss, I alighted on the bank of the tank of Māndū.[153] In the middle of the tank there is a stone building, and on one of the pillars the quatrain of someone had been engraved. I saw it, and was amazed. In truth, it is a fine verse:
“My congenial friends have left me:
One by one they’ve fallen into the hands of death.
They were poor drinkers at the banquet of life.
A moment sooner than us they became drunken.”[154]
At this time I also heard another quatrain of the same description, which I have recorded because it was very well said:
“Alas! that people of intelligence and wisdom have passed away.
They have been forgotten in the minds of their contemporaries.
Those who spoke with a hundred tongues
Ah! what heard they that they became silent.”
On Thursday, the 13th, I made a halt. ʿAbdu-l-ʿAzīz K., having come from Bangas͟h, had the good fortune to kiss the threshold. Ikrām K., who was in charge of the faujdāri of Fatḥpūr and the neighbourhood, was honoured with waiting on me. K͟hwāja Ibrāhīm K., Bak͟hs͟hī of the Deccan, was exalted with the title of ʿAqīdat K. Mīr Ḥājj, who is one of the auxiliaries attached to that Subah, and one of the brave young officers, was promoted to the title of S͟harza (tiger-whelp) K., and received a standard. On Friday, the 14th, I marched 5¼ koss. On Saturday, the 15th, having marched 3 koss, I halted in the neighbourhood of Bayānā.[155] There I hastened with the ladies to see the spectacle of the top of the fort. Muḥammad, the Bak͟hs͟hī of Humāyūn, who was entrusted with the charge of the fort, had built a fine house overlooking the plain, of great height and with fine air. The tomb of S͟haik͟h Bahlūl is also in that neighbourhood, and is not wanting in excellence. The S͟haik͟h was the elder brother of S͟haik͟h Muḥammad G͟haus̤, and was much versed in the science of incantations by names (of God). Humāyūn had great affection for him, and the most perfect reliance on him. When he conquered the province of Bengal, he took up his abode there for some time. Mīrzā Hindāl, by his order, had remained[156] at Agra. A body of avaricious servants (qulluq-chiyān), whose character was mischievous and seditious, taking to the way of faithlessness, came from Bengal to the Mīrzā, and, working upon his base nature (shaking the chain of his vile heart), led the Mīrzā on the road of rebellion and ingratitude for favours, and of irrecognition of duty. The thoughtless Mīrzā had the k͟hut̤ba recited in his own name (proclaimed himself king), and openly raised the standard of rebellion and strife. When the royal ear heard what had taken place from the reports of those who were loyal, he sent S͟haik͟h Bahlūl to admonish the Mīrzā, and to turn him back from his vain purpose, and to establish his feet on the highroad of sincerity and concord. As these wretches had made the flavour of royalty sweet to the Mīrzā’s palate, he became imbued with futile ideas, and would not be loyal. At the instigation of these seditious people he made S͟haik͟h Bahlūl a martyr with the sword of recklessness at the Chārbāg͟h (garden) which H.M. Bābar had made on the bank of the Jumna. As Muḥammad Bak͟hs͟hī was a disciple of the S͟haik͟h, he carried the body into the fort of Bayānā, and buried it there.
On Sunday, the 16th, marching 4½ koss, I came to the stage of Barah.[157] As the garden and well which had been built by the order of Maryam-zamānī (Jahāngīr’s mother) in the pargana of Jūsat was on the road, I went to inspect them. Certainly the bāʾolī (step-well) was a grand building, and had been built exceedingly well. I ascertained from the officials that a sum of Rs. 20,000 had been expended on this well. As there was much game in this neighbourhood, I halted on Monday, the 17th.
On Tuesday, the 18th, marching 3⅛ koss, the host of prosperity halted at the village of Dāyarmʾaʾū.[158] On Wednesday, the 19th, marching 2½ koss, the victorious standards were raised on the bank of the Lake of Fatḥpūr. As at the time when the conquest of the Deccan was meditated, the stages and distances from Ranthambūr to Ujain were recorded, it appears unnecessary to repeat them. From Ranthambūr[159] to Fatḥpūr by the road by which I came was a distance of 234 koss, in sixty-three marches and fifty-six halts, traversed in 119 days, or, according to solar reckoning, in one day under four months, and by lunar four full months. From the date on which the army of fortune started from the capital for the conquest of the Rānā and the acquisition of the Deccan until now, when the victorious and prosperous standards have been planted again in the centre of the empire, it is five years and four months. The astrologers and astronomers chose the day of Mubārak-s͟hamba (Thursday), the 28th of the Divine month of Dai, in my thirteenth year, corresponding with the last day of the Muḥarram in the Hijrī year 1028 (January 7, 1619), as the proper time at which to enter the capital of Agra.
At this time, again, it appeared from the reports of the loyal that the disease of the plague was prevalent in Agra, so that daily about 100 people, more or less, were dying of it. Under the armpits, or in the groin, or below the throat, buboes formed, and they died. This is the third year that it has raged in the cold weather, and disappeared in the commencement of the hot season. It is a strange thing that in these three years the infection has spread to all the towns and villages in the neighbourhood of Agra, while there has been no trace of it at Fatḥpūr. It has come as far as Amānābād, which is 2½ koss from Fatḥpūr, and the people of that place (Amānābād) have forsaken their homes and gone to other villages. There being no choice, and considering the observance of caution necessary, it was decided that at this propitious[160] hour the victorious army should enter the inhabited part of Fatḥpūr in all joy and auspiciousness, and after the sickness and scarcity had subsided and another auspicious hour had been chosen, I should enter the capital, please the Almighty and most holy Allah!
