[28] S͟hab-i-jumʿa, which is Friday eve according to Blochmann. [↑]
[29] K͟husrau was married to his daughter. [↑]
The Ninth New Year’s Feast after my auspicious Accession.
The commencement of the ninth year after my auspicious accession, corresponding with the Hijra year 1023 (1614).
Two watches and one ghari had passed on the night of Friday, the 9th Ṣafar (21st March, 1614), when the world-warming sun shed his rays on the constellation of Aries, which is his house of dignity and honour; it was the first morning of the month of Farwardīn. The assembly for the New Year’s festival took place in the pleasant regions of Ajmir, and at the time of entry (of the sun into Aries), which was the propitious hour, I seated myself on the throne of good fortune. They had in the usual manner decorated the palace with rare cloth-stuffs and jewels and gem-decked things. At this auspicious moment the elephant ʿĀlam-gumān,[1] which was fit to be entered in the private stud, with the seventeen other male and female elephants which my son Bābā K͟hurram had sent of the Rānā’s elephants, were presented before me, and the hearts of the loyal rejoiced. On the 2nd day of the New Year, knowing it to be propitious for a ride, I mounted it and scattered about much money. On the 3rd I conferred on Iʿtiqād K͟hān a mansab of 3,000 personal and 1,000 horse, increasing thus that which he had already, which was of 2,000 personal and 500 horse, and I distinguished him with the title of Āṣaf K͟hān, with which title two of his family had been previously honoured. I also increased the mansab of Dayānat K͟hān by 500 personal and 200 horse. At the same time I promoted Iʿtimādu-d-daulah to the mansab of 5,000 personal and 2,000 horse. At the request of Bābā K͟hurram I increased the mansab of Saif K͟hān Bārha by 500 personal and 200 horse, that of Dilāwar K͟hān by the same number, that of Kis͟han Singh by 500 horse, and that of Sarfarāz K͟hān by 500 personal and 300 horse. On Sunday, the 10th, the offering of Āṣaf K͟hān was produced before me, and on the 14th Iʿtimādu-d-daulah produced his own offering. From these two offerings I took what pleased me and gave back the rest. Chīn Qilīj K͟hān, with his brothers, relations, and the army and retinue of his father, came from Kabul[2] and waited on me. Ibrāhīm K͟hān, who had a mansab of 700 personal and 300 horse, having been promoted to that of 1,500 personal and 600 horse, was appointed jointly with K͟hwāja Abū-l-ḥasan to the exalted dignity of paymaster of the household. On the 15th of this month Mahābat K͟hān, who had been appointed to bring K͟hān Aʿz̤am and his son ʿAbdu-llah, came and waited on me. On the 19th the assembly of honour was held. On that day the offering of Mahābat K͟hān was laid before me, and I sent a private elephant called Rūp Sundar for my son Parwīz. When that day had passed I ordered them to deliver K͟hān Aʿz̤am into the charge of Āṣaf K͟hān, that he might keep him in the fort of Gwalior. As my object in sending him to the fort was in case some disagreement and disturbance should occur in the matter of the Rānā in consequence of the attachment that he had to K͟husrau, I ordered him not to be kept in the fort like a prisoner, but that they should provide everything necessary for his comfort and convenience in the way of eating and clothing. On the same day I promoted Chīn Qilīj K͟hān to a mansab of 2,500 personal and 700 horse. To the rank of Tāj K͟hān, who had been appointed to the charge of the province of Bhakar, I added 500 personal and horse. On the 18th Urdībihis͟ht I forbade K͟husrau to pay his respects. The reason was this, that through the affection and fatherly love (I bore him) and the prayers of his mother and sisters, I had ordered again that he should come every day to pay his respects (kūrnis͟h). As his appearance showed no signs of openness and happiness, and he was always mournful and dejected in mind, I accordingly ordered that he should not come to pay his respects. In the time of my revered father, Muz̤affar Ḥusain Mīrzā and Rustam Mīrzā, sons of Sult̤ān Ḥusain Mīrzā, nephews of S͟hāh T̤ahmāsp Ṣafawī, who had in their possession Qandahar and Zamīndāwar and that neighbourhood, sent petitions to the effect that in consequence of the nearness to Khurasan and the coming of ʿAbdu-llah K͟hān Ūzbeg to that country, they could not leave the charge of looking after the country and come (to pay their respects), but that if he (Akbar) would send one of the servants of the palace they would hand over the country to him, and themselves come to pay their respects. As they repeatedly made this request, he sent S͟hāh Beg K͟hān, who is now honoured with the title of K͟hān Daurān, to the governorship of Qandahar and Zamīndāwar and that