On the 21st I gave leave to Muḥammad Riẓā, ambassador of the ruler of Iran, and bestowed on him 60,000 darbs, equal to 30,000 rupees, with a dress of honour. As an equivalent to the souvenir (yād-būdī) that my brother S͟hāh ʿAbbās had sent to me, I forwarded with the aforesaid ambassador certain presents of jewelled things which the rulers of the Deccan had sent, with cloths and rare things of every kind fit for presentation, of the value of 100,000 rupees. Among these was a crystal cup that Chelebī[9] had sent from ʿIraq. The Shah had seen this cup and said to the ambassador that if his brother (Jahāngīr) would drink wine out of it and send it to him it would be a great mark of affection. When the ambassador represented this, having drunk wine several times out of the cup in his presence, I ordered them to make a lid and a saucer for it and sent it along with the presents. The lid was of enamel (mīnā-kārī). I ordered the Munshis of mercurial writing (ʿUt̤ārid-raqm) to write in due form an answer to the letter he had brought.
On the 22nd the scouts brought in news of a tiger. Mounting immediately, I went against the tiger and with three shots I delivered the people from his wickedness, and himself from the wickedness of his vile nature. Masīḥu-z-zamān produced before me a cat, and represented that it was a hermaphrodite, and that in his house it had young ones, and that when it had connection with another cat, young were born to the latter.
On the 25th the contingent of Iʿtimādu-d-daulah passed before me in review on the plain under the jharoka. There were 2,000 cavalry well horsed, most of whom were Moghuls, 500 foot armed with bows and guns, and fourteen elephants. The bakhshis reckoned them up and reported that this force was fully equipped and according to rule. On the 26th a tigress was killed. On Thursday, the 1st Urdībihis͟ht, a diamond that Muqarrab K͟hān had sent by runners was laid before me; it weighed 23 surkh, and the jewellers valued it at 30,000 rupees. It was a diamond of the first water, and was much approved. I ordered them to make a ring of it. On the 3rd the mansab of Yūsuf K͟hān was, at the request of Bābā K͟hurram, fixed at 1,000 with 1,500 horse and in the same way the mansabs of several of the Amirs and mansabdars were increased at his suggestion. On the 7th, as the huntsmen had marked down four tigers, when two watches and three gharis had passed I went out to hunt them with my ladies. When the tigers came in sight Nūr-Jahān Begam submitted that if I would order her she herself would kill the tigers with her gun. I said, “Let it be so.” She shot two tigers with one shot each and knocked over the two others with four shots. In the twinkling of an eye she deprived of life the bodies of these four tigers. Until now such shooting was never seen, that from the top of an elephant and inside of a howdah (ʿamārī) six shots should be made and not one miss, so that the four beasts found no opportunity to spring or move.[10] As a reward for this good shooting I gave her a pair of bracelets[11] (pahunchī) of diamonds worth 100,000 rupees and scattered 1,000 ashrafis (over her). On the same day Maʿmūr K͟hān (the architect-K͟hān) obtained leave to go to Lahore to complete the buildings of the palace there. On the 10th the death of Sayyid Wāris̤, who was faujdār of the Subah of Oudh, was reported. On the 12th, as Mīr Maḥmūd asked for a faujdārship, I dignified him with the title of Tahawwur K͟hān, and, increasing his mansab, appointed him to the faujdārship of some of the parganahs of the Subah of Multan. On the 22nd, T̤āhir, the bakhshi of Bengal, who had been forbidden to pay his respects, waited upon me and presented his offerings. Eight elephants were also presented as the offering of Qāsim K͟hān, governor of Bengal, and two as that of S͟haik͟h Modhū. On the 28th, at the request of K͟hān Daurān, an order was given for the increase of the mansab of ʿAbdu-l-ʿAzīz K͟hān by 500. On the 5th K͟hurdād the duty of the Diwanship of Gujarat was given to Mīrzā Ḥusain in supercession of Kes͟ho. I dignified him with the title of Kifāyat K͟hān. On the 8th, Las͟hkar K͟hān, who had been appointed bakhshi of Bangash, came and waited on me; he offered 100 muhrs and 500 rupees. Some days before this Ūstād Muḥammad Nāyī (flute-player), who was unequalled in his craft, was sent by my son K͟hurram at my summons. I had heard some of his musical pieces[12] (majlis-sāz), and he played a tune which he had composed for an ode (g͟hazal) in my name. On the 12th I ordered him to be weighed against rupees; this came to 6,300 rupees. I also gave him an elephant with a howdah,[13] and I ordered him to ride on it and, having packed[14] his rupees about him, to proceed to his lodging. Mullā Asad, the story-teller, one of the servants of Mīrzā G͟hāzī, came on the same day from Tattah and waited on me. As he was a reciter and story-teller full of sweetness and smartness, I liked his society, and I made him happy with the title of Maḥz̤ūz̤ K͟hān, and gave him 1,000 rupees, a dress of honour, a horse, an elephant, and a palanquin. After some days I ordered