Note 142 — The Fifteenth New Year’s Feast after the Auspicious Accession

On Thursday, the 16th, K͟hanjar K. was promoted to the mansab of 3,000 personal and horse, Qāsim K. to that of 2,000 personal and 1,000 horse, and Muḥammad Ḥusain, brother of K͟hwāja Jahān, who held the post of Bak͟hs͟hī to the army of Kāngṛa, that of 800 personal and horse. On the night142 of Monday, the 27th of the Divine month of Mihr, after one watch and seven gharis had passed, the royal standards were raised auspiciously and happily to return towards Hindustan. As the saffron had blossomed, a march was made from the neighbourhood of the city to the village of Pāmpūr.143 In the whole country of Kashmir there is saffron only in this place. On Thursday, the 30th, the feast of cups was held in a saffron field. Groves on groves, and plains on plains were in bloom. The breeze in that place scented one’s brain. The stem is attached (close?) to the ground. The flower has four petals, and its colour is that of a violet. It is of the size of a champa flower, and from the middle of it three stigmas of saffron grow. They plant the bulbs, and in a good year obtain 400 maunds of the current weight or 3,002144 Khurasan maunds. The custom is for half to go to the government, and half to the cultivators. A seer is bought and sold for Rs. 10. Occasionally its market price is more or less, and it is an established custom that they bring the saffron flowers plucked, and according to the plan they have adopted from of old, they take half its weight in salt as wages. There is no salt in Kashmir, and they bring it from Hindustan. Again, among the excellencies of Kashmir are the plumes of feathers (kalgī) and the hawks (jānwar-i-s͟hikārī). As much as 10,700 feathers are yearly obtained. Hawks and falcons are taken in nets to the number of 260. It has also nest sparrow-hawks (bās͟ha),145 and the nest sparrow-hawk is not bad. On Friday, the 1st of the divine month of Ābān, marching from Pāmpūr, I pitched my camp at K͟hānpūr. As it was reported to me that Zambīl146 Beg, ambassador from my brother S͟hāh ʿAbbās, had reached the neighbourhood of Lahore, a dress of honour and Rs. 30,000 for expenses were sent to him by Mīr Ḥusāmu-d-dīn s. ʿAẓudu-d-daula Injū.147 I ordered that whatever he might expend on entertaining the ambassador should be sent to him to the extent of Rs. 5,000.148 Before this I had directed that from Kashmir to the end of the hilly country buildings should be erected at each stage for the accommodation of myself and the ladies, for in the cold weather one should not be in tents. Although the buildings at this stage had been completed, as they were still damp and there was a smell of lime, we put up in tents. On Saturday, the 2nd, I halted at Kalampūr. As it had repeatedly been represented to me that in the neighbourhood of Hīrāpūr there was a waterfall149 very high and wonderful, as it was 3 or 4 koss off on the left of the road, I hastened there to see it. What can be written in its praise? The water pours down in three or four gradations(?). I had never seen such a beautiful waterfall. Without hesitation, it is a sight to be seen, very strange and wonderful. I passed the time there in enjoyment till the third watch of the day, and filled my eye and heart with the sight; but in the cloudy and rainy season it is not devoid of wildness. After the third watch had passed, in the evening I rode back to Hīrāpūr,150 and passed the night at that stage. On Monday, the 4th, crossing over the kotal of Bārī Brārī,151 I chose Pīrpanjal, at the head of the kotal, for a halting-place. Of the roughnesses of the pass and the difficulties of this road what shall I write? It is difficult for thought even to cross it. In these last few days snow had repeatedly fallen, the hills had become white, and in the middle of the path in some places ice had formed, so that the hoof of a horse had no hold, and a rider could only pass with difficulty. God Almighty bestowed upon us His mercy, for it did not snow on this day. The advantage was for those who went on in front. Those who followed came in for snow. On Tuesday, the 5th, going by the pass of Pīrpanjal the camp was pitched at Pos͟hāna. Although on this side there is a descent, yet as it is high, most of the people passed it on foot. On Wednesday, the 6th, we pitched at Bahramgalla. Near this village there is a waterfall and a very fine spring. According to orders, they had made a terrace for me to sit upon; indeed, this is a sight to be seen. I ordered that they should engrave on a stone tablet the date of the crossing, and place it on the top of the terrace (ṣuffa). Bī-badal K.152 composed some couplets, and this mark of my fortune remains on the path of poetry as a memorial on the tablet of Time(?). There are two Zamindars on this road in whose charge are the arrangements for the traffic on it, and they are in reality the keys of the country of Kashmir. They call one Mahdī Nāyak and the other Ḥusain Nāyak. The charge of the road from Hīrāpūr to Bahramgalla is in their hands. Bahrām Nāyak, the father of Mahdī Nāyak, during the Kashmiri government, was an important person. When the authority passed to the imperial servants, Mīrzā Yūsuf K., during his government, made Bahrām Nāyak a traveller to the country of non-existence. It is now equally in the possession and charge of the two.153 Although outwardly they are on good terms, they really bear great enmity towards each other. On this day S͟haik͟h Ibn Yamīn, who was one of the old trusted servants, went to the neighbourhood of God’s mercy (died).154 On account of my great reliance on him, my opium and drinking water155 were in his charge. On the night when we were encamped above the kotal of Pīrpanjal, the tents and furniture had not arrived. He was rather infirm and the cold affected him, and he became cramped so that he could not speak. He remained alive for two days in this state and then died. I gave over the private opium to K͟hawāṣṣ K., and the āb-dār-k͟hāna (the water department) to Mūsawī K. On Thursday, the 7th, the village of Thāna156 became the encamping place. Many monkeys (maimūn) were seen in Bahramgalla, and from that stage a great difference was apparent in the climate, the language, the clothing, the animals, and whatever properly belongs to a warm country. The people here speak both Persian and Hindi. Evidently Hindi is their real language, and they have acquired Kashmiri on account of the proximity of Kashmir. Briefly, one enters India at this place. The women do not wear woollen clothing, and like Indian women, they wear nose-rings.