The Thursday entertainment took place on the bank of the Lake of Fatḥpūr. As the time for entering the town (of Fatḥpūr) was fixed for the 28th, I halted eight days in this place. I ordered them to measure the circumference of the lake,[161] and it came to 7 koss. At this stage, with the exception of the revered Maryam-zamānī, who had become very weak, all the Begams and inhabitants of the enclosure of chastity and all the palace employés came out to meet me (istiqbāl). The daughter[162] of Āṣaf K., deceased, who is in the house of ʿAbdu-llah K. (i.e., is married to ʿAbdu-llah), s. K͟hān Āʿz̤am, told me a strange and wonderful tale, and strongly insisted upon its truth. I write it on account of its strangeness. She said: “One day in the courtyard of the house I saw a mouse rising and falling in a distracted state. It was running about in every direction after the manner of drunkards, and did not know where to go. I said to one of my girls: ‘Take it by the tail and throw it to the cat!’ The cat was delighted, and jumped up from its place and seized it in its mouth, but immediately dropped it and showed disgust. By degrees an expression of pain and trouble showed itself in its face. The next day it was nearly dead, when it entered into my mind to give it a little treacle[163] (tiryāq, opium?). When its mouth was opened, the palate and tongue appeared black. It passed three days in a state of misery, and on the fourth day came to its senses. After this the grain (dāna) of the plague (buboes) appeared in the girl, and from excess of temperature and increase of pain she had no rest. Her colour became changed—it was yellow inclining to black—and the fever was high (tap muḥriq gardīd). The next day she vomited[164] and had motions, and died. Seven or eight people in that household died in the same way, and so many were ill that I went to the garden from that lodging. Those who were ill died in the garden, but in that place there were no buboes. In brief, in the space of eight or nine days seventeen people became travellers on the road of annihilation.” She also said: “Those in whom the buboes appeared, if they called another person for water to drink or wash in, the latter also caught the infection (sirāyat), and at last it came to such a pass that through excessive apprehension no one would come near them.”
On Saturday, the 22nd, K͟hwāja Jahān, who had had the charge of Agra, having had the good fortune to kiss the threshold, presented 500 muhars by way of naẕr, and Rs. 400[165] as charity. On Monday, the 24th, a special dress of honour was conferred on him. On Mubārak-s͟hamba[166] (Thursday), the 28th (? 27th), after four g͟haṛī[167] or nearly two sidereal hours (sāʿat), had passed,
“In an hour which agreed with two almanacs (?) (or which marked two events),”
the royal standards auspiciously and happily entered the inhabited part of Fatḥpūr. At the same hour the entertainment (of weighing) for my prosperous and noble son, S͟hāh-Jahān, was held. I ordered him to be weighed against gold and other things, and his twenty-eighth year according to the solar[168] months began auspiciously. It is hoped that he may reach the natural[169] limit of life. On the same day H.M. the revered Maryam-zamānī (his mother) came from Agra, and I acquired eternal good fortune from the blessing of waiting on her. I hope that the shadow of her bringing up and affection may be perennial on the head of this suppliant. As Ikrām K., s. Islām K., had performed the duties of faujdār of this neighbourhood in a proper manner, I bestowed on him the mansab of 1,500 personal and 1,000 horse, original and increased. Suhrāb[170] K., s. Mīrzā Rustam Ṣafavī, was promoted to the mansab of 1,000 personal and 300 horse.
On this day, going over in detail the buildings of the palace of the late King (Akbar), I showed them to my son, S͟hāh-Jahān. Inside of them a large and very clear reservoir of cut stone has been constructed, and is called the Kapūr-talāo (camphor tank). It is a square of 36 yards by 36,[171] with a depth of 4½ yards. By the order of that revered one, the officials of the public treasury had filled it with fulūs (copper coins) and rupees. It came to 34 krors, and 48 lakhs, and 46,000 dāms, and 1,679,400 rupees, or a total of 10,300,000 (one kror and three lakhs) according to Hindustani reckoning, and 343,000 tūmān according to Persian. For a long time the thirsty-lipped ones of the desert of desire were satisfied from that fountain of benignity.
