Note 48 — The Fourteenth New Year’s Feast from the Auspicious Accession

On Friday, the 16th, I gave leave to Muk͟hliṣ K., whom I had sent for to take up the duties of diwan to S͟hāh Parwīz, and I gave him the rank he had48 had in Bengal—viz., 2,000 with 700 horse. On Saturday I halted. At this stage Sayyid Niẓām s. Mīr Mīrān Ṣadr Jahān, who was faujdār of Kanauj, waited upon me, and presented two elephants, and some hawks. I accepted one elephant and a pair of hawks. On Sunday, the 18th, we marched. At this time the King of Persia had sent with Parī Beg Mīr S͟hikār (chief huntsman) one falcon (s͟hunqār) of good colour. There was another which had been given to the K͟hān ʿĀlam. This one was sent along with the S͟hāhī falcon (i.e., the one intended for Jahāngīr), and it died on the road. The S͟hāhī falcon, too, got mauled by a cat owing to the carelessness of the Mīr S͟hikār. Though it was brought to Court, it did not live more than a week. What can I write49 of the beauty and colour of this falcon? There were many beautiful black markings on each wing, and back, and sides. As it was something out of the common, I ordered Ustād Manṣūr, who has the title of Nādiru-l-ʿaṣr (wonder of the age) to paint and preserve50 its likeness. I gave the Mīr S͟hikār Rs. 2,000 and dismissed him.