A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c20.s1.15

c20.s1.15

The Khwāja, a native of Shīrāz, surnamed *Shīrīn-qalam*, or 'Sweet-pen', presumably on account of his skill as a calligraphist, had been an intimate friend of Humāyūn, and was known as a poet and accomplished artist before he attracted the attention of Akbar, who enrolled him in the official nobility, appointing him first to be Master of the Mint at Fathpur-Sīkrī, and subsequently to be Dīwān, or Revenue Commissioner of Multān. His name appears in the list of the adherents of the Divine Faith, the short-lived eclectic religion invented by Akbar.¹