The Fourth New Year’s Feast after the Auspicious Accession.
The passing of the great star that illumines the world into the constellation of Aries took place on the night of Saturday, the 14th Ẕī-l-ḥijja, in Hijra 1017 (21st March, 1609), and New Year’s Day that made brilliant the world began with good auspices and rejoicing. On Friday, the 5th Muḥarram, in the year 1018, Ḥakīm ʿAlī died. He was an unrivalled physician; he had derived much profit from Arabic sciences. He had written a commentary on the Canon (of Avicenna) in the time of my revered father. He had greater diligence than understanding, just as his appearance was better than his disposition, and his acquirements better than his talents; on the whole he was bad-hearted, and of an evil spirit. On the 20th Ṣafar I dignified Mīrzā Bark͟hūrdār with the title of K͟hān ʿĀlam. They brought from the neighbourhood of Fatḥpūr a water-melon, greater than any I had ever seen. I ordered them to weigh it, and it came to 33 seers. On Monday, the 19th Rabīʿu-l-awwal, the feast of my annual lunar weighing was arranged in the palace of my revered mother; a part of the money was divided among the women who had assembled there on that day.
As it had been evident that in order to carry on the affairs of the State in the Subah of the Deccan it was necessary to send one of the princes there, it came into my mind to send my son Parwīz there. I ordered them to send his equipments and fix the hour for his departure. I summoned to Court Mahābat K͟hān, who had been nominated to the command of the army against the rebel Rānā to arrange certain matters at headquarters, and appointed in his place ʿAbdu-llah K͟hān, whom I exalted with the title of Fīrūz-jang. I sent ʿAbdu-r-Razzāq bak͟hs͟hī to carry an order to all the mansabdars of that army not to depart from the orders of the aforesaid K͟hān, and to pay every heed to his thanks and blame. On the 4th Jumādā-l-awwal one of the goatherds, who are a particular tribe, brought before me a gelded goat that had teats like a female, and gave every day sufficient milk to take with a cup of coffee.[1] As milk is one of the favours of Allah, and the source which nourishes many animals, I looked on this strange affair as an omen for good. On the 6th of the same month, having given him the rank of 2,000 personal and 1,500 horse, I sent K͟hurram, son of K͟hān Aʿz̤am, to the government of the province of Sorath, which is known as Jūnagaḍh (in Kathiyawād). I honoured[2] Ḥakīm Ṣadrā with the title of Masihu-z-zamān, and gave him the rank of 500 personal and 30 horse. On the 16th a jewelled waist-sword was sent to Rāja Mān Singh. On the 22nd, having handed over 2,000,000 rupees for the expenses of the army of the Deccan, which had been ordered for Parwīz, to a separate treasurer, 500,000 rupees more were given for the private expenses of Parwīz. On the 25th, Wednesday, Jahāndār (his son), who previously to this had been appointed, together with Qut̤bu-d-dīn K͟hān Koka, to Bengal, came and waited on me. In reality it became known to me that he was a born devotee.[3] As my mind was taken up with the preparations for the Deccan, on the 1st Jumādā-l-āk͟hir I nominated the Amīru-l-umarā as well to that duty. He was honoured with the favour of a robe of honour and a horse. Having promoted Karam Chand, son of Jagannāth, to the rank of 2,000 personal and 1,500 horse, I sent him in company with Parwīz. On the 4th of the month 370 ahadi horse were appointed with ʿAbdu-llah K͟hān to the assistance of the army employed against the Rānā. One hundred horses were also despatched from the government stables to be given as he thought proper to the mansabdars and ahadis. On the 17th I gave a ruby of the value of 60,000 rupees to Parwīz, and another ruby with two single pearls, worth about 40,000 rupees, to K͟hurram. On Monday, the 28th, Jagannāth was promoted to the rank of 5,000 personal and 3,000 horse, and on the 8th of Rajab, Rāy Jāy Singh was promoted to that of 4,000 personal