Part 23

There are twenty-six others of this caste who have ruled for 1,010 years. They have the title of Rawal, and from the Rawal who was first known as Rawal down to Rana Amar Singh, the present Rana, there are twenty-six individuals who have ruled for the space of 461 years. 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 Babar, Rana Sanga collected together all the Rajas, Rays, and Zamindars of this province, and fought a battle in the neighbourhood of Biyana 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 Islam prevailed against the infidel forces, and a great defeat happened to them. The details of this battle have been given in the Memoirs of King Babar. My revered father (may his bright tomb be the abode of unending Grace) exerted himself greatly to put down these rebels, and several times sent armies against them. In the twelfth year after his accession he set himself to capture the fort of Chitor, which is one of the strongest forts of the inhabited world, and to overthrow the kingdom of the Rana, and after four months and ten days of siege took it by force from the men of Amar Singh's father, after much fighting, and returned after destroying the fort. Every time the victorious forces pressed him hard in order to capture him or make him a fugitive, but it so happened that this was not effected. In the end of his reign, on the same day and hour that he proceeded to the conquest of the Deccan, he sent me with a large army and reliable Sardars against the Rana. By chance these two affairs, for reasons which it would take too long to recount, did not succeed. At last I came to the throne, and as this matter was only half done, the first army I sent to the borders was this one. Making my son Parwiz its leader, the leading nobles who were at the capital were appointed to this duty. I sent abundant treasure and artillery with him. As every matter depends on its own season, at this juncture the unhappy affair of Khusrau occurred, and I had to pursue him to the Panjab. The province and the capital of Agra remained void. I had necessarily to write that Parwiz should return with some of the Amirs and take charge of Agra and the neighbourhood. In short, this time again the matter of the Rana did not go off as it should. When by the favour of Allah my mind was at rest from Khusrau's disturbance, and Agra became again the alighting place of the royal standards, a victorious army was appointed under the leadership of Mahabat Khan, `Abdu-llah Khan, and other leaders, and from that date up to the time when the royal standards started for Ajmir his country was trodden under foot by the victorious forces. As finally the affair did not assume an approved form, it occurred to me that, as I had nothing to do at Agra, and I was convinced that until I myself went there the affair would not be set to rights, I left the fort of Agra and alighted at the Dahrah garden. On the next day the festival of the Dasahra took place. According to the usual custom they decorated the elephants and horses, and I had them before me. As the mothers and sisters of Khusrau repeatedly represented to me that he was very repentant of his deeds, the feelings (lit. sweat) of fatherly affection having come into movement, I sent for him and determined that he should come every day to pay his respects to me. I remained for eight days in that garden. On the 28th news arrived that Raja Ram Das, who was doing service in Bangash and the neighbourhood of Kabul with Qilij Khan, had died. On the 1st of the month of Mihr I marched from the garden, and dismissed Khwaja Jahan to look after the capital of Agra and guard the treasure and the palace, and gave him an elephant and a special robe (fargul). On the 2nd Mihr news arrived that Raja Baso had died in the thanah of Shahabad, [402] which is on the border of the territory of Amar. On the 10th of the same month I halted at Rup Bas, which has now been named Amanabad. Formerly this district had been given as jagir to Rup Khawass. Afterwards, bestowing it on Amanu-llah, son of Mahabat Khan, I ordered it to be called by his name. Eleven days were passed at this halting-place. As it is a fixed hunting-place, I every day mounted to go hunting, and in these few days 158 antelopes, male and female, and other animals were killed. On the 25th of the month I marched from Amanabad. On the 31st, corresponding with the 8th Ramazan, Khwaja Abu-l-hasan, whom I had sent for from Burhanpur, came and waited on me, and presented as offerings 50 muhrs, 15 jewelled vessels, and an elephant, which I placed in my private stud. On the 2nd Aban, corresponding with the 10th Ramazan, news came of the death of Qilij Khan. He was one of the ancient servants of the State, and obtained the mercy of God in the 80th year of his age. He was employed at Peshawar in the duty of keeping in order the Afghans full of darkness. [403] His rank was 6,000 personal and 5,000 horse. Murtaza Khan Dakhani was unrivalled in the art of pulta-bazi, which in the language of the Dakhanis they call yaganagi, and the Moguls shamshir-bazi, 'sword-play' (fencing). For some time I studied it with him. At this time I exalted him with the title of Warzish Khan (Exercise-Khan). I had established a custom that deserving people and dervishes should be brought before me every night, so that I might bestow on them, after personal enquiry into their condition, land, or gold, or clothes. Amongst these was a man who represented to me that the name Jahangir, according to the science of abjad (numerals reckoned by letters), corresponded to the great name "Allah Akbar." [404] Considering this a good omen, I gave him who discovered (this coincidence) land, a horse, cash, and clothing. On Monday, the 5th Shawwal, corresponding to the 26th Aban, the hour for entering Ajmir was fixed. On the morning of the said day I went towards it. When the fort and the buildings of the shrine of the revered Khwaja appeared in sight, I traversed on foot the remainder of the road, about a kos. I placed trustworthy men on both sides of the road, who went along giving money to fakirs and the necessitous. When four gharis of day had passed, I entered the city and its inhabited portion, and in the fifth ghari had the honour of visiting the venerated mausoleum. After visiting it I proceeded to the auspicious palace, and the next day ordered all those present in this honoured resting-place, both small and great, belonging to the city, and travellers, to be brought before me, that they might be made happy with numerous gifts according to their real circumstances. On the 7th Azar I went to see and shoot on the tank of Pushkar, which is one of the established praying-places of the Hindus, with regard to the perfection of which they give (excellent) accounts that are incredible to any intelligence, and which is situated at a distance of three kos from Ajmir. For two or three days I shot water-fowl on that tank, and returned to Ajmir. Old and new temples which, in the language of the infidels, they call Deohara [405] are to be seen around this tank. Among them Rana Shankar, who is the uncle of the rebel Amar, and in my kingdom is among the high nobles, had built a Deohara of great magnificence, on which 100,000 rupees had been spent. I went to see that temple. I found a form cut out of black stone, which from the neck above was in the shape of a pig's head, and the rest of the body was like that of a man. The worthless religion of the Hindus is this, that once on a time for some particular object the Supreme Ruler thought it necessary to show himself in this shape; on this account they hold it dear and worship it. [406] I ordered them to break that hideous form and throw it into the tank. After looking at this building there appeared a white dome on the top of a hill, to which men were coming from all quarters. When I asked about this they said that a Jogi lived there, and when the simpletons come to see him he places in their hands a handful [407] of flour, which they put into their mouths and imitate the cry of an animal which these fools have at some time injured, in order that by this act their sins may be blotted out. I ordered them to break down that place and turn the Jogi out of it, as well as to destroy the form of an idol there was in the dome. Another belief they have is that there is no bottom to this tank. After enquiry it appeared that it is nowhere deeper than 12 cubits. I also measured it round and it was about 1 1/2 kos.

