Verse.
“Outside, like an infidel’s grave, full of cracks,[43]
Inside, the anger of God, the honoured and glorious.”
On this day Muk͟hliṣ K., according to order, came from Bengal, and had the good fortune to kiss the threshold. He gave 100 muhars and 100 rupees as nazar, and by way of offering, a ruby and jewelled aigrette (t̤urra). On Friday, the 9th, Rs. 600,000 of treasure for the maintenance (ẕak͟hīra) of the fort of Āsīr were sent to the Commander-in-Chief, K͟hān-k͟hānān.
In the foregoing pages, something has been written about Gosāʾīn Jadrūp,[44] who lived as a hermit in Ujain. At this time he changed his residence to Mathura, which is one of the greatest places of worship of the Hindus, and employed himself in the worship of the true God on the bank of the Jumna. As I valued his society, I hastened to wait on him, and for a long time enjoyed his company without the presence of any stranger. In truth, his existence is a great gain to me: one can be greatly benefited and delighted.
On Saturday, the 10th, the huntsmen represented that there was in that neighbourhood a tiger that greatly troubled and injured the ryots and wayfarers. I immediately ordered them to bring together a number of elephants and surround the forest and at the end of the day myself rode out with my ladies. As I had vowed that I would not injure any living thing with my own hand, I told Nūr-Jahān[45] to shoot at him. An elephant is not at ease when it smells a tiger, and is continually in movement, and to hit with a gun from a litter (ʿimārī) is a very difficult matter, insomuch that Mīrzā Rustam, who, after me, is unequalled in shooting, has several times missed three or four shots from an elephant. Yet Nūr-Jahān B. so hit the tiger with one shot that it was immediately killed.
On Monday, the 12th, my desire to see the Gosāʾīn Jadrūp again increased, and hastening to his hut, without ceremony, I enjoyed his society. Sublime words were spoken between us. God Almighty has granted him an unusual grace, a lofty understanding, an exalted nature, and sharp intellectual powers, with a God-given knowledge and a heart free from the attachments of the world, so that, putting behind his back the world and all that is in it, he sits content in the corner of solitude and without wants. He has chosen of worldly goods half a gaz of old cotton (kirpās) like a woman’s veil, and a piece of earthenware from which to drink water, and in winter and summer and the rainy season lives naked and with his head and feet bare. He has made a hole in which he can turn round with a hundred difficulties and tortures, with a passage such that a suckling could hardly be put through it. These two or three couplets of Ḥakīm Sanāʾī (may God have mercy on him!) appeared appropriate:
Verse.[46]
“Luqmān had a narrow hut,
Like the hollow of a flute or the bosom of a harp.
A noodle put the question to him—
‘What is this house—two feet and a span?’
Hotly and with tears the sage replied—
‘Ample for him who has to die.’”
On Wednesday, the 14th, I again went to visit the Gosāʾīn and bade him good-bye. Undoubtedly parting from him weighed upon my mind, that desires the truth. On Thursday the 15th, I marched and pitched near Brindāban. At this stage my fortunate son Sult̤ān Parwīz took leave of me for Allahabad, and went to his jagir. I had intended that he should accompany me on this expedition, but as he had already shown symptoms of distress, I could not avoid letting him go. I presented him with a tipchāq horse, a waist dagger with a veined (jauhar-dār) walrus-tooth (hilt), and a sword and special shield. I hope he will come again soon, and have the good fortune of my presence. As the period of K͟husrau’s imprisonment had been a long one, it seemed to me that to keep him longer in confinement and deprive him of the good fortune of waiting on me, would be wanting in kindness. I accordingly sent[47] for him and bade him salute me. Once again the marks of his offences were washed with the pure water of forgiveness, and the dust of disgrace and humiliation was rubbed off his brow. I hope that the blessing of pleasing me, and the grace of service may be his lot.
On Friday, the 16th, I gave leave to Muk͟hliṣ K., whom I had sent for to take up the duties of diwan to S͟hāh Parwīz, and I gave him the rank he had[48] had in Bengal—viz., 2,000 with 700 horse. On Saturday I halted. At this stage Sayyid Niẓām s. Mīr Mīrān Ṣadr Jahān, who was faujdār of Kanauj, waited upon me, and presented two elephants, and some hawks. I accepted one elephant and a pair of hawks. On Sunday, the 18th, we marched. At this time the King of Persia had sent with Parī Beg Mīr S͟hikār (chief huntsman) one falcon (s͟hunqār) of good colour. There was another which had been given to the K͟hān ʿĀlam. This one was sent along with the S͟hāhī falcon (i.e., the one intended for Jahāngīr), and it died on the road. The S͟hāhī falcon, too, got mauled by a cat owing to the carelessness of the Mīr S͟hikār. Though it was brought to Court, it did not live more than a week. What can I write[49] of the beauty and colour of this falcon? There were many beautiful black markings on each wing, and back, and sides. As it was something out of the common, I ordered Ustād Manṣūr, who has the title of Nādiru-l-ʿaṣr (wonder of the age) to paint and preserve[50] its likeness. I gave the Mīr S͟hikār Rs. 2,000 and dismissed him.