and 3,000 horse, and was dismissed for service in the Deccan. On Thursday, the 9th, Prince S͟hahriyār from Gujarat came and waited on me. On Tuesday, the 4th, I despatched my son Parwīz on the service of conquering the country of the Deccan. He was presented with a robe of honour, a special horse, a special elephant, a sword, and a jewelled dagger. The Sardars and Amirs who were appointed with him each according to his condition received and were made happy with the favour of a horse, a robe of honour, an elephant, a sword, and a jewelled dagger. I appointed 1,000 ahadis to be in attendance on Parwīz for the service of the Deccan. On the same day a representation came from ʿAbdu-llah K͟hān that having pursued the rebel Rānā into the hill country into rough places, he had captured several of his elephants and horses. When night came on he had escaped with difficulty with his life. As he had made things go hard with him, he would soon be taken prisoner or killed. I promoted the said K͟hān to the rank of 5,000 personal, and a rosary of pearls, worth 10,000 rupees, was given to Parwīz. As I had given the province of K͟handesh and Berar to the said son, I also conferred on him the fort of Āsīr, and 300 horse were sent with him to be given to ahadis, mansabdars, and whomever else he might consider worthy of favour. On the 26th, Saif K͟hān Bārha was given the rank of 2,500 personal and 1,350 horse, and appointed to the faujdārship of the Sarkar of Hisar. On Monday, the 4th Shaʿbān, an elephant was given to Wazīr K͟hān. On Friday, the 22nd, I gave an order that as bang and būza (rice spirit) were injurious, they should not be sold in the bazars and that gambling should be abolished, and on this subject I issued stringent orders. On the 25th they brought a tiger from my private menagerie to fight with a bull. Many people gathered together to see the show, and a band of Jogis (religious mendicants) with them. One of the Jogis was naked, and the tiger, by way of sport, and not with the idea of rage, turned towards him. It threw him on the ground and began to behave to him as it would to its own female. The next day and on several occasions the same thing took place. As no such thing had ever been seen before and was exceedingly strange, this has been recorded.[4] On the 2nd of the month of Ramaẓān, at the request of Islām K͟hān, G͟hiyās[5] K͟hān was promoted to the rank of 1,500 personal and 800 horse. Farīdūn K͟hān Barlās was promoted to the rank of 2,500 with 2,000 horse. One thousand tolcha of gold and silver and 1,000 rupees were given in alms on the day of the procession of the sun into the constellation of the Scorpion, which, according to the general acceptation of the Hindoos, is called the Sankrānt. On the 10th of that month an elephant was presented to S͟hāh Beg Yūzī[6] (? the panther-keeper), and Salāmu-llah, the Arab, who is a distinguished young man and a relative (son-in-law?) of Mubārak, the ruler of Darful.[7] On account of some suspicion that S͟hāh ʿAbbās had entertained against him, he came to wait upon me. I patronised him, and gave him the rank of 400 personal and 200 horse. Again, another force, containing 193 mansabdars and 46 ahadis, I sent after Parwīz for service in the Deccan. Fifty horses were also entrusted to one of the servants of the Court to convoy to Parwīz.
On Friday, the 13th, a certain idea came into my mind, and this rhymed g͟hazal was produced:—
“What shall I do, for the arrow of loss of thee has pierced my liver!
So that the (evil) eye not reaching me again may reach another?
Thou movest as if frenzied, and the world is frenzied for thee.
I burn rue lest thy eye should reach me.
I am frenzied at union with my friend, and in despair at her absence.
Alas for the grief that has o’erwhelmed me!
I’ve grown mad that I may rush on the pathway of meeting:
Woe for the time that brought me the news!
Jahāngīr, the time for humility and prayer is every morning,[8]
I hope that some spark of light may take effect.”
