The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c15.28

v4.c15.28

During Akbar’s stay at Delhi the court was scandalised by a disgraceful affair between Khān Zamān and Shāham Beg, one of Humāyūn’s pages, whom he enticed from Delhi. The details of this affair are of importance only as shedding some light on the morals of the great at the courts of the Mughul emperors, of which the less said the better. Khān Zamān was ordered to send Shāham Beg back to Delhi but instead of obeying sent an emissary to allay the wrath of “the foster-father cohort”, which took the leading part in the proceedings against him. The emissary was slain by the brutal Pīr Muhammad Khān and Khān Zamān hurriedly dismissed Shāham Beg who, after leaving him, lodged with a man whose relations put him to death for attempting to seduce his host’s wife.