Chapter I

Till he was 28 years old, no child of my father had lived, and he was continually praying for the survival of a son to dervishes and recluses, by whom spiritual approach to the throne of Allah is obtained. As the great master, K͟hwāja Muʿīnu-d-dīn Chis͟htī, was the fountain-head of most of the saints of India, he considered that in order to obtain this object he should have recourse to his blessed threshold, and resolved within himself that if Almighty God should bestow a son on him he would, by way of complete humility, go on foot from Agra to his blessed mausoleum, a distance of 140 kos. In A.H. 977, on Wednesday, 17th Rabīʿu-l-awwal (August 31st, 1569), when seven g͟harī of the aforesaid day had passed, when Libra (Mīzān) had risen to the 24th degree, God Almighty brought me into existence from the hiding-place of nothingness. At the time when my venerated father was on the outlook for a son, a dervish of the name of S͟haik͟h Salīm, a man of ecstatic condition, who had traversed many of the stages of life, had his abode on a hill near Sīkrī, one of the villages of Agra, and the people of that neighbourhood had complete trust in him. As my father was very submissive to dervishes, he also visited him. One day, when waiting on him and in a state of distraction, he asked him how many sons he should have. The S͟haik͟h replied, “The Giver who gives without being asked will bestow three sons on you.” My father said, “I have made a vow that, casting my first son on the skirt of your favour, I will make your friendship and kindness his protector and preserver.” The S͟haik͟h accepted this idea, and said, “I congratulate you, and I will give him my own name.” When my mother came near the time of her delivery, he (Akbar) sent her to the S͟haik͟h’s house that I might be born there. After my birth they gave me the name of Sultan Salīm, but I never heard my father, whether in his cups or in his sober moments, call me Muḥammad Salīm or Sultan Salīm, but always S͟haik͟hū Bābā. My revered father, considering the village of Sīkrī, which was the place of my birth, lucky for him, made it his capital. In the course of fourteen or fifteen years that hill, full of wild beasts, became a city containing all kinds of gardens and buildings, and lofty, elegant edifices and pleasant places, attractive to the heart. After the conquest of Gujarāt this village was named Fatḥpūr. When I became king it occurred to me to change my name, because this resembled that of the Emperor of Rūm. An inspiration from the hidden world brought it into my mind that, inasmuch as the business of kings is the controlling of the world, I should give myself the name of Jahāngīr (World-seizer) and make my title of honour (laqab) Nūru-d-dīn, inasmuch as my sitting on the throne coincided with the rising and shining on the earth of the great light (the Sun). I had also heard, in the days when I was a prince, from Indian sages, that after the expiration of the reign and life of King Jalālu-d-dīn Akbar one named Nūru-d-dīn would be administrator of the affairs of the State. Therefore I gave myself the name and appellation of Nūru-d-dīn Jahāngīr Pāds͟hāh. As this great event took place in Agra, it is necessary that some account of that city should be given.

Agra is one of the grand old cities of Hindustan. It had formerly an old fort on the bank of the Jumna, but this my father threw down before my birth, and he founded a fort of cut red stone, the like of which those who have travelled over the world cannot point out. It was completed in the space of fifteen or sixteen years. It had four gates and two sally-ports, and its cost was 35 lakhs of rupees, equal to 115,000 tomān of current Persian coinage and to 10,500,000 k͟hānī according to the Tūrān reckoning. The habitable part of the city extends on both sides of the river. On its west side, which has the greater population, its circumference is seven kos and its breadth is one kos. The circumference of the inhabited part on the other side of the water, the side towards the east, is 2½ kos, its length being one kos and its breadth half a kos. But in the number of its buildings it is equal to several cities of ʿIrāq, K͟hurāsān, and Māwarāʾa-n-nahr (Transoxiana) put together. Many persons have erected buildings of three or four storeys in it. The mass of people is so great, that moving about in the lanes and bazars is difficult. It is on the boundary of the second climate. On its east is the province of Qanauj; on the west, Nāgor; on the north, Sambhal; and on the south, Chanderī.

The air of Agra is warm and dry; physicians say that it depresses the spirits (rūḥrā ba taḥlīl mībarad) and induces weakness. It is unsuited to most temperaments, except to the phlegmatic and melancholy, which are safe from its bad effects. For this reason animals of this constitution and temperament, such as the elephant, the buffalo, and others, thrive in its climate.

Before the rule of the Lodī Afghans, Agra was a great and populous place, and had a castle described by Masʿūd b. Saʿd b. Salmān in the ode (qaṣīda) which he wrote in praise of Maḥmūd, son of Sultan Ibrāhīm, son of Masʿūd, son of Sultan Maḥmūd of G͟haznī, on the capture of the castle—

“The fort of Agra appeared in the midst of the dust

When Sikandar Lodī designed to take Gwalior he came to Agra from Delhi, which was the capital of the Sultans of India, and settled down there. From that date the population and prosperity of Agra increased, and it became the capital of the Sultans of Delhi. When God Almighty bestowed the rule of India on this illustrious family, the late king, Bābar, after the defeat of Ibrāhīm, the son of Sikandar Lodī, and his being killed, and after his victory over Rānā Sāngā, who was the chief of the Rajas of Hindustan, established on the east side of the Jumna, on improved land, a garden (chārbāg͟h) which few places equal in beauty. He gave it the name of Gul-afs͟hān (Flower-scatterer), and erected in it a small building of cut red stone, and having completed a mosque on one side of it he intended to make a lofty building, but time failed him and his design was never carried into execution.

In these Memoirs, whenever Ṣāḥib qirānī is written it refers to Amīr Tīmūr Gūrgān; and whenever Firdūs-makānī is mentioned, to Bābar Pāds͟hāh; when Jannat-ās͟hyānī is used, to Humāyūn Pāds͟hāh; and when ʿArs͟h-ās͟hyānī is employed, to my revered father, Jalālu-d-dīn Muḥammad Akbar Pāds͟hāh G͟hāzī.

The inhabitants of Agra exert themselves greatly in the acquirement of crafts and the search after learning. Various professors of every religion and creed have taken up their abode in the city.

(1) Forbidding the levy of cesses under the names of tamghā and mīr baḥrī (river tolls), and other burdens which the jāgīrdārs of every province and district had imposed for their own profit.

(2) On roads where thefts and robberies took place, which roads might be at a little distance from habitations, the jāgīrdārs of the neighbourhood should build sarāʾīs (public rest-houses), mosques, and dig wells, which might stimulate population, and people might settle down in those sarāʾīs. If these should be near a k͟hāliṣa estate (under direct State management), the administrator (mutaṣaddī) of that place should execute the work.