On Sunday, the 15th, I sent 50,000 rupees as sāchaq to the house of the daughter of Muz̤affar Ḥusain Mīrzā, son of Sult̤ān Ḥusain Mīrzā, son of Bahrām Mīrzā, son of S͟hāh Ismaʿīl Ṣafawī, who had been demanded in marriage for my son K͟hurram. On the 17th of the month Mubārak K͟hān Sarwānī was honoured with the rank of 1,000 personal and 300 horse. Five thousand rupees were also given to him, and 4,000 rupees to Ḥājī Bī Ūzbeg. On the 22nd a ruby and a pearl were given to S͟hahriyār. One hundred thousand rupees were given for the subsistence of the Ūymāqs (special cavalry) who had been appointed for service in the Deccan. Two thousand rupees were given to Farruk͟h Beg, the painter, who is unrivalled in the age. Four thousand rupees were sent for expenditure on Bābā Hasan Abdāl. One thousand rupees were handed to Mullā ʿAlī Aḥmad Muhrkan (engraver) and Mullā Rūzbihān S͟hīrāzī to expend on the anniversary festival of Hazrat S͟haik͟h Salīm at his mausoleum. An elephant was given to Muhammad Ḥusain, the writer, and 1,000 rupees to K͟hwāja ʿAbdu-l-Haqq Anṣārī. I gave orders to the Diwans that having raised the rank of Murtazā K͟hān to 5,000 personal and horse they should give him a jagir. I ordered Bihārī Chand Qānūngū, of the Sarkar of Agra, to take 1,000 footmen and equipment from the Zamindars of Agra, and, fixing their monthly pay, to send them to Parwīz in the Deccan, and 500,000 rupees more were fixed for the expenses of Parwīz. On Thursday, the 4th S͟hawwāl, Islām K͟hān was promoted to the rank of 5,000 personal and 5,000 horse, Abū-l-walī Beg Ūzbeg to that of 1,500 and Z̤afar K͟hān to that of 2,500. Two thousand rupees were given to Badīʿu-z-zamān, son of Mīrzā S͟hāhruk͟h, and 1,000 rupees to Pathān Miṣr. I ordered that drums should be given to all of them as their rank had been raised to 3,000 and higher. Five thousand rupees more of the money from my weighing were entrusted for the construction of a bridge at Bābā Ḥasan Abdāl and the building that is there to Abū-l-wafā, son of Ḥakīm Abū-l-fatḥ, in order that he might exert himself and put the bridge and the aforesaid building in perfect order. On Saturday, the 13th, when four gharis of day were left, the moon began to be eclipsed. By degrees the whole of its body was obscured, and it continued till five gharis of night had passed. In order to avert the bad omen of this I had myself weighed against gold, silver, cloth, and grain, and gave away in alms all kinds of animals, such as elephants, horses, etc., the cost of all of which was 15,000 rupees. I ordered them to be distributed among the deserving and the poor. On the 25th, at the request of her father, I took the daughter of Rām Chand Bandīlab into my service (i.e. married her). I gave an elephant to Mīr Fāẓil, nephew of Mīr S͟harīf, who had been appointed to the faujdārship of Qabūlah and those regions ʿInāyat-ullah was dignified with the title of ʿInāyat K͟hān. On Wednesday, the 1st Ẕī-l-qaʿda, Bihārī Chand was granted the rank of 500 personal and 300 horse. A khapwa (dagger), adorned with jewels was given to my son Bābā K͟hurram. Mullā Hayatī, by whom I had sent a message to the K͟hānk͟hānān, with a verbal message containing (expressions of) all kinds of condescension and affection, came and brought before me a ruby and two pearls of the value of about 20,000 rupees, which the K͟hānk͟hānān had sent by him. Mīr Jamālu-d-dīn Ḥusain, who was in Burhanpur and whom I had sent for, came and waited on me. I presented S͟hajāʿat K͟hān Dakhanī with 2,000 rupees. On the 6th of the aforesaid month, before Parwīz arrived at Burhanpur, a petition came from the Khankhanan and the Amirs that the Dakhanis had assembled together and were making disturbances. When I discovered that, notwithstanding the nomination of Parwīz and the army that had proceeded with him and been appointed to his service, they were still in need of support and assistance, it occurred to me that I should go myself, and by Allah’s favour satisfy myself with regard to that affair. In the meanwhile a petition came also from Āṣaf K͟hān that my coming there would be for the advantage of the daily-increasing State. A petition from ʿĀdil K͟hān, from Bijapur, also came, that if one of the trusted ones of the Court could be appointed there to whom he could tell his desires and claims, so that the envoy might convey them to me, he hoped that it might become the means of affording profit to these slaves (i.e. himself). On this account I consulted with the Amirs and loyal men, and told them to represent whatever entered into anyone’s mind. My son K͟hān Jahān represented that inasmuch as so many Amirs had been despatched for the conquest of the Deccan, it was not necessary for me to go in person. If he were ordered, he himself would go