Two gharis and forty seconds of day had passed on the Monday when the
sun (lit. his honour the greatest star) entered his tower of honour,
which is in the constellation of Aries. That day was the 1st Farwardin,
corresponding with the 6th Muharram [331] (21st March, 1611). The feast
of the New Year having been prepared, I seated myself on the throne
of good fortune. The Amirs and all the servants of the Court enjoyed
the good fortune of waiting on me and gave their congratulations. The
offerings of the servants of the Court Miran Sadr Jahan, `Abdu-llah
Khan Firuz-jang, and Jahangir Quli Khan, were laid before me. On
Wednesday, the 8th Muharram, the offering of Raja Kalyan, who had
sent it from Bengal, was laid before me. On Thursday, the 9th of
the same month, Shaja`at Khan and some of the mansabdars, who had
come on summons from the Deccan, waited on me. I gave a jewelled
waist-dagger to Razzaq-wirdi Uzbeg. On the same day the New Year's
offering of Murtaza Khan was laid before me. He had prepared all
kinds of things. Having inspected all these, I took what I approved
in the shape of valuable jewels, fine cloths, elephants, and horses
and gave back the rest. I presented a jewelled dagger to Abu-l-fath
Dakhani, 3,000 rupees to Mir `Abdu-llah, and an Iraq horse to Muqim
Khan. I increased the rank of Shaja`at Khan, which was 1,500 personal
and 100 horse, by 500 personal and horse. I had summoned him from
the Deccan for the purpose of sending him to Bengal to Islam Khan,
in reality to take his place permanently, and I entrusted him with
the charge of that Subah. Khwaja Abu-l-hasan laid before me (as
offerings) two rubies, one royal pearl, and ten rings. I gave Iraj,
the son of Khankhanan, a jewelled dagger. The rank of Khurram was 8,000
personal and 5,000 horse; I increased his personal allowance by 2,000,
and increased that of Khwaja Jahan, which was 1,500 personal, 1,000
horse by 500 personal, 200 horse. On 24th Muharram, 18th Farwardin,
the day of the ascendant, Yadgar `Ali Sultan, ambassador of Shah
`Abbas, ruler of Persia, who had come on a visit of condolence on
the death of the late king and with congratulations on my accession,
had the honour of waiting on me, and laid before me the gifts Shah
`Abbas, my brother, had sent. He had brought good horses, cloth stuffs,
and every kind of fitting present. After he had presented the gifts,
on the same day I gave him a superb robe of honour and 30,000 rupees,
which were equivalent to 1,000 Persian tumans. He handed me a letter
in which were mingled congratulations and condolences for the death
of my revered father. As in the letter of congratulation he expressed
the greatest friendship, and omitted no point of regard and concord,
it has pleased me to enter here an exact copy of it.
Copy of the letter of Shah `Abbas.
"May the sprinklings of the cloud of the grace of God and the
dropping of the favour of the Almighty impart freshness to the
gardens of wonderful men and inventors (of new things)! May the
flower-bed of sovereignty and rule and the mead of magnificence
and exalted happiness of his Honour of heavenly dignity, of sun-like
grandeur, the king whose fortune is young, of Saturn-like majesty, the
renowned prince, possessing the authority of the spheres, the Khedive,
the world-gripper (Jahangir) and country-conquering sovereign, the
prince of the exaltedness of Sikandar, with the banner of Darius,
he who sits on the throne of the pavilion of greatness and glory,
the possessor of the (seven) climes, the increaser of the joys of
good fortune and prosperity, adorner of the gardens of happiness,
decorator of the rose-parterre, lord of the happy conjunction (of the
planets), the opener of the countenance, the perfection of kinghood,
expounder of the mysteries of the sky, the adornment of the face of
learning and insight, index of the book of creation, compendium of
human perfections, mirror of the glory of God, elevator of the lofty
soul, increaser of good fortune and of the beneficent ascension,
sun of the grandeur of the skies, the shadow of the benignity of the
Creator, he who has the dignity of Jamshid among the stars of the
host of heaven, lord of conjunction, refuge of the world, river of the
favours of Allah, and fountain of unending mercy, verdure of the plain
of purity, may his land (lit. surface) be guarded from the calamity of
the evil eye; may his fountain of perfection be preserved in truth,
his desire and love; the tale of his good qualities and benevolence
cannot be written.
