Who could have asked for more, on his entry into life, than was given to Siddha! Neither councillors nor support failed him. For important affairs there was the hermit of the mountain; for more trifling difficulties the wise and influential Faizi. The favour of the First Minister had already been granted him, and that of the Emperor himself was promised him.
[1] Akbar’s palace, in the fort of Agra, is built entirely of red sandstone. It is a square building, 249 feet by 260 feet. In the centre is a courtyard, 71 feet by 72 feet, on either side of which are two halls facing one another. Every feature round this court is of pure Hindu architecture. There are no arches, but the horizontal style of construction everywhere. General Cunningham, as Mr. Fergusson thinks erroneously, ascribes this palace to Jahangir. He describes it in his “Reports,” vol. iv. p. 124, and gives a plan (Plate xiii.).
[2] Abú-l Fazl (called Allami) was a son of Shaikh Mubarak, son of Shaikh Khizr, who came from Sind. Mubarak was one of the most learned men of his day, and inclined to be a free-thinker. Abú-l Fazl, his second son, was born on January 14th, 1551. He was a devoted student, and his range of reading was very extensive. His elder brother, Faizi, had been invited to the court of Akbar in the twelfth year of that sovereign’s reign, and by his means Abú-l Fazl was introduced in 1568, when in his seventeenth year. His abilities were immediately recognised, and every year he grew in favour and power. He was made Prime Minister and Mansabdar of four thousand, discharging his duties with distinguished abilities and success. Both brothers inherited the liberal opinions of their father, and carried them to greater extremes. Hence orthodox Muslims reviled them as apostates and free-thinkers. In them Akbar found congenial minds, with feelings and opinions similar to but more decided than his own. The murder of Abú-l Fazl on August 12th, 1602, is noted further on. He was the author of the “Akbar-namah” (2 vols.), a history of his master’s reign down to 1602, and of the “A’ín-i-Akbari.”
[3] The “A’ín-i-Akbari.”
[4] Faizi was the elder brother of the minister Abú-l Fazl. He was the most popular poet of his time, and a great favourite and constant companion of Akbar, who gave him the title of the Prince of Poets. Our author, for the purposes of his story, makes Faizi, the younger brother.
[5] The story of Nala and Damayanti is a beautiful episode in the “Mahabharata,” which was translated into Persian by Faizi, and into English by Dean Milman. Nala, King of Nishadha, had been chosen by the lovely Princess Damayanti for her husband, but the vindictive demon Kali was the enemy of Nala, and was determined to effect his ruin. He perverted the king’s mind by urging him to play at dice with his brother Pushkara. Nala lost his kingdom and all he had, but refused to play for his wife; and the royal pair wandered away destitute from the palace. Nala, still instigated by the demon, deserted his weary, sleeping wife, and left her exposed in the forest. She at length found a hospitable refuge. Nala engaged himself as a charioteer, and was eventually restored to his faithful wife. Freed from the power of Kali, and fortified with a preternatural amount of skill in gaming, he finally won back his kingdom.
Our author, in writing the story of Siddha and Iravati, evidently had in his mind the classic tale of Nala and Damayanti.
[6] A brother of King Vikramaditya. He wrote a Sanscrit poem called “Bhatti Kavya,” relating the adventures of Rama, in twenty-two cantos.—See Colebrooke’s “Miscellaneous Essays,” ii. 115.
[7] History of the reign of Akbar.