[36] This statement is wrong. Salīma was 76 when she died, she having been born on 4th S͟hawwāl, 945, or 23rd February, 1539. She died on or about 10th Ẕī-l-qaʿda, 1021 (2nd January, 1613), so that she was 73 solar years old. See note in B.M. MS. Or. 171, Rieu, 257a, and an article in J.A.S.B. for 1906. The note is by the author of the Tārīk͟h-i-Muḥammadī and is at 72a of the B.M. MS. Or. 171, and the corresponding passage appears in MS. Or. 182, on p. 140. The chronogram of Salīma’s birth was K͟hūs͟h-ḥāl, which yields 945. She was about 3½ years older than Akbar. [↑]
[37] The real name appears to be Abū-n-nabī. He had the title of Bahādur K͟hān. See Maʾās̤iru-l-umarā, i, 400. In the Akbar-nāma, iii, 820 and 839, he is called Abū-l-Baqā. [↑]
[38] This must refer to the 2 months and 20 days of hunting. [↑]
The Eighth New Year after the auspicious Accession.
The eighth year after my accession, corresponding with Muḥarram, 1022. On the night of Thursday, the 27th Muḥarram, corresponding with the 1st Farwardīn in the eighth year after my accession, after 3½ gharis of day had elapsed, his honour the sun passed from the constellation of Pisces to that of Aries, which is his abode of rejoicing and victory. Early in the morning of the New Year’s Day the feast was prepared and adorned after the custom of every year. At the end of that day I sat on the throne of State, and the Amirs and ministers of the State and the courtiers of the palace came to salute and congratulate me. On these days of happy augury I sat the whole day in the public audience hall. Those who had anything to ask or claim presented their petitions, and the offerings of the servants of the palace were laid before me. Abū-l-bī, governor of Qandahar, had sent for an offering Iraq horses and hunting dogs, and they were brought before me. On the 9th of the same month Afẓal K͟hān came from the Subah of Behar, and in waiting on me presented 100 muhrs and 100 rupees, as well as an elephant. On the 12th the offering of Iʿtimādu-d-daulah was laid before me, consisting of jewels, cloths, and other things. That which pleased me attained to the dignity of acceptance. Of the elephants of Afẓal K͟hān’s offering ten others were inspected on this day. On the 13th the offerings of Tarbiyat K͟hān were laid before me. Muʿtaqid K͟hān bought a house at Agra, and passed some days in that place. Misfortunes happened to him one after another. We have heard that prosperity and bad luck depend on four things: first, upon your wife; second, upon your slave; third upon your house; fourth, upon your horse. In order to know the prosperity or ill-luck of a house a rule has been established, indeed they say it is infallible. One must clear a small piece of the site from earth, and again strew the earth upon the same ground. If it cover it, one may call it middling good fortune for that house, neither prosperity nor misfortune; if it become less (i.e. does not cover it exactly) it points to ill-luck, and if it does more (than cover it) it is fortunate and auspicious. On the 14th the mansab of Iʿtibār K͟hān was raised from 1,000 and 300 horse to 2,000 personal and 500 horse. I increased the mansab of Tarbiyat K͟hān by 500 personal and 50 horse, so that it became 2,000 personal and 850 horse. Hūs͟hang, son of Islām K͟hān, who was in Bengal with his father, came at this time and paid his respects. He brought with him some Maghs, whose country is near Pegu and Arracan, and the country is still in their possession. I made some enquiries as to their customs and religion. Briefly they are animals in the form of men. They eat everything there is either on land or in the sea, and nothing is forbidden by their religion. They eat with anyone. They take into their possession (marry) their sisters by another mother. In face they are like the Qarā Qalmāqs, but their language is that of Tibet and quite unlike Turkī. There is a range of mountains, one end of which touches the province of Kās͟hg͟har and the other the country of Pegu. They have no proper religion or any customs that can be interpreted as religion. They are far from the Musulman faith and separated from that of the Hindus.