On the 16th Azar news came that the watchmen had marked down a tigress. I immediately went there and killed it with a gun and returned. After a few days a nilgaw (blue bull) was killed, of which I ordered them to take off the skin in my presence and cook it as food for the poor. Over 200 people assembled and ate it, and I gave money with my own hand to each of them. In the same month news came that the Franks of Goa had, contrary to treaty, plundered four cargo vessels [408] that frequented the port of Surat in the neighbourhood of that port: and, making prisoners a large number of Musulmans, had taken possession of the goods and chattels that were in those ships. This being very disagreeable to my mind, I despatched Muqarrab Khan, who is in charge of the port, on the 18th Azar, giving him a horse and elephant and a dress of honour, to obtain compensation for this affair. On account of the great activity and good services of Yusuf Khan and Bahaduru-l-mulk in the Subah of the Deccan, I sent standards for them.

It has been written that my chief object, after my visit to the Khwaja, was to put a stop to the affair of the rebel Rana. On this account I determined to remain myself at Ajmir and send on Baba Khurram, my fortunate son. This idea was a very good one, and on this account, on the 6th of Day, at the hour fixed upon, I despatched him in happiness and triumph. I presented him with a qaba (outer coat) of gold brocade with jewelled flowers and pearls round the flowers, a brocaded turban with strings of pearls, a gold woven sash with chains of pearls, one of my private elephants called Fath Gaj, with trappings, a special horse, a jewelled sword, and a jewelled khapwa, with a phul katara. In addition to the men first appointed to this duty under the leadership of Khan A`zam, I sent 12,000 more horse with my son, and honoured their leaders, each according to his condition, with special horses and elephants and robes of honour, and dismissed them. Fida'i Khan was nominated to the paymastership of this army. At the same time Safdar Khan was despatched to the government of Kashmir in place of Hashim Khan. He received a horse and robe of honour. On Wednesday, the 11th, Khwaja Abu-l-hasan was made general paymaster (bakhshi-kul), and received a dress of honour. I had ordered them to make a large caldron [409] at Agra for the revered mausoleum of the Khwaja. On this day it was brought, and I ordered them to cook food for the poor in that pot, and collect together the poor of Ajmir to feed them whilst I was there. Five thousand people assembled, and all ate of this food to their fill. After the food I gave money to each of the dervishes with my own hand. At this time Islam Khan, governor of Bengal, was promoted to the mansab of 6,000 personal and horse, and a flag was given to Mukarram Khan, son of Mu`azzam Khan.