(4) In my dominions if anyone, whether unbeliever or Musalman, should die, his property and effects should be left for his heirs, and no one should interfere with them. If he should have no heir, they should appoint inspectors and separate guardians to guard the property, so that its value might be expended in lawful expenditure, such as the building of mosques and sarāʾīs, the repair of broken bridges, and the digging of tanks and wells.

(7) I forbade the cutting off the nose or ears of any person, and I myself made a vow by the throne of God that I would not blemish anyone by this punishment.

(8) I gave an order that the officials of the Crown lands and the jāgīrdārs should not forcibly take the ryots’ lands and cultivate them on their own account.

(9) A government collector or a jāgīrdār should not without permission intermarry with the people of the pargana in which he might be.

(10) They should found hospitals in the great cities, and appoint physicians for the healing of the sick; whatever the expenditure might be, should be given from the k͟hāliṣa establishment.

“Fate’s pen wrote on the coin in letters of light,

The S͟hāh Nūru-d-dīn Jahāngīr”;

and between the lines of the verse the Creed (Kalima) was impressed. On the reverse was this couplet, in which the date of coinage was signified:—

“Through this coin is the world brightened as by the sun,

Between the lines of the verse, the mint, the Hijra year, and the regnal year were impressed. On the nūr-jahānī, which is in the place of the ordinary gold muhr and exceeds it in weight by 20 per cent. (as 12 to 10), is impressed this couplet of the Amīru-l-umarā:—

“S͟hāh Nūru-d-dīn Jahāngīr ibn Akbar Pāds͟hāh

Made gold’s face bright with the sheen of sun and moon.”

It would not be good to give all the versified chronograms which were made for my accession. I therefore content myself with the one which Maktūb K͟hān, the superintendent of the library and picture gallery, and one of my old servants, composed—

“The second lord of conjunction, S͟hāhins͟hāh Jahāngīr,

With justice and equity sat on the throne of happiness.

Prosperity, Good Fortune, Wealth, Dignity, and Victory,

With loins girt in his service, stood rejoicing before him.

It became the date of the accession when Prosperity

Again, I gave Rānā S͟hankar, cousin of the Rānā—to whom my father had given the title of Rānā, proposing to send him with K͟husrau against the Rānā, but at that time he (Akbar) became a s͟hanqar (a falcon, i.e. he died)—a robe of honour and a jewelled sword, and sent him with him.

“The object of shade in Creation is this:

If the details were to be described of all the commanders and servants appointed by me, with the conditions and connections and rank of each, it would be a long business. Many of my immediate attendants and personal followers and nobles’ sons, house-born ones (k͟hānazādān) and zealous Rajputs, petitioned to accompany this expedition. A thousand ahadis, the meaning of which is single ones (Blochmann, p. 20), were also appointed. In short, a force was collected together such that if reliance on the Friend (God) were vouchsafed, it could have embarked on enmity and conflict with any one of the monarchs of power.

“Soldiers came up from all sides,

Seizing life from heroes of the world in battle;

They had no fear of death from the sharp sword,

In valour singular, in vigour a crowd,

Anvils in endurance, rocks in attack.”

A year before I became king I had determined that I would drink no wine on Friday eve, and I hope at the throne of God that He will keep me firm in this resolve as long as I live.

I promoted Raja Bīr Singh Deo, a Bandela Rajput, who had obtained my favour, and who excels his equals and relatives in valour, personal goodness, and simple-heartedness, to the rank of 3,000. The reason for his advancement and for the regard shown to him was that near the end of my revered father’s time, S͟haik͟h Abū-l-faẓl, who excelled the S͟haik͟hzādas of Hindustan in wisdom and learning, had adorned himself outwardly with the jewel of sincerity, and sold it to my father at a heavy price. He had been summoned from the Deccan, and, since his feelings towards me were not honest, he both publicly and privately spoke against me. At this period when, through strife-exciting intriguers, the august feelings of my royal father were entirely embittered against me, it was certain that if he obtained the honour of waiting on him (Akbar) it would be the cause of more confusion, and would preclude me from the favour of union with him (my father). It became necessary to prevent him from coming to Court. As Bīr Singh Deo’s country was exactly on his route and he was then a rebel, I sent him a message that if he would stop that sedition-monger and kill him he would receive every kindness from me. By God’s grace, when S͟haik͟h Abū-l-faẓl was passing through Bīr Singh Deo’s country, the Raja blocked his road, and after a little contest scattered his men and killed him. He sent his head to me in Allahabad. Although this event was a cause of anger in the mind of the late king (Akbar), in the end it enabled me to proceed without disturbance of mind to kiss the threshold of my father’s palace, and by degrees the resentment of the king was cleared away.

One day the Amīru-l-umarā (S͟harīf K͟hān) greatly pleased me by an incidental remark. It was this: “Honesty and dishonesty are not confined to matters of cash and goods; to represent qualities as existing in acquaintances which do not exist, and to conceal the meritorious qualities of strangers, is dishonesty. In truth, honesty of speech consists in making no distinction between intimates and strangers and in describing each man as he really is.”

When I sent off Parwīz I had said to him, “If the Rānā himself, and his eldest son who is called Karan, should come to wait upon you and proffer service and obedience, you should not do any injury to his territory.” My intention in this recommendation was of two kinds; one, that inasmuch as the conquest of Transoxiana was always in the pure mind of my revered father, though every time he determined on it things occurred to prevent it, if this business could be settled, and this danger dismissed from my mind, I would leave Parwīz in Hindustan, and in reliance on Allah, myself start for my hereditary territories, especially as at this time there was no permanent ruler in that region. Bāqī K͟hān, who, after ʿAbdu-llah K͟hān and ʿAbdu-l-Muʾmīn K͟hān, his son, had acquired complete independence, had died, and the affairs of Walī Muḥammad K͟hān, his brother, who is now the ruler of that region, had not as yet been brought into proper order. Secondly, to bring about the termination of the war in the Deccan, of which a part in the time of my revered father had been acquired, so that it might come into possession, and be incorporated with the Imperial dominions. My hope is that through the favour of Allah both these undertakings will be accomplished.

He still would labour to take others.”

I conferred on K͟hwāja ʿAbdu-llah, who is of the Naqs͟hbandī family, and in the commencement of his service was an ahadi, and who had risen by degrees to the command of 1,000, but without reason had gone into my father’s service, the rank and jagir my father had conferred on him. Although I considered it best for my own prosperity that my attendants and people should go into his (Akbar’s) service, yet this had occurred without my leave, and I was rather annoyed at it. But the fact is that he is a manly and zealous man; if he had not committed this fault he would have been a faultless hero (jawān).

