A History of Agriculture in India v2.c80: Chapter 28. Jahangir, the Naturalist

A History of Agriculture in India v2.c80

Language: English

v2.c80.s1 The City of Agra — 9 parts
v2.c80.s2 Jahangir’s Observations on Birds — 5 parts
v2.c80.s3 Observations on Animals — 6 parts
v2.c80.s4 First Record of Plague (1616) — 6 parts

Chapter 28. Jahangir, the Naturalist

v2.c80.1

PELSAERT'S ACCOUNT OF CITY OF AGRA JAHANGIR'S OBSERVATIONS ON BIRDS AND ANIMALS INTRODUCTION OF THE TURKEY (MELEAGRIS GALLOPAVO) IN INDIA RAVAGES OF PLAGUE, 1616-1624

JAHANGIR was enthroned on 3 November 1605 at Agra. In April 1606 he suppressed a rebellion of his son Khusru, who on account of his gentleness and good looks was popular among the common people. In 1607 Jahangir sent his foster-brother Qutb-ud-din Koka to suppress Ali Quli surnamed Sher Afghan, who had a *jagir* in Burdwan. He was suspected of complicity with the Afghan rebels in Bengal. In an affray Sher Afghan was killed and his widow Mihr-un-Nisa was brought to court. Thus the real objective of Koka's mission was achieved. In 1611 Jahangir married her and gave her the name of Nur Jahan. Her father was given the title of Itimad-ud-Daulah and her brother Asaf Khan became the leading noble of the court.

v2.c80.3

Jahangir was a strange compound of opposites. While he claimed to be just, he was also capricious. While he had good sense he could also be childish. 'Wilful, indolent, and self-indulgent, he was too lazy and indifferent to be either actively good or powerfully evil,' observes Lane-Pool. In his last years he became a drunkard and an opium addict. He combined hedonism with cruelty and had no compunction in destroying his enemies by throwing them before *mast* elephants. He was also of a romantic temperament. In his early youth he fell in love with Sharf-un-Nisa, a beautiful slave girl, who is known to posterity as Anarkali or pomegranate bud, and after whom the main shopping centre of Lahore is named.

The City of Agra

v2.c80.s1.1

Agra was the capital of Mughal India during the reign of Jahangir. A graphic account of the city of Agra has been provided by a Dutchman, Francisco Pelsaert, in his report entitled *Remonstrantie*, written in 1626. Pelsaert was employed as a factor by the Dutch East India Company at Agra, which was the centre of indigo trade. This report sums up his experience of seven years' stay at Agra. Pelsaert wrote, 'The city of Agra is situated in 28° 45' latitude: The city is exceedingly large, but decayed, open land, unwalled. The streets and houses are built without any regular plan. There are, indeed, many palaces belonging to great princes and lords, but they are hidden away in alleys and corners. This is due to the sudden growth of the city, which was a mere village lying in the jurisdiction of Bayana, until King Akbar chose it for his residence in the year 1566, and built the magnificent fort on the Jumna, which flows past the city, and is a musket-shot broad. The luxuriance of the groves all round makes it resemble a royal park rather than a city, and everyone acquired and purchased the plot of land which suited or pleased him best. Consequently there are no remarkable market-places, or bazars, as there are in Lahore, Burhanpur, Ahmadabad or other cities, but the whole place is closely built over and inhabited; Hindus mingled with Moslems, the rich with the poor; and if the present King (Jahangir) had fixed his residence here as his father did, the city would have become one of the wonders of the world, for the gates which Akbar built for its security (Madari darwaza, Chaharsu darwaza, Nim darwaza, Puttu (?) darwaza, Nuri darwaza) now stand in the middle of the city, and the area of buildings outside them is fully three times greater in extent.

v2.c80.s1.2

FIG. 46. Iahangir hunting a blue bull (nilgai). Mughal, c. 1610. (Courtesy: Indian Museum, Calcutta)

v2.c80.s1.3

A Turkey cock. Mughal, c. 1612. (Courtesy: Indian Museum, Calcutta)

v2.c80.s1.4

'The breadth of the city is by no means so great as the length, because everyone has tried to be close to the river bank, and consequently the water-front is occupied by the costly palaces of all the famous lords, which make it appear very gay and magnificent.

