Note 2 — The Fourteenth New Year’s Feast from the Auspicious Accession

Possibly the praise of S͟hāh-Jahān’s inventive powers refers to his arrangements for the orchestra. The kuwarga is defined in the Ain, Blochmann, 50, as a damāma—i.e., a large drum. See illustration in Plate VIII. to Blochmann’s Ain. The karanā and surnā are wind-instruments, and are also represented in Plate VIII. With regard to the mursal, Blochmann, p. 51, has: “The mursalī, which is the name of a tune played by the mursil.” Apparently the mursal is the overture, or some introductory strain, and played only by a portion of the band. ↑