him to be weighed against rupees, and his weight came up to 4,400. He was raised to the mansab of 200 personal and 20 horse. I ordered him always to be present at the meetings for talk (gap). On the same day Las͟hkar K͟hān brought his men to the dars͟han jharoka before me. There were 500 horse, 14 elephants, and 100 musketeers. On the 24th news came that Mahā Singh, grandson of Rāja Mān Singh, who was entered among the great officers, had died from excessive wine-drinking at Bālāpūr in the province of Berar. His father also had died at the age of 32[15] from the drinking of wine beyond measure. On the same day they had brought to my private fruit-house many mangoes from all parts of the province of the Deccan, Burhanpur, Gujarat, and the parganahs of Malwa. Although this province is well known and celebrated for the sweetness, freedom from stringiness, and size of its mangoes, and there are few mangoes that equal its mangoes—so much so that I often ordered them to be weighed in my presence, when they were shown to come to a seer or 1¼ seer or even more—yet in sweetness of water and delicious flavour and digestibility the mangoes of Chaprāmau,[16] in the province of Agra, are superior to all the mangoes of this province and of all other places in India.
On the 28th I sent for my son Bābā K͟hurram a special gold-embroidered nādirī of a fineness such as had never been produced before in my establishment; I ordered the bearer to tell him that as this rarity had the speciality that I had worn it on the day I quitted Ajmir for the conquest of the Deccan, I had sent it to him. On the same day I placed the turban from my own head, just as it was, on the head of Iʿtimādu-d-daulah, and honoured him with this favour. Three emeralds, a piece of jewelled ūrbasī,[17] and a ruby signet ring that Mahābat K͟hān had sent by way of offering were laid before me. They came to 7,000 rupees in value. On this day, by the mercy and favour of Allah, continued rain fell. Water in Māndū had become very scarce and the people were agitated about the matter so that most of the servants had been ordered to go to the bank of the Narbada. There was no expectation of rain at that season. In consequence of the agitation of the people I turned by way of supplication to the throne of God, and He in His mercy and grace gave such rain that in the course of a day and a night tanks, ponds (birkahā), and rivers became full, and the agitation of the people was changed to complete ease. With what tongue can I render thanks for this favour? On the 1st of Tīr a standard was presented to Wazīr K͟hān. The offering of the Rānā, consisting of two horses, a piece of Gujarati cloth, and some jars of pickles and preserves, was laid before me. On the 3rd, Muʿazzā[18](?) brought news of the capture of ʿAbdu-l-Lat̤īf, a descendant of the rulers of Gujarat, who had always been the originator of mischief and disturbance in that Subah. As his capture was a reason for the contentment of the people, praise was given to God, and I ordered Muqarrab K͟hān to send him to Court by one of his mansabdars. Many of the zamindars in the neighbourhood of Māndū, came and waited on me, and laid offerings before me. On the 8th, Rām Dās, son of Rāja Rāj Singh Kachhwāha, was given the ṭīka of a Raja, and I honoured him with that title. Yādgār Beg, who was known in Māwarāʾa-n-nahr (Transoxiana) as Yādgār Qūrchī, and had not been without connection and influence with the ruler of that country, came and waited on me. Of all his offerings a white china cup on a stand was the most approved. The offering of Bahādur K͟hān, governor of Qandahar, consisting of nine horses, nine tuqūz of fine cloth (81 pieces?), two black foxes’ skins, and other things, was brought before me. Also on this day the Rāja of Gadeha, Pem[19] Narāyan, had the good fortune to wait on me, and made an offering of seven elephants, male and female. On the 10th a horse and dress of honour were given to Yādgār Qūrchī. On the 13th was the feast of rose-water scattering (gulāb-pās͟hān). The rites due to that day were performed. S͟haik͟h Maudūd Chis͟htī, one of the officers of Bengal, was honoured with the title of Chis͟htī K͟hān, and I presented him with a horse. On the 14th, Rāwal Samarsī (Samarsiṃha), son of Rāwal Ūday Singh, zamindar of Bānswāla, waited on me; he gave as offering 30,000 rupees, three elephants, a jewelled pān-dān (box for betel), and a jewelled belt. On the 15th nine diamonds which Ibrāhīm K͟hān Fatḥ-jang, the governor of Behar, had sent along with Muhammad Beg from the mine, and from the collections of the zamindars of that place, were laid before me. Of these, one weighed 14½ tanks, and was of the value of 100,000 rupees. On the same day Yādgār Qūrchī was presented with 14,000 darbs, and I promoted him to the mansab of 500 personal and 300 horse. I fixed the mansab of Tātār K͟hān, bakāwul-begī (chief steward), original and increase, at 2,000 personal and 300 horse, and each of his sons was separately promoted to an increased mansab. At the request of Prince Sult̤ān Parwīz, I increased the personal mansab of Wazīr K͟hān by 500.
