Jahangir

“ He, like his English friends, had thought it better to brave Jahangir’s animosity in Agra itself than fall beneath the attack of hirelings in some distant fray. In the capital, there was always a chance of a political upheaval as the outcome of a quarrel, whereas, in a remote part, the minions of a vengeful monarch might strike unheeded. Jahangir’s tenure of the throne was far from stable. Yet, though he might not dare openly to put to death a noble of high rank, this challenge meant little else, even if it held [Pg 172] the plausible pretext that Sher Afghán chose his doom voluntarily. ”

“ Even he could not be aware that the beautiful Nur Mahal, whose fascination for Jahangir is known to all India, would become a widow, and hence regain her ascendency at court. It is true. Her husband, Sher Afghán, is dead. She herself is Sultana by this time, and her first act has been to free all the European prisoners in Agra, Delhi, and other cities, whose bondage was the result of Jahangir’s earlier policy. Judge for yourself what she will say when she hears of the excesses committed by Abdul Aziz. ”

“ On the day when the royal camp was pitched at Kāliyādaha, Bī-daulat sent his army against the victorious forces, and stationed himself with K͟hān-k͟hānān and a few men at the distance of a koss in the rear. Barq-andāz K., who had made an agreement with Mahābat K., was lying in wait. When the armies were ranged opposite to each other, he got his opportunity, and attacked with a body of musketeers, and joined the royal army, crying out, “Success to King Jahāngīr!” When he reached Mahābat K., the latter took him to wait on my fortunate son Parwīz, who bestowed royal favours upon him. ”

“ They have no occasion for fear or favour, and mercilessly expose the failings of their contemporaries. Not that they are to be trusted any more than other Orientals when speaking of themselves. Bābar has suppressed the story of his vassalage to Shah Ismaʿīl, of his defeat at Ghajdawān, and his treatment of ʿĀlam Lodi; and Jahāngīr has glossed over his rebellion against his father, and the circumstances of Shīr-āfgan’s death. But when they have to speak of others—whether kings or nobles—they give us the whole truth, and perhaps a little more. ”

“ As he was at this time Subahdar of the Panjab, he had undertaken the capture of Kāngra, to which in strength no other fort in the hill country of that province or even in the whole inhabited world can be compared. He had obtained leave to go on this duty. I was much grieved in mind at this news; in truth, grief at the death of such [325] a loyal follower is only reasonable. As he had died after spending his days in loyalty, I prayed to God for pardon for him. On the 4th K͟hūrdād the mansab of Sayyid Niz̤ām was fixed, original and increase, at 900 personal and 650 horse. ”

“ Indeed, we may go further and say there is twice as much matter in them as in Bābar’s Memoirs, and that they are by far the most entertaining of the two works. Not that Jahāngīr was by any means as remarkable a man as his great-grandfather. He was a most faulty human being, and his own account of himself often excites our disgust and contempt. But he had the sense not to confine his narrative to an account of himself, and he has given us a picture of his father, the great Akbar, which is a bigger ‘plum’ than anything in Bābar’s Memoirs. ”

“ But, after two years, he failed in securing trading privileges for the East India Company, and left Agra in 1611. The influence of Nur Mahal, his favourite wife, was paramount over Jahangir; but he had no children by her. Of his four sons, he kept the eldest, Khusru, in prison for rebellion. Parwiz, the second, was a drunkard. Khurram, afterwards known as Shah Jahan, succeeded his father. Shahryar was the youngest. In 1615 Sir Thomas Roe arrived at the court of Jahangir, as ambassador from James I., and remained until 1618. ”

“ He does not desire to associate with men, but as he has obtained great notoriety people go to see him. He is not devoid of knowledge, for he has thoroughly mastered the science of the Vedānta, which is the science of Sufism. I conversed with him for six gharis; he spoke well, so much so as to make a great impression on me. My society also suited him. [357] At the time when my revered father conquered the fort of Āsīr, in the province of Khandesh, and was returning to Agra, he saw him in the very same place, and always remembered him well. ”

