As several indiscretions on the part of Muk͟hliṣ K͟hān diwan and bakhshi of the Subah of Bengal, had come to my ears, I reduced his mansab by 1,000 personal and 200 horse. On the 7th a war (mastī) elephant from among those sent as offerings by ʿĀdil K͟hān, by name Gaj-rāj, was sent to Rānā Amr Singh. On the 11th, I went out to hunt and came one stage from the fort. There was excessive rain, and the mud was such that there was hardly any moving. For the convenience of the people and the comfort of the animals I gave up this undertaking, and passing the day of Thursday outside, returned on Friday eve. On the same day Hidāyatu-llah, who is very well suited to carry out the rules and movements (in travelling) of the headquarters (lit. presence), was honoured with the title of Fidāʾī K͟hān. In this rainy season rain fell in such quantities that old men said that they did not remember such rain in any age. For nearly forty days there was nothing but cloud and rain, so that the sun only appeared occasionally. There was so much wind that many buildings, both old and new, fell down. On the first night there was[25] such rain and thunder and lightning as has seldom been heard of. Nearly twenty women and men were killed, and the foundations even of some of the stone buildings were broken up. No noise is more terrifying than this. Till the middle of the month was passed, wind and rain increased. After this they gradually became less. What can be written of the verdure and self-grown fragrant plants? They covered valley and plain and hill and desert. It is not known if in the inhabited world there exists another such place as Mandu for sweetness of air and for the pleasantness of the locality and the neighbourhood, especially in the rainy season. In this season, which lasts for months and extends up to the hot weather, one cannot sleep inside houses without coverlets, and in the day the temperature is such that there is no need for a fan or for change of place. All that could be written would still fall short of the many beauties of the place. I saw two things that I had not seen in any other place in Hindustan. One was the tree of the wild plantain that grows in most of the uncultivated places in the fort, and the other the nest of the wagtail (mamūla), which they call in Persian the dum-sīcha (tail-wagger). Up till now none of the hunters had pointed out its nest. By chance in the building I occupied there was its nest, and it brought out two young ones.
Three watches of day had passed on Thursday, the 19th, when I mounted with the ladies in order to go round and see the courts and buildings on the Shakkar tank, founded by former rulers of Malwa. As an elephant had not been conferred on Iʿtimādu-d-daulah on account of his government of the Panjab, I gave him on the road one of my private elephants of the name of Jagjot. I remained in this enchanting place until the evening, and was much delighted with the pleasantness and greenness of the surrounding open spaces. After performing my evening prayer and counting my rosary, we returned to our fixed residence. On Friday an elephant named Ran-bādal (cloud of war?), which Jahāngīr Qulī K͟hān had sent as an offering, was brought before me. Having adopted for myself certain special cloths and cloth-stuffs, I gave an order that no one should wear the same but he on whom I might bestow them. One was a nādirī coat that they wear over the qabā (a kind of outer vest). Its length is from the waist down to below the thighs, and it has no sleeves. It is fastened in front with buttons, and the people of Persia call it kurdī (from the country of the Kurds). I gave it the name of nadiri. Another garment is a T̤ūs shawl, which my revered father had adopted as a dress. The next was a coat (qaba) with a folded collar (batū girībān). The ends of the sleeves were embroidered. He had also appropriated this to himself. Another was a qaba with a border, from which the fringes of cloth were cut off and sewn round the skirt and collar and the ends of the sleeve. Another was a qaba of Gujarati satin, and another a chīra and waistbelt woven with silk, in which were interwoven gold and silver threads.
As the monthly pay of some of Mahābat K͟hān’s horsemen, according to the regulation of three and two horsed men, for the performance of duty in the Deccan, had become increased and the service[26] had not been performed, I gave an order that the civil officers (dīwāniyān) should levy the difference from his jagir. In the end of Thursday, the 26th, corresponding with the 14th S͟haʿbān, which is the S͟hab-i-barāt, I held a meeting in one of the houses of the palace of Nūr-Jahān Begam, which was situated in the midst of large tanks, and summoning the Amirs and courtiers to the feast which had been prepared by the Begam, I ordered them to give the people cups and all kinds of intoxicating drinks according to the desire of each. Many asked for cups, and I ordered that whoever drank a cup should sit according to his mansab and condition. All sorts of roast meats, and fruits by way of relish, were ordered to be placed before everyone. It was a wonderful assembly. In the beginning of the evening they lighted lanterns and lamps all round the tanks and buildings, and a lighting up was carried out the like of which has perhaps never been arranged in any place. The lanterns and lamps cast their reflection on the water, and it appeared as if the whole surface of the tank was a plain of fire. A grand entertainment took place, and the drinkers of cups took more cups than they could carry.
“A feast was arranged that lighted up the heart,
It was of such beauty as the heart desired.
They flung over this verdant mead
A carpet broad as the field of genius.
From abundance of perfume the feast spread far,
The heavens were a musk-bag by reason of incense,
The delicate ones of the garden (the flowers) became glorious,