Muntakhab al-lubab 147: Death of Mun'im Khan, Khan-khanan.

147

[Text, vol. ii. p. 674.] Khan-khanan now fell ill. Since the day he incurred the shame of allowing the real Guru to escape, he pined with vexation, and he was attacked with a variety of diseases, which neither Greek nor European physicians could cure, and he died. He was a man inclined to Sufi-ism, and was a friend to the poor. During all the time of his power he gave pain to no one. * * * But the best intentions are often perverted into wrong deeds. It entered the mind of Khan-khanan that he would build in every city a sarai, a mosque, or a monastery, to bear his name. So he wrote to the subadars and diwans of different places about the purchase of ground and the building of sarais, mosques, and colleges. He gave strict injunctions and also sent bills for large sums of money. When his order reached the place, all the officials had regard to his high dignity, and looking upon his order as a mandate from heaven, they directed their attention to the building of the sarais in their respective cities. In some places ground fit for the purpose was freely sold by the owners; but it happened in other places that although the officials were desirous of buying suitable land, they could not obtain it with the consent of the owners. Considering only their own authority, and the necessity of satisfying Khan-khanan, the officials forcibly seized upon many houses which had been occupied by the owners and their ancestors for generations, and drove the proprietors out of their hereditary property. Numbers of Musulmans, Saiyids and Hindus were thus driven, sighing and cursing, out of their old homes, as it happened at Burhanpur and at Surat. * *
Upon the death of Khan-khanan there were various opinions as to who should be appointed to his office of wazir and the subadari of the Dakhin. It was the desire of Prince 'Azimu-sh Shan, who had a leading part in the government of the country, and of Sa'du-llah Khan, the diwan, that Zu-l fikar Khan should be appointed wazir, and that the two sons of Khan-khanan should be respectively appointed Bakhshiu-l Mulk and Subadar of the Dakhin. But Zu-l fikar Khan was unwilling to retire from his position as Bakhshi of the Empire and Subadar of the Dakhin for the sake of being made minister. He said, "When Your Majesty made Khan-khanan your minister, I could make no objection; but now, until my father has been raised to that dignity in the usual way, I cannot presume to accept the office." A long discussion followed. Prince 'Azimu-sh Shan said that Zu-l fikar wanted to have his father appointed minister, and to hold all the other offices himself. The Emperor could not make up his mind to act in opposition to the wishes of any one. * * It was finally arranged that until the appointment of a permanent wazir, Sa'du-llah Khan, son of 'Inayatu-llah Khan, diwan of the person and the khalisa, should be appointed to act as deputy, and to carry on affairs in communication with Prince Muhammad 'Azim.