v2.c80.s1.5

'Then begins the Shahburj, or royal bastion, of the Fort, the walls of which are built of red cut stone, 25 ells high, and 2 kos in perimeter; in appearance, as well as in cost, it surpasses many of the most famous structures in the world. It is situated on a moderate elevation with a pleasing prospect on all sides, but especially towards the river, where it is magnificently adorned with stone lattice work and gilded windows, and here the King was accustomed to sit when he made his elephants fight. A short distance within stands his Ghusalkhana, which is very richly decked with alabaster, and has four angles and raised seats, the domes over which are plated on the outside with gold, so that the look of it is not only royal on a close view but Imperial from a distance. Beyond this is a palace of Nurjahan Begam, the present Queen. There is little or no room within the Fort, it being occupied by various princely edifices and residences as well as mahals, or palaces for ladies. Among these is the palace of Maryam Makani, wife of Akbar and mother of Jahangir, as well as three other mahals, named respectively Itwar (Sunday), Mangal (Tuesday), and Sanichar (Saturday), in which the King used to sleep on the day denoted by the name, and a fifth, the Bengali Mahal, occupied by ladies of various nations. Internally then the Fort is built over like a city with streets and shops, and has very little resemblance to a fortress, but from the outside anyone would regard it as impregnable.

v2.c80.s1.6

'After passing the Fort, there is the Nakhas, a great market, where in the morning horses, camels, oxen, tents, cotton goods, and many other things are sold.

v2.c80.s1.7

'On the other side of the river is a city named Sikandra, well built and populated, but chiefly by merchants, for through it must pass all the merchandise brought from Porop, and Bengalen Purop and the Bhutan mountains, namely, cotton goods from Bengal, raw silk from Patna, spikenard, borax, verdigris, ginger, fennel, and thousands of sorts of drugs, and also innumerable kinds of grain, butter, and other provisions, which are produced in the Eastern provinces, and imported thence. Here the great lords far surpass ours in magnificence, for their gardens serve for their enjoyment while they are alive, and after death for their tombs, which during their lifetime they build with great magnificence in the middle of the garden.’¹

v2.c80.s1.8

¹ W.H. Moreland and Geyl, P. (tr.), Jahangir’s India—the Remonstrantie Francisco Pelsaert, pp. 2-5

v2.c80.s1.9

Jahangir enjoyed a comparatively peaceful reign which enabled him to indulge in hunting and gardening. There are a number of paintings in which he is depicted hunting lions and antelopes. We reproduce one in which he is shown hunting a nilgai. In the background is a cheeta mauling a deer. In the foreground are carcases of antelopes (Fig. 46). Jahangir was endowed with a keen sense of observation, and made accurate observations on animals, birds and plants in his memoirs, the Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri. He also maintained an aviary and a menagerie in which he carried out his tests and experiments, including weighing and measurements of birds and animals. Knowing the tastes of the Emperor, his nobles, traders and foreign visitors presented him rare birds and animals.

Jahangir’s Observations on Birds

v2.c80.s2.1

One of Jahangir’s chief retainers was Muqarrab Khan. Jahangir deputed him to go to the port of Goa and buy rare birds and animals from the Portuguese, regardless of cost. One of these rarities was the turkey (Meleagris gallopavo). Describing it Jahangir states, ‘It is larger than a peahen and smaller than a peacock. When it is in heat and displays itself, it spreads out its feathers like the peacock and dances about. Its beak and legs are like those of a cock. Its head and neck and the part under the throat are every minute of a different colour. When it is in heat it is quite red—one might say it had adorned itself with red coral—and after a while it becomes white in the same places, and looks like cotton. It sometimes looks of a turquoise colour. Like a chameleon it constantly changes colour. Two pieces of flesh it has on its head look like the comb of a cock. A strange thing is this, that when it is in heat the aforesaid piece of flesh hangs down to the length of a span from the top of its head like an elephant’s trunk, and again when he raises it up it appears on its head like the horn of a rhinoceros, to the extent of two finger-breadths. Round its eyes it is always of a turquoise colour, and does not change. Its feathers appear to be of various colours, differing from the colours of the peacock’s feathers.’²

v2.c80.s2.2

² Rogers, Alexander (tr.), Beveridge, Henry (ed.), The Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri or Memoirs of Jahangir, pp. 215, 216

v2.c80.s2.3

Jahangir not only recorded his observations on rare birds, animals and plants, but also got them painted. His most talented painter of plants, birds and animals was Mansur, who conveys in his paintings something of the spirit of plants and the character of the birds and animals. Mansur was a diligent worker and painted more than a hundred flowering plants of Kashmir and numerous pheasants, peacocks, ducks and herons. He also painted the turkey brought by Muqarrab Khan. It is a remarkable painting showing this bird dancing with its tail feathers spread like a fan (Fig. 47).

v2.c80.s2.4

Among Mansur’s other works is a painting of Dodo (*Raphus cuculatus*), a flightless bird of Madagascar, which was presented to Jahangir by the British factors of East India Company’s factory in Surat. This bird became extinct in 1681.

v2.c80.s2.5

Other paintings of birds by Mughal artists show a cassowary, a falcon, an *asil* cock and another fighting cock with large spurs (Fig. 48).

