The Seventeenth New Year’s Feast after the Auspicious Accession
Alexander Rogers translation
It is a strange thing that when a pearl of the value of Rs. 14,000 or 15,000 was lost in the harem, Jotik Rāy, the astrologer, represented that it would be found in two or three days. Ṣādiq K. Rammāl (soothsayer) represented that in the same two or three days it would come from a place which was perfectly clean and pure, such as the place of worship or oratory. A female soothsayer represented that it would soon be found, and that a woman with white skin would bring it in a state of ecstasy, and give it into the hand of the Ḥaẓrat (the king). It happened that on the third day one of the Turkish girls found it in the oratory, and all in smiles and in a happy frame of mind gave it to me. As the words of all three came true each one was favoured with an acceptable reward. This is written because it is not devoid of strangeness.
Letter of the King of Persia.
(After compliments, and good wishes for that “brother dear as life” the letter proceeds as follows):
Verse.
Between us and you there cannot be trouble,
There can be naught but love and trust.
“It is hoped that you, too, will preserve your affection for us, and that you will not approve of certain strange actions, and that if any suspicion about friendship arise you will endeavour by your innate goodness and continual love to efface it. May the ever-vernal flower of union and cordiality remain in bloom, and every effort be made to strengthen the foundations of concord, and to cleanse the fountains of agreement which regulate temperaments and territories. You will regard all our dominions as belonging to you, and will extend your friendship to everyone (in them?), and will proclaim that it (Qandahar) has been given up to him (ʿAbbās) without any objection, and that such trifles are of no importance, and that though the governor and officers who were in the fort did some things which were obstacles to friendship, yet what took place was done by you and me. They performed the duties of service and life devotion. It is certain, too, that Your Majesty will be gracious to them, and will treat them with royal kindness, and will not shame me before them. What more need I write? May thy star-brushing standards ever be associated with the Divine aids!” Reply to the Letter of Shah ʿAbbās.
“Unfeigned thanks, and pure thanksgivings are due to the sole object of worship (God) for that the maintenance of the compacts and treaties of great princes is the cause of the order of Creation and the repose of mankind. A proof of this is the harmony and unity which existed between us and the exalted family (of Persia), and which were increased during our time. These things were the envy of contemporary sovereigns. The glorious Shah—the star of heaven’s army, the ruler of the nations, the adorner of the Kayānī tiara, the fitting occupant of the throne of Chosroes, the fruitful tree of the gardens of sovereignty, the splendid nursling of the parterres of prophecy and saintship, the cream of the Ṣafawī dynasty—hath without ground or reason, engaged in disturbing the rose-garden of love and friendship and brotherhood in which for long periods there has been no possibility of a breath of confusion. Clearly the methods of union and concord among princes require that they make oaths of friendship to one another, and that there should be perfect spiritual agreement between them. There should be no need of physical contact, and still less should there be any necessity for visiting one another’s countries for ‘shooting and spectacle’ (sair u s͟hikār).
Verse.
Alas, a hundred times for the love passing thought!
After I had given leave to the ambassadors, I devoted all my energy to urging on the Qandahar force, and presented my son K͟hān Jahān, who had been sent for for certain matters, with an elephant, a special horse, a jewelled sword and dagger, and a dress of honour. I sent him on as an advance guard, and directed him to remain in Multan until the arrival of Prince S͟hahriyār with the victorious army. Bāqir K., who was faujdār of Multan, was summoned to Court, and I appointed ʿAlī-qulī Beg Darman to assist him (K͟hān Jahān), and raised him to the mansab of 1,500. In the same manner, having raised M. Rustam to the mansab of 5,000, I appointed him to the duty of assisting that son with the (Qandahar) army. Las͟hkar K. came from the Deccan, and waited on me, and was also attached to that army. Allah-dād K. Afg͟hān, M. ʿĪsā Tark͟hān, Mukarram K., Ikrām K., and other Amirs, who had come from the Deccan and from their fiefs, after being presented with horses and dresses of honour, were sent with K͟hān Jahān. ʿUmdatu-s-salṭana Āṣaf K. was sent to Agra to bring to Court the whole of the treasure in muhrs and rupees which had accumulated from the beginning of the reign of my father. Aṣālat K., s. K͟hān Jahān, was promoted to the mansab of 2,000 and 1,000 horse. Muḥammad S͟hafīʿā, Bakhshi of Multan, had the title of K͟hān conferred on him. I gave leave to S͟harīf, Vakil of my fortunate son S͟hāh Parwīz, to go with all possible haste, and bring my son to wait on me with the army of Behar, and writing a gracious farman with my own hand I urged him to come.