and attend on the prince and would, please God, perform this duty while serving him. Those words were approved of by all those who were loyal. I had never contemplated separation from him, but as the affair was an important one I necessarily gave him permission, and ordered that as soon as matters had been arranged he should return without delay, and should not remain more than a year in those regions. On Tuesday, the 17th Ẕī-l-qaʿda, he was free to go. I presented him with a special gold-embroidered robe of honour, a special horse with a jewelled saddle, a jewelled sword, and a special elephant I also gave him a yak-tail standard (tūmān ṭūg͟h). I appointed Fidā; K͟hān, who was one of my faithful servants, and to whom I gave a robe of honour and a horse and his expenses, promoting him to the rank of 1,000 personal and 400 horse, original and extra, to go with K͟hān Jahān, in order that if it were necessary to send anyone to ʿĀdil K͟hān according to his request, he might despatch him. Lankū Pandit, who in the time of the late king Akbar had come with offerings from ʿĀdil K͟hān, I also gave leave to go with K͟hān Jahān, bestowing on him a horse, a robe of honour, and money. Of the Amirs and soldiers who had been appointed with ʿAbdu-llah K͟hān to the duty of beating back the Rānā, men such as Rāja Bīr Singh Deo, S͟hajāʿat K͟hān, Rāja Bikramājīt, and others, with 4,000 or 5,000 horse, were nominated to support K͟hān Jahān. I sent Muʿtamad K͟hān with the announcement that I had made him a sazāwal (i.e. one who urges on others), and that he was to act along with K͟hān Jahān in Ujjain. Out of the men of the palace, I sent 6,000 or 7,000 horse with him, such as Saif K͟hān Bārha, Ḥājī Bī Ūzbeg, Salamu-llah ʿArab, brother’s son of Mubārak ʿArab, who had in his possession the province of Jūtra(?)[9] and Darfūl(?) and that neighbourhood, and other mansabdars and courtiers. At the time of giving them leave I gave each one an increase of rank and robe of honour and money for their expenses. Making Muḥammad Beg paymaster of the army, I provided him with 1,000,000 rupees to take with him. I sent to Parwīz a special horse, and to the Khankhanan and other Amirs and officers who were appointed to that Subah dresses of honour.
After carrying out these matters I left the city for the purpose of hunting. One thousand rupees were given to Mīr ʿAlī Akbar. As the Rabīʿ Faṣl (Spring season) had arrived, for fear any damage should happen to the cultivation of the ryots from the passage of the army, and notwithstanding that I had appointed a qūrīsāwul[10] (Erskine has Kor, the Yasawal) (probably a kind of provost marshal) with the band of ahadis for the purpose of guarding the fields, I ordered certain men to see what damage had been done to the crops from stage to stage and pay compensation to the ryots. I gave 10,000 rupees to the daughter of the Khankhanan, the wife of Dāniyāl, 1,000 rupees to ʿAbdu-r-Raḥīm K͟har (i.e. ass) for expenses, and 1,000 to Qāchā the Dakhani. On the 12th, K͟hānjar K͟hān, brother of ʿAbdu-llah K͟hān, received the rank of 1,000 personal and 500 horse original and extra, and Bahādur K͟hān, another brother, that of 600 personal and 300 horse. On this day two antelopes with horns and one doe were taken. On the 13th I bestowed on and sent to K͟hān Jahān a special horse. Having promoted Badīʿu-z-zamān, son of Mīrzā S͟hāhruk͟h, to the rank of 1,000 and 500 horse, I gave him 5,000 rupees for expenses, and he was sent off with K͟hān Jahān for service in the Deccan. On this day two male and three female antelope were killed. On Wednesday, the 10th, I killed a female nīlgāw and a black antelope with a gun, and on the 15th a female nilgaw and a chikāra (gazelle). On the 17th of the month two rubies and a pearl were brought to me by Jahāngīr Qulī K͟hān from Gujarat, as well as a jewelled opium box, which Muqarrab K͟hān had sent from the port of Cambay. On the 20th I killed with a gun a tigress and a nilgaw. There were two cubs with the tigress, but they disappeared from view in consequence of the thickness of the jungle and the number of trees. An order was given that they should search for and bring them. When I reached the halting-place my son K͟hurram brought me one of the cubs, and the next day Mahābat K͟hān caught the other and brought it. On the 22nd, when I had got within shot of a nilgaw, suddenly a groom (jilaudār) and two kahār (bearers) appeared, and the nilgaw escaped. In a great rage I ordered them to kill the groom on the spot, and to hamstring[11] the kahars and mount them on asses and parade them through the camp, so that no one should again have the boldness to do such a thing. After this I mounted a horse and continued hunting with hawks and falcons, and came to the halting-place.