S͟haik͟h Kabīr, who was of the family of the venerable S͟haik͟h Salīm, I had honoured with the title of S͟hajāʿat K͟hān when I was prince, on account of his manliness and bravery. I now selected him for the rank of 1,000.

I have bestowed on ʿAlī Aṣg͟har Bārha, who has not a rival in bravery and zeal, and is the son of Sayyid Maḥmūd K͟hān Bārha, one of my father’s old nobles, the title of Saif K͟hān, and thus distinguished him amongst his equals and connections. He is evidently a brave youth. He was always one of the confidential men who went with me to hunt and to other places. He has never in his life drunk anything intoxicating, and as he has abstained in his youth he probably will attain high dignities. I granted him the rank of 3,000.

I promoted Farīdūn, son of Muḥammad Qulī K͟hān Barlās, who held the rank of 1,000, to that of 2,000. Farīdūn is one of the tribe of Chag͟hatāy, and is not devoid of manliness and courage.

I promoted S͟haik͟h Bāyazīd, grandson of S͟haik͟h Salīm, who held the rank of 2,000, to that of 3,000. The first person who gave me milk, but for not more than a day, was the mother of S͟haik͟h Bāyazīd.

My father always associated with the learned of every creed and religion, especially with Pandits and the learned of India, and although he was illiterate, so much became clear to him through constant intercourse with the learned and wise, in his conversations with them, that no one knew him to be illiterate, and he was so acquainted with the niceties of verse and prose compositions that his deficiency was not thought of.

“Greatness in his manner, kingship in his lineage,

Three months after my birth my sister, S͟hāhzāda K͟hānam, was born to one of the royal concubines; they gave her over to his (Akbar’s) mother, Maryam Makānī. After her a son was born to one of the concubines, and received the name of S͟hāh Murād. As his birth occurred in the hill country of Fatḥpūr, he was nicknamed Pahārī. When my revered father sent him to conquer the Deccan, he had taken to excessive drinking through associating with unworthy persons, so that he died in his 30th year, in the neighbourhood of Jālnāpūr, in the province of Berar. His personal appearance was fresh-coloured; he was thin in body and tall of stature. Dignity and authority were evident in his movements, and manliness and bravery manifested themselves in his ways. On the night of Jumādā-l-awwal 10th, A.H. 979 (September, 1572), another son was born to one of the concubines. As his birth took place at Ajmīr in the house of one of the attendants of the blessed shrine of the reverend K͟hwāja Muʿīnu-d-dīn Chis͟htī, whose name was S͟haik͟h Dāniyāl, this child was called Dāniyāl.

After the death of my brother S͟hāh Murād, he (Akbar), towards the end of his reign, sent Dāniyāl to conquer the Deccan and followed him himself. When my revered father was besieging Āsīr (Āsīrgarh) he, with a large body of nobles such as the K͟hānk͟hānān and his sons and Mīrzā Yūsuf K͟hān, invested the fort of Ahmadnagar, and it came into the possession of the victorious officers about the time that Āsīr was taken. After my father ʿArs͟h-ās͟hyānī had returned in prosperity and victory from Burhanpur towards his capital, he gave the province to Dāniyāl and left him in possession of that territory. Dāniyāl took to improper ways, like his brother S͟hāh Murād, and soon died from excessive drinking, in the 33rd year of his age. His death occurred in a peculiar way. He was very fond of guns and of hunting with the gun. He named one of his guns yaka u janāza, ‘the same as the bier,’ and himself composed this couplet and had it engraved on the gun:—

“From the joy of the chase with thee, life is fresh and new;

When his drinking of wine was carried to excess, and the circumstance was reported to my father, farmans of reproach were sent to the K͟hānk͟hānān. Of course he forbade it, and placed cautious people to look after him properly. When the road to bring wine was completely closed, he began to weep and to importune some of his servants, and said: “Let them bring me wine in any possible way.” He said to Murs͟hid Qulī K͟hān, a musketeer who was in his immediate service: “Pour some wine into this yaka u janāza, and bring it to me.” That wretch, in hope of favour, undertook to do this, and poured double-distilled spirit into the gun, which had long been nourished on gunpowder and the scent thereof, and brought it. The rust of the iron was dissolved by the strength of the spirit and mingled with it, and the prince no sooner drank of it than he fell down.

If he does, he draws it for himself.”

Dāniyāl was of pleasing figure, of exceedingly agreeable manners and appearance; he was very fond of elephants and horses. It was impossible for him to hear of anyone as having a good horse or elephant and not take it from him. He was fond of Hindi songs, and would occasionally compose verses with correct idiom in the language of the people of India, which were not bad.

The good qualities of my revered father are beyond the limit of approval and the bounds of praise. If books were composed with regard to his commendable dispositions, without suspicion of extravagance, and he be not looked at as a father would be by his son, even then but a little out of much could be said.

Notwithstanding his kingship and his treasures and his buried wealth, which were beyond the scope of counting and imagination, his fighting elephants and Arab horses, he never by a hair’s breadth placed his foot beyond the base of humility before the throne of God, but considered himself the lowest of created beings, and never for one moment forgot God.

“Always, everywhere, with everyone, and in every circumstance,

Keep the eye of thy heart secretly fixed on the Beloved.”

He associated with the good of every race and creed and persuasion, and was gracious to all in accordance with their condition and understanding. He passed his nights in wakefulness, and slept little in the day; the length of his sleep during a whole night and day (nycthemeron) was not more than a watch and a half. He counted his wakefulness at night as so much added to his life. His courage and boldness were such that he could mount raging, rutting elephants, and subdue to obedience murderous elephants which would not allow their own females near them—although even when an elephant is bad-tempered he does no harm to the female or his driver—and which were in a state in which they might have killed their drivers or the females, or not have allowed their approach. He would place himself on a wall or tree near which an elephant was passing that had killed its mahout and broken loose from restraint, and, putting his trust in God’s favour, would throw himself on its back and thus by merely mounting, would bring it under control and tame it. This was repeatedly seen.

He ascended the throne in his 14th year. Hemū, the infidel whom the Afghan ruler had raised to high station, collected a wonderful force after King Humāyūn’s death with a stud of elephants such as no ruler of Hindustan had at that time, and he went towards Delhi. Humāyūn had appointed Akbar to drive off some of the Afghans from the foot-hills of the Panjab, but just then he exemplified the hemistich which is a description of the accident and the chronogram of his death—

Bairām K͟hān, who was then his tutor, having collected the nobles who were in the province, chose an auspicious hour and seated him on the throne of rule in pargana Kalānūr, near Lahore.

When Hemū reached the neighbourhood of Delhi, Tardī Beg K͟hān and a large force that was in the city drew up to oppose him. When the preparations for the combat had been made the armies attacked one another, and, after considerable endeavours and strife, defeat fell on Tardī Beg K͟hān and the Moguls, and the army of darkness overcame the army of light.