“ According to the order Āṣaf K͟hān sent him to Gwalior fort. In the same month Jahāngīr Qulī K͟hān was promoted to an increased mansab, and was given that of 2,500 personal and 2,000 horse. Aḥmad Beg K͟hān, who is one of the old retainers of the State, committed some faults on the journey to the Subah of Kabul, and Qilīj K͟hān, who was the commander of the army, had repeatedly complained of his making himself disagreeable. Necessarily I summoned him to Court, and in order to punish him handed him over to Mahābat K͟hān to confine him in the fort of Ranṭambhor. ”

“ Elephants and dresses of honour were conferred on Sayyid Kabīr and Bak͟htar K͟hān, Wakils of ʿĀdil K͟hān. On Mubārak-s͟hamba, the 13th Ābān, Jahāngīr Qulī Beg, Turkmān, who is dignified with the title of Jān-sipār K͟hān, came from the Deccan and waited on me. His father was included among the Amirs of Iran. He had come from Persia in the time of the late king Akbar, and having a mansab conferred on him was sent to the Deccan. ”

“ As no horses could go on the road, by way of precaution he took some with him, but left [136] nearly20 all his sipahis’ horses behind, and sent them to Kashmir (i.e., Srinagar) . The young men girded the belt of duty on their waists, and went up the hills on foot. The g͟hāzīs of the army of Islam fought from post to post with the ill-fated unbelievers as far as Narkot, which was one of the enemy’s strongholds. There the corps of Jalāl and Jamāl, which had been sent by different roads, met, and the enemy, not having the power to oppose them, took to flight. ”

“ The rank of Āqā Mullā, brother of Āṣaf K͟hān, who had been exalted by becoming my servant, was fixed in original and increase at 1,000 with 300 horse. He was in close attendance during this journey. Considering that some of the Aimāqs attached to the royal army were in league with K͟husrau, and fearing that consequently some fraud or sedition might enter their minds, 2,000 rupees were given to their leaders to distribute amongst their men and make them hopeful of the Jahāngīrī favour. I gave money to S͟haik͟h Faẓlu-llah and Rāja Dhīrdhar to distribute to faqirs and brahmans on the road. ”

“ Those who were present sent that wretch to hell. All the men who had been [392] scattered about put on their armour and attacked the village. Those doomed men (k͟hūn-giriftahā) had the disgrace of harbouring35 rebels and sedition-mongers, and were killed in the course of an astronomical hour. They brought into captivity their wives and daughters, and, setting fire to the village, made it so that nothing was seen but heaps of ashes. They then lifted up the body of Rūḥu-llah and went and joined Fidāʾī K͟hān. With regard to the bravery and zeal of Rūḥu-llah, there was no dispute ”

“ An elephant was presented to Jahāngīr Qulī K͟hān. On the 24th, Jagat Singh, son of Kunwar Karan, who was in his 12th year, came and waited on me, and presented petitions from his grandfather, the Rānā Amar Singh, and from his father. The signs of nobility and high birth were evident on his face. I pleased him with a dress of honour and kindness. To the mansab of Mīrzā ʿĪsā Tark͟hān an addition of 200 personal was made, so that it attained to 1,200 personal and 300 horse. ”

“ At the end of the same day a petition came to me from Islām K͟hān from Agra, together with a letter which Jahāngīr Qulī K͟hān had written to him from Bihar. Its purport was that on the 3rd Ṣafar (30th May, 1607) , after the first watch, ʿAlī Qulī Istājlū had wounded Qut̤bu-d-dīn K͟hān at Bardwan, in the province of Bengal, and that he had died when two watches of the same night had passed. The details of this matter are that the aforesaid ʿAlī Qulī was sufrachī (table servant) to S͟hāh Ismāʿīl (the 2nd) , ruler of Iran ”

“ On Friday, the 24th, Ṣafdar K͟hān, who had come from the Subah of Behar, had the good fortune to perform his obeisance to me. He presented as offerings a hundred muhrs, a sword, and five female and one male elephant. The male elephant was accepted. On the same day Yādgār K͟hwāja of Samarkand came from Balkh and paid his respects. He made offerings of an album, some horses, and other presents, and was dignified with a robe of honour. On Wednesday, 6th Ẕī-l-ḥijja, Muʿizzu-l-mulk, who had been removed from the paymastership of the army against the rebel Rānā, ill and miserable, waited on me. ”