Two or three days before the S͟haraf (the sun’s highest point) my son K͟hurram desired me to go to his house that he might present his New Year’s offerings from that place. I agreed to his request, and remained for one day and one night at his house. He presented his offerings. I took what I approved of and gave him back the rest. The next day Murtaẓā K͟hān presented his offerings. Every day until the day of culmination (rūz-i-s͟haraf) the offerings of one or of two or three of the Amirs were laid before me. On Monday, the 19th Farwardīn, the assembly of the S͟haraf was held. On that auspicious day I sat on the throne of State, and an order was given that they should produce all sorts of intoxicating things, such as wine, etc., so that every one according to his desire might take what he liked. Many took wine. The offerings of Mahābat K͟hān were on this day brought to me. I gave one gold muhr of 1,000 tolas, which is called the star of destiny (kaukab-i-t̤āliʿ), to Yādgār ʿAlī K͟hān, the ambassador of the ruler of Iran. The feast went off well. After the assembly broke up I ordered that they might carry off the furniture and decorations. The offering of the Muqarrab K͟hān had not been arranged on New Year’s Day. All sorts of rareties and excellent presents were now produced which he had collected together. Amongst others, twelve Iraq and Arab horses that had been brought in a ship, and jewelled saddles of Frank workmanship[1] were produced before me. To the mansab of Nawāzis͟h K͟hān 500 horse were added so as to make it one of 2,000 personal and horse. An elephant called Bansībadan, which Islām K͟hān had sent from Bengal, was brought to me and put among my special elephants. On the 3rd Urdībihis͟ht, K͟hwāja Yādgār, brother of ʿAbdu-llah K͟hān, came from Gujarat and waited on me; he offered 100 Jahāngīrī muhrs. After he had been in attendance a few days he was honoured with the title of Sardār K͟hān. As a competent bakhshi had to be sent to the army of Bangas͟h and those regions, I chose Muʿtaqid K͟hān for this duty, and increased his mansab by 300 personal and 50 horse so that it became 1,500 with 350 horse, and dismissed him. It was settled that he must go quickly. I sent off Muḥammad Ḥusain Chelebī, who understood the purchase of jewels and collecting curiosities, with money to go by way of Iraq to Constantinople and buy and bring for the Sarkar curiosities and rareties. For this purpose it was necessary that he should pay his respects to the ruler of Iran. I had given him a letter and a memorandum (of what he was to procure). Briefly, he saw my brother, S͟hāh ʿAbbās, in Mashhad, and the king enquired from him what kind of things should be brought for his master’s Sarkar. As he was urgent, Chelebī showed the list he had brought with him. In that list there were entered good turquoise and mūmīyā (bitumen) from the mine of Ispahan. He told him that these two articles were not to be bought, but he would send them for me. He authorized Uwaisī Tūpchī (gunner), who was one of his private servants, to hand over to him six bags (ambāncha) of turquoise earth holding about 30 seers, with 14 tolas of mumiya and four Iraq horses, one of which was a piebald, and he wrote a letter containing many, many expressions of friendship. With regard to the inferior quality of the turquoise dust (k͟hāka) and the small quantity of mumiya he made many apologies. The khaka appeared very inferior. Although the jewellers and makers of rings made every endeavour, no stone that was fit to be made into a finger ring could be produced. Probably in these days turquoise dust is not procurable from the mines such as it was in the time of the late king T̤ahmāsp. He mentioned all this in the letter. With regard to the effect of mumiya I had heard much from scientists, but when I tried it no result was apparent. I do not know whether physicians have exaggerated its effect, or whether its efficacy had been lessened by its being stale. At any rate, I gave it to a fowl with a broken leg to drink in larger quantity than they said and in the manner laid down by the physicians, and rubbed some on the place where it was broken, and kept it there for three days, though it was said to be sufficient to keep it from morning till evening. But after I had examined it, no effect was produced, and the broken place remained as it was.[2] In a separate letter the Shah had written a recommendation of Salāmu-llah, the Arab. I immediately increased his mansab and his jagir.
