On the 2nd ʿAbdu-llah, s. Ḥakīm Nūru-d-dīn, of Teheran, was ordered to be capitally punished in my presence. The explanation of this brief announcement is as follows: When the ruler of Persia, on suspicion of his having money and other property, tortured his father, the aforesaid fled from Persia, and with a hundred miseries and adversities threw himself into Hindustan, and by the patronage of Iʿtimādu-d-daula was enrolled among the servants of the Court. By the aid of good fortune, having in a short time become well known, he was included among those who were in immediate attendance, and obtained a mansab of 500 and a fertile jagir, but as his capacity was small (lit., his digestion was narrow) he could not stand such great good fortune, and assumed ingratitude and unthankfulness and constantly defiled his tongue with abuse[49] of his lord and master. At this time it was continually reported to me that as my kindness to him and observance of what was due to him increased, that ungrateful one blamed and abused me the more. When I considered the favours I had bestowed upon him, I could not believe these stories about him, but at last I heard from impartial and disinterested persons the disrespectful language which he had used with respect to me in assemblies and companies. The charge was thus confirmed, and accordingly I summoned him to my presence and had him executed.[50]
“A red[51] tongue gives the green head to the winds.” As the huntsmen reported that there was a tigress in this neighbourhood, by the mischief caused by which the inhabitants were oppressed, I ordered Fidāʾī K. to take elephants with him and surround it. Mounting myself, I followed him into the forest. It soon came to view, and with one shot from my gun its affairs were finished. One day I was enjoying myself with sport, and caught a black partridge with a hawk. I ordered them to open its crop in my presence. A mouse it had swallowed whole came out of its crop, and which was not yet digested. I was greatly astonished that the pipe of its gullet, small as it was, should swallow a whole mouse and how it had done so. Without exaggeration, if anyone had told me the tale I should not have believed it. As I saw this myself I have recorded it on account of its strangeness. On the 6th of the month Delhi became the abode of good fortune.
As Jagat Singh, s. Rāja Bāso, at the instigation of Bī-daulat, had gone out into the hills in the north of the Panjab, which is his hereditary abode, and raised a disturbance there, I appointed Ṣādiq K. to punish him, as has been related in the preceding pages. At this time Mādho Singh, his younger brother, was promoted to the title of Raja, and given a horse and robe of honour. An order was given for him to go to Ṣādiq K. and attack the rebels with him.
Next day I marched from the outskirts of the city, and alighted at Salīmgaṛh. As the house of Rāja Kis͟han Dās was on the road, and he had made great efforts and entreated me to do so, I at his request threw the shadow of prosperity on his dwelling, and gratified the desire of that old servant. A few of his offerings were accepted in order to dignify him. Marching on the 20th from Salīmgaṛh, I appointed Sayyid Bahwa Buk͟hārī to the governorship of Delhi, which is his ordinary residence. In fact, he had already done this service well, and I had given him high rank.
At this time ʿAlī Muḥammad, s. ʿAlī Rāy,[52] ruler of Tibet, by his father’s order came to Court, and had the good fortune to pay his respects. It was clear that ʿAlī Rāy had a great affection for and attachment to this son, and held him dearer than his other children. He wished to make him his successor, and he was consequently envied by his brothers, and disputes arose between them. Abdāl, s. ʿAlī Rāy, who was the eldest of his children, through this jealousy sought the patronage of the K͟hān of Kashghar and made him his protector, so that when ʿAlī Rāy, who was very old and decrepit, should die, he might, under the protection of the Wālī of Kashghar, become ruler of Tibet. ʿAlī Rāy, suspecting that the brothers might attack ʿAlī Muḥammad, and a disturbance might arise in his country, sent him to Court, his desire being that he might be attached to this Court, and his affairs might prosper by service to and kindness shown by the Court.
On the 1st of the Ilāhī month of Isfandārmuẕ I pitched in the pargana of Umbala. Las͟hkarī, s. Imām-wirdī, who had run away from Bī-daulat, and joined the service of my auspicious son S͟hāh Parwīz, having come on this date to Court, kissed the threshold. A report came from my son and Mahābat K. It contained the recommendation and the offer of service of ʿĀdil K., with a letter which he had sent to Mahābat, in which were set forth his submissiveness and loyalty. Las͟hkarī was sent back to Parwīz with a dress of honour, a nādirī with pearl buttons for the prince, and a dress of honour for K͟hān ʿĀlam and Mahābat K. At the request of my son I wrote a gracious farman to ʿĀdil K. showing great favour to him, and sent him a robe of honour with a special nādirī. I gave an order that if they thought fit they should send the above-mentioned[53] to ʿĀdil K.