On Sunday, the 1st Bahman, a reward of 1,000 darb (Rs. 500) was given to Ḥāfiz̤ Nād ʿAlī,[172] the reciter. For a long time past Muḥibb ʿAlī, s. Budāg͟h[173] K. Chikanī, and Abū-l-Qāsim Gīlānī, whom the Ruler of Īrān had blinded and driven into the desert of exile, have passed their days in ease under the refuge of this State. To each of them, according to his condition, an allowance for living had been granted. On this day they came from Agra, and had the good fortune to kiss the threshold, and each of them was presented with Rs. 1,000. The Mubārak-s͟hamba entertainment was held in state in the palace, and my private servants were gladdened with cups of pleasure. Naṣru-llah, whom my son, Sult̤ān Parwīz, had sent to Court with the elephant Kūh-damān,[174] took his leave and returned. A copy (jild) of the Jahāngīr-nāma, together with a special tipchāq horse, were given to him to take to my son. On Sunday, the 8th, Kunwar Karan, son of Rānā Amar Singh, was presented with a horse, an elephant, a dress of honour, a jewelled khapwa, and a phūl-kaṭāra. I gave him leave to go to his jagir, and sent a horse with him for the Rānā. On the same day I went out sporting to Amānābād. As there was an order that no one should kill the antelope of that region, in the course of six years many antelope had come together, and they had grown very tame. On Thursday, the 12th, I returned to the palace, and on that day, according to custom, a feast of cups was prepared.
On the eve of Friday, the 13th (Bahman), I went to the mausoleum of the refuge of pardon, S͟haik͟h Salīm Chis͟htī, a little concerning whose blessed qualities has been written in the preface[175] to this record of prosperity, and the fātiḥa was recited. Although the manifestation of miracles and wonders is not approved by the elect of the throne of God, and from humility and a feeling of their low rank (as saints) they avoid such display, yet occasionally in the excitement of ecstasy an appearance is manifested unintentionally and without control,[176] or for the sake of teaching someone the exhibition is made. Among these was this, that he before my birth gave my father the good news of the advent of this suppliant and of my two brothers. Again, one day my father incidentally asked him how old he was, and when would he depart to the abiding regions. He replied: “The glorious God knows what is secret and hidden.” After much urgency he indicated this suppliant (Prince Salīm), and said: “When the Prince, by the instruction of a teacher or in any other way, shall commit something to memory and shall recite it, this will be a sign of my union with God.” In consequence of this, His Majesty gave strict orders to all who were in attendance on me that no one should teach me anything in prose or verse. At length when two years and seven months had passed away, it happened one day that one of the privileged[177] women was in the palace. She used to burn rue constantly in order to avert the evil eye, and on this pretext had access to me. She used to partake of the alms and charities. She found me alone and regardless of (or ignorant of) what had been said (by Akbar), she taught me this couplet:
“O God, open the rosebud of hope
Display a flower from the everlasting garden.”[178]
I went to the S͟haik͟h and repeated this couplet. He involuntarily rose up and hastened to wait on the King, and informed him of what had occurred. In accordance with Fate, the same night the traces of fever appeared, and the next day he sent someone to the King (with the request) to call Tān Sen Kalāwant, who was unequalled as a singer. Tān Sen, having gone to wait upon him, began to sing. After this he sent some one to call the King. When H.M. came, he said: “The promised time of union has come, and I must take leave of you.” Taking his turban from his head, he placed it on mine, and said: “We have made Sult̤ān Salīm our successor, and have made him over to God, the protector and preserver.” Gradually his weakness increased, and the signs of passing[179] away became more evident, till he attained union with the “True Beloved.”
One of the greatest monuments of my father’s reign is this mosque and cemetery (rauẓa). Certainly they are exceedingly lofty and solid buildings. There is nothing like this mosque in any other country. It is all built of beautiful stone, and five lakhs of rupees were expended from the public treasury upon it. Qut̤bu-d-dīn K. Kokaltās͟h made the marble railing (maḥjar) round[180] the cemetery, the flooring (fars͟h) of the dome and portico, and these are not included in the five lakhs. The mosque has two great gateways. The one[181] towards the south is extremely lofty, and is very beautiful. The archway (pīs͟htāq) is 12 yards broad, 16 long, and 52 high. One must mount thirty-two steps to get to the top of it. The other gateway is smaller, and is towards the east. The length of the mosque from east to west, including the width of the walls, is 212 yards. Out of this, the Maqṣūra (the chancel) is 25½ yards, the middle is 15 yards by 15, the portico (pīs͟htāq) is 7 yards broad, 14 yards long, and 25 yards high. On each side of the large dome are two smaller domes 10 yards by 10. Then there is a veranda (aiwān) which is pillared. The breadth of the mosque from north to south is 172 yards. Round it are ninety verandas (aiwān) and eighty-four cells. The breadth of each cell is 4 yards,[182] and the length 5 yards. The verandas are 7½ yards broad. The courtyard (ṣaḥn) of the mosque, exclusive of the maqṣūra, and the verandas, and the gates, is 169 yards long and 143 yards broad. Above the verandas, the gates, and the mosque, small domes have been constructed, and on the eves of anniversaries and on holy days lamps are placed in these, and they are enveloped in coloured[183] cloths, so that they look like lamp-shades (?). Under the courtyard they have made a well, and they fill this with rainwater. As Fatḥpūr has little water, and what there is is bad, this well[184] yields a sufficient supply for the whole year for the members of the family (of Salīm Chis͟htī) and for the dervishes who are the mujāwirs (caretakers) of the mosque. Opposite the great entrance and towards the north-north-east is the tomb of the S͟haik͟h. The middle dome is 7 yards, and round the dome is a portico of marble, and on the front side of this is a marble lattice. It is very beautiful. Opposite this tomb on the west, at a little distance, is another dome, in which are laid to rest the sons-in-law and sons of the S͟haik͟h, such as Qut̤bu-d-dīn K., Islām K., Muʿaz̤z̤am K.,[185] and others, who were all connected with this family, and rose to the position of Amirs and to lofty rank. Accordingly, the circumstances of each have been recorded in their places. At present the son of Islām K., who is distinguished by the title of Ikrām K., is the lord of the prayer-carpet. The signs of auspiciousness are manifest in him; I am much inclined to cherish him.