On the 29th, which was the auspicious day of Thursday, Sayyid ʿAbdu-llah Bārha, the envoy of my son of good fortune, Bābā K͟hurram, waited on me, and presented a letter from that son containing news of a victory over the provinces of the Deccan. All the chiefs, laying the head of duty in the noose of obedience, had consented to service and humility, and laid before him the keys of forts and strongholds, especially the fort of Ahmadnagar. In gratitude for this great favour and beneficence, placing the head of supplication on the throne of that God who requires no return, I opened my lips in thankfulness, and, humbling myself, ordered them to beat the drums of rejoicing. Thanks be to Allah that a territory that had passed out of hand has come back into the possession of the servants of the victorious State, and that the seditious, who had been breathing the breath of rebellion and boasting, have turned towards supplication and weakness, and become deliverers of properties and payers of tribute. As this news reached me through Nūr-Jahān Begam, I gave her the parganah of Boda (Ṭoḍā?),[20] the revenue of which is 200,000 rupees. Please God, when the victorious forces enter the province of the Deccan and its forts, and the mind of my excellent son K͟hurram is satisfied with regard to their possession, he will bring with the ambassadors such an offering from the Deccan as no other king of this age has received. It was ordered that he should bring with him the Amirs who were to receive jagirs in this Subah, in order that they might have the honour of waiting on me. They will thereafter get leave to depart, and the glorious royal standards will return with victory and rejoicing to the capital of Agra. Some days before the news of this victory reached me, I took one night an augury from the diwan of K͟hwāja Ḥāfiz̤ as to what would be the end of this affair, and this ode turned up—
“The day of absence and night of parting from the friend are o’er.
I took this augury; the star passed and fulfilment came.”[21]
When the secret tongue (lisānu-l-g͟haib) of Ḥāfiz̤ showed such an ending it gave me a strong hope, and accordingly, after twenty-five days, the news of victory arrived. In many of my desires I have resorted to the K͟hwāja’s diwan, and (generally) the result has coincided with what I found there. It is seldom that the opposite has happened.
On the same day I added 1,000 horse to the mansab of Āṣaf K͟hān, and raised it to that of 5,000 personal and horse. At the end of the day I went with the ladies to look round the building of the Haft Manz̤ar[22] (seven storeys), and at the beginning of the evening returned to the palace. This building was founded by a former ruler of Malwa, Sult̤ān Maḥmūd K͟haljī. It has seven storeys, and in each storey there are four chambers (ṣuffa) containing four windows. The height of this tower (mīnār) is 54½ cubits, and its circumference 50 yards (gaz). There are 171 steps from the ground to the seventh storey. In going and returning I scattered 1,400 rupees.[23]
On the 31st I honoured Sayyid ʿAbdu-llah with the title of Saif K͟hān, and having exalted him with a dress of honour, a horse, an elephant, and a jewelled dagger, gave him leave and sent him to do duty with my son of lofty fortune. I also sent by him a ruby of the value of more than 30,000 rupees for my son. I did not regard its value, but as for a long time I used to bind it on my own head, I sent it him by way of good augury, considering it lucky for him. I appointed Sult̤ān Maḥmūd, a son-in-law of K͟hwāja Abū-l-ḥasan bakhshi, to be bakhshi and news-writer of the Subah of Behar, and when he took leave I gave him an elephant. At the end of the day of Thursday, 5th Amurdād, I went with the ladies to see the Nīl-kunḍ, which is one of the most[24] pleasant places in the fort of Mandu (Mānḍogaṛh). S͟hāh-budāg͟h K͟hān, who was one of my revered father’s most considerable Amirs, at the time when he held this province in jagir, built in this place an exceedingly pleasing and enjoyable building. Delaying there till two or three gharis of night had passed I returned to the auspicious palace.