(h. His Chief Justices (ṣadūr).)
One was Mīr Sar-i-barahna (Bare-head)[1110]; he was from a village in Andijān and appears to have made claim to be a sayyid (mutasayyid). He was a very agreeable companion, pleasant of temper and speech. His were the judgment and rulings that carried weight amongst men of letters and poets of Khurāsān. He wasted his time by composing, in imitation of the story of Amīr Ḥamza,[1111] a work which is one long, far-fetched lie, opposed to sense and nature.
Kamālu’d-dīn Ḥusain Gāzur-gāhī[1112] was another. Though not a Ṣūfī, he was mystical.[1113] Such mystics as he will have gathered in ‘Alī-sher Beg’s presence and there have gone into their raptures and ecstacies. Kamālu’d-dīn will have been better-born than most of them; his promotion will have been due to his good birth, since he had no other merit to speak of.[1114] A production of his exists, under the name Majālisu’l-‘ushshāq (Assemblies of lovers), the authorship of which he ascribes (in its preface) to Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā.[1115] It is mostly a lie and a tasteless lie. He has written such irreverent things in it that someFol. 176b. of them cast doubt upon his orthodoxy; for example, he represents the Prophets,—Peace be on them,—and Saints as subject to earthly passion, and gives to each a minion and a mistress. Another and singularly absurd thing is that, although in his preface he says, “This is Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā’s own written word and literary composition,” he, never-the-less, enters, in the body of the book, “All by the sub-signed author”, at the head of odes and verses well-known to be his own. It was his flattery gave Ẕū’n-nūn Arghūn the title Lion of God.
(i. His wazīrs.)
One was Majdu’d-dīn Muḥammad, son of Khwāja Pīr Aḥmad of Khwāf, the one man (yak-qalam) of Shāhrukh Mīrzā’s Finance-office.[1116] In Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā’s Finance-office there was not at first proper order or method; waste and extravagance resulted; the peasant did not prosper, and the soldier was not satisfied. Once while Majdu’d-dīn Muḥammad was still parwānchī[1117] and styled Mīrak (Little Mīr), it became a matter of importance to the Mīrzā to have some money; when he asked the Finance-officials for it, they said none had been collected and that there was none. Majdu’d-dīn Muḥammad must have heard this and have smiled, for the Mīrzā asked him why he smiled; privacy was made and he told Mīrzā what was in his mind. Said he, “If the honoured Mīrzā will pledge himself to strengthen Fol. 177.my hands by not opposing my orders, it shall so be before long that the country shall prosper, the peasant be content, the soldier well-off, and the Treasury full.” The Mīrzā for his part gave the pledge desired, put Majdu’d-dīn Muḥammad in authority throughout Khurāsān, and entrusted all public business to him. He in his turn by using all possible diligence and effort, before long had made soldier and peasant grateful and content, filled the Treasury to abundance, and made the districts habitable and cultivated. He did all this however in face of opposition from the begs and men high in place, all being led by ‘Alī-sher Beg, all out of temper with what Majdu’d-dīn Muḥammad had effected. By their effort and evil suggestion he was arrested and dismissed.[1118] In succession to him Niz̤āmu’l-mulk of Khwāf was made Dīwān but in a short time they got him arrested also, and him they got put to death.[1119] They then brought Khwāja Afẓal out of ‘Irāq and made him Dīwān; he had just been made a beg when I came to Kābul (910 AH.), and he also impressed the Seal in Dīwān.
Khwāja ‘Atā[1120] was another; although, unlike those already mentioned, he was not in high office or Finance-minister (dīwān), nothing was settled without his concurrence the whole Khura-sānāt over. He was a pious, praying, upright (mutadaiyin) person; he must have been diligent in business also.
(j. Others of the Court.)
Those enumerated were Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā’s retainers and followers.[1121] His was a wonderful Age; in it Khurāsān, andFol. 177b. Herī above all, was full of learned and matchless men. Whatever the work a man took up, he aimed and aspired at bringing that work to perfection. One such man was Maulānā ‘Abdu’r-raḥmān Jāmī, who was unrivalled in his day for esoteric and exoteric knowledge. Famous indeed are his poems! The Mullā’s dignity it is out of my power to describe; it has occurred to me merely to mention his honoured name and one atom of his excellence, as a benediction and good omen for this part of my humble book.
Shaikhu’l-islām Saifu’d-dīn Aḥmad was another. He was of the line of that Mullā Sa‘du’d-dīn (Mas‘ūd) Taftazānī[1122] whose descendants from his time downwards have given the Shaikhu’l-islām to Khurāsān. He was a very learned man, admirably versed in the Arabian sciences[1123] and the Traditions, most God-fearing and orthodox. Himself a Shafi‘ī,[1124] he was tolerant of all the sects. People say he never once in 70 years omitted the Congregational Prayer. He was martyred when Shāh Ismā‘īl took Herī (916 AH.); there now remains no man of his honoured line.[1125]