On Thursday, the 19th, I promoted ʿAbdu-l-ʿAzīz K. to the mansab of 2,000 personal and 1,000 horse, and nominated him to the duty of taking the fort of Kāngṛa, and the overthrow of the ungrateful Sūraj Mal. I bestowed on him an elephant, a horse, and a dress of honour. Tursūn Bahādur was also dispatched on this duty, and his mansab was fixed at 1,200 personal and 450 horse. He was given a horse, and took his leave. As the house of Iʿtimādu-d-daula was on the bank of a tank, and people praised it greatly as a delightful place and enchanting residence, at his request on Thursday, the 26th, an entertainment was held there. That pillar of the kingdom engaged in the dues of prostration and offerings, and prepared a grand meeting. At night, after eating food, I returned to the palace. On Thursday, the 3rd of the Divine month of Isfand-armuz, Sayyid ʿAbdu-l-Wahhāb Bārha, who had done active service in Gujarat, was promoted to the mansab of 1,000 personal and 500 horse, and was honoured with the title of Dilīr K. On Saturday, the 12th, I went out to Amānābād for sport, and until Sunday, with the ladies, employed myself in the pleasure of hunting. On the eve of Thursday, the 27th[186] (17th), I returned to the palace.
By chance, on Tuesday, during the hunting, a string of pearls and rubies that Nūr-Jahān Begam had on her neck was broken, and a ruby of the value of Rs. 10,000 and a pearl worth Rs. 1,000 were lost. Although the huntsmen made every search for it on Wednesday, it did not fall into their hands. It occurred to me that as the name of the day was Kam-s͟hamba, it was impossible to find it on that day. On the contrary, as Mubārak-s͟hamba (Thursday) was always a lucky day for me, and had been blessed to me, the huntsmen on that day with but a little search found both in that track-less place (without head or foundation) and brought them to me. The best of coincidences was that on the same propitious day the entertainment for my lunar weighing and the feast of Basant-bārī (Spring festival) also took place, and the good news of the conquest of the fort of Mau and the defeat of that evil-fortuned Sūraj Mal arrived.
The particulars of this are that when Rāja Bikramājīt with the victorious army arrived in that region, the ill-fated Sūraj Mal desired to delay him for some days by trickery and babblement, but the aforesaid knew the real state of the case and did not pay attention to his words, but advanced with the foot of valour. That abandoned one, letting fall from his hand the thread of plan, neither planted the foot of intrepidity firmly for battle nor had the courage to defend the fort. After a slight struggle, and when many of his people had been slaughtered, he took to flight, and the forts of Mau[187] and Mahrī (?), which were the chief reliance of that ill-fated man, were both taken without difficulty. A country which he had held by hereditary right from his fathers was trodden under foot by the victorious troops, and he became a wanderer and a vagabond. He retired to the ravines of the hills, and cast the dust of ruin and contempt on the head of his Fortune. Rāja Bikramājīt, leaving his country behind, hastened in pursuit of him with the victorious army. When the state of affairs reached the royal ears, in reward for this becoming service I ordered drums for the Raja, and a fateful farman was issued from the Sovereign of Wrath that they should overthrow from their foundation the fort and buildings that had been erected by Sūraj Mal’s father and himself, and leave not a trace of them on the face of the earth. A strange thing is that the unfortunate Sūraj Mal had a brother called Jagat Singh. When I promoted Sūraj Mal to the title of Raja, and made him an Amir, and gave him dominion, etc., without a partner or sharer, I, in order to please him, gave a small mansab to Jagat Singh, who did not get on well with him, and sent him to Bengal. This wretched one was passing his days in a poor condition far from his home, in contempt, and to the delight of his enemies, and waiting for some hidden aid, until by his good fortune this affair took place, and that unblessed one struck an axe on his own foot. Summoning Jagat Singh in all haste to Court, I honoured him with the title of Raja and the mansab of 1,000 personal and 500 horse, and bestowed 20,000 darbs[188] on him out of the public treasury for his expenses. Giving him a jewelled khapwa, a robe of honour, a horse, and an elephant, I sent him to Rāja Bikramājīt, and issued a farman that if the aforesaid, by the guidance of a good destiny, should perform laudable service, and display loyalty, that country should be given over into his hand.[189]
As the praise of the garden of Nūr-manzil and the buildings that had been newly-erected there continually reached me, I on Monday mounted my steed, and went to the stage of Bustān-sarāy, and passed Tuesday in pleasure and at ease in that entrancing rose-garden. On the eve of Wednesday the garden of Nūr-manzil (the abode of light) was adorned by the alighting of the hosts of prosperity. This garden contains 330 jarībs (bīghās), according to the Ilāhī gaz. Around it there has been built a wall, lofty and broad, of bricks and cement, exceedingly strong. In the garden there is a lofty building and a residence, highly decorated. Pleasant reservoirs have been constructed, and outside the gate a large well has been made, from which thirty-two pairs of bullocks continually draw water. The canal passes through the garden, and pours water into the reservoirs. Besides this, there are other wells, the water of which is distributed to the reservoirs and plots. The beauty is increased by all kinds of fountains and cascades and there is a tank in the exact middle of the garden which is filled by rainwater. If by chance its water should fail in the extreme heat, they supplement it by water from the wells, so that it may always be full to the brim. Nearly Rs. 150,000 have been spent up to now on this garden, and it is still unfinished, and large sums will be expended in making avenues and laying down plants. It has also been settled that the middle garden shall be newly walled[190] round, and the channels for the coming and going of the water shall be made so strong that it may always remain full of water and the water shall not leak out in any way, and no damage accrue. It is possible that before it is complete nearly Rs. 200,000 will have been spent on it.