Next day, under the guidance of Iskandar Muʿīn, I shot a large nilgaw, and promoted him to the rank of 600 personal and 500 horse. On Friday, the 24th, Ṣafdar K͟hān, who had come from the Subah of Behar, had the good fortune to perform his obeisance to me. He presented as offerings a hundred muhrs, a sword, and five female and one male elephant. The male elephant was accepted. On the same day Yādgār K͟hwāja of Samarkand came from Balkh and paid his respects. He made offerings of an album, some horses, and other presents, and was dignified with a robe of honour. On Wednesday, 6th Ẕī-l-ḥijja, Muʿizzu-l-mulk, who had been removed from the paymastership of the army against the rebel Rānā, ill and miserable, waited on me. On the 14th of the said month, having pardoned all the faults of ʿAbdu-r-Raḥīm K͟har,[12] I promoted him to the rank of yūzbās͟hī (centurion) and 20 horse, and ordered him to go to Kashmir and in company with the bakhshi of that place hold a muster of the troops of Qilīj K͟hān and all the jagirdars and Uymaks in the service or not, and to bring the list. Kis͟hwar K͟hān, son of Qut̤bu-d-dīn K͟hān, came from the fort of Rohtas and had the good fortune to pay his respects to me.
[1] Perhaps the meaning is enough milk to fill a coffee-cup. [↑]
[2] According to the contemporary, but anonymous, author quoted in Elliot, vi, 448, this was in reward for restoring the sight of K͟husrau. [↑]
[3] Majẕūb-i-mādar-zād. Probably the meaning is that he was a born idiot. [↑]
[4] The story is also told in the Iqbāl-nāma, p. 37, where it is said that the tiger was one brought by a calendar as a present. It had the name of Laʿl K͟hān and was very tame. It is added that the tiger did no injury to the jogi with his claws or teeth. [↑]
[5] The MSS. have ʿInāyat. [↑]
[6] I.O. MS. No. 181, S͟hāh Beg K͟hān. [↑]
[7] Salāmu-llah is mentioned later on (p. 78), and is described as brother’s son of Mubārak, who held the country of Jotra (?) and Darful. He is also mentioned in the Iqbāl-nāma, p. 38, where Mubārak is described as ruler (ḥākim) of Jūyza and Safūl (?). But a MS. of the Iqbāl-nāma in my possession only mentions Jūyza or Jūyna. I think Jūyza must be Juina or Juanny, which, according to Sir William Jones, is one of the names of the island of Johanna or Hinzuan (one of the Comorro Islands), and that Safūl must be Sofala, a town on the east coast of Africa. Sir W. Jones was landed on Johanna, and has a long account of the island (see his works). The Iqbāl-nāma says that Salāmu-llah killed himself with drink. There is a short notice of him in the Maʾās̤ir, ii, 641, where he is called by his title of S͟hajāʿat K͟hān. [↑]
[8] The I.O. MSS. have a different reading here. Instead of ‘every morning’ they have ‘renew (humility).’ The word nūr, ‘light,’ in the last line probably refers to Jahāngīr’s name of Nūru-d-dīn. [↑]
[9] See note above. Jūtra or Jotra is probably a mistake for the island of Johanna, i.e. Hinzuan. Darfūl is Dazfūl in I.O. MS. No. 181. [↑]
[10] Possibly Qūr Yasāwul is right, but most probably it was a yasāwul attached to the Qūr, for which see Blochmann, p. 50. [↑]
[11] Jahāngīr’s conduct was sufficiently brutal, but the text has made it worse than it was by omitting the word pay before pāy. The back tendons of the bearers’ feet were cut. Their feet were not cut off. Erskine translates the passage rightly, and the I.O. MSS. agree with him. [↑]
[12] This was the same ʿAbdu-r-Raḥīm who was a companion of K͟husrau, and after his capture was sweated in a skin. As he had life left in him he escaped from that destruction, and, on being released, became one of the personal servants, and served His Majesty till by degrees the latter became gracious to him. (Note of Sayyid Aḥmad.) [↑]