Muntakhab al-tawarikh 79.16
Muntakhabu-t-tawārīkh (Ranking, Lowe, Haig) 79.16
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79.16.1
In the first part of the month Ziqa'dah of this year a communication arrived from Man Singh from the banks of the Indus, saying that Mirza Shahrukh had arrived at the Indus, and that he had gone to meet him, and had offered him as a present 6,000 rupees, and mutdi cloth &c., and five elephants, and that Mirza Shahrukh had then crossed the river Indus. This service of his was favourably received by the Emperor, * * In this year many of the Amirs and magnates of the Empire died and among them was Muhammad Baqi Khan, brother of Adham Khan, in the district of Karahkatangah, which was his jagir. Another was Ghazi Khan Badakhshi, who had obtained leave to go from Ilahabad towards Oudh, and there he answered to the Apparitor of God. During the latter days of his life he had been so weak, that they used to take him up in a blanket and bring him to the palace. When any one asked him "How are you?" He would answer "Thank God! my appetite for avarice is still hearty!" And to any one of his importunate servants, when he asked him for anything he used to say: "My God! you will also become a commander of a thousand, for you appreciate my power of getting on." One night in front of the house of Qulij Khan, where a great company had gathered together to break the Fast, he interpreted the Surah "Inna fatahnd"; I struck in; he made his statement, and then was angry.
79.16.2
I said: "Thank God, that the dispositions of the great ones of the kingdom are becoming known." He said: "Perhaps you may have imagined that this vehemence was for the sake of a mancab of a thousand horse." I said, "So it seems." Many were angry at this. Afterwards by the intervention of A'caf Khan, bakhshi, we read the verse "Peace is best," and that trouble was got over. On another occasion when he was going from Ilahabad, I had a discussion with Ghazi Khan for a part of the way on scientific matters and the traditional words of the Shaikhs, and then we took leave of one another, and that was the last time I met him. And another was Sultan Khvajah. He also was one of the elect disciples of His Majesty. After burying him in his tomb which was of a peculiar new-fangled kind, they put a grating facing the light of the sun, so that its rays, which cleanses from sins might every morning fall on his face. And they say that tongues of fire used to rest on his mouth; but God knows best the truth of the matter. And Mulla Ahmad of Tattah found out a mnemosynon with one unit short:— "The Sultan of heretics."
79.16.3
At the beginning of the year nine hundred and ninety-three (993) which was the end of the thirtieth year of the Emperor’s reign, Mirza Shahrukh and Rajah Bhagvan Das arrived near Fathpur, and having sent the Prince Danyal with Shaikh Ibrahim Chishti, and a number of the Amirs to meet them, they conducted them to the Court. And the Emperor gave him a lac of rupees in ready money, and goods out of the wardrobe, and three Persian horses, and five elephants, and ever so many camels and mules and servants. Meanwhile the Emperor, in accordance with his established custom, married the Prince Sultan Salim to the daughter of Rajah Bhagvan Das. And going himself to his house the Emperor celebrated the ceremony of marriage in the presence of the Qazis and nobles. And the sum of two krors of tankahs was fixed as the marriage settlement. And they performed all the ceremonies, which are customary among the Hindus, such as lighting the fire &c., and over the litter of the Princess the Emperor ordered gold to be scattered all the way from that house to the palace:— "From the quantity of jewels and gold, that were scattered, Peoples hands were weary of picking them up."
79.16.4
And Rajah Bhagvan gave as his daughter’s dowry, several strings of horses, and a hundred elephants, and boys and girls of Abyssinia, India, and Circassia, and all sorts of golden vessels set with jewels, and jewels, and utensils of gold, and vessels of silver, and all sorts of stuffs, the quantity of which is beyond all computation. And to each one of the Amirs, who were present, according to their station and rank, he gave Persian, Turkish, and Arabian horses, with golden saddles, &c.