In my father’s reign (the light of God be his testimony!) the weight of the seer was 30 dams.[51] About this time it came into my mind: “Why should I act contrary to his rules?” It would be better to have it still of 30 dams. One day Gosāʾīn Jadrūp said that in the book of the Vedas, which the lords of his faith had written, the weight of the sīr was 36 dams. “As from the coincidences of the hidden world your order has fallen in with what is laid down in our book, if it be fixed at 36 dams, it will be well.” It was ordered that hereafter throughout the whole territory it should be 36 dams.
On Monday, the 19th, I marched. A horse and dress of honour were given to Rāja Bhāo Singh, who had been ordered to the support of the army of the Deccan. From this day, till Wednesday, the 28th, I made successive marches. On Thursday, the 29th, Delhi, the abode of blessings, was adorned by the alighting of the army of good fortune. At first I hastened with my children and the ladies on a visit to the enlightened shrine of Humāyūn (may the lights of God be his testimony!), and having made our offerings there, went off to circumambulate the blessed mausoleum of the king of holy men (S͟haik͟h Niz̤āmu-d-dīn Chis͟htī), and strengthened my courage, and at the end of the day alighted at the palace, which had been got ready in Salīmgaṛh. On Friday, the 30th, I halted. As they had at this time preserved the hunting-place of the pargana of Pālam, according to order, it was represented that a great number of antelope had collected there. Accordingly, on the 1st of the Divine month of Āẕar I started to hunt[52] with cheetahs. At the end of the day, during the hunt, much hail fell of the size of apples, and made the air very cold. On this day three antelope were caught. On Sunday, the 2nd, I hunted 46 antelope, and on Monday, the 3rd, 24 antelope were caught with cheetahs. My son S͟hāh-Jahān killed two antelope with his gun. On Tuesday, the 4th, five antelope were caught. On Wednesday, the 5th, 27 antelope were caught. On Thursday, the 6th, Sayyid Bahwa Buk͟hārī, who was in charge of the government of Delhi, made an offering of three elephants and eighteen horses, and other things. One elephant and other things were accepted, and I gave the rest to him. Hās͟him of K͟host, faujdār of some parganas in Mewāt, had the honour of kissing the threshold. I employed myself within the limits of Pālam until Thursday, the 13th, in hunting with cheetahs. In the space of twelve days 426 antelopes were caught, and I returned to Delhi. I had heard, when in attendance on my father, that it is impossible for an antelope that has escaped from the grasp of a cheetah to live, although it has not been injured by its claws. In this hunt I, in order to ascertain the fact, released several antelopes of handsome appearance and strong bodies, before they had received any wounds from teeth or claws, and ordered them to be kept in my presence, and that they should be taken the greatest care of. For a whole day and night they remained at ease in their natural conditions: on the second day a change was observed, and they threw about their legs as if they were drunk, without any reason, and fell down and rose up. However much tiryāq-i-fārūqī (preparation of opium) and other suitable medicines were administered to them, they had no effect, and when one watch had passed in this condition, they died.
On this day the bad news arrived that the eldest son of S͟hāh Parwīz had died at Agra. As he was somewhat grown-up,[53] and was very attached and affectionate towards his father, the latter was exceedingly grieved and wounded at heart at this event, and great bewilderment and weakness manifested themselves in him. In order to console and please him, I sent him gracious letters, and covered over the deadly wound of his heart with the balm of affection and kindness. I hope that God, the great and glorious, may grant him patience and resignation, for in this kind of calamities there can be no better driver away of grief than endurance and resignation.
