Storia do Mogor 77: Mancebdares (Mansabdars).

77

It was a custom introduced by Akbar, and maintained by his successors, to receive and to favour those who justly or unjustly were persecuted by the King of Persia, when they took to flight and sought the protection of the Mogul kings. They were granted pay suited to each man's station, keeping as soldiers and officers those who were soldiers, as physicians those who were physicians, as doctors of the Law those learned in the Faith. Pay was given them as mansabdars — that is to say, as nobles. As these men were not of use to the Mogul, since the Moguls are of a different sect, and do not follow 'Ali as do the Persians, they were sent to the province of Kashmir, where they lived upon their allowances comfortably and without care. Since Mahomedans are subject to the same conditions as other men — namely, to come to the end of their life and die — when one of these dropped out, the others appropriated the dead man's allowances.
Aurangzeb desired to remedy this abuse, and therefore ordered all the mansabdars of Kashmir to attend at court. There were a great number of them. Among them I had the opportunity of making the acquaintance of Muhamedzama (Muhammad Zaman), a man of great intelligence, whom Shah 'Abbas, King of Persia, sent to Rome as a student early in his reign. He had to learn how to answer our missionaries, who in Persia confounded the mullahs and doctors of the Mahomedan faith. This Muhammad Zaman, well acquainted with his own faith, by study came to know the Truth; and instead of becoming more stubborn in the faith of Muhammad and of 'Ali, he renounced it and turned Christian, and taking the name of Paul, called himself Paulo Zaman. He then went back to Persia. There the learned men of Persia became aware by their talk with him that he was more favourable to the Christians than the Mahomedans (although [12] he concealed his being a Christian). They began to speak against him, and fearing some harm, he fled from Persia and claimed protection from Shahjahan. He was given the pay of a mansabdar and sent to Kashmir to join the other Persians. On the occasion when they were sent for by Aurangzeb, he came to Dihli and made friends with the Christians, chiefly with Father Buzeo (Busee). They discussed theological questions, he having several Latin books ; yet, although he was, and declared himself to be, a Christian, his way of life differed in no respect from that followed by Mahomedans.