neighbourhood, and wrote firmans full of favour to the Mīrzās summoning them to the Court. After their arrival favours appropriate to the case of each were bestowed on them, and he gave them a territory equal to two or three times the collections of Qandahar. In the end, the management expected from them was not achieved, and by degrees the territory deteriorated. Muz̤affar Ḥusain Mīrzā died during the lifetime of my revered father, and he sent Mīrzā Rustam with the Khankhanan to the Subah of the Deccan, where he had a small jagir. When the throne was honoured by my succession, I sent for him from the Deccan with the intention of showing him favour and sending him to one of the border territories. About the time he came Mīrzā G͟hāzī Tark͟hān, who held the governorship of Thatta and Qandahar and that neighbourhood, died. It occurred to me to send him to Thatta, so that he might show there his natural good qualities and administer that country in an approved manner. I promoted him to a mansab of 5,000 personal and horse, 200,000 rupees were given to him for expenses, and I despatched him to the Subah of Thatta. My belief was that he would do good service[3] on those borders. In opposition to my expectation he did no service, and committed so much oppression that many people complained of his wickedness. Such news of him was heard that it was considered necessary to recall him. One of the servants of the Court was appointed to summon him, and I sent for him to Court. On the 26th Urdībihis͟ht they brought him. As he had committed great oppression on the people of God, and inquiry into this was due according to the requirements of justice, I handed him over to Anīrāʾī Singh-dalan that he might enquire into the facts, and that if guilty he might receive prompt punishment and be a warning to others. In those days the news also came of the defeat of Aḥdād, the Afghan. The facts are that Muʿtaqid K͟hān came to Pūlam[4] Guzar (ferry?), in the district of Peshawar, with an army, and K͟hān Daurān with another force in Afghanistan and blocked the path of that rascal (lit. black-faced one). Meanwhile a letter came to Muʿtaqid K͟hān from Pish Bulagh that Aḥdād had gone to Koṭ Tīrāh, which is 8 kos from Jalalabad, with a large number of horse and foot, and had killed a few of those who had chosen to be loyal and obey, and made prisoners of others, and was about to send them to Tīrāh, and intended to make a raid on Jalalabad and Pish Bulagh. Immediately on hearing this news Muʿtaqid K͟hān started in great haste with the troops he had with him. When he arrived at Pish Bulagh he sent out spies to ascertain about the enemy. On the morning of Wednesday, the 6th, news reached him that Aḥdād was in the same place. Placing his trust on the favour of God, which is on the side of this suppliant at the throne of Allah, he divided the royal army into two, and went towards the enemy, who, with 4,000 or 5,000 experienced men, had seated themselves haughtily in complete carelessness, and did not suspect that besides K͟hān Daurān’s there was an army in the neighbourhood that could oppose itself to them. When news came that the royal forces were coming against that ill-fortuned man, and the signs of an army were becoming manifest, in a state of bewilderment he distributed his men into four bodies, and seating himself on an eminence a gunshot away, to get to which was a difficult matter, he sent his men to fight. The musketeers of the victorious army assailed the rebel with bullets, and sent a large number to hell. Muʿtaqid K͟hān took the centre of his army to his advanced guard, and, not giving the enemy more than time to shoot off their arrows two or three times, swept them clean away, and pursuing them for 3 or 4 kos, killed nearly 1,500 of them, horse and foot. Those left of the sword took to flight, most of them wounded and with their arms thrown away. The victorious army remained for the night in the same place on the battlefield, and in the morning proceeded with 600 decapitated heads[5] towards Peshawar and made pillars of the heads there. Five hundred horses and innumerable cattle and property and many weapons fell into their hands. The prisoners of Tīrāh were released, and on this side no well-known men were killed. On the night of Thursday, the 1st of K͟hūrdād, I proceeded towards Pushkar to shoot tigers, and on Friday killed two of them with a gun. On the same day it was represented to me that Naqīb K͟hān had died. The aforesaid K͟hān was one of the Saifī Sayyids, and was originally from Qazwin. The tomb of his father, Mīr ʿAbdu-l-Lat̤īf, is at Ajmir. Two months before his death his wife,[6] between whom and her husband there was a great affection, and who for twelve days was ill with fever, drank the