"'The pen has not the tongue to express the secret of love.'
Although outwardly the distance (between us) prevents my attaining
to the ka`bah of desire, yet he is the qiblah of my keen longing
for spiritual intercourse. Thank God that by virtue of essential
oneness this humble supplicant and that pure nursling of glory have in
reality been united to one another. The distance of space and outward
separation of the body not having prevented nearness of soul and
spiritual union, my face is still towards friendship, and accordingly
the dust of sorrow has not settled on the sun-like mirror of my mind,
but it has received the reflection of the beauty of that exhibitor of
perfection, and the olfactory of my soul has been ever scented with
the sweet savour of friendship and love and the ambergris-perfumed
breezes of affection and concord, and spiritual fellowship and
perpetual union have rubbed off the rust from friendship.
"'I sit beside thee in thought, and my heart is at ease,
For this is an union not followed by separation's pain.'
"Praise be given to the most mighty and pure God that the plant of
the desire of true friends hath borne the fruit of fruition. Success
(maqsud), that beauty who for years was hidden behind the veil, has
by dint of humility and supplication at the throne of the Almighty,
come forth and manifested herself from the hidden bridal chamber,
and a ray of perfection has been thrown on the plain of the hopes
of the expectants; she has ascended the auspicious throne and seated
herself beside the king who adorns the assembly and enhances the glory
of the tribune of the king of kings. The world-opening standard of
the Caliphate and rule, and the sky-scraping umbrella of justice and
world-sway of that creator of the diadem and throne, and that opener
of the knots of knowledge and wisdom have cast the shade of equity
and sovereignty and mercy over the heads of the inhabitants of the
world. My hope is that the chief of desire-granters may make the
auspicious ascension of that blessed rising of fortune brighten the
crown and illuminate the throne, making it of good omen and prosperous
to all, and may the things that appertain to kingship and rule of
the world and the causes of dignity and prosperity be ever on the
increase! For long past the customs of amity and the ways of intimacy,
which have been in existence between our ancestors, and now freshly
have been re-established between this one who is bent on friendship
and him who is intent on equity, demanded that when the good news of
the accession of him who sits on the Gurgani throne and is the heir of
the crown of Timur reached this country, one of the confidants of the
royal palace should be quickly nominated to convey congratulations,
but inasmuch as the business of Azarbijan and the conquest of the
province of Shirwan just then occurred, and until my loving mind was
satisfied as to the affairs of that province, I could not return to my
capital, some delay took place in the accomplishment of this important
duty. Although outward ceremonial observances and politenesses have
not much weight with people of knowledge and discernment, yet the
observance of them is the observance of the dues of friendship. Of
necessity, therefore, at this auspicious time when the attention of
the servants of holy angels (?) has been withdrawn from the affairs
of that province, which have been arranged in accordance with the
desires of my well-wishers, and I am at ease in that quarter, I
have returned and settled down in my capital of Isfahan, which is
the permanent seat of rule. Therefore I have despatched Kamalu-d-din
Yadgar `Ali, who possesses the attributes of nobility, is perfect in
sincerity and fully reliable, who is moreover of the number of devoted
servants and Sufis of pure design of our family, to the most exalted
Court, that after he has obtained the good fortune to salute you,
to condole with you, and kissed the carpet of honour, and performed
the dues of inquiry (after health, etc.) and congratulations, he may
obtain leave to return, and may convey to the sincere mind of your
well-wisher the good tidings of the safety of your angelic person
and the health of your temperament that is of the brightness of
the sun and increases joy. It is hoped that the tree of hereditary
friendship and assiduousness, and the garden of intimacy and regard,
both apparent and spiritual, which by the irrigation of the rivers of
affection and the brooks of sincere regard acquire great splendour
and greenness, not casting their leaves, may set in motion the cord
of intimacy and drive away the misfortune of estrangement by the
arrival of correspondence, which is the communication of the soul,
and may connect by spiritual chains our visible friendship, and may
favour the course and accomplishment of business.