On Friday, the 14th, at the request of Āqā[54] Āqāyān, I went to her house. On account of her previous service and her hereditary attachment to this illustrious family, when the late king made me a married man, he took her from my sister S͟hāh-zāda K͟hānam, and placed her in charge of my Zanana. It is 33 years from that date that she has been in my service, and I esteem her greatly, for she has served me with sincerity. In no journey or expedition had she of her own will remained absent from attendance on me. When she felt her increasing age, she requested me to order her to remain at Delhi, and to spend the remainder of her life in prayer for me, for she had no longer the power to move about, and found it a great hardship and trouble to come and go (as she used). One of her felicities was that she was of the same age[55] as ʿArs͟h-ās͟hyānī (Akbar). In brief, with a view to giving her rest, I ordered her to remain at Delhi, and in that place she had made for herself a garden, a saray, and a tomb, in the constructing which she has employed herself for some time past. In short, to please this ancient servitor, I went to her house, and strictly ordered Sayyid Bahwa, the governor of the city, to serve and guard her in such a manner that no dust from any road of vexation might settle on the hem of her contentment.
On this day Rāja Kis͟han Dās was promoted to the mansab of 2,000 personal and 300 horse, original and increased. As Sayyid Bahwa[56] had performed satisfactorily the duties of faujdār of Delhi, and the people of the place were much pleased with his excellent conduct, according to previous custom, the protection and administration of the city of Delhi and the faujdārship of the surrounding country were entrusted to him, and he was promoted to the mansab of 1,000 personal and 600 horse, original and increased, and he was presented with an elephant, and allowed to take leave. On Saturday, the 15th, I honoured Mīrzā Wālī with the mansab of 2,000 and 1,000 horse, and presenting him with a standard and an elephant, appointed him to the Deccan. S͟haik͟h ʿAbdu-l-Ḥaqq Dihlawī,[57] who was a pious and estimable man, had the good fortune to pay his respects to me. He had composed a book containing the biographies of the S͟haik͟hs of India, and produced it to me. He had endured some hardships, and for a long time had lived in Delhi in seclusion, and the practice of reliance on God, and of asceticism. He is a very worthy man, and his company is not without pleasure (for me). Bestowing various kinds of kindnesses on him, I dismissed him.
On Sunday, the 16th, I marched from Delhi, and on Friday, the 21st, halted in the pargana of Kairāna.[58] This pargana is the native place of Muqarrab K. Its climate is equable and its soil good. Muqarrab had made buildings and gardens there. As I had often heard praise of his garden, I wished much to see it. On Saturday, the 22nd, I and my ladies were much pleased in going round it. Truly, it is a very fine and enjoyable garden. Within a masonry (puk͟hta, pucca) wall, flower-beds have been laid out to the extent of 140 bighas. In the middle of the garden he has constructed a pond, in length 220 yards, and in breadth 200 yards. In the middle of the pond is a māh-tāb terrace (for use in moonlight) 22 yards square. There is no kind of tree belonging to a warm or cold climate that is not to be found in it. Of fruit-bearing trees belonging to Persia I saw green pistachio-trees, and cypresses of graceful form, such as I have never seen before. I ordered the cypresses to be counted, and they came to 300. All round the pond suitable buildings have been begun and are in progress.
On Monday, the 24th, K͟hanjar K., in whose charge is the Fort of Ahmadnagar, was promoted to the mansab of 2,500 personal and 1,600 horse. On Wednesday, the 26th, the Giver of Bounties gave my son S͟hāh-Jahān a son by the daughter of Āṣaf K͟hān. He presented an offering of 1,000 muhars, and begged for a name for him. I gave him the name of Umīd-bak͟hs͟h (bestower of hope). I hope his advent[59] may be auspicious to this State. On Thursday, the 27th, I halted. In these few days I was delighted with hawking the jarz[60] (bustard or florican) and tūg͟h-dārī (also a kind of bustard). I ordered the jarz-i-būr (the red bustard?) to be weighed. It came to 2¼ Jahāngīrī sirs, and the variegated (ablaq) one to 2⅛ sirs. The large tūg͟h-dārī was ¼ sir heavier