On Wednesday the 12th the camp was at Bābā Ḥasan Abdāl. One kos to the east of this station there is a waterfall over which the stream rushes with great force. There is no fall like it on the way to Kabul. On the road to Kashmir there are two or three like it.[29]
In the middle of the basin, in which is the source of the stream, Rāja Mān Singh has erected a small building. There are many fish in the basin of the length of half a gaz and a quarter gaz. I halted three days at this enchanting place, drinking wine with those who were intimate with me and employing myself in catching fish. Until now I had never thrown a sufra net, which is a famous kind of net, and which in Hindi they call bhanwar[30] jāl. It is not easy to throw. I threw it with my own hand and caught twelve fish, and putting pearls into their noses,[31] let them loose in the water. I enquired into the story of Bābā Ḥasan from the story-tellers and from the inhabitants of the place, but no one could tell me any particulars. The celebrated place at that station is a spring which flows from the foot of a little hill, exceedingly clear, sweet, and nice, as witness this couplet of Amīr K͟husrau:—
“In the bottom of the water, from its clearness, a blind man
Can count the sand-grains in the heart of the night.”
K͟hwāja S͟hamsu-d-dīn Muḥammad K͟hwāfī, who was for long employed as Vizier by my revered father, had made a platform and a reservoir there, into which is led the water from the spring, and thence is used in cultivation and in gardens. On the edge of this terrace he had built a dome for his own burial. By chance his destiny was not there, and (the bodies of) Ḥakīm Abū-l-fatḥ Gīlānī and his brother Ḥakīm Humām, who were close to the person and had the complete confidence of my revered father, were placed in that dome in accordance with his order.
On the 15th the halt was at Amrohī.[32] It is a wonderfully green place, in which no ups and downs were visible. In this village and its neighbourhood there are 7,000 or 8,000 households of Khaturs and Dalāzāks. All kinds of mischief and oppression and highway robbery take place through this tribe. I ordered the government of this region and Attock to be given to Z̤afar K͟hān, son of Zain K͟hān Koka, and that by the time of the return of the royal standards from Kabul they should march all the Dalāzāks to Lahore and capture the head men of the Khaturs and keep them in prison.
On Monday, the 17th, a march was made, and, with one stage in between, the royal standards alighted near the fort of Attock on the bank of the river Nīlāb (Indus). At this stage Mahābat K͟hān was promoted to the rank of 2,500. This fort was built by the late king Akbar, and was completed by the labours of K͟hwāja S͟hamsu-d-dīn K͟hwāfī. It is a strong fort. At this time the water of the Nīlāb was low,[33] and accordingly a bridge had been made with eighteen boats, and the people crossed over easily. I left the Amīru-l-umarā at Attock on account of weakness of body and illness. An order was given to the bakhshis that, as the province of Kabul could not support a large army, they should only allow the immediate attendants of the Court to cross the river, and until the return of the royal standards the royal camp should remain at Attock. On Wednesday, the 19th, with the princes and some of the private servants, having mounted on to a raft (with inflated skins underneath), and having crossed the river Nīlāb safely, I alighted on the bank of the river Kāma. The Kāma is a river that flows by the qaṣba (fortified town) of Jalālābād. The jāla is a structure they make of bamboos and grass and place underneath it skins full of air. In this province they call them s͟hāl (or sāl). In rivers and streams in which there are rocks they are safer than boats. 