On Wednesday, the 29th Jumada-l-awwal, A.H. 1033, March 10, 1624,
after one watch and two gharis of day had passed, the sun, that
bestows bounty on the world, passed into its house of honour in
Aries. The royal servants obtained promotions and increase of
mansab. Ahsanu-llah, s. Khwaja Abu-l-Hasan, received as original
and increase that of 1,000 and 300 horse. Muhammad Sa`id, s. Ahmad
Beg K. Kabuli, the same, Mir Sharaf Diwan-i-buyutat, and Khawass K.,
each of them that of 1,000. Sardar K., having come from Kangra, had
the good fortune to pay his respects. At this time I gave orders to
the yasawuls and men of the yasaq (guards) that hereafter at the time
when I came out of the palace they should keep away defective people,
such as the blind, and those whose noses and ears had been cut off,
the leprous and the maimed, and all kinds of sick people, and not
permit them to be seen. On the 19th the feast of the culmination
was held. Ilah-wirdi, the brother of Imam-wirdi, had run away from
Bi-daulat and came to Court, and was honoured with great favours.
As the news of Bi-daulat's coming to the border of Orissa was
constantly repeated, a farman was issued to the prince and Mahabat
K. and the Amirs who had been sent to the support of my son, that
they should set their minds at ease about the administering the
provinces (of the Deccan), and go quickly to Allahabad and Behar,
and if the Subahdar of Bengal could not forestall him, and he should
put forward the foot of audacity, he must be made a wanderer in the
desert of disappointment by the blows of the victorious army which is
in the shadow of the flag of my son. By way of precaution on the 2nd
Urdibihisht I gave my son Khan Jahan leave to proceed to Agra to remain
in that neighbourhood and wait for a sign. If there should happen to
be any necessity for a particular service and an order should be given
him, he must act as occasion might require. I sent him a special dress
of honour, with a nadiri with pearl buttons, a special jewelled sword,
and to Asalat K., his son, a horse, and a dress of honour.
On this day a report came from `Aqidat K., Bakhshi of the Deccan. He
wrote that, according to order, my prosperous son Shah Parwiz had
married the sister of Raja Gaj Singh. I hope that her coming will be
auspicious to the State. He also wrote that, having sent for Turkuman
K. from Pattan he had appointed `Azizu-llah in his place. Jan-sipar
K., also by order, came and waited on me. When Bi-daulat crossed
the Burhanpur river and took the road of ruin, Mir Husamu-d-din,
considering his own evil deeds, could not remain at Burhanpur. Taking
his children with him, he conveyed the goods of ruin to the Deccan, in
order that he might pass his days under the protection of `Adil K. By
chance, as he passed by Bir, Jan-sipar K. obtained information, and
sent a body of men to head him off. He seized him and his dependants,
and brought them before Mahabat. Mahabat placed him in confinement,
and took from him Rs. 1,00,000 in cash and goods. (Also) Jado Ray
and Uday Ram had taken the elephants which Bi-daulat had left in
Burhanpur and brought them to the prince (Parwiz).
Qazi `Abdu-l-`Aziz, who had come to Delhi from Bi-daulat in order
to state his objects, had not been allowed by me an opportunity to
speak and I had handed him over to Mahabat K. After his (Bi-daulat's)
defeat and ruin Mahabat K. had made him his own servant. As he was an
old friend of `Adil K., and was for some years at Bijapur as Vakil of
Khan Jahan. Mahabat K. now sent him again as his representative [661]
to `Adil Khan, and the leading men of the Deccan, nolentes volentes,
looking to the necessities of the time and the upshot of affairs,
were contented and professed loyalty and desire for service. The rebel
`Ambar sent one of his confidential men of the name of `Ali Shir,
and displayed great humility. He (`Ambar) wrote in the capacity of
a servant to Mahabat K., and engaged that he (`Ambar) should come to
Dewalgaon [662] and wait upon Mahabat. He would make his eldest son
a servant of the State, and keep him in the service of my auspicious
son. About this time there arrived a letter from Qazi `Abdu-l-`Aziz
that `Adil K. from the bottom of his heart had elected for service
and loyalty, and agreed that he would send Mulla Muhammad Lari,
who was his principal agent and minister, and whom both in spoken
and written messages he called Mulla Baba, with 5,000 horse, that
he might remain continually on duty, and they might know that other
[663] troops would follow (?). Urgent farmans had been sent that
my son should proceed to Allahabad and Behar in order to overthrow
Bi-daulat. At this time news arrived that notwithstanding the rainy
season and the violence of the rain, that son, on the 6th Farwardin
had marched out of Burhanpur with the army of fortune, and had taken
up his quarters in Lal Bagh, [664] and that Mahabat K. was awaiting at
Burhanpur the arrival of Mulla Muhammad Lari, so that when he arrived
he would relieve himself of the care of the maintenance of order in
that neighbourhood, and come with him (Muhammad Lari) to wait on my
son. Lashkar K., Jado Ray, Uday Ram, and other servants of the State
had been ordered to go to the Balaghat (the country above the Ghats),
and remain at Zafarnagar. Having given Jan-sipar K. leave as before,
he (Parwiz) kept Asad K. Ma`muri at Elichpur. Minuchihr, s. Shah-nawaz
K., was appointed to Jalnapur. He sent Rizawi K. to Thalner, to guard
the province of Khandesh.