unpleasant draught of death. I ordered them to bury him by the side of his wife, whom they had placed in the K͟hwāja’s venerated mausoleum. As Muʿtaqid K͟hān had done approved service in the fight with Aḥdād, in reward he was exalted with the title of Las͟hkar K͟hān. Dayānat K͟hān, who had been sent to Udaipur in the service of Bābā K͟hurram and to convey certain orders, came on the 7th K͟hūrdād and gave good account of the rules and regulations made by Bābā K͟hurram. Fidāʾī K͟hān, who in the days of my princehood was my servant, and whom after my accession I had made bakhshi in this army, and who had obtained favour, gave up the deposit of his life on the 12th of the same month. Mīrzā Rustam, as he showed signs of repentance and regret for his misdeeds, and generosity demanded that his faults should be pardoned, was, in the end of the month, summoned to my presence, and I satisfied his mind, and having given him a dress of honour, ordered him to pay his respects to me. On the night of Sunday, the 11th of the month of Tīr, a female elephant in the private elephant stud gave birth to a young one in my presence. I had repeatedly ordered them to ascertain the period of their gestation; at last it became evident that for a female young one it was 18 months and for a male 19 months. In opposition to the birth of a human being, which is in most cases by a head delivery, young elephants are born with their feet first. When the young one was born, the mother scattered dust upon it with her foot, and began to be kind and to pet it. The young one for an instant remained fallen, and then rising, made towards its mother’s breasts. On the 14th the assembly of Gulāb-pās͟hī (sprinkling of rose-water) took place; from former times this has been known as āb-pās͟hī (water-sprinkling), and has become established from amongst customs of former days. On the 5th Amurdād (middle July, 1614) came news of the death of Rāja Mān Singh.[7] The aforesaid Raja was one of the chief officers of my revered father. As I had sent many servants of the State to serve in the Deccan, I also appointed him. After his death in that service, I sent for Mīrzā Bhāo Singh, who was his legitimate heir. As from the time when I was prince he had done much service with me, although the chiefship and headship of their family, according to the Hindu custom, should go to Mahā Singh, son[8] of Jagat Singh, the Raja’s eldest son, who had died in the latter’s lifetime, I did not accept him, but I dignified Bhāo Singh with the title of Mīrzā Rāja, and raised him to the mansab of 4,000 personal and 3,000 horse. I also gave him Amber, the native place of his ancestors, and, soothing and consoling the mind of Mahā Singh, increased his former mansab by 500, and gave him as an inʿām the territory of Garha.[9] I also sent him a jewelled dagger belt, a horse, and dress of honour. On the 8th of this month of Amurdād I found a change in my health, and by degrees was seized with fever and headache. For fear that some injury might occur to the country and the servants of God, I kept this secret from most of those familiar with and near to me, and did not inform the physicians and hakims. A few days passed in this manner, and I only imparted this to Nūr-Jahān Begam than whom I did not think anyone was fonder of me; I abstained from eating heavy foods, and, contenting myself with a little light food, went every day, according to my rule, to the public Dīwān-k͟hāna (hall of audience), and entered the Jharokha and ghusal-k͟hāna (parlour) in my usual manner, until signs of weakness showed themselves in my skin.[10] Some of the nobles[11] became aware of this, and informed one or two of my physicians who were trustworthy, such as Ḥakīm Masīḥu-z-zamān, Ḥakīm Abū-l-qāsim, and Ḥakīm ʿAbdu-s͟h-S͟hakūr. As the fever did not change, and for three nights I took my usual wine, it brought on greater weakness. In the time of disquietude, and when weakness prevailed over me, I went to the mausoleum of the revered K͟hwāja, and in that blessed abode prayed to God Almighty for recovery, and agreed to give alms and charity. God Almighty, in His pure grace and mercy, bestowed on me the robe of honour of health, and by degrees I recovered. The headache, which had been very severe, subsided under the remedies of Ḥakīm ʿAbdu-s͟h-S͟hakūr, and in the space of twenty-two days my state returned to what it was before. The servants of the palace, and indeed the whole of the people, made offerings for this great bounty. I accepted the alms of no one, and ordered that everyone in his own house should distribute what he wished among the poor. On the 10th S͟hahrīwar news came that Tāj K͟hān, the Afghan, governor of Thatta,[12] had died; he was one of the old nobles of the State.
