Indian Painting under the Mughals, A.D. 1550 to A.D. 1750 c14.5

c14.5

For a bare list of this emperor’s attainments it is only necessary to refer to his cousin, Mirza Haider, who was himself a famous writer of the time. After stating that he was ‘adorned with various virtues and clad with numberless excellencies, above all which towered bravery and humanity’, this genuine admirer goes on to say that ‘in the composition of Turki poetry he was second only to Amir Ali Shir. He has written a *divan* in the purest and most lucid Turki. He invented a style of verse called *mubayyan*, and was the author of a most useful treatise on jurisprudence which has been generally adopted. He also wrote an essay on Turki prosody, more the Roman world, and the most important events of the reign of Antoninus Pius, are related by his biographer, and the reader will not be sorry to find them here in a more concise form. The reign of Antoninus Pius is marked by the rare advantage of furnishing very few materials for history; which is only another mode of saying that its happiness was complete. During the twenty-three years of his administration, the Roman empire was governed by the same invariable maxims of justice and peace. The natives of a vast extent of country were protected by the same laws, and enjoyed the same privileges. The frontiers were defended by the same legions, and the same spirit of moderation and equity prevailed in the councils of the emperor. The death of Antoninus was lamented as a public calamity; and the memory of his virtues was preserved by the gratitude of his subjects, and the imitation of his successor.