“All things and battles and fights are of God,

He knows whose will be the victory.

From the blood of the brave and the dust of the troops,

The earth grew red and the heavens black.”

Tardī Beg K͟hān and the other defeated ones took the road to my revered father’s camp. As Bairām K͟hān disliked Tardī Beg, he made this defeat an excuse to put him to death.

A second time, through the pride engendered in the mind of this accursed infidel by his victory, he came out of Delhi with his force and elephants and advanced, while the glorious standards of His Majesty (Akbar) proceeded from Kalānūr for the purpose of driving him away. The armies of darkness and light met in the neighbourhood of Panipat, and on Thursday, Muḥarram 2nd, A.H. 964 (November 5th, 1556), a fight took place. In the army of Hemū were 30,000 brave fighting horsemen, while the g͟hāzīs of the victorious army were not more than 4,000 or 5,000. On that day Hemū was riding an elephant named Hawāʾī. Suddenly an arrow struck the eye of that infidel and came out at the back of his head. His army, on seeing this, took to flight. By chance S͟hāh Qulī K͟hān Maḥram with a few brave men came up to the elephant on which was the wounded Hemū, and would have shot an arrow at the driver, but he cried “Do not kill me; Hemū is on this elephant.” A number of men immediately conveyed Hemū as he was to the king (Akbar). Bairām K͟hān represented that it would be proper if the king with his own hand should strike the infidel with a sword, so that obtaining the reward of a g͟hāzī (warrior of the Faith) he might use this title on the imperial farmans. The king answered, “I have cut him in pieces before this,” and explained: “One day, in Kabul, I was copying a picture in presence of K͟hwājaʿAbdu-ṣ-Ṣamad S͟hīrīn Qalam, when a form appeared from my brush, the parts of which were separate and divided from each other. One of those near asked, ‘Whose picture is this?’ It came to my tongue to say that it was the likeness of Hemū.” Not defiling his hand with his (Hemū’s) blood, he told one of his servants to cut off his head. Those killed in the defeated army numbered 5,000 in addition to those who fell in various places round about.

Another of the well-known deeds of Akbar was the victorious expedition against Gujarat, and his rapid march there, at the time when Mīrzā Ibrāhīm Ḥusain, Muḥammad Ḥusain Mīrzā, and S͟hāh Mīrzā revolted from this State and went towards Gujarat, and all the nobles of that province, combining with the turbulent of those parts, besieged the fort of Ahmadabad in which was Mīrzā ʿAzīz Koka with the royal army. His Majesty, in consequence of the distracted state of Jījī Angā, the mother of the last-named Mīrzā, started for Gujarat with a body of royal troops without delay from the capital of Fatḥpūr. Having covered in the space of nine days the long road which it should take two months to accomplish, sometimes on horseback, sometimes on a camel or in a bullock-cart, he arrived at Sarnāl.

“If thou come out (to fight) with thy benefactor,

If thou wert the sphere, thou wouldest be reversed.”

“The sense of the age evaporated with the clamour,

The ear of the heavens was split with the shouts.”

The royal right and left wings and a band of brave men in the centre fought with valour. Stars (kaukabāʾī), which are a kind of firework, were lighted by the enemy; they twisted about among the thorn-bushes, and created such confusion that a noted elephant of the enemy began to move and threw their troops into disarray. With this the royal centre came up and dispersed Muḥammad Ḥusain and his force. Mān Singh Darbārī overcame his foe under the king’s eyes, and Rāgho Dās Kachhwāha sacrificed his life. Muḥammad Wafā, who was of the house-born of the State, behaving very bravely, fell wounded from his horse. By the favour of the Creator who cherishes His servants, and simply through the courage and good fortune of the exalted king, the enemy were scattered and defeated. In gratitude for this great victory the king turned his face in supplication to the throne of his merciful Maker, and poured forth his thanks.

One of the kalāwants (musicians) represented to His Majesty that Saif K͟hān Kokaltās͟h had offered the coin of his life in loyalty to the State, and on enquiry it appeared that when Muḥammad Ḥusain Mīrzā with some of his riffraff was attacking the centre Saif K͟hān met him and fighting valiantly became a martyr. The Mīrzā himself was wounded by the hands of the brave men of the main body. The Kokaltās͟h mentioned is the elder brother of Zain K͟hān Koka.

A strange circumstance was this: on the day before the battle, when the king was eating, he asked Hazāra, who was learned in the science of looking at the shoulder-blades (a kind of divination), to see on whose side the victory would be. Hazāra said: “The victory will be on your side, but one of the chiefs of your army will become a martyr.” Whereupon Saif K͟hān Koka said “Would that this blessing might fall to my lot!”

Became true when the star passed by.”

In short, Mīrzā Muḥammad Ḥusain turned his reins, but his horse’s feet became entangled in the thorn-brake and he fell. An ahadi of the king, Gadā ʿAlī by name, found him, and having mounted him before him on his horse took him to the king. As two or three claimed a share in his capture, His Majesty asked who had made him prisoner. “The king’s salt,” he answered. The king ordered his hands, that had been fastened behind him, to be tied in front. Meanwhile he asked for water. Farḥat K͟hān, who was one of the confidential slaves, struck him on the head, but the king, disapproving of this, sent for his private drinking water and satisfied his thirst. Up to this time Mīrzā ʿAzīz Koka and the garrison of the fort had not come out. After the capture of the Mīrzā, His Majesty was proceeding slowly towards Ahmadabad. He had delivered the Mīrzā to Rāy Rāy Singh Rāṭhor, one of the Rajput chiefs, to be put on an elephant and brought with him. Meanwhile Ik͟htiyāru-l-mulk, who was one of the influential Gujarati leaders, made his appearance with an army of nearly 5,000 men. Complete confusion fell upon the royal troops. The king, as his natural valour and lofty disposition required, ordered the drums to be beaten, and Shajāʾat K͟hān, Rāja Bhagwān Dās, and some others charged on in front to fight this force. Fearing that the enemy might get possession of Mīrzā Muḥammad Ḥusain, Rāy Rāy Singh’s men, by the advice and plan of the aforesaid Raja (Bhagwān Dās), cut off his head. My father did not want to kill him. The forces of Ik͟htiyāru-l-mulk also were dispersed, and he was thrown from his horse into the thorn thicket. Suhrāb Beg Turkmān cut off his head and brought it in. It was only by the grace and power of God that such a victory was won by a small number of men.