12,000 rupees were given to Mīr S͟harīf Āmulī and to a number of men, who had been appointed to perform services at Lahore, to divide amongst the faqirs. An order was given to ʿAbdu-r-Razzāq Maʿmūrī[34] and to Bihārī Dās, bakhshi of the Ahadis, to complete the force that had been appointed to accompany Z̤afar K͟hān and send them away. With one stage in between, the camp halted at the saray of Bāra. On the other side of the river Kāma there is a fort which Zain K͟hān Koka built at the time when he was appointed to subjugate the Yūsufzaʾe Afghans, and called Naus͟hahr (Newcastle). About 50,000 rupees were spent upon it. They say that Humāyūn used to hunt rhinoceros in this region. I also heard from my father that he had twice or thrice witnessed such a hunt in the company of his father. On Thursday, the 25th, I alighted at the saray of Daulatābād. Aḥmad Beg of Kabul, jagirdar of Peshawar, with the Maliks of the Yūsufzaʾes and the G͟horiya-khel, came and waited on me. As the service of Aḥmad Beg was not approved, I transferred him from that territory (wilāyat) and conferred it on S͟hīr K͟hān, the Afghan. On Wednesday, the 26th, I encamped in the garden of Sardār K͟hān, which he had made in the neighbourhood of Peshawar. I walked round Ghorkhatrī, which is the worshipping-place of the jogīs in this neighbourhood, with the idea that I might see some faqirs from association with whom I might obtain grace. But that was like looking for the phœnix or the philosopher’s stone. A herd without any religious knowledge came to my view, from seeing whom I derived nothing but obscurity of mind. On Thursday, the 27th, I arrived at the halting-place of Jamrūd, and on Friday, 28th, at the K͟haibar Kotal (Khyber Pass) and encamped at ʿAlī Masjid, and on Saturday I traversed the tortuous (mārpīch, i.e. snake-twisting) Pass, and alighted at G͟harīb-k͟hāna. At this stage Abū-l-qāsim Namakīn, Jagirdar of Jalālābād, brought an apricot, which was not inferior in beauty to good Kashmir apricots. At the stage of Daka they brought from Kabul gīlās (cherries), which my revered father had entitled S͟hāh-ālū. As I was much inclined to eat them, inasmuch as I had not (hitherto?) obtained them, I ate them with great zest as a relish to wine. On Tuesday, 2nd Ṣafar, I encamped at Basāwal, which is on the bank of the river. On the other side of the river there is a mountain which has no trees or grass on it, and on that account they call this mountain the hill of Bīdaulat (unfortunate). I heard from my father that in mountains like this there are mines of gold. On the mountain of Āla Būghān, at the time when my revered father went to Kabul, I had had a qamargāh hunt, and killed several[35] red deer. As I had handed over the administration of all civil affairs to the Amīru-l-umarā, and his illness increased greatly, and forgetfulness came over his faculties to such an extent that what was settled in one hour he forgot in the next, and his forgetfulness was increasing day by day, on Wednesday, the 3rd Ṣafar, I entrusted the duties of the viziership to Āṣaf K͟hān, presenting him with a special robe of honour, and inkstand and a jewelled pen. It was a remarkable coincidence that twenty-eight years previously to this, at the same halting-place, my revered father had promoted him[36] to the rank of Mīr Bak͟hs͟hī (chief paymaster). A ruby which his brother[37] Abū-l-qāsim had bought for 40,000 rupees and sent him, he presented as an offering on obtaining the viziership. He petitioned that K͟hwāja Abū-l-ḥasan, who held the offices of bakhshi and the Qūr, etc., might go with him. Jalālābād was transferred from Abū-l-qāsim Namakīn to Arab K͟hān. A white rock was present in the river-bed; I ordered them to carve it in the form of an elephant and cut upon its breast this hemistich, which agrees with the date of the Hijra year: “The white stone elephant of Jahāngīr Pāds͟hāh,” that is, 1016.