"May God Almighty give the assistance of the secret powers to that
living family of dignity and glory and that household of grandeur
and good fortune."
Up to this is the copy of the letter of my brother Shah `Abbas.
My brothers Sultan Murad and Daniyal, who had died in the lifetime of
my revered father, people had called by several names. I ordered that
one of them should be called Shahzada maghfur (the pardoned prince),
and the other Shahzada marhum (the prince admitted to mercy). I
promoted I`timadu-d-daulah and `Abdu-r-Razzaq Ma`muri, who each held
the rank of 1,500, to that of 1,800, and increased the horse-rank of
Qasim Khan, brother of Islam Khankhanan, by 250. I dignified Iraj,
eldest son of the Khankhanan, with the title of Shah-nawaz Khan, and
Sa`du-llah, son of Sa`id Khan, with the appellation of Nawazish Khan.
At the time of my accession I had increased weights and measures
(lit. gaz), viz. to the extent of three ratis (small weight equal to
eight barleycorns), in the weight of muhrs and rupees. At this time
it was represented to me that in mercantile transactions it would be
for the convenience of the people that muhrs and rupees should be of
the same weight as previously. As in all affairs the contentment and
ease of the people are to be looked to, I gave an order that from the
present day, that is, the 11th Urdibihisht in the 6th year of my reign,
they should strike muhrs and rupees of the former weight in all the
mints of my dominions. As before this, on Saturday, the 2nd of the
month of Safar, in the year 1020, the evil-dispositioned Ahdad had
heard that Kabul was deprived of an eminent leader, that Khan Dauran
[332] was in the interior, and only Mu`izzu-l-mulk with a few servants
of the aforesaid was in Kabul, thinking it a good opportunity he
(Ahdad) betook himself unexpectedly to Kabul with a large number of
horsemen and foot-soldiers. Mu`izzu-l-mulk, according to the measure of
his ability, displayed activity, and the Kabulis and other inhabitants,
especially the Farmuli [333] tribe, barricaded up the streets and
fortified their houses. The Afghans with some guns came in to the
streets and bazars from different directions. The people from the
shelter of their terraces and houses killed many of these wretches with
arrows and guns, and Bargi, [334] one of the confidential leaders of
Ahdad, was killed. From the occurrence of this affair, for fear that
the people from all sides and quarters should assemble and block the
road for them to get out, giving up their hearts and feet (in a state
of distraction), in fear and confusion they turned back. About 800 of
those dogs went to jahannam (hell), and 200, having caught horses,
hastily escaped with their lives from that deadly place. Nad `Ali
Maidani, who was in Lahugar, at last on the same day arrived there,
and pursued them for a short distance. As the distance (between them)
was too great and his band small, he turned back. For the energy
he had shown in coming quickly, and for the activity displayed by
Mu`izzu-l-mulk, they were both promoted in rank; Nad `Ali, who held
that of 1,000 personal to that of 1,500, and Mu`izzu-l-mulk, who held
the rank of 1,500, to 1,800. As it transpired that Khan Dauran and
the Kabulis were in the habit of passing their days in carelessness,
and the repelling of the evil disposition of Ahdad had taken a long
time it occurred to me that as the Khankhanan was without employment
I might appoint him and his sons to this duty. Soon after this idea
occurred, Qilij Khan, to summon whom a firman had already been issued,
came from the Panjab and obtained the honour of an audience. It became
evident from the forehead of his circumstances (his manner) that he
was annoyed at the duty of driving back the ill-dispositioned Ahdad
being assigned to Khankhanan. As he faithfully promised to take up
this duty, it was settled that the governorship of the Subah of the
Panjab should belong to Murtaza Khan, and that the Khankhanan should
remain at home, and that Qilij Khan should be promoted to the rank of
6,000 personal and 5,000 horse, and be appointed to Kabul to drive back
Ahdad and the up-country robbers. I ordered the Khankhanan to have a
jagir in the Subah of Agra in the Sarkars of Qanauj and Kalpi, that
he might inflict condign punishment on the rebels of that region and
exterminate them (pull them out by the roots). When I dismissed them