In the same way are beyond all reckoning the conquest of the province of Bengal, the capture of well-known and celebrated forts in Hindustan such as Chitor and Ranṭambhor, the subjection of the province of Khandesh, and the taking of the fort of Āsīr and of other provinces which by the exertions of the royal armies came into the possession of the servants of the State. If these were related in detail it would be a long story.

Of the austerities practised by my revered father, one was the not eating the flesh of animals. During three months of the year he ate meat, and for the remaining nine contented himself with Ṣūfī food, and was no way pleased with the slaughter of animals. On many days and in many months this was forbidden to the people. The days and months on which he did not eat flesh are detailed in the Akbarnāma.

I gave to my son K͟hurram (S͟hāh-Jahān) a rosary of jewels, with the hope that he might obtain fulfilment of all his desires, both in visible and in spiritual things.

As I had remitted in my dominions customs duties amounting to krors, I abolished also all the transit dues (sāʾir-jihāt) in Kabul, which is one of the noted towns on the road to Hindustan. These brought in 1 kror and 23 lakhs of dams. From the provinces of Kabul and Qandahar large sums used to be derived every year from customs (zakāʾt), which were in fact the chief revenue of those places. I remitted these ancient dues, a proceeding that greatly benefited the people of Iran and Turan.

Āṣaf K͟hān’s jagir in the subah of Bihār had been given to Bāz Bahādur; I therefore ordered that a jagir in the Panjab should be given to him. As it was represented to me that a large sum was in arrears in his jagir, and now that the order for exchange had been given its collection would be difficult, I directed that a lakh of rupees should be given to him from the Treasury and the arrears recovered from Bāz Bahādur for the royal revenues.

The Great Feast of Naurūz.

On the night of Tuesday, Ẕī-l-qaʿda 11th, A.H. 1014 (March 11th or 12th, 1606), in the morning, which is the time of the blessing of light, his Eminence the Great Luminary passed from the constellation of the Fish to the House of Honour in the constellation of the Ram. As this was the first New Year’s Day after my auspicious accession I ordered them to decorate the porticoes of the private and public halls of the palace, as in the time of my revered father, with delicate stuffs, and to adorn them handsomely. From the first day of the Naurūz to the 19th degree of the Ram (Aries), which is the day of culmination, the people gave themselves over to enjoyment and happiness. Players and singers of all bands and castes were gathered together. Dancing lulis and charmers of India whose caresses would captivate the hearts of angels kept up the excitement of the assemblies. I gave orders that whoever might wish for intoxicating drinks and exhilarating drugs should not be debarred from using them.

“Cupbearer! brighten my cup with the light of wine;

In my father’s time it had become established that one of the great nobles should prepare an entertainment on each of the 17 or 18 days of the festival, and should present His Majesty the king with choice gifts of all kinds of jewels and jewelled things, precious stuffs, and elephants and horses, and should invite him to take the trouble to come to his assembly. By way of exalting his servants, he would deign to be present, and having looked at the presents would take what he approved of and bestow the remainder on the giver of the entertainment. As my mind was inclined to the comfort and ease of the army and subjects, I this year let them off their gifts with the exception of a few from my immediate retainers, which I accepted in order to gratify them. In those same days many servants of the State obtained higher rank. Amongst them I raised Dilāwar K͟hān Afg͟hān to 1,500, and I raised Rāja Bāso, who was a landholder of the hill country of the Panjab, and who from the time I was prince till now has kept the way of service and sincerity towards me and held the rank of 1,500, to 3,500. S͟hāh Beg K͟hān, the governor of Qandahar, I promoted to 5,000, and Rāy Rāy Singh, a Rājpūt noble, obtained the same rank. I gave 12,000 rupees for expenses to Rānā S͟hankar.

The Flight of K͟husrau in the Middle of the First Year of my Reign.

“He who is seized of Fortune cannot be deprived of it;

Throne and diadem are not things of purchase;

It is not right to wrest crown and dominion

From the head which God, the Crown-cherisher, has indicated.”

“In truth, he who is pursued by sorrow.

Knows not how the road is or how he may travel it.

This he knows, that horror drives him on:

He knows not with whom he goes nor whom he leaves behind.”

My trouble was this, that my son without any cause or reason should become an opponent and an enemy. If I should make no endeavour to capture him, the fractious or rebellious would have an instrument, or else he would take his own way and go for an asylum to the Ūzbegs or the Persians, and contempt would fall upon my government. On this account, having made a special point of capturing him, I went on after a short rest two or three kos beyond pargana Mathura, which is 20 kos from Agra, and I alighted at one of the villages of that pargana where there is a tank.

My first marriage and that at the commencement of my adolescence was with her. After K͟husrau’s birth I gave her the title of S͟hāh Begam. When she could not endure the bad conduct of her son and brother towards me she became disgusted with life and died, thereby escaping the present grief and sorrow. In consequence of her death, from the attachment I had for her, I passed some days without any kind of pleasure in life or existence, and for four days, which amount to 32 watches, I took nothing in the shape of food or drink. When this tale was told to my revered father, a letter of condolence of excessive kindness and affection reached this devoted disciple, and he sent me a robe of honour and the auspicious turban tied just as he had taken it off his head. This favour threw water on the flame of my grief and afforded complete quiet and repose to my unquietude and disturbance. My intention in relating these circumstances is to point out that no evil fortune is greater than when a son, through the impropriety of his conduct and his unapproved methods of behaviour, causes the death of his mother and becomes contumacious and rebellious to his father, without cause or reason, but simply through his own imaginations and futile ideas, and chooses to avoid the blessing of waiting upon him. Inasmuch as the Almighty Avenger lays a proper punishment on each action, of necessity his condition finally came to this, that he was caught under the worst circumstances, and falling from a position of trust became captive to perpetual incarceration.

“When the man of sense behaves as if drunk,

He puts his foot in a snare, his head in a noose.”

The rank of Āqā Mullā, brother of Āṣaf K͟hān, who had been exalted by becoming my servant, was fixed in original and increase at 1,000 with 300 horse. He was in close attendance during this journey. Considering that some of the Aimāqs attached to the royal army were in league with K͟husrau, and fearing that consequently some fraud or sedition might enter their minds, 2,000 rupees were given to their leaders to distribute amongst their men and make them hopeful of the Jahāngīrī favour. I gave money to S͟haik͟h Faẓlu-llah and Rāja Dhīrdhar to distribute to faqirs and brahmans on the road. I gave orders that to Rānā S͟hankar in Ajmir should be given 30,000 rupees by way of assistance for his expenditure.

