The Tūzuk-i-Jahāngīrī; or, Memoirs of Jahāngīr, Volume 2

On the eve of Wednesday, the 23rd Rabīʿu-l-awwal, 1027 (March 10, 1618), after the lapse of fourteen and a half gharīs, the entrance of the Sun—that is, H.M. the Great Light—the Benefactor of the Universe, into the constellation of the Ram, took place. Twelve years had now passed from the august Accession of this suppliant at the throne of God, in prosperity, and the New Year began in joy and thanksgiving. On Thursday, 2 Farwardīn, Divine month, the festival of my Lunar weighment took place, and the fifty-first year of the age of this suppliant at God’s throne began with rejoicings. I trust that my life will be spent in the doing of God’s Will, and that not a breath of it will pass without remembering Him. After the weighment had been finished, a fresh feast of joy was arranged, and my domestic servants celebrated the day with brimming cups.

On this day Āṣaf K. (Nūr-Jahān’s brother), who held the rank of 5,000 with 3,000 horse, was favoured by the grant of 4,000 two-horsed and three-horsed troopers, and S̤ābit K. was raised to the office of Examiner of Petitions. I bestowed the post of the Artillery on Muʿtamid K. A Kachh (Cutch) horse had been brought as an offering by the son of Dilāwar K. No horse so good as this had come into my establishment till I encamped in Gujarat, and as M. Rustam showed a great liking for it, I presented it to him. On the Jām were conferred four rings—viz., diamond, ruby, emerald, and sapphire—and two hawks. I also gave four rings—viz., ruby, cat’s-eye, emerald, and sapphire—to Raja Lachmī Narāyan (of Kūch Bihār). Muruwwat K. had sent three elephants from Bengal, and two of them were included in my private stud. On the eve of Friday I ordered lamps to be placed round the tank, and this had a very good appearance. On Sunday Ḥājī Rafīq came from ʿIrāq, and had the good fortune to kiss the threshold, and laid before me a letter which my brother S͟hāh ʿAbbās had sent with him. The aforesaid person is a slave of Mīr Muḥammad Amīn K., the caravan leader, and the Mīr had brought him up from his childhood. In truth, he is an excellent servant. He frequently visited ʿIrāq, and became intimate with my brother S͟hāh ʿAbbās. This time he had brought tipchāq horses and fine cloth-stuffs, such that of the horses some were put into the private stables. As he is a skilful slave, and a servant worthy of favour, I honoured him with the title of Maliku-t-tujjār (King of Merchants). On Monday I gave Raja Lachmī Narāyan a special sword, a jewelled rosary, and four pearls for ear-rings. On Mubārak-s͟hamba (Thursday) I increased by 500 horse the manṣab of 5,000 personal and 1,000 horse held by Mīrzā Rustam; Iʿtiqād K. was promoted to a manṣab of 4,000 and 1,000 horse; Sarfarāz K. was promoted to a manṣab of 2,500 and 1,400 horse; Muʿtamid K. to the rank of 1,000 with 350 horse. On Anīrāʾī Singh-dalan and Fidāʾī K., horses worth 100 muhars were conferred. As the guarding and administration of the Punjab had been entrusted to Iʿtimādu-d-daula, I, at his request, promoted to the government (ḥukūmat) of the said Ṣubah, Mīr Qāsim, the Bak͟hs͟hī of the Aḥadīs, who is related to him, and bestowed on him a manṣab of 1,000 personal with 400 horse and the title of Qāsim K. Before this I had given Raja Lachmī Narāyan an ʿIrāq horse. On this day I conferred on him an elephant and a Turkī horse, and gave him leave to go to Bengal. The Jām was dismissed to his native country with a present of a jewelled waist-sword, a jewelled rosary, two horses, one from ʿIrāq and the other a Turkī, and a dress of honour. Ṣāliḥ, brother’s son of the deceased Āṣaf K͟hān, was promoted to a manṣab of 1,000 with 300 horse, and allowed to go to Bengal, and a horse was conferred on him. On this date Mīr Jumla came from Persia, and had the good fortune to pay his respects. The aforesaid is one of the respectable Sayyids of Isfahan and his family have always been held in honour in Persia, and