During my illness it had occurred to me that when I completely recovered, inasmuch as I was inwardly an ear-bored slave of the K͟hwāja (Muʿīnu-d-dīn) and was indebted to him for my existence, I should openly make holes in my ears and be enrolled among his ear-marked slaves. On Thursday, 12th S͟hahrīwar,[13] corresponding to the month of Rajab, I made holes in my ears and drew into each a shining pearl. When the servants of the palace and my loyal friends saw this, both those who were in the presence and some who were in the distant borders diligently and eagerly made holes in their ears, and adorned the beauty of sincerity with pearls and rubies which were in the private treasury, and were bestowed on them, until by degrees the infection caught the Ahadis and others. At the end of the day of Thursday, the 22nd of the said month, corresponding with the 10th S͟haʿbān, the meeting for my solar weighing was arranged in my private audience hall, and the usual observances were carried out. On the same day Mīrzā Rāja Bhāo Singh, gratified and prosperous, returned to his native country with the promise that he would not delay (there) more than two or three months. On the 27th of the month of Mihr news came that Farīdūn K͟hān Barlās had died at Udaipur. In the clan of Barlās no leader remained but he. As his tribe had many claims on this State and endless connection with it, I patronised his son Mihr ʿAlī, and raised him to the mansab of 1,000 personal and horse. On account of the approved services of K͟hān Daurān, I increased by 1,000 his mansab, which became 6,000 personal and 5,000 horse, original and increase. On the 6th Ābān the qarāwuls (s͟hikārīs) reported that three tigers had been met at a distance of 6 kos. Starting after midday, I killed all three of them with a gun. On the 8th of the month the festival of the Dewālī came on. I ordered the attendants of the palace to have games with each other for two or three nights in my presence; winnings and losings took place. On the 8th of this month they brought to Ajmir the body of Sikandar Muʿīn Qarāwul (S͟hikārī), who was one of my old attendants and had done much service for me when I was prince, from Udaipur, which was the place where my son Sult̤ān K͟hurram was staying. I ordered the qarawuls and his fellow-tribesmen to take his body and bury it on the bank of Rānā S͟hankar’s tank. He was a good servant to me. On the 12th Āẕar two daughters whom Islām K͟hān in his lifetime had taken from the Zamindar of Kūch (Behar), whose country is on the boundary of the eastern provinces, together with his son and 94 elephants, were brought before me. Some of the elephants were placed in my private stud. On the same day, Hūs͟hang, Islām K͟hān’s son, came from Bengal, and had the good fortune to kiss the threshold, and presented as offerings two elephants, 100 muhrs, and 100 rupees. On one particular night in Day I dreamt that the late king (Akbar) said to me: “Bābā, forgive for my sake the fault of ʿAzīz K͟hān, who is the K͟hān Aʿz̤am.” After this dream, I decided to summon him from the fort (of Gwalior).
There is a ravine in the neighbourhood of Ajmir that is very beautiful. At the end of this ravine a spring appears which is collected in a long and broad tank, and is the best water in Ajmir. This valley and spring are well known as Ḥāfiz̤ Jamāl. When I crossed over to this place I ordered a suitable building to be made there, as the place was good and fit for developing. In the course of a year a house and grounds were made there, the like of which those[14] who travel round the world cannot point out. They made a basin 40 gaz by 40, and made the water of the spring rise up in the basin by a fountain. The fountain leaps up 10 or 12 gaz. Buildings are laid on the edge of this basin, and in the same way above, where the tank and fountain are, they have made agreeable places and enchanting halls and resting-rooms pleasant to the senses. These have been constructed and finished off in a masterly style by skilled painters and clever artists. As I desired that it should be called by a name connected with my august name, I gave it the name of Chas͟hma-i-Nūr, or ‘the fountain of light.’ In short, the one fault it has is this, that it ought to have been in a large city, or at a place by which men frequently pass. From the day on which it was completed I have often passed Thursdays and Fridays there. I ordered that they should think out a chronogram for its completion. Saʿīdā Gīlānī, the head of the goldsmiths, discovered it in this clever hemistich:—
“The palace[15] of S͟hāh Nūru-d-dīn Jahāngīr” (1024).
I ordered them to put a stone with this carved upon it on the top of the portico of the building.