Storia do Mogor 60.7
Storia do Mogor (Irvine) 60.7
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60.7.1
If the case of the baniya is a curious one, none the less curious is that which befell Akbar with the poor man. You must know first that in the Mogul kingdom there are different kinds of poor, otherwise called faquires (faqīr), who ask alms. The more important among these are the bequedes (be-qaid)—that is to say, ' liberated ' ; while others are beters (be-tars)—that is to say, ' fearless.' The first are very rude in manner, using great liberty in speech, fearing no one and paying no one respect, whatever his rank, using much abusive language and scandalous words, or polite sayings, just as it pleases them. These men often enter boldly into the houses of great men, and if the doorkeepers stop them from going in, they apply to the whole family much abusive language, sparing neither master nor mistress, nor sons, nor grandchildren, nor ancestors, coupling their names with the coarsest abuse. In spite of this the people of the house show no anger, but secure their departure by soft words, giving them some alms and begging their pardon. If the faqīrs are allowed entrance, they march straight to where the master is and seat themselves close to him, although dirty, their feet all over mud, and clad in filthy rags. Without any deference or civility of speech, they take the tobacco-pipe out of the master's mouth and place it in their own. With much respect the master returns thanks for this honour, and secures [94] the man's departure by some money.
60.7.2
They are so contumacious and insolent that sometimes they are not satisfied with what they get, and it is necessary to give them all they demand. Never do they beg you to give for the love of God, imagining they would anger God by asking alms in His name, alms being such a petty thing in comparison with the greatness of God. Everyone tries to find a means of satisfying them without showing any hesitation, for fear of some curse. In addition, the people of Hindustan are very kindly and compassionate. The beters (be-tars) are faqīrs who ask for alms with a sharp knife in their hand. They place themselves in front of a shop, and begin to shout for alms to be given them, pointing at what they want. When the shopkeeper refuses to give a man what he asks for, he wounds himself on the arms or on the head or on the legs, and, taking the blood, throws it into the shop as a sign of his curse. Ordinarily these faqīrs ask for alms at the shops of the baniyas, who are very timid, and rather than see such wounds, give them what they ask, usually some money.
60.7.3
Akbar having noticed this class of faqīrs, who cut their own bodies, concluded that such men would be sure to fight with great spirit and courage. He selected four thousand as armed horsemen with good pay, and he sent them against the villagers of Matora (Mathurā). At the very first advance, without waiting for the fighting to begin, all of them turned tail, and fled as hard as they could go. On hearing of this cowardly flight, Akbar ordered them to be summoned, and asked them the cause; they had not even waited for the enemy, and yet had such courage that they inflicted wounds on themselves. Their reply was in very few words, and they made Akbar understand that their making cuts on themselves was not courage but deceit. They said: 'When we cut our own flesh, we avoid veins, nerves, and bones; but an enemy wounds without mercy, and it does not suit us to have our bodies cut about by the hands of others.' The king on hearing these words thrust them forth, being satisfied at having unveiled the cowardice and the deceit of this sort of faqir, of whom in the Mogul country there are to this day a great number.
60.7.4
I will now write of two cases which led to Akbar's leaving behind him regulations for his descendants. The first case was when at one stroke he raised one of his servants of low rank to the position of a great lord. This man, finding himself so suddenly wealthy, fell into anxiety about his manner of living, his behaviour to others, and the regulation of his expenditure. Thus by the next day he was mad. On hearing what had happened, Akbar fixed as a rule for his [95] descendants that they should not make any man a grandee all at once, but only little by little, and as a fact the royal house observes this rule to this day.
60.7.5
This rule was good, but the following one was nothing more than a piece of diabolical policy. It happened that Akbar had married his daughter to a noble. After a time this son-in-law rose in rebellion with the idea of obtaining the throne, but fortune did not favour him in this enterprise, for he was captured through treachery and beheaded. Thus Akbar bequeathed to his descendants the rule not to give their daughters in marriage. This rule remained in force up to the time of Aurangzeb, who gave his daughters in marriage upon their insisting, as I shall recount hereafter (II., 41). However, although not married, the princesses nevertheless were not without their hidden pastimes. Recollecting what Shera — i.e., Sher Shah — had done to his father, Humayun — that is, he rebelled because he found himself very wealthy — Akbar left it as a law to his descendants that the Pathans should never receive higher pay than four hundred thousand rupees a year, that they were not to be appointed governors, and should only be employed as soldiers.
60.7.6
The grandeur he had attained and the conquests he had made rendered Akbar so proud that by his ordinance no one was allowed to sit down before him, except those of the blood royal. Unto this day this regulation is observed at the court of the Great Mogul. Everybody stands, only ambassadors receiving permission to be seated in the royal presence. Nor was he content with this, but ever grew in pride, as we read in the Holy Scriptures: 'The pride of the enemies of God grows ever more and more' (Superbia eorum qui te oderunt ascendit semper). He attempted to found a new sect, a mixture of the faith of the Jews, the Christians, and the Mahomedans, with much taken from the Hindus, adding certain matters invented by himself. His ambition was to display himself as a new founder of the faith, and therefore he entitled himself 'Xa Gelaludim Akebar' (Shah Jalal-ud-din Akbar), which means 'King powerful in the sovereign faith.' But God did not accord him time to accomplish his intention, for, coming to an end of his ill deeds, he procured his own death when trying to kill others by poison, as I now recount to you.
60.7.7
Akbar was a great warrior and also a great hunter. When he sought relaxation after any victory, or when awaiting an enemy, his usual diversion was to march hither and thither, enduring great fatigues, in search of something to kill. Since he was very bold, he went into the woods and wastes and mountains without [96] any protection. Once it happened that, with the greatest eagerness, he went into the hills to kill a tiger, having failed in getting a shot at it. Separated from his men and weary, he sat himself down beneath a shady tree. While reflecting on what it was best for him to do, there came towards him a hairy creeping thing of scarlet colour. Akbar took an arrow from his quiver and slew the serpent (verme), the arrow falling on the ground before him. Hardly had the serpent died when a deer passed in front of him. Taking up the same arrow with which he had slain the serpent, he fixed it in his bow and shot at the deer, which forthwith fell dead, without having been wounded in a mortal place. Akbar was amazed at seeing the fallen deer lying quite motionless. He was still considering what could be the reason of such a sudden death when the huntsmen arrived, who were in pursuit of the same deer that the king had killed. On their appearing, he gave orders for the deer to be dragged before him. The huntsmen laid hold of the deer, when it fell to pieces, one portion here, another there, the whole being rotten.
60.7.8
The king was astonished and amazed, and suspected that someone had done him a trick and placed poison on the arrows. He asked what could be the cause of this thing. The huntsmen answered that the deer had died of some subtile poison. Thereupon the king said that before shooting at the deer, with the same arrow he had killed a snake, to which he pointed. The huntsmen examined the snake and then begged the king to leave the spot at once, for that snake was the very essence of poison, its smell alone was sufficient to cause death. If it had done him no harm it was because he had sat to the windward, and thus the smell could not reach his royal person.