At the time that K͟husrau had left Delhi and was proceeding to Panipat, it happened that Dilāwar K͟hān had arrived there. When shortly before K͟husrau’s arrival he heard of this affair, he sent his children across the Jumna and bravely determined to hasten on and throw himself into the fort of Lahore before K͟husrau should arrive. About this time ʿAbdu-r-Raḥīm also reached Panipat from Lahore, and Dilāwar K͟hān suggested to him that he too should send his children across the river, and should stand aside and await the victorious standards of Jahāngīr. As he was lethargic and timid, he could not make up his mind to do this, and delayed so much that K͟husrau arrived. He went out and waited on him, and either voluntarily or in a state of agitation agreed to accompany him. He obtained the title of Malik Anwar and the position of vizier. Dilāwar K͟hān, like a brave man, turned towards Lahore, and on his road informed everyone and everybody of the servants of the court and the karoriyān, and the merchants whom he came across, of the exodus of K͟husrau. Some he took with him, and others he told to stand aside out of the way. After that, the servants of God were relieved of the plundering by robbers and oppressors. Most probably, if Sayyid Kamāl in Delhi, and Dilāwar K͟hān at Panipat, had shown courage and determination, and had blocked K͟husrau’s path, his disorderly force would not have been able to resist and would have scattered, and he himself would have been captured. The fact is that their talents (himmat) were not equal to this, but afterwards each made amends for his fault, viz., Dilāwar K͟hān, by his rapid march, entered the fort of Lahore before K͟husrau reached it, and by this notable service made amends for his earlier shortcoming, and Sayyid Kamāl manfully exerted himself in the engagement with K͟husrau, as will be described in its own place.

“Be not the practiser of making lifeless any living thing.

Save in the battlefield or in the time of hunting.”

Honour the luminaries (the Sun, Moon, etc.), which are manifesters of God’s light, according to the degree of each, and recognize the power and existence of Almighty God at all times and seasons. Be careful indeed that whether in private or in public you never for a moment forget Him.

Be amorous of Him and seek after Him.”

My revered father became possessed of these principles, and was rarely void of such thoughts.

This doomed lot set fire to a gate, and Dilāwar Beg K͟hān, Ḥusain Beg the dīwān, and Nūru-d-dīn Qulī the kotwal built a wall inside opposite the gateway.

Meantime Saʿīd K͟hān, who was one of those appointed to Kashmir and was now encamped on the Chenāb, having heard the news, started rapidly for Lahore. When he reached the Ravi he sent word to the garrison of the fort that he came with a loyal intention and that they should admit him. They sent someone at night and conducted him and some of his men inside. When the siege had lasted nine days, news of the approach of the royal army came repeatedly to K͟husrau and his adherents. They became helpless (bī pā), and made up their minds that they must face the victorious army.

In this command S͟haik͟h Farīd behaved with sincerity and devotion. The Sayyids of Bārha, who are of the brave ones of the age, and who have held this place in every fight in which they have been, formed the van. Saif K͟hān, son of Sayyid Maḥmūd K͟hān Bārha, the head of the tribe, had shown great bravery and had received seventeen wounds. Sayyid Jalāl, also of the brethren of this band, received an arrow in his temple and died a few days later. At the time when the Sayyids of Bārha, who were not more than fifty or sixty in number, having received wounds from 1,500 Badak͟hs͟hī horsemen, had been cut to pieces, Sayyid Kamāl, who, with his brothers, had been appointed to support the van, came up on the flank and fought with wondrous bravery and manliness. After that the men of the right wing raised the cry of Pāds͟hāh salāmat (“Long live the King”) and charged, and the rebels hearing the words, gave up and scattered abroad to various hiding-places. About 400 Aimāqs became crushed on the plain of anger and overcome by the victorious army. K͟husrau’s box of jewels and precious things which he had always with him, fell into our hands.

“Who thought that this boy of few years

Would behave so badly to his sire?

At the first taste of the cup he brings up the lees.

He melts away my glory and his own modesty.

He longs for the place of Jams͟hīd.”

In the evening of the day of K͟husrau’s flight I gave Rāja Bāso, who is a trusty zamindar of the hill-country of Lahore, leave to go to that frontier, and, wherever he heard news or trace of K͟husrau, to make every effort to capture him. I also appointed Mahābat K͟hān and Mīrzā ʿAlī Akbars͟hāhī to a large force, which was to pursue K͟husrau in whatever direction he might go. I resolved with myself that if K͟husrau went to Kabul, I would follow him and not turn back till he was captured. If not delaying in Kabul he should go on to Badakhshan and those regions, I would leave Mahābat K͟hān in Kabul and return myself (to India). My reason for not going to Badakhshan was that that wretch would (in that case) certainly ally himself with the Ūzbegs, and the disgrace would attach to this State.

On the day on which the royal troops were ordered to pursue K͟husrau, 15,000 rupees were given to Mahābat K͟hān and 20,000 to the ahadis, and 10,000 more were sent with the army to be given to whom it might be necessary to give it on the way.

Before this affair of K͟husrau’s, I had sent Hilāl K͟hān as sazāwal to the army appointed for Kashmīr under Saʿīd K͟hān, and by chance he arrived in the neighbourhood (of the ferry) that same night; he came in the nick of time, and his efforts had great effect in bringing together Abū-l-Qāsim K͟hān Namakīn, and K͟hwāja K͟hiẓr K͟hān in the capture of K͟husrau.

On the morning of Sunday, the 24th of the aforesaid month, people on elephants and in boats captured K͟husrau, and on Monday, the last day of the month, news of this reached me in the garden of Mīrzā Kāmrān. I immediately ordered the Amīru-l-umarā to go to Gujarat and to bring K͟husrau to wait on me.

In counsels on State affairs and government it often happens that I act according to my own judgment and prefer my own counsel to that of others. In the first instance I had elected to wait on my revered father from Allahabad in opposition to the advice of my faithful servants, and I obtained the blessing of serving him, and this was for my spiritual and temporal good. By the same course of conduct I had become king. The second instance was the pursuit of K͟husrau, from which I was not held back by taking time to ascertain the (auspicious) hour, etc., and from which I took no rest until I captured him. It is a strange thing that after I had started I asked Ḥakīm ʿAlī, who is learned in mathematics, how the hour of my departure had been (i.e. whether propitious or not), and he replied that in order to obtain my object if I had wished to select an hour, there could not have been for years one selected better than that in which I mounted.

While K͟husrau’s affair was still in the will of God, as there was no actual governor between Afghanistan and Agra, which is a source of sedition and mischief, and, fearing that K͟husrau’s affair might be prolonged, I ordered my son Parwīz to leave some of the sardars to look after the Rānā and to come to Agra with Āṣaf K͟hān and a body of those nearly connected with him in the service. He was to consider the protection and management of that region his special charge. But by the blessed favour of Allah, K͟husrau’s affair was settled before Parwīz arrived in Agra; I accordingly ordered my aforesaid son to come and wait on me.