On the 5th I alighted at the garden of Sihrind. On the bank of the Beas Ṣādiq K., Muk͟htār K., Isfandiyār, Rāja Rūp Chand of Gwalior, and other Amirs who had been appointed to support him, having succeeded in restoring order in the northern hill-country, had the good fortune to kiss the threshold. The facts, briefly, are that Jagat Singh, at the instigation of Bī-daulat, had taken to the hills above-mentioned, and engaged in stirring up sedition and strife. As the field was clear (i.e., there was no one to oppose him) he passed over difficult mountains and defiles, and by attacking and plundering peasantry and the weak, heaped misfortune on them until Ṣādiq K. arrived. He brought the Zamindars under control by means of fears and hopes, and made the overthrow of that wretched creature the object of his exertions. Jagat Singh strengthened the fort of Mau, and was protected by it. Whenever he found an opportunity he left that fortress and fought with the royal servants. At last his provisions were exhausted, and he came to despair of assistance from the other Zamindars. The elevation of his younger brother became a source of disturbance and anxiety to him. Helplessly he then sought for patronage, and begged the protection of Nūr Jahān Begam, expressing shame and contrition, and sought a refuge in her mediation. In order to please and satisfy her, the pen of pardon was drawn through the record of his faults.
On this day reports came in from the officials in the Deccan that Bī-daulat, with Laʿnatu-llah, Dārāb, and other wretched (with broken wing and feathers) creatures in miserable condition, with blackened faces, had gone from the borders of Qut̤bu-l-mulk’s territory towards Orissa and Bengal. In this journey great loss fell on him and his companions, many of whom, when a chance offered, with bare heads and feet, and having washed their hands of life (desperate), took to flight. Out of these one day Mīrzā Muḥammad, s. Afẓal K., his Diwan, with his mother and his family, ran away during the march, and when the news reached Bī-daulat, he sent Jaʿfar and K͟hān-qulī Uzbeg and some others of his confidential men in pursuit of him, that, if they could take him alive, well and good, or otherwise they should cut off his head and bring it into his presence. They with all speed proceeded and caught him up on the road. Becoming aware of this, he sent his mother and family into the jungles and hid them there, and himself with a body of young men whom he relied on as companions, planted manfully the foot of courage and stood with their bows. In front of them there was a canal and a swamp (chihlā). Sayyid Jaʿfar K. wished to approach near him and take him with him by deceiving him, but however much he tried to persuade him by threatening and holding out hopes, it had no effect, and he answered him with life-taking arrows. He made a good fight of it, and sent K͟hān-qulī and some others of Bī-daulat’s men to hell. Sayyid Jaʿfar also was wounded. Finally Mīrzā Muḥammad received severe wounds and gambled away the cash of his life. But as long as he had breath he deprived many thereof. After he was killed, they cut off his head and took it to Bī-daulat.
When Bī-daulat was defeated near Delhi and went to Māndū, he sent Afẓal K. to get assistance and support from ʿĀdil K. and others, forwarding with him an armlet (bāzū-band) for ʿĀdil K., and a horse, an elephant, and a jewelled sword for ʿAmbar. He first went to ʿAmbar. After delivering his message he produced what Bī-daulat had sent for him, but ʿAmbar would not accept them, saying he was the servant of ʿĀdil K., who was at present the head of those in power in the Deccan: he should go first to him and explain what he desired. If he agreed, his slave would ally himself to and obey him, and in that case he would take whatever was sent, otherwise not. Afẓal K. went to ʿĀdil K., who received him very badly, and for a long time kept him outside the city and did not look into his affair, but put all kinds of slights upon him, but secretly asked for what Bī-daulat had sent for him and ʿAmbar, and took possession of it. The aforesaid (Afẓal K.) was there when he heard the news of the killing of his son and the ruin of his family, and so fell upon evil days. In short, Bī-daulat, in spite of all his (original) good fortune and happy auspices, undertook a long and distant journey, and came to the port of Machhlī Paṭan (Masulipaṭam), which belongs to Qut̤bu-l-mulk. Before reaching this place, he sent some of his men to Qut̤bu-l-mulk, and besought him for all sorts of assistance and companionship. Qut̤bu-l-mulk sent him a small amount of cash and goods for his support, and wrote to the warden of his frontier to conduct him in safety out of his territory, and encourage the grain-sellers and Zamindars to send grain and all other necessaries to his camp.
On the 27th of the month a strange event took place. Returning from the hunting-place, I had come back to the camp at night. By chance I crossed a stream of water, the bed of which was very rocky and the water running violently. One of the servants of the s͟harbat-k͟hāna (wine-cellar) was conveying a huntsman’s relish. He had a gold tray, which contained a salver and five cups. There were covers to the cups, and the whole was in a cotton bag. When he was crossing, his foot slipped and the tray fell out of his hand. As the water was deep and running rapidly, however much they searched and beat their hands and feet (exerted themselves), no trace of it could be found. Next day the state of the case was reported to me, and I ordered a number of boatmen and huntsmen to go to the place and make a careful search, and it perhaps might appear. By chance, in the place where it had fallen it was found, and more strange still, it had not been turned upside down, and not a drop of water had got into the cups. This affair is similar to what happened when Hādī was seated on the throne of the Khalifate. A ruby ring had been inherited by Hārūn from his father. Hādī sent a slave to Hārūn and asked for it. It happened that at that time Hārūn was seated on the bank of the Tigris. The slave gave the message, and Hārūn, enraged, said: “I have allowed thee[54] to have the Khalifate, and thou dost not allow me one ring.” In his rage he threw the ring into the Tigris. After some months by the decree of fate Hādī died, and the turn of the Khalifate came to Hārūn. He ordered divers to look for the ring in the place where he had thrown it. By the chances of destiny, and the aid of good fortune, at the first dive the ring was found, and brought and given into Hārūn’s hand!