On Thursday, the 24th, K͟hwāja Jahān presented an offering of jewels, jewelled vessels, cloths, an elephant, and a horse, of the value of Rs. 150,000. Having made a selection from them, I gave him the remainder. Until Saturday I passed my time in that garden of delight in enjoyment. On the eve of Sunday, the 27th, I inclined the reins of returning towards Fatḥpūr, and an order was given that the great Amirs, according to annual custom, should decorate the palace. On Monday, the 28th, I found that something had gone wrong with my eye. As it arose from too much blood, I ordered ʿAlī Akbar, the surgeon, to open a vein. On the next day the benefit of this was apparent. I bestowed Rs. 1,000 on him. On Tuesday, the 29th, Muqarrab K. came from his native place, and had the good fortune to kiss the threshold, and I favoured him with many sorts of kindness.
[1] Jahāngīr was born on Wednesday, 17 Rabīʿu-l-awwal 977 A.H., or August 31, 1569, and so on March 11, 1618, or 23 Rabīʿu-l-awwal, 1027, he was in the beginning of his fifty-first lunar year. By solar computation he was not yet fifty, that is, he was in his fiftieth year. The text wrongly has 1017 instead of 1027. [↑]
[2] Text wrongly has panchāq. In Turki dictionaries it is spelt topchāq, and means a large or long-necked horse. See P. de Courteille Dict., etc. [↑]
[3] Āṣaf K. III. of Blochmann; his name was Jaʿfar Beg. [↑]
[4] See “Iqbāl-nāma,” p. 111. etc. He is not the famous Mīr Jumla, who was Aurangzeb’s general, though possibly the latter was his son. According to the “Iqbāl-nāma, he was the nephew, and not the uncle, of Mīr Riẓā, but Jahāngīr’s statement agrees with the ʿĀlam-ārāʾī (p. 623). Mīr Jumla’s patron, Muḥammad Qulī Qut̤b-S͟hāh, died in 1612. He himself died in 1637, while Aurangzeb’s general died in 1663. [↑]
[5] Possibly what is meant is that S͟hāh ʿAbbās was greedy after Mīr Jumla’s (Sāmān) wealth. Kāmgār Ḥusainī distinctly says that ʿAbbās wanted to get hold of Mīr Jumla’s goods. [↑]
[6] The Iqbāl-nāma says that ʿAbbās only gave Mīr Jumla flattering words, and did not give him any high appointment. See also ʿĀlam-ārāʾī, 623, and Maʾās̤iru-l-umarā, III. 415. [↑]
[7] Tuqūz means “nine,” but perhaps it is here only used to express a gift, and the pieces of cloth were perhaps only nine, and not eighty-one. See Vullers s.v., who refers to Quatremere. [↑]
[8] The I.O. MSS. have Māmūʾī, and the meaning may be “the maternal uncle of the Zamindar.” [↑]
[9] Jariya in No. 181. It seems to be the Jareja tribe of Abū-l-Faẓl, Jarrett II. 250. Compare Blochmann’s translation, p. 285 n., of the corresponding passage in the Iqbāl-nāma. The tribe is there called Jhariyah. [↑]
[10] This must be Pāvāgarh, a hill fort in the Pānch ʿMaḥāl district, which is 2,800 feet above the sea. See I.G. XX. 79, and XIX. 380. [↑]
[11] Son-in-law of Iʿtmādu-d-daula, being married to a sister of Nūr-Jahān. See Maʾās̤iru-l-umarā I. 573. [↑]
[12] Jhālod in the Doḥad taʾlūqa of the Pānch Maḥāl district, Bombay. [↑]
[13] The text (pp. 227, 228) has drawings of the twelve Zodiacal coins. See also Tavernier’s account of their institution. [↑]
[14] Text wrongly has Saturday. [↑]
[15] Probably the Seyreh of Bayley’s map, in the Lūnāvāda State, E. of Aḥmadābād. [↑]
[16] Quoted by Blochmann, Calcutta Review, 1869, p. 128. [↑]
[17] The text has dar zīr-i-ān (“under it”) in mentioning the position of the letters, but the I.O. MS. No. 181, has dar zabar (“above” or “on it.”). The words khaṭṭ-i-muḥarraf might mean “inverted or slanting letters,” and Mr. Rogers has taken the passage to mean that two of the letters were on a line with one another, and that the third was inverted and below the other two. But muḥrif, as the word may also be read, has the meaning of “handsome,” and I think this is the meaning here. Possibly the meaning is that there was a letter or mark above—viz., the tas͟hdīd. Another meaning may be that all three letters were equal in size, and in a slanting position on the stone. [↑]
[18] Dihbīd, “the village of the willow,” a well-known place in Transoxiana. It is Dihband in text. [↑]
[19] Ukna. The word appears to be Arabic, and signifies a nest. It is commonly written wukna. [↑]
[20] Bāz dāmī apparently means hawks reared in captivity, or it may mean hawks brought by dealers—dāmī. Information about hawks may be found in Blochmann, 293, etc., and in Col. Phillott’s recent articles in the J.A.S.B., May, 1907, etc. [↑]