than the jarz-i-būr. On Thursday, the 5th of the Divine month of Day, I left the boat at Akbarpur, and the victorious army then marched by land. From Agra to this halting-place, which is situated within two koss of the pargana of Buriya,[61] is by river 123 koss or 91 koss by road. I did it in 34 marches and 17 halts. In addition to this I delayed a week in leaving the city, and 12 days in sporting in Pālam: altogether (I took) 70 days. On this day Jahāngīr Qulī K. came from Bihār, and had the good fortune to pay his respects. He presented 100 muhars and Rs. 100. From the last Thursday to Wednesday, the 11th, I marched every day. On Thursday, the 12th, I was pleased with going round to see the garden of Sirhind. It is one of the old gardens, and has old trees in it. It has not the freshness it formerly had, but it is still valuable. K͟hwāja Waisī, who is well acquainted with agriculture and buildings, was appointed the karorī of Sirhind for the purpose of keeping the garden in order. I had sent him off from Agra before I marched from the capital, and he had put it somewhat in order. I strictly enjoined him again that he should remove all the old trees that had no freshness in them, and put in fresh plants, to clean up the ʿirqbandī[62] (it is ʿirāq-bandī in the text. The word does not occur in the B.M. MS. but is in the I.O. MS.), and repair the old buildings, and erect other buildings in the shape of baths, etc., in fitting places. On this date Dūst Beg, who was one of the auxiliaries of ʿAbdu-llah K., was promoted to the mansab of 700 personal and 50 horse, Muz̤affar Ḥusain, s. Wazīr K., to that of 600 personal and 300 horse. S͟haik͟h Qāsim was sent to duty in the Deccan. On Thursday, the 19th, at the request of my auspicious son S͟hāh-Jahān, I went to his house. On account of the birth of the son that God Almighty had bestowed on him a grand entertainment was given, and he presented offerings. Among these was a short, broad sword[63] (s͟hams͟hīr-i-nīmcha), which was of Venetian workmanship. The hilt and fastenings were made of a sapphire[64] cut in Europe: in short, it had been beautifully made. Another offering was an elephant which the Raja of Baglāna had presented to my son in Burhānpur. As that elephant was handsome and well-behaved, it was ordered to be included among the private elephants. The value of the offerings that were accepted was Rs. 130,000, and he offered about Rs. 4,000 to his mothers and benefactors. On this day Sayyid Bāyazīd Buk͟hārī, faujdār of Bhakkar, sent as an offering a rang (ibex), which he had brought from the hills when it was small and brought up in his house. It pleased me greatly. Of mār-k͟hūr and hill sheep I have seen many brought up in the house, but I never saw a rang (tame). I ordered them to keep it with the Barbary goats, in order that they might pair and produce young ones. Without doubt, it is not allied to the mār-k͟hūr or the quchqār. Sayyid Bāyazīd was raised to the mansab of 1,000 personal and 700 horse. On Monday, the 23rd, having honoured Muqīm K. with a robe of honour, a horse, an elephant, and jewelled khapwa, I appointed him to Bihār. On Sunday, the 29th, a feast was prepared for my auspicious son S͟hāh-Jahān on the bank of the Biya (Beas), and on the same day Rāja Bikramājīt, who was employed in the siege of Kāngṛa, came to Court, by order, to represent certain requirements, and had the good fortune to kiss the threshold. On Monday, the 30th, my son S͟hāh-Jahān took ten days’ leave, and hastened to Lahore in order to see the palace buildings lately erected. Rāja Bikramājīt was presented with a special dagger, a robe of honour, and a horse, and returned to duty on the siege of Kāngṛa. On Wednesday, the 2nd of the Divine month of Bahman, the garden of Kalānaur was honoured by my halting there. At this place my father had ascended the throne.
When the news of the speedy arrival of K͟hān ʿĀlam reached the Court, every day I sent one of my servants to meet him. I loaded him with all kinds of favours and kindnesses, and added to his rank and dignity, and I decked the headings of the farmans sent to him with an impromptu hemistich or couplet suitable to the occasion, and so filled him with favours. Once I sent him some Jahāngīrī (otto of roses), and this opening verse came on my tongue:
Verse.[65]
“To thee I’ve sent the scent of myself.
That I may bring thee the more quickly to myself.”