On this day news came that Lashkari had taken the farman to `Adil K.,
and he, having decorated the city, had gone out four koss to meet
him, and had performed salutations and prostrations for the farman
and the dress of honour. On the 21st I sent dresses of honour for my
son Dawar-bakhsh and Khan A`zam and Safi K. Having appointed Sadiq
K. to the government of Lahore, and given him a dress of honour and an
elephant, I gave him leave. An order was given that he should have the
mansab of 400 personal and 400 horse. Multafat K., s. Mirza Rustam,
raised the head of distinction with the mansab of 1,500 personal and
300 horse.
One day while hunting it was reported to me that a snake with a
black hood (kafcha) had swallowed another hooded (kafcha?) snake
and gone into a hole. I ordered them to dig up the place and bring
out the snake. Without exaggeration I had never seen a snake of this
size. When, they opened its belly, the hood of the snake that it had
swallowed came out whole. Although this snake was of another kind,
in length and girth little difference was visible.
At this time it was represented to me in a report [665] by the news
writer of the Deccan that Mahabat K. had ordered `Arif s. Zahid to
be executed, and had put him (i.e., Zahid), with two other sons,
in prison. It appeared that that wretched man had written with his
own hand a petition to Bi-daulat representing on the part of his
father and himself his loyalty, sincerity, repentance, and shame. By
fate that letter fell into the hands of Mahabat K. Having sent for
`Arif into his presence he showed him the letter. As he had written a
decree for his own blood, he could not make any acceptable excuse, and
of necessity he was executed, and his father and brothers imprisoned.
On the 1st Khurdad it was reported that Shaja`at K. `Arab, had died
a natural death in the Deccan.
At this time a report came from Ibrahim K. Fath-jang that Bi-daulat had
entered Orissa. The particulars of this are that between the boundary
[666] of Orissa and the Deccan there is a barrier. On one side there
are lofty mountains, and on the other swamps and a river. The ruler
of Golconda had also erected a wall (dar-band) and a fort, and armed
it with muskets and cannon. The passage of men by that closed route
was impracticable without the leave of Qutbu-l-mulk. Bi-daulat, with
the guidance of Qutbu-l-mulk, having passed by that route, entered the
country of Orissa. It happened that at this time Ahmad Beg K., nephew
of Ibrahim K., had attacked the Zamindars of Khurda. At this strange
occurrence, which happened without precedent or news or information,
he became confused and bewildered and without seeing a remedy gave up
his campaign, and came to the village of Bulbuli [667] (Pipli), the
seat of the governor of that Subah (Orissa). He then took his women
with him and hastened to Cuttack, which is 12 koss from Pipli towards
Bengal. As the time was short, he had not leisure to collect troops
and arrange his affairs. He did not feel himself equal to a war with
Bi-daulat, and he had not with him associates such as were necessary,
so he went on from Cuttack to Bardwan, of which Salih, nephew of Asaf
K. deceased, was the Jagirdar. At first Salih was astonished [668],
and did not believe that Bi-daulat was coming, until a letter came from
La`natu-llah to conciliate him. Salih fortified Bardwan and remained
in it. Ibrahim K. was surprised on hearing the terrible news. Though
most of his auxiliaries and soldiers were scattered in the villages
round about and unprocurable, he yet planted the foot of courage firmly
in Akbarnagar (Rajmahal), and set himself to strengthen the fort and
collect troops, and encourage the heads of tribes and retainers. He
prepared the things necessary for his guns and other weapons and for
battle. In the meanwhile a notice came to him from Bi-daulat that by
the decree of God and the ordinances of heaven what was not suitable
to him had appeared from the womb of non-existence. By the revolving
of crooked-moving time and the changes of night and day his passage
towards these regions had come to pass. Although to the view of
manly courage the extent and breadth of that country were not more
than an exercising-ground, or rather than a rubbish-heap (pur-kahi,
"full of straw"), and his aims were higher, yet as he had to pass
by this way, he could not pass for nothing. If it were Ibrahim's
determination to go to the royal Court, he (Shah Jahan) would hold
back the hand of injury from him and his family, and he might go
to Court with an easy mind. If he considered it advisable to stay,
he would bestow upon him any corner of the country he might ask for.