The Institutes of Akbar 310.1

310.1

Regarding the tribe called Kambú, vide Beames’ Edition of Sir H. Elliot’s Glossary, I, 304. The Persian hemistich quoted (Metre Hazaj)— gsrteit wldoy aya gS pe wil & . ‘The Afghans are the first, the Kambus the second, and the Kashmiris the third, set of scoundrels’ must be very modern; for during the reigns of Akbar and Jahángír, it was certainly a distinction to belong to this tribe, as will be seen just now. The sixth ancestor of Shahbáz was Hájí Isma'íl, a disciple of the renowned saint Baháuddín Zakaríyá of Multán. Once a beggar asked the saint to give him an ashrafí, or goldmuhr, for the name of every prophet he would mention; but as Baháuddín could not pay the money, Hájí Isma’íl took the beggar to his house, and gave him an ashrafí for each of the ten or twenty names he mentioned. Another time, Hájí Ismá'íl acknowledged to the saint that his power of understanding was defective, whereupon the saint prayed for him, and from that time the Kambús are proverbial in Hindústán for sagacity and quickness of apprehension. Shahbáz at first devoted himself to a life of abstinence and austerity, as his ancestors had done; but the excellent way in which he performed the duties of kotwál, drew Akbar’s attention to him, and he was made an Amír and appointed Mír Tozak (quarter master).