The Book of Akbar 316: THE SEIZURE OF SHAH ABU-L-M‘AALI AND HIS BEING PUT INTO CONFINEMENT.
The Akbarnama (H. Beveridge), vols. I–II 316
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THE SEIZURE OF SHAH ABU-L-M‘AALI AND HIS BEING PUT INTO CONFINEMENT.
316.1
When the world-adorning purposes of God, which arrange the succession of events, visible and invisible, will that the robe of sovereignty be bound with the skirt of perpetuity, and be embroidered with the hem of permanence, He strips makebates and strifemongers of their leaves and branches, and overthrows them, root and stem. Moreover, those evildoers and mischief-makers do of themselves certain things which prove the cause of their ruin and destruction. An instance of this occurred in the beginning of dominion’s morning, and of the glory of the Caliphate, when fortune’s diadem was exalted by the grandeur of H.M. the Shahinshah and the throne of sovereignty irradiated by his light (far). At this time the stupefying wine of thoughts and caprices overpowered Shah Abu-l-M‘aali, whose brain had been ruined by the worship of his own beauty and the intoxication produced by the world, and whose foot of moderation had departed from the path of firmness, as has been here and there shown by accounts of his proceedings from the beginning of his service of H.M. Jahanbani till the death of that lord of the age.
316.2
Now that the ruler of the age (Humāyūn) had hastened along the highway to the world of permanence, and the Cycle-lord of the Earth (Akbar) had by means of sundry veils of seclusion rescued himself from the contentions and the disturbed hearts both of ascetics and of worldlings, the blood of this crapulous debauchee and conner of obsolete almanacs was made worse than ever by evil thoughts. Black bile and melancholia augmented the brain-trouble and swelled the materials of phrensy. He was drunk, and a mad dog bit him; mad, and a scorpion stung him! Moreover, some old servants of the world, who from an evil nature looked to nothing but their own interest, nay, rather who thought of nothing but their own spite, and did not in their folly and blindness distinguish right from wrong, were the means of adding to his delusions, and were ever pouring the drug of inconsideration into the wine of his arrogance. At this juncture, Bairam Khan Khan-khanan, who had taken into his skilful hands the bridle of the administration of the empire, and was putting order into distracted affairs, performed, as his first service after H.M. the Shahinshah’s accession, the work of chaining up this drunken madman.
316.3
The account of this is as follows: As the fumes of madness were circulating in the head of that firebrand, and the cap-peak of his understanding had been set awry by the wind of arrogance, the notes of seditious thoughts became visible, and disaffected imaginings came forth from behind their veil. On the third day after the accession a great assembly was organised in the same delightful spot. H.M. the Shahinshah sate on the throne of sovereignty, and the leaders and commanders respectfully stood around. Before this meeting had taken place, a message had been sent to that recalcitrant, announcing that a great festival had been agreed upon, and that affairs of state and finance would be brought forward, and that his presence was necessary. That self-conceited fool made excuses, which were worse than his offence, and among them were that he had not yet left off mourning (for Humayun), and that, supposing that he came, how would H.M. the Shahinshah behave to him, and where would he sit in the assembly, and how would the officers come forward to receive him? As they were urgent in sending for him, he threw off the veil and recounted the nearness of his relationship to H.M. Jahanbani Jannat Ashiyani and the great consideration which the latter had for him. After making his attendance conditional on certain things which were of no value, he attended, for his megrim had not come to a head. He sate down on H.M. the Shahinshah’s right hand.
316.4
It was the time when the festive board was about to be spread, and when he put out his hands to wash them, Tolaq Khan Qūcīn, who was strong and nimble, behaved dexterously, and coming from behind seized both of Shāh Abū-l-M‘aālī’s arms, and made him a prisoner. Others who stood at the foot of the throne came forward to assist. Shāh Abū-l-M‘aālī became helpless from astonishment, and surrendered. The men who were with him, being, many of them, old well-wishers of the dynasty, had intentionally assembled before him and on the same day became anew immediate servants (of Akbar), and received royal favours. This was the first head of game that fell into fortune’s net. In the institutes of sovereignty, and canons of justice, binding and imprisoning are commended for this reason that a trial should be made of ill-fated and contentious people. For man is a strange talisman, and a riddle hard of interpretation. It is not right to send him to the abode of non-existence for one displeasing act which he may exhibit, for this lofty foundation cannot be rebuilt except by the hand of God’s power. Therefore, wise administrators have not approved of haste in demolishing and annihilating this high palace. Verse. For the head of the slain cannot be joined on again. Neither is it the part of enlightened persons to stain a prison with the existence of a man whose evil nature, sedition and strifemongering, have been several times tested. But as the world-adorning God has made H.M.
316.5
the Shāhinshāh a perfect revelation of his own ample compassion, he snapped the thread of counsel in the hands of well-wishers, and, granting life to this inexperienced young man, sent him to prison, so that in the beginning of the universe-adorning sovereignty there might be nothing which had the appearance of tyranny. Though to endeavour to annihilate the wicked is benevolence to all mankind, yet, as it is a benevolence which in semblance is tyranny, it should not appear at such a new-year-season of fortune. They put this mad sedition-monger in chains and sent him to Lahore, where those charged with the business put him in charge of Pahlwan Gulgaz (the rose eyed?) the Chief-Constable, (‘asas) of Lahore. That foolish man, either from carelessness or from an evil design, did not exercise proper caution in guarding that wicked intriguer, and so the latter escaped from jail. M. Shah and the other officers in Lahore imprisoned Pahlwan Gulgaz, and he from fear of disgrace took poison, and so freed himself from the prison of his body. Mun‘im Khan, to whom Kabulistan was entrusted, was pleased on hearing the news (of Abu-l-M‘aali’s imprisonment), and by stratagem sent for Mir Hashim, Abu-l-M‘aali’s brother, who held in jagir Kahmard, Ghorband, Zuhhaq, etc., and imprisoned him. This too was a good proceeding.
316.6
One of the joyful events of this period was the sending a rescript of fortune to Kabul the abode of peace. When the imperial mind obtained respite from the necessary affairs of this region, it fixed itself upon the extirpation of Iskandar. He was passing his time in the Siwalik hills, and the expedition from Delhi had in truth been directed against him. But H.M. remembered their highnesses the Begums, and also he had promised, for the quieting of the devoted heroes who had recently come to India, that he would send all the old and trusty officers to Kabul to bring quickly, in the first place,