On Wednesday, Muḥarram 8th, I auspiciously entered the fort of Lahore. A number of loyalists represented to me that my return to Agra would be for the good of the State at this time when much was going amiss in Gujarat, in the Deccan, and in Bengal. This counsel did not meet with my approval, for the reports of S͟hāh Beg K͟hān, the governor of Qandahar, showed that the officers of the Persian border were meditating an attack on that fortress. They had been moved thereto by the machinations of the residuum of the Mirzas of Qandahar’s army, which was always shaking the chain of contention. The Persian officers had written letters to these malcontents, and there was likelihood of a disturbance. It occurred to me that the death of His Majesty Akbar and the unreasonable outbreak of K͟husrau might put an edge on their design, and that they might attack Qandahar. What had occurred to my mind became a realized fact. The governor of Farāh, the Malik of Sīstan, and the jagirdars of that neighbourhood, with the assistance of Ḥusain K͟hān, the governor of Herat, invaded Qandahar. Praise is due to the manliness and courage of S͟hāh Beg K͟hān, who planted his foot firmly like a man, and strengthened the fort, and seated himself on the top of the third(?) citadel of the aforesaid fort in such a manner that outsiders could see his entertainments. During the siege he girded not his loins, but with bare head and feet arranged parties of pleasure; yet no day passed that he did not send a force from the fort to meet the foe and did not make manly efforts. This went on as long as he was in the fort. The Qizilbās͟h army had invested on three sides. When news of this reached Lahore it was clearly advisable to remain in that neighbourhood. A large force was immediately appointed under the leadership of Mīrzā G͟hāzī, who was accompanied by a number of men of rank and servants of the Court, such as Qarā Beg and Tuk͟hta Beg, who had been promoted with the titles of Qarā K͟hān and Sardār K͟hān. I appointed Mīrzā G͟hāzī to a mansab of 5,000 personal, and horsemen, and bestowed drums on him. Mīrzā G͟hāzi was the son of Mīrzā Jānī Tark͟hān, king of Thathah (Sind), and by the efforts of ʿAbdu-r-Raḥīm K͟hānk͟hānān that country had been conquered in the reign of the late king. The country of Thathah was included in his jagir, and he held the rank with personality and horsemen of 5,000. After his death his son Mīrzā G͟hāzi was raised to his rank and service. Their ancestors were among the amirs of Sult̤ān Ḥusain Mīrzā Bāy-qarā, the ruler of Khurasan, and they were originally descended from the amirs of Tīmūr (Ṣāḥib-qirānī). K͟hwāja ʿĀqil was appointed bakhshi of this army; 43,000 rupees were given to Qarā K͟hān for road expenses, and 15,000 to Naqdī Beg and Qilīj Beg, who were to accompany Mīrzā G͟hāzī. I determined to stay at Lahore in order to settle this matter and with the intention of a tour to Kabul. About this time the rank of Ḥakīm Fatḥu-llah was fixed, original and increased, at 1,000 personality and 300 horse. As S͟haik͟h Ḥusain Jāmī had had dreams about me which had come true, I gave him twenty lakhs of dams, equivalent to 30,000 or 40,000 rupees, for the expenses of himself and his monastery and the dervishes who were with him. On the 22nd I promoted ʿAbdu-llah K͟hān to the rank of 2,500 personal and 500 horse, original and increased. I ordered to be given to the ahadis two lakhs of rupees to be paid in advance and deducted by degrees from their monthly pay. I bestowed 6,000 rupees on Qāsim Beg K͟hān, the son-in-law of S͟hāh Beg K͟hān, and 3,000 rupees on Sayyid Bahādur K͟hān.

There were two men named Rājū and Ambā, who, under the shadow of the protection of the eunuch Daulat K͟hān, made their livelihood by oppression and tyranny, and had done many acts of oppression in the few days that K͟husrau was before Lahore. I ordered Rājū to the gallows and a fine to be taken from Ambā, who was reputed to be wealthy. In short, 15,000 rupees were collected from him, which sum I ordered them to expend on bulg͟hur-k͟hānas (refectories) and in charity.

Saʿdu-llah K͟hān, son of Saʿd K͟hān, was promoted to the rank of 2,000 personal and 1,000 horse.

In his great desire to wait upon me, Parwīz traversed long distances in a short time, in the rainy season and incessant rain, and on Thursday, the 29th, when two watches and three ghaṛī of day had passed, obtained the blessing of seeing me. With exceeding kindness and affection, I took him into the embrace of favour and kissed his forehead.

In the whole of the hereditary dominions, both the crown lands and the jagirs, I ordered the preparation of bulg͟hur-k͟hānas (free eating-houses), where cooked food might be provided for the poor according to their condition, and so that residents and travellers both might reap the benefit.

A special dress of honour was sent to Rāja Mān Singh in Bengal. I ordered a reward of 30 lakhs of dams to Mīrzā G͟hāzi. I bestowed on S͟haik͟h Ibrāhīm, son of Qut̤bu-d-dīn K͟hān Koka, the rank of 1,000 personal and 300 horse, and dignified him with the title of Kis͟hwar K͟hān.

As when I started in pursuit of K͟husrau I had left my son K͟hurram in charge of the palaces and treasury, I now, when that affair had been settled, ordered the said son to attend upon Haẓrat Maryam-zamānī and the other ladies, and to escort them to me. When they reached the neighbourhood of Lahore, on Friday the 12th of the month mentioned, I embarked in a boat and went to a village named Dahr to meet my mother, and I had the good fortune to be received by her. After the performance of obeisance and prostration and greeting which is due from the young to the old according to the custom of Chingīz, the rules of Tīmūr and common usage, and after worship of the King of the World (God), and after finishing this business, I obtained leave to return, and re-entered the fort of Lahore.