On Thursday, the 3rd (Bahman), at the garden of Kalānaur, K͟hān ʿĀlam was honoured by kissing the threshold. By way of nazar he brought 100 muhars and Rs. 1,000, and (stated that he) would present his offerings in due course. Zambīl Beg, the ambassador of my brother S͟hāh ʿAbbās, was following him with the royal letter and the rarities of that country (Persia), which he had sent as presents. Of the favours and kindness conferred by my brother on K͟hān ʿĀlam, if I were to write of them in detail, I should be accused of exaggeration. In conversation he always gave him the title of K͟hān ʿĀlam, and never had him out of his presence. If he ever voluntarily stayed in his own quarter, he (ʿAbbās) would go there without ceremony, and show him more and more favour. One day there was a qamurg͟ha hunt at Farrukhābād, and he ordered K͟hān ʿĀlam to shoot with a bow. Out of good manners he brought a bow with two arrows (only). The Shah gave him 50 other arrows from his own quiver. It happened that 50 of these arrows struck the game, and two arrows missed. Then he ordered some of his attendants who had the entrée at feasts and assemblies to shoot with arrows. Most shot well. Among them Muḥammad Yūsuf (qarāwul), shot an arrow which went through two boars, and those who were standing by broke out without control into applause. At the time K͟hān ʿĀlam took his leave, he seized him in the embrace of honour, and showed him great affection. After he had left the city, he went to his halting-place, and made many apologies and bade him farewell. As for the beautiful and costly things that the K͟hān ʿĀlam brought, it was indeed the assistance of his destiny that gave such rare things into his hand. Among them was the picture of the fight of Ṣāhib Qirān (Tīmūr) with Tuqtamis͟h K., and the likenesses of him and his glorious children and the great Amirs who had the good fortune to be with him in that fight, and near each figure was written whose portrait it was. In this picture there were 240 figures. The painter had written his name as K͟halīl Mīrzā S͟hāhruk͟hī (in the MS. it is Savaj and not S͟hāhruk͟hī). The work was very complete and grand, and resembled greatly the paint-brush of Ustād Bihzād. If the name of the painter had not been written, the work would have been believed to be his. As it was executed before Bihzād’s date it is probable that the latter was one of K͟halīl Mīrzā’s pupils, and had adopted his style. This precious relic had been obtained from the illustrious library of S͟hāh Ismāʿīl (the 1st), or had come to my brother S͟hāh ʿAbbās from S͟hāh T̤ahmāsp. A person of the name of Ṣādiqī, a librarian of his, had stolen it, and sold it to someone. By chance (the painting) fell into the hands of K͟hān ʿĀlam at Isfahan. The Shah heard that he had found such a rare prize, and asked it of him on the pretence of looking at it. K͟hān ʿĀlam tried to evade this by artful stratagems, but when he repeatedly insisted on it, he sent it to him. The Shah recognized it immediately he saw it. He kept it by him for a day, but at last, as he knew how great was our liking for such rarities, he—God be praised—made no request[66] whatever for it, but told the facts of the case (about its being stolen) to K͟hān ʿĀlam, and made the picture over to him.
At the time when I sent K͟hān ʿĀlam to Persia, I had sent with him a painter of the name of Bis͟han Dās, who was unequalled in his age for taking likenesses, to take the portraits of the Shah and the chief men of his State, and bring them. He had drawn the likenesses of most of them, and especially had taken that of my brother the Shah exceedingly well, so that when I showed it to any of his servants, they said it was exceedingly well drawn.
On the same day Qāsim K., with the Bakhshi and Diwan of Lahore, had the good fortune to do homage. Bis͟han Dās, the painter, was honoured with the gift of an elephant. Bābā K͟hwāja, who was one of the auxiliaries of Qandahar, was accorded the mansab of 1,000 personal and 550 horse. On Tuesday, the 3rd, Madāru-l-mahāmmī (centre of important affairs) Iʿtimādu-d-daula made ready his army. Inasmuch as the charge of the Panjab is entrusted to his agents, and he has also various jagirs in Hindustan, he held a review of 5,000 horsemen. As the area of Kashmir is not such that its produce may suffice for the expenses of the force that is always on service with the servants of the army of prosperity, and as, in consequence of the report (of the approach) of the glorious and victorious standards, the price of grains and vegetables had risen very high, an order was given, for the comfort of the public, that those servants who were in attendance on the royal stirrup should arrange their retinues, and only taking with them those who were indispensable, should send the remainder to their jagirs, and in the same way should take every precaution to reduce as far as possible the number of their beasts and followers. On Thursday, the 10th, my fortunate son, S͟hāh-Jahān returned from Lahore, and had the good fortune to do homage. Having honoured Jahāngīr Qulī K. with a dress of honour, a horse and an elephant, I gave him leave to proceed with his brothers and sons to the Deccan. On this day T̤ālib Āmulī received the title of Maliku-s͟h-s͟huʿarā (king of poets), and was clothed in a dress of honour. His origin was from Āmul. For some time he was with Iʿtimādu-d-daula. As the merits of his style surpassed that of his contemporaries, he was enrolled among the poets of the throne. The following couplets are by him:
Verse.[67]
“Spring longs to rifle thy parterre.
For the flowers in thy hand are fresher than those on his branch.
I’ve so closed my lips from speech that you’d say
‘His mouth is but a scar on his face.’”[68]