I gave each of them special robes of honour and horses and elephants,
and having received the robes of exaltation they started off. At the
same time, on account of the sincerity of his friendship and his old
services, I bestowed on I`timadu-d-daulah the rank of 2,000 personal
and 500 horse, and presented him with a sum of 5,000 rupees by way of
gift. Mahabat Khan, whom I had sent to make the necessary preparations
for war for the victorious army of the Deccan and point out to the
Amirs the desirability of concord and unanimity, paid his respects to
me at the capital of Agra on the 12th of the month of Tir, the 21st
of Rabi`u-s-sani. It was brought to notice in a letter from Islam
Khan that `Inayat Khan had performed approved service in the Subah of
Bengal; on this account I increased by 500 personal the rank he already
held of 2,000. I also increased by 500 personal and 300 horse, so as
to make it up altogether to 1,500 personal and 800 horse, the rank of
Raja Kalyan, who was one of the officials of that Subah. I appointed
Hashim Khan, [335] who was in Orissa, to the government of Kashmir,
and sent his uncle, Khwaja Muhammad Husain, there to look after the
affairs of that country until his arrival. In the time of my revered
father his father, Muhammad Qasim, had conquered Kashmir. Chin Qilij,
who was the eldest son of Qilij Khan, came from the Subah of Kabul
and waited on me. As in addition to his natural excellence he was
a khanazad (houseborn one), he was honoured with the title of Khan,
and according to the prayer of his father, and on condition of his
undertaking service in Tirah, I increased his rank by 500 personal
and 300 horse. On the 14th Amardad on account of the previous service
and great sincerity and ability of I`timadu-daulah, I bestowed on him
the high rank of the viziership of the kingdom, and on the same day
presented a belt with a jewelled dagger to Yadgar `Ali, ambassador
of the ruler of Iran. As `Abdu-llah Khan, who had been appointed
to command the army against the rebel Rana, promised to enter the
province of the Deccan from the direction of Gujarat, I promoted him
to be Subahdar of that province, and at his request appointed Raja
Baso to the command of the army against the Rana, increasing his rank
by 500 horse. In place of Gujarat I conferred the Subah of Malwa
on Khan A`zam and sent 400,000 rupees to provide for the army and
warlike materials for the force that had been appointed to accompany
`Abdu-llah Khan by way of Nasik, which is near the province of the
Deccan. Safdar Khan, with his brothers, came from the Subah of Behar,
and had the honour of kissing the threshold.
One of the royal slaves who was serving in the seal-cutting departments
prepared and laid before me a design such as I had never seen or heard
of before. As it is exceedingly strange, a detailed [336] description
of it is given. In the shell of a filbert four compartments had been
carved out of ivory. The first compartment was one of wrestlers, in
which two men were engaged in wrestling, a third was standing with
a spear in his hand, a fourth with a hard stone. [337] Another was
sitting with his hands placed on the ground, while in front of him
were laid a piece of wood, a bow and a pot. In the second a throne had
been made above which a shamiyana (a tent-fly or canopy) was depicted,
and a man of wealth (a prince) was seated on the throne with one leg
placed over the other and a pillow at his back. Five servants were
standing around and before him, and tree-boughs threw a shade over
the throne. In the third compartment is a company of rope-dancers,
who have raised upright a pole with three ropes fastened to it. A
rope-dancer upon it (qu. on the ropes? [338]) has taken hold of his
own right foot with his left hand behind his head, and standing on
one foot has placed a goat on the top of the pole. Another person has
thrown a drum on his neck and is beating it, whilst another man is
standing with his hands lifted up and looking at the rope-dancer. Five
other men are also standing, of whom one has a stick in his hand. In
the fourth compartment there is a tree, below which the figure of
the revered (hazrat) Jesus is shown. One person has placed his head
at Jesus' feet, and an old man is conversing with Jesus and four
others are standing by. [339] As he had made such a masterpiece,
I honoured him with a present and with increased salary.