[21] The I.O. MS. has “rupees.” [↑]
[24] Blochmann, 346. Yūsuf died in November, 1601. His eldest son was M. Las͟hkarī. [↑]
[25] The MSS. have 24th and 25th for the following day, but 14th and 15th seem right. [↑]
[26] The passage is translated in Elliot, VI. 357, but the mention of Saturday and of Multan doctors there is a mistake. Text has afzūdam, “I increased my intoxication,” but this seems wrong. The MSS. have afzūd. Jahāngīr means that the stoppage of his wine increased crapulousness. See Elliot, VI. 357. [↑]
[27] Apparently this should be yūg͟hān, which is a Turki word meaning “thick.” [↑]
[30] The Iqbāl-nāma, 115, has a different reading of this line. [↑]
[31] It should be recorded to Jahāngīr’s credit that he has a reputation even at the present day for his love of justice. [↑]
[32] ʿajabī. The MSS. have ʿajsī, “lasting,” which seems better. [↑]
[33] Compare Elliot, VI. 359. Ruk͟h-i-gulzār also means the cheek of the rosebud (i.e., the beloved one). Apparently the conceit is that the cheek of the fair one is clouded over, so it should be reddened by pouring wine on it. [↑]
[34] hamwār. Perhaps it means “mediocre” here, but we have the word a little lower down, p. 240, used in a laudatory sense. [↑]
[35] According to the Maʾās̤ir and Blochmann, 465, it was the second son who attained the highest rank. [↑]
[36] dah duwāzdah, “10, 12”—i.e., it is one-fifth larger. The sāras is the Ardea Antigone of naturalists. [↑]
[37] Two boundaries. The name signifies that it is on the borders of Mālwa and Gujaru, I. G. XI. 366. [↑]
[38] pāk sāk͟ht. Lit. cleaned it, which may mean also that he disembowelled it, or even that he cooked it. Probably the gunner left the body or part of it there, and it was this that the male circumambulated. [↑]
[39] Apparently this should be Pāvan. It was one of those caught in the elephant hunt. It is written Bāvan in the MSS. [↑]
[40] For meaning of ḍara, “yard,” see text (15th year), pp. 298 and 303. For 3½ quarters (pāo) the text wrongly has 3½ feet (pā). [↑]
[41] MSS. has 17. Text has 7. According to Elliot, Supplement II., 177, the Ilāhī gaz was one of 41 fingers. [↑]
[42] This was not the son who died in the following year. See text, p. 282. That son was the eldest son, and probably was the one born in the 9th year. See Tūzuk, p. 137. [↑]
[43] The Zamindar of Cutch, whose residence was at Bhūj. See Jarrett, II. 250, where it is said that the Jām left his original country 60 years ago. [↑]
[44] Jahāngīr is referring to his visit to Gujarat in the 12th year of his reign. [↑]
[45] MSS. have this 70 or 80. [↑]
[47] Text “of Merv,” but the MSS. have Herat. [↑]
[48] Manṣūr Naqqās͟h is one of the illustrators to the Bābar-nāma in the British Museum. Rieu Supplement, p. 52. There is also a Ḥusain Naqqās͟h mentioned in the MS. there described. [↑]
[49] Apparently there were 32 days in this Tīr. [↑]
[50] The Sābarmatī rises in the hills of Mewār. [↑]
[51] I cannot find this Kokra or Gogra. The Sābarmatī falls into the Gulf of Cambay. Possibly Kokra thereby means “mountains.” [↑]
[52] Apparently the Mairpūr of Bayley’s map. [↑]
[54] Perhaps this is the Bīrāgam of the Āʾīn A. (Jarrett, II. 230). Panjū Zamīndār may be the Bab-jīū, Zamindar of the Gond tribe, whom Abū-l-Faẓl mentions. The word Barākar is omitted in text. [↑]
[55] See Blochmann, 480 n., Elliot, VI. 344, and the Tūzuk, annals of 10th year. [↑]
[56] Probably the meaning is that the four mines occur within a space of 50 koss. Tavernier, vol. II., may be consulted. [↑]
[57] Puk͟hta in text, but the MSS. have not this word. Instead, they have a word which seems to be taḥsina, “beautiful.” The R.A.S. MS. also seems to have taḥsina. [↑]
[58] māhagī? Probably it means that they were caught when a month old, and Elliot’s translator so took it. [↑]
[59] This was the garden which ʿAbdu-r-Raḥīm made after his victory over Muz̤affar Gujarātī. In Price’s Jahāngīr, pp. 115–16, there is an account of an entertainment given there to Jahāngīr by ʿAbdu-r-Raḥīm’s daughter. [↑]
[60] Or 22 Ramaẓān, 1027 = September 2, 1618. [↑]
[62] In MSS. written Marhāna or Sarhāna. Perhaps Harhāna in the Bet Jālandhar Dūʾāb, Jarrett, II. 317. Though the text says 22 lakhs of dams, the MSS. only say 22 lakhs, and possibly rupees are meant. [↑]
