Mughal Administration c16.s3.7

c16.s3.7

A *farmān*, in addition to bearing the imperial seal on the top, bore the wazir’s seal below, and, in the case of a land-grant treaty or special favour, had the Emperor’s palm (*panjah*) dipped in vermilion impressed on it. (A rubber representation of the palm used to be carried about in a bag suspended from the coat under his right armpit.) The princes, when serving as provincial governors, acted in the same way. When the fair copy of a letter or order was approved by the Emperor (or prince), he wrote after the last word of the last line (or a little below it) the letter *sad** (abbreviation for *sahih* or ‘correct’), as a written token of his approval. Often the Emperor (or prince) added a few lines *in his own* hand at the top of the letter as a proof of the genuineness of the letter or as a special mark of honour to the person addressed; these contained some commonplace statement or an injunction to obey the order promptly, but the material communication was embodied only in the letter drafted by the munshi and copied by a beautiful writer (khushnavis) of the secretariat. Such imperial additions are separately given in the Adāb-i-Alamgiri.