On the 30th Shahriwar, Mirza Sultan, who had been sent for from the
Deccan, came and waited on me. Safdar Khan had an increase of rank
conferred on him, and was appointed to go to the assistance of the
army against the rebel Rana. As `Abdu-llah Khan Bahadur Firuz-jang
had proposed to enter the neighbouring province of the Deccan by way
of Nasik, it occurred to me to appoint Ram Das Kachhwaha, who was
one of the sincere servants of my revered father, to accompany him
in order that he might in every place look after him, and not allow
him to be too rash and hasty. For this purpose I bestowed on him great
favours, as well as the title of Raja, which he had not thought of for
himself. I also gave him drums and the fort of Ranthanbur, which is
one of the noted castles in Hindustan, and honouring him with a superb
robe of honour and an elephant and horse I dismissed him. I appointed
Khwaja Abu-l-hasan, who had been transferred from the chief Diwanship,
to the duty of the Subahdarship of the Deccan, as he had been for
a long time in those regions in the service of my deceased brother
(Daniyal). I honoured Abu-l-hasan, son of I`timadu-d-daulah, with the
title of I`tiqad Khan, and having promoted the sons of Mu`azzam Khan
to fitting ranks sent them to Bengal to Islam Khan. At the request
of Islam Khan, Raja Kalyan was appointed to the government of the
Sarkar of Orissa and had an increase in rank of 200 personal and
horse. I presented Shaja`at Khan Dakhani with 4,000 rupees. On the
7th Aban Badi`u-z-zaman, son of Mirza Shahrukh, came from the Deccan
and waited on me.
About this time, in consequence of the disturbances that had occurred
in the country of Mawara'a-n-nahr, many of the Amirs and Uzbeg
soldiers, such as Husain Bi, Pahluwan Baba, and Nauras Bi Darman,
and Baram Bi and others came to Court and waited on me. They were all
honoured with robes of honour, horses, cash, mansabs, and jagirs. On
the 2nd Azar Hashim Khan came from Bengal and had the honour of
kissing my threshold. I sent 500,000 rupees for the expenses of the
victorious army of the Deccan, of which the leader was `Abdu-llah
Khan, to Ahmadabad in Gujarat by the hands of Rup Khawass and Shaikh
Anbiya. On the 1st day I went to the village of Samonagar, which is one
of my fixed hunting-places, to hunt. Twenty-two antelope were killed,
of which I myself killed sixteen and Khurram the other six. Remaining
there two days and two nights, on the night of Sunday I returned to
the city in health and safety, and one night this couplet threw its
brilliance on my mind:--
"As long as there's in heaven light for the sun,
Be not the reflection far from the Shah's umbrella."