I sent one of my private elephants with trappings to ʿAbdu-llah K͟hān and gave another to Qilīj K͟hān. I ordered that assignments (tank͟hwāh) should be made to 12,000 horse on the establishment[3] of ʿAbdu-llah K͟hān at the rate of three horses and two horses for each trooper. As previously with a view to service in Junagarh I had increased the mansab of his brother Sardār K͟hān by 500 personal and 300 horse, and had afterwards assigned the duty to Kāmil K͟hān, I ordered that he should retain his increase and that it should be counted (permanently) in his mansab. I increased the rank of Sarfarāz K͟hān, which was that of 1,500 personal and 500 horse, by 200 horse more. On the 27th Urdībihis͟ht, corresponding with the 26th Rabīʿu-l-awwal, in the eighth year of my reign, in the year 1022 of the Hijra era, on Thursday, the meeting for my lunar weighing took place in the house of Maryam-zamānī (his mother). Some of the money that was weighed I ordered to be given to the women and the deserving ones who had assembled in my mother’s house. On the same day I increased by 1,000 the mansab of Murtaẓā K͟hān, so that it came to 6,000 personal and 5,000 horse. K͟husrau Beg, a slave of Mīrzā K͟hān, came from Patna in the company of ʿAbdu-r-Razzāq Maʿmūrī and waited on me, and Sardār K͟hān, brother of ʿAbdu-llah K͟hān, obtained leave to go to Ahmadabad. An Afghan had brought from the Carnatic two goats that had pāzahar (bezoar stones, an antidote against poison). I had always heard that an animal that has pazahar is very thin and miserable, but these goats were very fat and fresh. I ordered them to kill one of them, which was a female. Four pazahar stones became apparent, and this caused great astonishment.
It is an established fact that cheetahs in unaccustomed places do not pair off with a female, for my revered father once collected together 1,000 cheetahs. He was very desirous that they should pair, but this in no way came off. He had many times coupled male and female cheetahs together in gardens, but there, too, it did not come off. At this time a male cheetah, having slipped its collar, went to a female and paired with it, and after two and a half months three young ones were born and grew up. This has been recorded because it appeared strange. As cheetahs did not pair with cheetahs, (still less) had it ever been heard in former times(?) that tigers mated in captivity. As in the time of my reign wild beasts have abandoned their savagery, tigers have become so tame that troops of them without chains or restraint go about amongst the people, and they neither harm men nor have any wildness or alarm. It happened that a tigress became pregnant and after three months bore three cubs; it had never happened that a wild tiger after its capture had paired. It had been heard from philosophers that the milk of a tigress was of great use for brightening eyes. Although we made every effort that the moisture of milk should appear in her breasts, we could not accomplish it. It occurs to me that as it is a raging creature, and milk appears in the breasts of mothers by reason of the affection they have for their young, as milk[4] comes into their breasts in connection with their young ones drinking and sucking at the time of their taking (the milk), their (the mothers’) rage increases and the milk in their breasts is dried up.
At the end of Urdībihis͟ht, K͟hwāja Qāsim, brother of K͟hwāja ʿAbdu-l-ʿAzīz, who is of the Naqs͟hbandī K͟hwājas, came from Māwarāʾa-n-nahr and waited on me. After a few days 12,000 rupees were given to him as a present. As K͟hwāja Jahān had made a melon-bed in the neighbourhood of the city, when two watches of day had passed on Thursday, the 10th K͟hūrdād, I got into a boat and went to inspect the melon-bed, and took the ladies with me. We reached there when two or three gharis of day were left, and passed the evening in walking among the beds. A wonderfully sharp wind and whirlwind sprang up, so that the tents and screens fell down. I got into the boat and passed the night in it. I also passed part of the Friday in walking about the melon-bed, and returned to the city. Afẓal K͟hān, who for a long time had been afflicted with boils and other sores, died on the 10th K͟hūrdād. I transferred the jagir and hereditary land of Rāja Jagman, who had failed in his service in the Deccan, to Mahābat K͟hān. S͟haik͟h Pīr, who is one of the emancipated ones who hold aloof from the attachments of the age, and who on account of the pure friendship that he bears towards me has chosen to be my companion and servant, had before this founded a mosque in the parganah of Mairtha, which is his native place. At this time he took occasion to mention the circumstance. As I found his mind bent on the completion of this building I gave him 4,000 rupees, so that he himself might go and expend it, and also gave him a valuable shawl and dismissed him. In the public audience hall there were two railings (maḥjar) of wood. Inside the first, Amirs, ambassadors, and people of honour sat, and no one entered this circle without an order. Within the second railing, which is broader than the first, the mansabdars of inferior rank,[5] ahadis, and those who had work to do are admitted. Outside this railing stand the servants of the Amirs and all the people who may enter the Diwankhana. As there was no difference between the first and second railings, it occurred to me that I should decorate the first with silver. I ordered this railing and the staircase that led from this railing to the balcony of the Jharokha, as well as the two elephants placed on the two sides of the seat of the Jharokha, which skilful people had made of wood, to be decorated with silver. After this was completed it was reported to me that 125 maunds of silver in Hindustani weight, equal to 880 maunds of Persia, had been used up; indeed, it now assumed a worthy appearance.