A remarkable occurrence was the discovery of a letter from Mīrzā ʿAzīz Koka to ʿAlī K͟hān, the ruler of K͟handesh. I had had an impression that he had a particular enmity to me on K͟husrau’s account, who was his son-in-law. From the discovery of this writing it became clear that he had never given up his innate treachery, and had adopted this unbecoming attitude towards my revered father also. In short, this letter which he had written at some time to Rāja ʿAlī K͟hān was from beginning to end full of abuse and disapprobation, and said things which no enemy even could have written and such as could not be attributed to anyone, and far less to one like His Majesty, ʿArs͟h-ās͟hyānī, a king and an appreciative sovereign, who from childhood had educated him and brought him up because of what was due for services rendered by his mother, and raised the standard of reliance on him to such a high degree as no other person possessed. This letter fell into the hands of K͟hwāja Abū-l-ḥasan in Burhanpur amongst the property of Rāja ʿAlī K͟hān. He brought and laid it before me. In reading and seeing it the hair on my limbs stood on end. But for the consideration and due recognition of the fact that his mother had given her milk to my father I could have killed him with my own hand. Having procured his attendance I gave the letter into his hand and told him to read it with a loud voice to those present. When he saw the letter I thought his body would have parted from his soul, but with shamelessness and impudence he read it as though he had not written it and was reading it by order. Those present in that paradise-like assembly of the servants of Akbar and Jahāngīr and heard the letter read, loosened the tongue of reproach and of curses and abuse. I put the question to him, “Leaving aside the treacheries which in reliance on your worthless self you contrived against my fortune, what was done to you by my father, who raised you and your family from the dust of the road to such wealth and dignity as to make you the envy of your contemporaries, that you should write these things to the enemies of his Empire? Why did you enrol yourself amongst the wicked and disloyal? Truly, what can one make of an original nature and innate disposition? Since your temperament has been nourished by the water of treachery, what else can spring up but such actions? Passing over what you did to myself, I gave you the rank you had held before, thinking that your treachery was directed against me only. Since it has become known that you behaved in a similar way to your benefactor and visible Deity, I leave you to the thoughts and actions which you formerly had and still have.” After these remarks his lips closed, and he was unable to make any reply. What could he have said in the presence of such disgrace? I gave an order to deprive him of his jagir. Although what this ingrate had done was unpardonable, yet in the end, from certain considerations, I passed it over.

On Sunday the 26th of the above-mentioned month was held the marriage feast of Parwīz and the daughter of Prince Murād. The ceremony was performed in the house of Her Highness Maryam-zamānī. The entertainment was arranged in the house of Parwīz, and all who were present were exalted with all kinds of honour and civilities. Nine thousand rupees were handed over to S͟harif Āmulī and other nobles, to be given in alms to faqirs and other poor people.

On Wednesday the 13th the solar weighing of Parwīz took place. They weighed him twelve times against various metals and other things, and each weighing came to two maunds and eighteen seers. I ordered the whole to be distributed amongst faqirs. At this time the rank of S͟hajāʿat K͟hān was fixed at 1,500 personal and 700 horse, original and extra.

I left Āṣaf K͟hān to guard K͟husrau and defend Lahore. The Amīru-l-umarā was deprived of the honour of waiting on me, as he had a severe illness and remained in the city. ʿAbdu-r-Razzāq Maʿmūrī, who had been summoned from the Rānā’s country, was promoted to be bakhshi at headquarters, and it was ordered that in company with ʿAbū-l-ḥasan he should perform this service permanently. Following my father’s rule, I appoint two men in association in the discharge of the chief offices, not from want of confidence in them, but because, as they are mortal and no man is safe from accidents or illness, if any confusion or obstacle should present itself to one the other is there so that the affairs of the servants of God may not come to ruin.

At this time also news came that at the Dasahrā, which is one of the fixed feast days of the Hindus, ʿAbdu-llah K͟hān had made an incursion from Kālpī, which is his jagir, into the province of Bandīlah, and displaying great valour made prisoner Rām Chand, son of Madhūkar, who for a long time had made a centre of disturbance in that difficult country and taken him to Kālpī. For this service he was presented with a standard and raised to 3,000 personal and 2,000 horse.

Petitions from the subah of Bihar represented that Jahāngīr Qulī K͟hān had had a battle with Sangrām, one of the chief zamindars of Bihar, who had about 4,000 horse and innumerable foot, on account of certain opposition and disloyalty on rough land, and that on the field the aforesaid K͟hān had exerted himself manfully. In the end Sangrām died of a gunshot wound; many of his men fell in the battle, and those saved from the sword took to flight. Since this distinguished affair had been brought about by Jahāngīr Qulī K͟hān, I promoted him to the rank of 4,500 personal and 3,500 horse.

On Wednesday the 16th Shawwāl I returned safe from my hunting, and when one watch and six gharis of day had passed I entered Lahore on the day named. During this hunting a strange affair was witnessed. At Chandwālah, where a minaret had been erected, I had wounded in the belly a black antelope. When wounded, a sound proceeded from him such as I have never heard from any antelope, except in the rutting season. Old hunters and those with me were astonished, and said they never remembered nor had they heard from their fathers that such a voice issued from an antelope except at rutting time. This has been written down because it is not void of strangeness. I found the flesh of the mountain goat more delicious than that of all wild animals, although its skin is exceedingly ill-odoured, so much so that even when tanned the scent is not destroyed. I ordered one of the largest of the he-goats to be weighed; it was 2 maunds and 24 seers, equal to 21 foreign maunds (Persian). I ordered a large ram to be weighed, and it came to 2 maunds and 3 seers Akbarī, equal to 17 Persian (wilāyatī) maunds. The largest and strongest of the wild asses weighed 9 maunds and 16 seers, equal to 76 Persian (wilāyatī) maunds. I have frequently heard from hunters and those fond of the chase that at a certain regular time a worm develops in the horns of the mountain ram, and that this worm causes an irritation which induces the ram to fight with his hind, and that if he finds no rival he strikes his head against a tree or a rock to allay the irritation. After enquiry it seems that the same worm appears in the horn of the female sheep, and since the female does not fight the statement is clearly untrue. Though the flesh of the wild ass is lawful food and most men like to eat it, it was in no way suited to my taste.

Inasmuch as before this time the punishment of Dulīp and of his father, Rāy Rāy Singh, had been ordered, there now came news that Zāhid K͟hān, the son of Ṣādiq K͟hān, and ʿAbdu-r-Raḥīm, son of S͟haik͟h Abū-l-faẓl, and Rānā S͟hankar and Muʿizzu-l-mulk, with another force of mansabdars and followers of the Court, had heard news of Dulīp in the neighbourhood of Nāgor, which is in the subah of Ajmir, and having moved against him had found him. As he could find no way of escape, of necessity he planted a firm foot and came to blows with the royal army. After a short encounter he was badly beaten and gave over many to slaughter, and himself, taking with him his own effects, fled into the vale of ruin.

“With broken arms and loosened belt,

No power to fight and no care for head.”

In spite of his old age, I continued Qilīj K͟hān in his mansab because of his service under my father, and I ordered that he should get a jagir in the sarkar of Kālpī.

In the month Ẕī-l-qaʿda the mother of Qut̤bu-d-dīn K͟hān Koka, who had given me her milk and was as a mother to me or even kinder than my own kind mother, and in whose lap I had been brought up from infancy, was committed to the mercy of God. I placed the feet of her corpse on my shoulders and carried her a part of the way (to her grave). Through extreme grief and sorrow I had no inclination for some days to eat, and I did not change my clothes.

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