[63] K͟hūd bi-inʿām iltimās namūd. “As a favour to himself.” It is not likely that S͟hāh Jahān would ask for the pargana for Bikramājīt if it was already his own. I presume the meaning is that S͟hāh Jahān asked that this pargana should be given to Bikramājīt as a favour to himself. But perhaps the meaning is “which he (S͟hāh Jahān) had asked for, for himself.” [↑]
[64] In the MSS. the word k͟hūd follows inʿām instead of preceding it. Perhaps the meaning is, “which was his own appanage,” “and he requested,” etc. [↑]
[65] Text wrongly has Muʿtamid. [↑]
[66] The saint who is buried at Gwalior. He died September 14, 1562. [↑]
[68] The 8th S͟hahrīwar = August 20, 1618. The departure had been fixed for the 21st, and having mentioned this, Jahāngīr goes on to describe what occurred between the 7th and the 21st. [↑]
[69] So in text, but MSS. give Jahanda as the name of the brother of Balūch. [↑]
[71] Text wrongly has Mag͟hribī, who was a much later poet, for he died in 809 A.H. = 1416. Sult̤ān Sanjar belonged to the sixth century of the Hijra, and Muʿizzī, who is the poet meant by Jahāngīr, died in 542 A.H. (1147–48), having been accidentally killed with an arrow by Sult̤ān Sanjar. See Rieu, II. 552b. The ode quoted by Jahāngīr is to be found at p. 138b of British Museum MS. Add. 10588. [↑]
[72] hamwār used here in a favourable sense, though some pages farther back, 233 of Persian text, it seems to be used, when speaking of Jāmī, in disparagement. [↑]
[73] See Beale art. Saʿīdā-i-Gīlānī. He was styled Bī-badal. The date 1116 in Beale is manifestly wrong. He is the Mullā S͟haidā of Rieu, III., 1083e. See also Sprenger’s Catalogue, 124; there is a notice of him in the Maʾās̤iru-l-Umarā, I. 405. He was the artist of the Peacock-throne. [↑]
[74] Turunj, rendered by Vullers as “citron.” Probably the reference is to the colour of the sky, which is often spoken of by Orientals as green. The concluding lines play upon Jahāngīr’s title of Nūru-d-dīn, on his son’s title of S͟hāh-Jahān, and his name of K͟hurram. [↑]
[75] Bārī is a Hindu word meaning garden. [↑]
[76] ayyām-i-jawānī. The MSS. have qazzāqī, “raids.” The name of the Mullā there seems to be Asīrī. [↑]
[77] dar k͟halā wa-malā maḥram būda. [↑]
[78] MS. 305. “On every side there are Būlsarī-trees.” Both I.O. MSS. have Būlsarī, for which see Blochmann, 70. Apparently there was only one tree. [↑]
[80] This was not the ʿId, for the month was not over. It was the feasting after nightfall usual in the Ramaẓān. [↑]
[81] k͟hudāwandi-gār. For which word see Vullers and the Bahār-i-ʿAjam. Perhaps it means here a locum-tenens or officiating master. [↑]
[82] Apparently this should be thirty-two. The egg was laid on 21 Amurdād, see p. 237, and the interval between the hatching of the two chicks was three or four days. [↑]
[83] Text dah yāzdah, ten to eleven. But MS. 305 has dah pānzdah, ten to fifteen, which is more likely. The meaning then would be that the young of the sāras were 50 per cent., or one-half, larger than goslings. The common expression for one-tenth is dah yak. [↑]
[84] Ganj in No. 181. Perhaps it should be Gajna, see I.G., 17, p. 11. [↑]
[85] MSS. Atrak. It is the Wātrak of Bayley’s Gujarat, p. 201, and the Vātrak of I.G., XXI. 344. [↑]
[86] Sult̤ān Maḥmūd III., killed by Burhān in February, 1554. Bayley’s Gujarat, pp. 449 and 453. Jahāngīr calls him the last Sult̤ān of Gujarat, because Aḥmad II. and Muz̤affar III. were regarded as spurious. See Āyīn-i-Akbarī, Jarrett, II. 261. [↑]
[87] Probably great-grandson, for S͟hāh ʿĀlam died in 880 (1475–76), as Jahāngīr tells us supra, and he says that he questioned Sayyid Muḥammad about S͟hāh ʿĀlam’s raising the dead, and that Sayyid Muḥammad said he had the story from his father and grandfather. The Maʾās̤iru-l-Umarā, III. 447, says Sayyid Muḥammad was five removes from S͟hāh ʿĀlam. [↑]
[88] For Yāqūt, see Blochmann, 99–100. He was a famous calligrapher, and lived in the thirteenth century. It appears, however, that Yāqūtī is also the name of a particular kind of writing. [↑]
[89] Ba-qit̤aʿ-i-mat̤būʿa-i-muk͟htaṣar. Mat̤būʿa is used in modern times to mean “printed,” but here, I think, it means “elegant.” It is so used in the annals of the 12th year, p. 208, line 18, where it is applied to a building. Qit̤aʿ probably refers to the shape of the volume, and muk͟htaṣar to its small size, or to the minuteness of the writing. [↑]