now his brother’s son, Mīr Riẓā, is in the service of my brother, S͟hāh ʿAbbās, and has the rank of Ṣadr, and the Shah has married him to his own daughter. Mīr Jumla had left Persia fourteen years before this, and gone to Golconda to Muḥammad Qulī Qut̤bu-l-mulk. His name is Muḥammad Amīn. Qut̤bu-l-mulk gave him the title of Mīr Jumla. For ten years he had been his Mudār ʿAlaihi (Centre of Affairs) and his Ṣāḥib Sāmān (factotum). After Qut̤bu-l-mulk died, and the rule came to his brother’s son, the latter did not treat the Mīr properly, and so he took leave and hastened to his native country. The Shah, on account of his connection with Mīr Riẓā, and the respect which he had for men of merit, showed much consideration for and kindness to him. He (the Mīr) also presented fitting offerings, and passed three or four years in Persia, and amassed properties (estates?). As he several times represented that he wished to enter the service of this Court, I sent a farmān and invited him. Immediately the farmān arrived he severed his connections there, and set the face of loyalty towards this Court. This day he attained the honour of kissing the carpet, and produced as offering twelve horses, nine tuqūz of silk cloths, and two rings. As he had come with devotion and sincerity, I conferred favours and kindness on him, and presented him with 20,000 darbs (Rs. 10,000) for his expenses and a dress of honour. On the same day I gave the post of Bak͟hs͟hī of the Aḥadīs to ʿInāyat K. in place of Qāsim K. I honoured K͟hwāja ʿĀqil, who is one of the old servants, with the title of ʿĀqil K., and presented him with a horse. On Friday, Dilāwar K., coming from the Deccan, had the good fortune to kiss the threshold, and presented an offering of 100 muhars and Rs. 1,000. Bāqir K., Faujdār of Multan, was promoted to a manṣab of 800 personal and 300 horse. Tijārat K. and Bāhūʾī, Zamindar of Multan, were honoured with the gift of elephants. On Saturday, the 11th, marching from Doḥad with the intention of hunting elephants, I pitched at the village of Kara Bāra (Garbara?). On Sunday, the 12th, the village of Sajāra (Sajwara?) became the place of alighting. It is 8 koss from this place to Doḥad, and 1½ koss to the hunting-ground. On the morning of Monday, the 13th, I went to hunt elephants with a body of my private servants. As the grazing-place of the elephants is in a hilly country, with elevations and depressions, a passage is obtained with difficulty by one on foot. Before this, a large body of horse and foot had surrounded the jungle after the manner of a qamurg͟ha, and outside the jungle, on a tree, they had prepared a wooden platform for me. On all sides of this they had arranged seats on other trees for the Amirs. They had got ready 200 male elephants with strong nooses, and many female elephants. On each elephant there were seated two elephant-drivers of the tribe of Jarga, whose special employment is the hunting of elephants, and it had been arranged that they should bring the wild elephants from the jungle into my presence, that I might witness the hunt. It happened that at the time when the men from all sides entered the jungle, in consequence of the thickness of the forest and the heights and hollows, the chain was broken, and the order of the qamurg͟ha did not remain perfect. The wild elephants in bewilderment turned in every direction, but twelve male and female came to this side (where J. was). As the fear was that they might escape, they drove in the tame elephants and tied them (the wild elephants) up wherever they found them. Although many elephants were not caught, at least two excellent ones were captured, very handsome in shape, of good breed, and perfect marks. As there is a hill in the jungle in which the elephants were, called Rākas (Rākshas) Pahār, or demon hill, I called these two elephants Rāvan Sar and Pāvan Sar, these being the names of two demons. On Tuesday, the 14th, and Kam-s͟hamba (Wednesday), the 15th, I halted.