The Memoirs of Jahāngīr (Jahāngīrnāma) 22.5
The Tūzuk-i-Jahāngīrī (Rogers, Beveridge) 22.5
- Language
- English
22.5.1
On Friday, the 15th of the Divine month of Farwardin, two quids oxen, out of the offerings of the Zamindar of Tibet, were brought before me. In form and appearance they closely resemble the buffalo. All the limbs are covered with wool which properly belongs to animals in a cold country. For instance, the rang goats (ibex), which they brought from the country of Bhakkar (Sind) and the hill-country of the Garmsir (in Afghanistan) were very handsome, and had but little wool, and those that are met with in these hills, on account of the excessive cold and snow, are covered with hair and ugly. The Kashmiris call the rang hafol. On this day they brought a musk deer as an offering. As I had not tasted its flesh, I ordered it to be cooked; it appeared very tasteless and bad for food. The flesh of no other wild animal is so inferior. The musk-bag when fresh has no scent, but when it is left for some days and becomes dry, it is sweet-scented. The female has no musk-bag. In these two or three days I frequently embarked in a boat, and was delighted to go round and look at the flowers of Phak and Shalamar. Phak is the name of a pargana situated on the other side of the lake. Shalamar is near the lake. It has a pleasant stream, which comes down from the hills, and flows into the Dal Lake. I bade my son Khurram dam it up and make a waterfall, which it would be a pleasure to behold. This place is one of the sights of Kashmir. On Sunday, the 17th, a strange affair took place.
22.5.2
Shah Shuia‘ was playing in the buildings of the palace. By chance there was a window with a screen in front of it looking towards the river. They had put a screen in front, but had not fastened the door, and the prince in play went towards the window to look out. As soon as he arrived there he fell headlong. By chance they had laid down a carpet below the wall, and a farrāsh (carpet-spreader) was sitting near it. The child’s head fell on this carpet, and his feet on the back and shoulders of the farrāsh, and so came to the ground. Though the height was 7 yards (dara'), the compassion of God, the Great and Glorious, came to his aid, and the carpet and the farrāsh became the means of saving his life. God forbid, but if it had not been so it would have been a serious matter for him. At the time Rāy Mān, the head of the Khidmatīyya piyādas, was standing below the jharoka. He immediately ran and picked him up, and holding him in his arms, was taking him upstairs. In that condition he asked: “Whither are you carrying me?” He replied: “Into the presence of His Majesty.” Then weakness overcame him, and he could speak no more. I was lying down when this alarming news reached me, and ran out in a state of bewilderment. When I saw him in this state my senses forsook me, and for a long time holding him in my affectionate embrace I was distracted with this favour from Allah.
22.5.3
When a child of four years of age falls headlong from a place ten ordinary (shar'ī) gaz in height, and no harm happens to his limbs, it is a cause for amazement. Having performed my prostrations for this fresh act of goodness, I distributed alms, and ordered that deserving people and the poor who lived in the city should be brought before me in order that I might assure them their means of livelihood. A strange thing was that three or four months before this event Jotik Rāy, the astrologer, who is one of the most skilled of the class in astrology, had represented to me, without any intermediary, that it was predicted from the Prince’s horoscope that these three or four months were unpropitious to him, and it was possible he might fall down from some high place, but that the dust of calamity would not settle on the skirt of his life. As his prognostications had repeatedly proved correct, this dread dwelt in my mind, and on these dangerous roads and difficult mountain passes I was never for a moment forgetful of that nursling of the parterre of Fortune. I continually kept him in sight, and took the greatest precautions with regard to him. When I arrived in Kashmir this unavoidable catastrophe occurred. His nurses (anagahan) and wet-nurses must have been very careless. God be praised that it ended well! In the garden of ‘Aishabad (abode of pleasure) I saw a tree which had numerous blossoms. They were very large and beautiful, but the apples that the tree produced were bitter.