[90] Sayyid Muḥammad, the Mīr referred to by Jahāngīr, lived into S͟hāh-Jahān’s reign, not dying till 1045 (1635–36). See Pāds͟hāh-nāma, I., Part II., p. 329. But we do not hear anything more of his translation. Perhaps his ill-health prevented him. It is also the fact that orthodox Muhammadans object to translations of the Qoran, regarding it as an impossible task. The Mīr’s son became chief ecclesiastical officer (Ṣadr) under S͟hāh-Jahān. See Maʾās̤iru-l-Umarā, III. 447, and Pāds͟hāh-nāma, I., Part II., p. 328. [↑]
[92] There were twelve mās͟has in a tola; the six cups, then, of 6 tolas and a quarter came to 37½ tolas. [↑]
[93] Jahāngīr visited his father’s tomb in the following year (the 14th). The passage describing the renunciation of shooting (not of hunting) is translated in Elliot, VI. 362. [↑]
[94] The version of the last two lines is by Sir William Jones, and is given by him in his Tenth Anniversary Discourse, delivered on February 28, 1793. As my friend Mr Whinfield has pointed out to me, the quotation comes from the story of S͟hiblī and the ant in the second chapter of the Būstān. It occurs in the sixth story of the second book and p. 161 of Graf’s edition. Sir William Jones’s remark is: “Nor shall I ever forget the couplet of Firdausi, for which Sadi, who cites it with applause, pours blessings on his departed spirit.” The quotation from Firdūsī occurs on p. 67 of Vol. I. in Macan’s edition of the S͟hāh-nāma. [↑]
[95] Ūrvasī is the name of a celestial nymph. It is also stated by Forbes to be the name of an ornament worn on the breast. [↑]
[96] Text bā naqs͟h by mistake for banafs͟ha. [↑]
[97] I.O. MS. 181 has “thirty surk͟h.” [↑]
[98] Perhaps the Moondah of Bayley’s map, east of Maḥmūdābād. [↑]
[99] The text has خادا k͟hāda, “an oar,” but the word is perhaps k͟hārwa, “a sailor.” I.O. MS. 181, has k͟hārwa. [↑]
[100] The I.O. MSS. have Albatta. [↑]
[101] The youth who was afterwards drowned in the Jhelam. [↑]
[102] I.O., No. 181, has G͟hairat K. [↑]
[103] gām sometimes means a step, but here it seems to mean one foot-length. The distance mentioned by Jarrett appears to be 90 feet. [↑]
[104] No. 181 has “in three days.” [↑]
[105] Compare account in Akbar-nāma, II. 150. Akbar was then twenty years old. There is a picture of the two elephants crossing the bridge with Akbar on the elephant Hawāʾī in the Clarke MS. in the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington. [↑]
[106] Presumably the other side of the tank; it was the wild male sāras that Jahāngīr put rings upon. [↑]
[107] The hunting of deer with decoys is described in Blochmann’s Āyīn, 291. [↑]
[108] Apparently a metaphorical expression, “fought with fire and water.” [↑]
[109] sūʾu-l-qinya, “Bad state of the body, cachexy” (Steingass). [↑]
[110] I do not know of any poet with the tak͟halluṣ Ustād. Possibly Jāmī is referred to. The lines are obscure, and I am not certain of the meaning. The I.O. MSS. omit the negatives in the first two lines. [↑]
[111] Not identified. I.O. MS. 305, seems to have Pānib. Can it be the Mānchan or Majham? Possibly we should read Banās. [↑]
[112] The I.O. MSS. have not the words Nau Rūz, “New Year,” and I am not sure what New Year’s day is meant. The time was October. Perhaps it was the first day of Ẕī-l-Qaʿda that was celebrated, or it may be what is described in Richardson as the New Year’s day of the Balance—viz., the entry of the Sun into the Sign of the Balance. Jahāngīr may have had special regard to that Sign as he was born under it. Perhaps all that is meant is that the feast of 1 Ābān was celebrated. Ābān was a sacred month because Akbar was born in it, and it may be that the feast was celebrated on Thursday the 2nd because the previous day, Wednesday, was regarded by Jahāngīr as unlucky, and was always spoken of as Kam-s͟hamba. But most probably Nau Rūz is simply a mistake of the text. [↑]
[114] The name of the stage is not given. [↑]
[115] Literally the mother of children, but explained as meaning a female demon (larva) who torments children. See Lane’s Dictionary, 1650, where it is described as “flatulence.” [↑]
[116] See above, p. 243 of text. [↑]
[117] Apparently the vow applied only to shooting. Jahāngīr was not at that time fifty-one years of age by solar computation. [↑]
[118] The natural term of life, which some Orientals regarded as being 120 years. [↑]