On the 1st of Isfandarmuz, corresponding with the 10th Muharram, 1023 (20th February, 1614), I left Ajmir to hunt nilgaw, and returned on the 9th. I halted at the fountain of Hafiz Jamal, [410] two kos from the city, and passed the night of Friday [411] there. At the end of the day I entered the city. In these twenty days ten nilgaw had been killed. As the good service of Khwaja Jahan and the smallness of his force for the defence and government of Agra and that neighbourhood were brought to my notice, I increased his mansab by 500 personal and 100 horse. On the same day Abu-l-fath Dakhani came from his jagir and waited on me. On the 3rd of the same month news came of the death of Islam Khan; he had died on Thursday, the 5th Rajab, in the year 1022 (21st August, 1613). In one day, without any previous illness, this inevitable event occurred. He was one of those born and brought up in the house (house-born). The naturally good disposition and knowledge of affairs that showed themselves in him were seen in no one else. He ruled Bengal with entire authority, and brought within the civil jurisdiction of the province countries that had never previously come under the sway of any of the jagirdars or into the possession of any of the Chiefs of the State. If death had not overtaken him he would have done perfect service.

The Khan A`zam had himself prayed that the illustrious prince should be appointed to the campaign against the Rana, yet, notwithstanding all kinds of encouragement and gratification on the part of my son (Shah Jahan), he would not apply himself to the task, but proceeded to act in his own unworthy manner. When this was heard by me, I sent Ibrahim Husain, who was one of my most trusty attendants, to him, and sent affectionate messages to him to say that when he was at Burhanpur he had daily begged this duty of me, as he considered it equivalent to the happiness of both worlds, and had said in meetings and assemblies that if he should be killed in this enterprise he would be a martyr, and if he prevailed, a ghazi. I had given him whatever support and assistance of artillery he had asked for. After this he had written that without the movement of the royal standards to those regions the completion of the affair was not free of difficulty. By his counsel I had come to Ajmir, and this neighbourhood had been thus honoured and dignified. Now that he had himself prayed for the prince, and everything had been carried out according to his counsel, why did he withdraw his foot from the field of battle and enter the place of disagreement? To Baba Khurram, from whom up till now I had never parted, and whom I sent in pure reliance on his (Khan A`zam's) knowledge of affairs, he should show loyalty and approved good-will, and never be neglectful day or night of his duty to my son. If, contrariwise, he should draw back his foot from what he had agreed to, he must know that there would be mischief. Ibrahim Husain went, and impressed these words on his mind in the same detailed way. It was of no avail, as he would not go back from his folly and determination. When Baba Khurram saw that his being in the affair was a cause of disturbance, he kept him under observation and represented that his being there was in no way fitting, and he was acting thus and spoiling matters simply on account of the connection he had with Khusrau. [412] I then ordered Mahabat Khan to go and bring him from Udaipur, and told Muhammad Taqi, the diwan of buildings, to go to Mandesur and bring his children and dependants to Ajmir.

On the 11th of the month news came that Dulip, son of Ray Singh, who was of a seditious and rebellious disposition, had been heavily defeated by his younger brother, Rao Suraj Singh, who had been sent against him, and that he was making disturbance in one of the districts of the Sarkar of Hissar. About this time Hashim of Khost, the faujdar, and the jagirdars of that neighbourhood seized him, and sent him as a prisoner to Court. As he had misbehaved repeatedly, he was capitally punished, and this was a warning to many of the seditious. In reward for this service an increase of 500 personal and 200 horse was made to the mansab of Rao Suraj Singh. On the 14th of the month a representation came from my son Baba Khurram that the elephant `Alam-guman, of which the Rana was very fond, together with seventeen other elephants, had fallen into the hands of the warriors of the victorious army, and that his master would also soon be captured.

THE NINTH NEW YEAR'S FEAST AFTER MY AUSPICIOUS ACCESSION.

The commencement of the ninth year after my auspicious accession, corresponding with the Hijra year 1023 (1614).