Note 49 — Chapter I

A month had elapsed after my auspicious accession when Lāla Beg, who while I was prince had obtained the title of Bāz Bahādur, obtained the blessing of waiting on me. His rank, which had been 1,500, was raised to 4,000. I promoted him to the Subah of Bihar and gave him 2,000 rupees. Bāz Bahādur is of the lineage of the special attendants of our family; his father’s name was Niz̤ām, and he was librarian to Humāyūn. Kesho Dās Mārū, who is a Rājpūt of the province of Mairtha and is greater in loyalty than his contemporaries, I promoted to the rank of 1,500. I directed the ʿulamā and the learned men of Islam to collect those of the distinctive appellations of God which were easy to remember, in order that I might make them into my rosary49 (ward). On Friday eves50 I associate with learned and pious men, and with dervishes and recluses. When Qilīj K͟hān, who was one of the old retainers of the State in my revered father’s reign, was appointed to the government of the province of Gujarat, I presented him with a lakh of rupees for his expenses. I raised Mīrān Ṣadr Jahān from the rank of 2,000 to that of 4,000. I knew him in my childhood when I read the “Forty Sayings” with S͟haik͟h ʿAbdu-n-Nabī,51 whose history is given in detail in the Akbarnāma. From these early days till now Mīrān Ṣadr Jahān has acted towards me with single-minded loyalty, and I regard him as my preceptor in religions matters (k͟halīfa). Whilst I was prince and before my revered father’s illness, and during that time, when the ministers (pillars of the State) and the high nobles had become agitated, and each had conceived some idea of gain for himself and wished to become the originator of some act which could only bring ruin on the State, he had not failed in the activity of his service and devotedness. Having made ʿInāyat Beg,52 who for a long period in the reign of my father had been Master of Works (Dīwān-i-buyūtāt) and held the rank of 700, half-vizier of my dominions in the place of Wazīr K͟hān, I gave him the high title of Iʿtimādu-d-daula with the rank of 1,500, and I appointed Wazīr K͟hān to the Dīwānī of the province of Bengal, and assigned to him the settlement of the revenues thereof. To Patr Dās, who in the time of my father had the title of Rāy Rāyān, I gave the title of Raja Bikramājīt. The latter was one of the great Rajas of India, and it was in his reign that astronomical observatories were established in India. I made Patr Dās Master of Ordnance, and ordered that he should always have light artillery53 in the arsenal, 50,000 light guns54 and 3,000 gun-carriages, ready and in efficient order. He was a khatrī by caste, and rose in my father’s service from being accountant of the elephants’ stables to be diwan and an amir. He is not wanting in military qualities and in administrative skill. I made K͟hurram, the son of K͟hān Aʿz̤am (ʿAzīz Koka), who had had the rank of 2,000, an officer of 2,500.