“ I patronised him, and gave him the rank of 400 personal and 200 horse. Again, another force, containing 193 mansabdars and 46 ahadis, I sent after Parwīz for service in the Deccan. Fifty horses were also entrusted to one of the servants of the Court to convoy to Parwīz.
On Friday, the 13th, a certain idea came into my mind, and this rhymed g͟hazal was produced:—
“What shall I do, for the arrow of loss of thee has pierced my liver!
So that the (evil) eye not reaching me again may reach another?
Thou movest as if frenzied, and the world is frenzied for thee. ”

“ 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 ”

“ Shortly after, one of the lamp attendants who was acquainted with the Wazīru-l-mulk gave him the news of K͟husrau’s flight. The Vizier took him to the Amīru-l-umarā, who, as the news seemed true, came in a distracted state of mind to the door of the private apartments and said to one of the eunuchs, “Take in my request and say that I have a necessary representation to make, and let the king honour me by coming out.” As such an affair had not entered my thoughts I supposed that news had come from the Deccan or Gujarat. When I came out and heard what the news was, I asked, “What must be done? ”

“ At the instigation of these seditious people he made S͟haik͟h Bahlūl a martyr with the sword of recklessness at the Chārbāg͟h (garden) which H.M. Bābar had made on the bank of the Jumna. As Muḥammad Bak͟hs͟hī was a disciple of the S͟haik͟h, he carried the body into the fort of Bayānā, and buried it there.
On Sunday, the 16th, marching 41⁄2 koss, I came to the stage of Barah.157 As the garden and well which had been built by the order of Maryam-zamānī (Jahāngīr’s mother) in the pargana of Jūsat was on the road, I went to inspect them. ”

“ He was accordingly handed over to Anīrāʾī Singh-dalan to be imprisoned in Gwalior fort.
On Saturday, the 25th K͟hūrdād, my fortunate son Sult̤ān Parwīz came from Allahabad, and with prostration at the threshold of the Khalifate illuminated the forehead of sincerity. After he had performed the ceremony of kissing the ground and been honoured with special favour, I bade him sit. He presented 2,000 muhars and 2,000 rupees by way of naẕr, and made an offering of a diamond. As his elephants had not yet arrived, he would produce them on another occasion. ”

“ During this long time they have never bent their necks in obedience to any of the kings of the country of Hindustan, and have for most of the time been rebellious and troublesome, so much so that in the reign of the late king Bābar, Rānā Sāngā collected together all the Rajas, Rays, and Zamindars of this province, and fought a battle in the neighbourhood of Biyāna with 180,000 horse and several lakhs of foot-soldiers. By the aid of Almighty God and the assistance of fortune the victorious army of Islām prevailed against the infidel forces, and a great defeat happened to them. ”

“ I appointed all the men to accompany him, and according to the condition and rank of each made him happy with a present—a horse, an elephant, a robe of honour, or money—and gave them leave. After some days I conferred on ʿAbdu-llah K͟hān, at the request of Bābā K͟hurram, a jewelled dagger, as he was exceedingly broken-hearted and grieved in mind, and an order was passed that his mansab should continue as it was before, and that he should remain in attendance on my son among those appointed for duty in the Deccan. ”

“ When the merchant ʿAbdu-l-Karīm left Iran for Hindustan, my exalted brother S͟hāh ʿAbbās sent me by his hand a rosary of cornelian from Yemen and a cup of Venetian workmanship, which was very fine and rare. On the 9th of the same month they were laid before me. On the 18th some offerings of many kinds of jewelled ornaments, etc., which Sult̤ān Parwīz had sent to me, were laid before me. ”

“ In order to please him and strengthen his [279] promises and oath, he took him inside the female apartment and made a confidant36 of him, and brought his own wife and son to him, and made use of all kinds of entreaty and lamentation. The gist of his (S͟hāh Jahān’s) remarks was: “My times are hard, and my position difficult; I make myself over to you, and make you the guardian of my honour. You must act so that I no longer undergo contempt and confusion.” The K͟hān-k͟hānān, with a view to bring about peace, parted from Bī-daulat and proceeded to the royal army. ”