I ordered the lamplighters and the relators of stories that at the
time of their salutations and telling stories they should commence
with this couplet, and it is still in use. On Saturday, the 3rd day,
a letter came from Khan A`zam that `Adil Khan Bijapuri had given
up his evil ways and become penitent, and in the rank of servants
was now more loyal than ever. On the 14th day, corresponding with
the last day of Shawwal, leave was given to Hashim Khan to go to
Kashmir. I gave a special wrapper [340] (fargal) to Yadgar `Ali,
ambassador of Persia. I presented I`tiqad Khan with one of my special
swords called Sar-andaz (thrower of heads). Having honoured Shadman,
son of Khan A`zam, with the title of Shadman Khan, I increased his
rank to 1,700 personal and 500 horse. He was also honoured with a
standard. Sardar Khan, brother of `Abdu-llah Khan Firuz-jang, and
Arslan Bi Uzbeg, who had been appointed to the charge of Sivistan,
[341] were also presented with standards. I ordered that ja'i-namaz
(prayer carpets) should be made of the skins of the antelopes I had
myself killed, and be kept in the public audience hall for people to
use in saying their prayers. By way of special respect to the Law I
ordered that the Mir-i-`Adl and Qazi, who are the pivot of affairs
of the divine law, should not kiss the ground (before me), which is a
kind of sijda. On Thursday, the 22nd day, I went again to Samonagar to
hunt. As many antelope had collected together in that neighbourhood I
had this time sent off Khwaja Jahan to prepare a qamargah and drive in
the antelope into a broad place from all sides, to place canvas-walls
(sara-parda) and a gulal-bar [342] round it. They enclosed a kos and
half of ground with sarapardas. When news came that the hunting-place
had been prepared and a great deal of game had been confined, I went
there and began to hunt on the Friday. Until the next Thursday I
went every day to the qamargah with the ladies and hunted as much
as I liked. Some of the deer were taken alive and some killed with
arrows and guns. On the Sunday and Thursday, on which I do not fire
guns at animals, they took them alive in nets. In these seven days
917 head, male and female, were caught, and of these 641 deer were
caught alive. Four hundred and four head were sent to Fathpur to
be let loose on the plain there, and with regard to 84 I ordered
them to put silver rings in their noses and set them free in the
same place. The 276 other antelope that had been killed with guns
and arrows and by cheetahs were divided from day to day among the
Begams and the slaves of the palace, and Amirs and servants of the
palace. As I became very tired (dilgir) of hunting, I gave orders to
the Amirs to go to the shikargah (hunting-place) and hunt all that
were left over, and myself returned in safety to the city. On the
1st Bahman, corresponding with the 17th Zi-l-qa`da, I ordered that in
the large cities of my dominions, like Ahmadabad, Allahabad, Lahore,
Delhi, Agra, etc., they should arrange bulghur-khanas (places for the
distribution of cooked food) for the poor; thirty mahalls (districts)
had been ordered. Six had already been established, and twenty-four
other districts were now ordered. On the 4th Bahman I increased the
rank of Raja Bir Singh Deo by 1,000 personal; it was previously 4,000
personal and 2,000 horse: I gave him a jewelled sword. Another sword
out of my special ones, that was called Shah-bacha, (king's child), was
presented to Shah-nawaz Khan. On the 16th Isfandarmuz, Badi`u-z-zaman,
son of Mirza Shahrukh, was appointed to the army against the rebel Rana
and a sword sent by his hand for Raja Baso. Having again heard that
the Amirs on the borders interfere with authority in matters that do
not concern them, and do not observe laws and regulations, I ordered
[343] that the Bakhshis should circulate orders, to be obeyed amongst
the Amirs of the borders, that hereafter they should not interfere
in such things, which are the private affair of kings. The first
thing is this, that they should not sit in the jharokha (private
window), and should not trouble their officers and captains of the
auxiliaries with keeping guard or saluting them, and should not have
elephant fights, and should not inflict the punishment of blinding,
and should not cut off ears and noses, and should not force Islam on
anyone, and should not confer titles on their servants, and should not
order the royal servants to do kurnish or prostration, and should not
force singers to remain on duty in the manner customary in (royal)
darbars, and should not beat drums when they go out, and when they
give a horse or elephant to anyone, whether to the king's attendants
or to their own servants, they should not place reins or elephant's
goads on their backs and make them perform obeisance. In going in
procession they should not take with them on foot in their retinue
the royal attendants. If they write anything to them they should not
put a seal on it. [344] The regulations which have been styled the
rules of Jahangir (Ayin-i-Jahangiri) are now in force. [345]