The Institutes of Akbar 145.2

145.2

Then fourteen khágah pair engage with each other, and fight afterwards with the deer of the prince, till the fight with the deer of the prince is finished. Upon this, the deer of princes fight with each other, and then khágah deer. The betting on such fights must not exceed one muhur. Thirdly, with the deer of other people. His Majesty selects forty-two from his nearer friends, and appoints every two of them as opponents, forming thus one and twenty sets. The first winners receive each thirty deer, and all others get one less, so that the last get each eleven. To every set a Mal, a water-buffalo, a cow, a qúchqár (fighting ram), a goat, and a cock, are given. Fights between cows and goats are rarely mentioned to have been held in ancient times. Before the fighting commences, two khágah deer are brought in trimmed up, and are set against two deer belonging to people of various sets. First, with a deer belonging to a powerful grandee, and then the fight takes place before His Majesty. If a general assembly is announced, the fight may also take place, if the deer belongs to a commander of One Thousand. The betting on khágah deer is eight muhurs, and on deer belonging to one of a set, five muhurs, if it be an Atkal; and four, if an Anín. As deer have not equal strength and impetuosity of attack, the rule among deer-keepers is, once to select each of their deer in turn and take it to the arena. Such deer are called Anín.