Note 10 — The Sixth New Year’s Feast after my auspicious Accession.

I ordered the lamplighters and the relators of stories that at the time of their salutations and telling stories they should commence with this couplet, and it is still in use. On Saturday, the 3rd day, a letter came from K͟hān Aʿz̤am that ʿĀdil K͟hān Bījāpūrī had given up his evil ways and become penitent, and in the rank of servants was now more loyal than ever. On the 14th day, corresponding with the last day of S͟hawwāl, leave was given to Hās͟him K͟hān to go to Kashmir. I gave a special wrapper10 (fargal) to Yādgār ʿAlī, ambassador of Persia. I presented Iʿtiqād K͟hān with one of my special swords called Sar-andāz (thrower of heads). Having honoured S͟hādmān, son of K͟hān Aʿz̤am, with the title of S͟hādmān K͟hān, I increased his rank to 1,700 personal and 500 horse. He was also honoured with a standard. Sardār K͟hān, brother of ʿAbdu-llah K͟hān Fīrūz-jang, and Arslān Bī Ūzbeg, who had been appointed to the charge of Sīvistān,11 were also presented with standards. I ordered that jāʾi-namāz (prayer carpets) should be made of the skins of the antelopes I had myself killed, and be kept in the public audience hall for people to use in saying their prayers. By way of special respect to the Law I ordered that the Mīr-i-ʿAdl and Qāẓī, who are the pivot of affairs of the divine law, should not kiss the ground (before me), which is a kind of sijda. On Thursday, the 22nd day, I went again to Samonagar to hunt. As many antelope had collected together in that neighbourhood I had this time sent off K͟hwāja Jahān to prepare a qamargah and drive in the antelope into a broad place from all sides, to place canvas-walls (sarā-parda) and a gulāl-bāṛ12 round it. They enclosed a kos and half of ground with sarapardas. When news came that the hunting-place had been prepared and a great deal of game had been confined, I went there and began to hunt on the Friday. Until the next Thursday I went every day to the qamargah with the ladies and hunted as much as I liked. Some of the deer were taken alive and some killed with arrows and guns. On the Sunday and Thursday, on which I do not fire guns at animals, they took them alive in nets. In these seven days 917 head, male and female, were caught, and of these 641 deer were caught alive. Four hundred and four head were sent to Fatḥpūr to be let loose on the plain there, and with regard to 84 I ordered them to put silver rings in their noses and set them free in the same place. The 276 other antelope that had been killed with guns and arrows and by cheetahs were divided from day to day among the Begams and the slaves of the palace, and Amirs and servants of the palace. As I became very tired (dilgīr) of hunting, I gave orders to the Amirs to go to the s͟hikārgāh (hunting-place) and hunt all that were left over, and myself returned in safety to the city. On the 1st Bahman, corresponding with the 17th Ẕī-l-qaʿda, I ordered that in the large cities of my dominions, like Ahmadabad, Allahabad, Lahore, Delhi, Agra, etc., they should arrange bulg͟hur-k͟hānas (places for the distribution of cooked food) for the poor; thirty mahalls (districts) had been ordered. Six had already been established, and twenty-four other districts were now ordered. On the 4th Bahman I increased the rank of Rāja Bīr Singh Deo by 1,000 personal; it was previously 4,000 personal and 2,000 horse: I gave him a jewelled sword. Another sword out of my special ones, that was called S͟hāh-bacha, (king’s child), was presented to S͟hāh-nawāz K͟hān. On the 16th Isfandārmuẕ, Badīʿu-z-zamān, son of Mīrzā S͟hāhruk͟h, was appointed to the army against the rebel Rānā and a sword sent by his hand for Rāja Bāso. Having again heard that the Amirs on the borders interfere with authority in matters that do not concern them, and do not observe laws and regulations, I ordered13 that the Bakhshis should circulate orders, to be obeyed amongst the Amirs of the borders, that hereafter they should not interfere in such things, which are the private affair of kings. The first thing is this, that they should not sit in the jharokha (private window), and should not trouble their officers and captains of the auxiliaries with keeping guard or saluting them, and should not have elephant fights, and should not inflict the punishment of blinding, and should not cut off ears and noses, and should not force Islam on anyone, and should not confer titles on their servants, and should not order the royal servants to do kūrnis͟h or prostration, and should not force singers to remain on duty in the manner customary in (royal) darbars, and should not beat drums when they go out, and when they give a horse or elephant to anyone, whether to the king’s attendants or to their own servants, they should not place reins or elephant’s goads on their backs and make them perform obeisance. In going in procession they should not take with them on foot in their retinue the royal attendants. If they write anything to them they should not put a seal on it.14 The regulations which have been styled the rules of Jahāngīr (Āyīn-i-Jahāngīrī) are now in force.15