On the same day Kalyān, son of Rāja Bikramājīt, came from Gujarat. Certain extraordinary proceedings on the part of this rebellious rascal had been reported to me. Amongst these was this. He had kept a Musulman lūlī woman in his house, and for fear this affair should become known had killed her father and mother and buried them in his house. I ordered that he should be imprisoned until I could enquire into his proceedings, and after ascertaining the truth I ordered first that they should cut out his tongue and place him in perpetual confinement, and that he should eat his food with dog-keepers and outcasts. On Wednesday I encamped at Surk͟hāb. Thence I alighted at Jagdalak. At this stage I saw many ballūt̤[38]-trees (oak or chestnut), which are the best wood for burning. Although this stage had neither passes nor declivities there were plenty of rocks. On Friday, the 12th, I encamped at Āb-i-bārīk, and Saturday, the 13th, at Yūrt-i-pāds͟hāh. On Sunday, the 14th, I alighted at K͟hūrd Kābul (little Kabul). At this stage I entrusted the Chief Justiceship and Qaziship of the city of Kabul to Qāẓī ʿĀrif, son of Mullā Sādiq Halwāʾī. They brought some ripe s͟hāh-ālū (cherries) from the village of Gulbahār to this place; of these I ate with much enjoyment nearly a hundred. Daulat, the head of the village of Jigrī[39](?), brought some uncommon flowers, such as I had never seen in my life. Thence I alighted at Bikrāmī. At this place they brought to show me a piebald[40] animal, like the flying (i.e. jumping) mouse, which in the Hindi tongue they call galahrī (squirrel), and said that mice would not frequent any house in which this animal was. On this account they call this animal the master of mice. As I had never seen one before, I ordered my painters to draw a likeness of it. It is larger than a mongoose. On the whole it is very like a civet cat. Having appointed Aḥmad Beg K͟hān to punish the Afghans of Bangas͟h, I ordered ʿAbdu-r-Razzāq Maʿmūrī, who was in Attock, to take 2,000,000 rupees under the charge of Mohan Dās, son of Rāja Bikramājīt, with him, and divide it among the auxiliaries of the aforesaid army. One thousand musketeers were also ordered to accompany this army.
S͟haik͟h ʿAbdu-r-Raḥmān, son of S͟haik͟h Abū-l-faẓl, was promoted to the rank of 2,000 personal and 1,500 horse, and obtained the title of Afẓal K͟hān. 15,000 rupees were presented to ʿArab K͟hān, and 20,000 rupees more for the repair of the fort of Pes͟h Bulāg͟h.[41] I bestowed Sarkār K͟hānpūr[42] in fief on Dilāwar K͟hān Afg͟hān. On Thursday, the 17th, from the Mastān bridge as far as the S͟hahr-ārā garden, which was the encamping place for the royal standards, scattering rupees, half-rupees, and quarter-rupees to faqirs and indigent persons on both sides of the road, I entered the aforesaid garden. It appeared to be very green and fresh. As it was a Thursday I gave a wine entertainment to my intimates, and on account of hilarity and excitement ordered those who were of equal age to myself and had been my playfellows to jump over the stream that flowed through the middle of the garden and was about four gaz in width. Most of them could not jump it, and fell on the bank or into the stream. Although I jumped it, yet now that I was 40 years of age I could not jump it with the activity that I had shown in the presence of my revered father when I was 30. On this day I perambulated seven of the famous gardens of Kabul. I do not think that I ever walked so far before.
First of all I walked round the S͟hahr-ārā (city-adorning), then the Mahtāb (moonlight) garden, then the garden that Bīka Begam, grandmother of my father, had made, then passed through the Ūrta-bāg͟h (middle garden), then a garden that Maryam-makānī, my own grandmother, had prepared, then the Ṣūrat-k͟hāna garden, which has a large chanār-tree, the like of which there is not in the other gardens of Kabul. Then, having seen the Chārbāg͟h, which is the largest of the city gardens, I returned to my own abode. There were abundance of cherries on the trees, each of which looked as it were a round ruby, hanging like globes on the branches. The S͟hahr-ārā garden was made by S͟hahr-bānū[43] Begam, daughter of Mīrzā Abū Saʿīd, who was own aunt to the late king Bābar. From time to time it has been added to, and there is not a garden like it for sweetness in Kabul. It has all sorts of fruits and grapes, and its softness is such that to put one’s sandalled[44] feet on it would be far from propriety or good manners. In the neighbourhood of this garden an excellent plot of land came to view, which I ordered to be bought from the owners. I ordered a stream that flows from the guẕargāh (ferry, also bleaching green) to be diverted into the middle of the ground so that a garden might be made such that in beauty and sweetness there should not be in the inhabited world another like it. I gave it the name of Jahān-ārā (world-adorning). Whilst I was at Kabul I had several entertainments in the S͟hahr-ārā garden, sometimes with my intimates and courtiers and sometimes with the ladies of the harem. At nights I ordered the learned and the students of Kabul to hold the cooking entertainment,[45] bug͟hra, and the throwing of bug͟hra, together with arg͟hus͟htak dances.