On this day Mīr Mīrān, the grandson of S͟hāh Niʿmatu-llah, died suddenly. I hope that he will be among the pardoned. A raging elephant threw down the huntsman Mīrzā Beg and killed him: I assigned his duties to Imām-wirdī.
In the end a wolf’s cub becomes a wolf
Although he grow up with man. (Saʿdī.)
On this day Mūsawī K. arrived with ʿAbdu-l-ʿAzīz, the envoy of Bī-daulat. As his requests were unreasonable, I did not allow him to speak, but handed him over to Mahābat to be kept in prison. On the 5th of the month I pitched on the bank of the river of Lūdiyāna (the Sutlej). I promoted K͟hān Aʿz̤am to the mansab of 7,000 with 5,000 horse. Rāja Bhārat, the Bandīla, from the Deccan, and Dayānat K. from Agra, came and waited on me. I pardoned the offences of Dayānat K., and gave him the same mansab that he had previously held. Rāja Bhārat was raised to the mansab of 1,500 and 1,000 horse, and Mūsawī K. to that of 1,000 and 300 horse. On Thursday, the 12th, in the pargana of Thānesar, Rāja Bīr Singh Deo, having waited on me, reviewed his army and elicited great praise. Rāja Sārang Deo was promoted to the mansab of 1,500 with 600 horse. In Karnāl Āṣaf K., coming from Agra, lifted up the head of honour in kissing my stirrup. His coming at this time was the herald of victory. Nawāzis͟h K., s. Saʿīd K., having arrived from Gujarat, paid his respects. When Bī-daulat was at Burhanpur, at his request I had appointed Bāqī K. to Jūnāgaṛh. He had been ordered to come to Court, and now came and shared in my service. As my march from Lahore took place without previous notice, and time did not admit of delay or reflection, I came with the few Amirs who were in attendance. Until I arrived at Sihrind only a few men had the good fortune to accompany me, but after passing beyond it, great numbers of the army came in from all sides and quarters. Before arrival at Delhi such a force had come together that in any direction in which one looked the whole plain was occupied by troops.
As it was reported that Bī-daulat had left Fatḥpūr and was coming in this direction, and making continuous marches towards Delhi, I gave the victorious army orders to put on their chiltas (quilted coats). In this disturbance the pivot of the management of affairs and the arrangement of the army were entrusted to Mahābat K. The command of the vanguard was given to ʿAbdu-llah K. Of the selected young men and experienced sipāhīs, whoever was asked for by him was enrolled in his corps. I ordered him to march a koss ahead of the other forces. He was also entrusted with the intelligence department and the control of the routes. I was ignorant of the fact that he was in league with Bī-daulat, and that the real object of that evil-natured one was to send news from my army to him. Previously to this he used to bring long written slips of true and false news, saying that his spies had sent them from that place. The purport was that they (the spies) suspected some of my servants of being in league with Bī-daulat, and of sending him news. Had I been led away by his intrigues and become alarmed at this time when the wind of disturbance was blowing strongly I would have been obliged to destroy many of my servants. Although some faithful servants suspected his evil intentions and untruthfulness, the time was not one for removing the veil openly from the face of his deeds. I guarded my eye and tongue from doing anything which might carry terror into his evil mind, and showed him more attention and favour than before, with the idea that possibly he would be struck with shame, and might turn away from his evil deeds, and give up his evil nature and sedition. That rejected one to all eternity, in whom a tendency to vileness and falsity was natural, did not fail to do what was in accordance with himself, as will be related hereafter.
If you plant it in the garden of Paradise,
And water it from the eternal stream thereof,
If you pour on its root pure honey,
In the end it shows its natural quality,
And it bears the same bitter fruit.
In fine, when I was near Delhi, Sayyid Bahwa Buk͟hārī, Ṣadr K., and Rāja Kis͟han Dās came out of the city, and had the good fortune to kiss my stirrup. Bāqir K., faujdār of Oudh, also on this day came to the victorious camp. On the 25th of the month, passing by Delhi, I pitched my camp on the bank of the Jumna. Girdhar, s. Rāy Sāl Darbārī, having come from the Deccan, had the honour to pay his respects. He was promoted to the mansab of 2,000 and 1,500 horse, and obtained the title of Raja, and was clothed in a dress of honour. Zabar-dast K., Master of the Ceremonies, was honoured with a standard.