79.16.5
And on Thursday the nineteenth of Rabi‘ ul-awwal of the year nine hundred and ninety-three, the scouts of the army of spring, and the advance-guard of the Naurōz-i-Sulṭānī came up, and according to the writings of Mīrzā Niẓām-ud-dīn Aḥmad, who has preserved all the dates in his history, the thirtieth year from the Accession began. But the fact is the beginning of the second cycle from the Accession started in Aṭak Banāras from 25th of Rabī'ul-awwal of the year nine hundred and ninety-four, as shall be related hereafter if God, He is exalted, will. And at the same time the origin of the mistake on the part of the Mīrzā was forgetfulness of the fact that, on account of the intercalated days, which every three years makes a difference of one lunar month, there is a difference in each cycle of a whole year, between the solar and the lunar years. And I, as I had no almanack with me, allowed myself necessarily to follow the Mīrzā, and the responsibility rests on him (but God knows best!). Moreover the Mīrzā during these years was in Gujarāt, and not with the Imperial Camp.
79.16.6
To return to our story. He kept the festival in the old manner, and held a high feast. And every day he received hospitality from every stall-holder among the Amīrs, and suitable presents, so that even food, and scents, and presents fit for dancing-girls, were admitted into the treasury. And from a commander of 5000, down to an Aḥadī they were all obliged to bring presents and gifts and offerings. And even this worthless atom, who is of no account at all, except that I am called an Hazārī on account of my being honoured with 1000 bīghahs of land, followed the example of the old father of Joseph (peace be on him!) and brought my 10 rupees, and they had the honour of being accepted: "My service is not according to my liking, Pray give me another service." At this festival they gave to the eldest prince the rank of commander of 12,000, and to the next 9,000, and to the third 7,000, and gave them a separate wardrobe, and royal insignia, and a tumantogh and kettle-drum.
79.16.7
And at the beginning of this year Mir Murtaza, and Khudawand Khan, the Amirs of the Dak’hin, who had gone from the district of Berar against Ahmadnagar, which is the metropolis of Nizam-ul-mulk, were beaten in a battle with Qalabat Khan, the Vazir of Nizam-ul-mulk. Then they went to Rajah ‘Ali Khan to Burhanpur. And Rajah ’Ali Khan plundered them of all their elephants, sent 150 of them by his son, Ibrahim Khan, to the Court, where he arrived at the festival of Nouroz. After he had done homage he presented the rest of the goods, which remained over, and stimulated him to conquer the Dak’hin. In consequence of this the Emperor made Shah Fath Ullah (whom he afterwards called Mir Fath Ullah), with the title of ‘Azud-ul-doulat and a present of 5,000 rupees, and a horse and a robe of honour, Çadr-in-chief of the districts of Hindustan, and appointed him to the Dak’hin; in order that looking after Khan-i-A’zam and Shihab-ud-din Ahmad Khan and the other Amirs, and leading an army into that district he might become a rallying point for the Amirs.
79.16.8
And he left his servant Kamalai Shirazi at home as his Deputy, to bring to Court the lackland Aimahdars, some of whom still remained scattered here and there. And under him the Çadrate reached its acme, but afterwards little by little things reached such a point, that Shah Fath Ullah, for all his pomp and circumstance, could not make a grant of 5 bigahs of land! Nay, after withdrawing the whole of the grants of lands, his duty of collecting from them became a mere phantom. The very land in the same manner became the dwelling-place of wild animals, and of noxious beasts and reptiles, not of Aimahdars and ryots. And now those oppressions are chronicled in the books of the acts of the Çadrs, although their names are forgotten:— Of all the Great Qadrs naught remains In the heart of the Earth but the bones of the Qadrs. In the month of Rajab of this year news arrived from Kabul, that Mirza Sulaiman, who after being defeated had gone from Badakhshan to Mirza Muhammad Hakim, had been satisfied with one village called Asalu (?). Then with the help of the Uymaqs he fought a battle with the Uzbeks within the boundaries of Badakhshan, and gained the victory. He put many of them to the sword, and to those whom the sword had spared he gave dresses of honour, and dismissed them. And that district found as it were a second life: “He it is who sendeth down rain, after that they have despaired”.