22.5.4
As excellent service had been done by Dilawar K. Kakar, I promoted him to the mansab of 4,000 personal and 3,000 horse, and also conferred mansabs on his sons. Shaikh Farid, s. Qutbu-d-din K. was raised to the mansab of 1,000 personal and 400 horse. The mansab of Sar-barah K. was ordered to be 700 personal and 250 horse, and I promoted Nuru-llah Kurkiraq (in charge of furriery?) to that of 600 personal and 100 horse, bestowing on him the title of Ta’rif K. The offerings of Thursday, the 21st, were handed over as a reward to Qiyam K., the chief huntsman. As Allah-dad Afghan, s. the Tariki, had repented of his evil deeds and come to Court at the request of I‘timadu-d-daula I pardoned his offences; the signs of disgrace and shame were evident on his forehead and, according to the previous arrangement, I bestowed on him the mansab of 2,500 and 200 horse. Mirak Jalayir, one of the auxiliaries of Bengal, was promoted to the mansab of 1,000 personal and 400 horse. As it was reported that the jughasi (i.e., black) tulips were in good bloom on the roof of the Jami‘ mosque, on Saturday, the 23rd, I went to see them. In truth, one side of that flower-garden was very beautiful.
22.5.5
The parganas of Mau and Mihrl (?) (text has Maud Mihri), which previously to this had been granted to Raja Baso, and afterwards continued to his rebel son Suraj Mal, were now bestowed on Jagat Singh, his brother, who had not obtained the tika (mark of royal succession), and I gave the pargana of Jammu to Raja Sangram. On Monday, the 1st of Urdibihisht, I went to the house of Khurram, and entered his bath-house, and when I came out he presented his offerings. Of these I accepted a trifle in order to please him. On Thursday, the 4th, Mir Jumla was promoted to the mansab of 2,000 personal and 300 horse. On Sunday, the 7th, I rode to the village of Chardara, which is the native country of Haidar Malik, to hunt partridges. In truth this is a very pleasant spot of ground, and has flowing streams and lofty plane-trees. At his request I gave it the name of Nurpur (city of light). On the road there was a tree called halthal; when one takes one of the branches and shakes it, the whole of the tree comes into movement. The common people believe that this movement is peculiar to that tree. By chance in the said village I saw another tree of the same kind, which was in similar movement, and I ascertained that it was common to that species of tree, and not confined to one tree. In the village of Rawalpur, 2½ koss from the city towards Hindustan, there is a plane-tree, burnt in the inside.
22.5.6
Twenty-five years before this, when I myself was riding on a horse, with five other saddled horses and two eunuchs, we went inside it. Whenever I had chanced to mention this people were surprised. This time I again ordered some of the men to go inside, and what I had in my mind came to pass in the same manner. It has been noted in the Akbar-nama that my father took thirty-four people inside and made them stand close to each other. On this day it was represented to me that Prithi-chand, s. Ray Manohar, who was one of the auxiliaries of the army against Kangra, had sacrificed his life in a useless (bī-sarfa) battle with the enemy.
22.5.7
On Thursday, the 11th, certain servants of the State were promoted in the following manner: Tatar K. to 2,000 personal and 500 horse; ‘Abdu-l-‘Aziz K. to 2,000 personal and 1,000 horse; Debi Chand of Gwalior to 1,500 personal and 500 horse; Mir Khan, s. Abu-l-Qasim K. Namakin to 1,000 personal and 600 horse; Mirza Muhammad to 700 personal and 300 horse; Lutfu-llah to 300 personal and 500 horse; Nasru-llah ‘Arab to 500 personal and 250 horse; and Tahawwur K. was appointed to the faujdarship of Mewat. On Thursday, the 25th, Sayyid Bayazid Bukhari, faujdar of Bhakkar, raised his head of honour with the Subadarship of Sind, and his mansab, original and increased, was fixed at 2,000 personal and 1,500 horse, and he was also presented with a standard. Shaja‘at K. ‘Arab obtained the honour of exaltation to the mansab of 2,500 personal and 2,000 horse. Anira’i Singh-dalan, at the request of Mahabat K., was appointed to Bangash. Jan-sipar K. was promoted to the mansab of 2,000 personal and 1,500 horse.