Observations on Animals

v2.c80.s3.1

Jahangir also made observations on animals. Muqarrab Khan presented him a baby elephant from Abyssinia. Jahangir noted that its ears were larger than those of Indian elephants and its trunk and tail longer.

v2.c80.s3.2

Another African animal presented to him was a zebra (*Equus zebra*). ‘At this time I saw a wild ass (*gur-khar*), exceedingly strange in appearance,’ observed Jahangir. ‘From the tip of the nose to the end of the tail, and from the point of the ear to the top of the hoof, black markings, large or small, suitable to their position, were seen on it. Round the eyes there was an exceedingly fine black line. One might say the painter of fate, with a strange brush, had left it on the page of the world. As it was strange, some people imagined that it had been coloured. After minute inquiry into the truth, it became known that the Lord of the world was the Creator thereof. As it was a rarity, it was included among the royal gifts sent to my brother Shah ‘Abbas.’ The zebra also was painted by Mansur (Fig. 49).

v2.c80.s3.3

Jahangir also made observations on Indian animals, including the mountain goat. ‘I found the flesh of this animal more delicious than that of all wild animals, although its skin is exceedingly ill-odoured, so much so that even when tanned the scent is not destroyed,’ observed Jahangir. He continues, ‘I ordered one of the largest of the he-goats to be weighed; it was 2 *maunds* and 24 *sers*, equal to 21 foreign *maunds* (Persian). I ordered a large ram to be weighed, and it came to 2 *maunds* and 3 *sers* Akbari, equal to 17 Persian (*wilayati*) *maunds*. The largest and strongest of the wild asses weighed 9 *maunds* and 16 *sers* equal to 76 Persian (*wilayati*) *maunds*. I have frequently heard from hunters and those fond of the chase that at a certain regular time a worm develops in the horns of the mountain ram, and that this worm causes an irritation which induces the ram to fight with his hind, and that if he finds no rival he strikes his head against a tree or a rock to allay the irritation. After enquiry it seems that the same worm appears in the horn of the female sheep, and since the female does not fight the statement is clearly untrue. Though the flesh of the wild ass is lawful food and most men like to eat it, it was in no way suited to my taste.'³

v2.c80.s3.4

³ Rogers, Alexander (tr.), Beveridge, Henry (ed.), *The Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri or Memoirs of Jahangir*, pp. 83, 84

v2.c80.s3.5

Jahangir also noted that the milk of female antelope was palatable. He observes, ‘On this day a female antelope in milk was brought that allowed itself to be milked with ease, and gave every day four *sers* of milk. I had never seen or heard of anything of the kind before. The milk of the antelope, of the cow, and of the buffalo in no way differs. They say it is of great use in asthma.’

v2.c80.s3.6

There is a painting of a yak (*Posephagus grunniens*) by Mansur (Fig. 50). Jahangir records, ‘The yaks from among the presents given by the chief Zamindar of Tibet were seen by me. The yak has a face and built closely resembling the buffalo’s. Its body is covered with a thick growth of long hair; and this is a peculiarity of the animals of cold climate.’

First Record of Plague (1616)

v2.c80.s4.1

In March 1616 north India was ravaged by plague. Jahangir states, ‘In the tenth year of my reign, a dreadful plague (*waba*) broke out in many parts of Hindustan. It first appeared in the districts of the Punjab, and gradually came to Lahore. It destroyed the lives of a many Muhammadans and Hindus. It spread through Sirhind and the doab to Delhi and its dependent districts, and reduced them and the villages to a miserable condition. Now it has wholly subsided. It is said by old men, and it is also clear from the histories of former times, that this disease had never appeared before in this country.’⁴ This is the first mention of plague in the history of India. It spread to almost every locality in northern and western India and lasted for eight years. Another outbreak of this disease occurred in the Deccan in 1703 and 1704.

v2.c80.s4.2

⁴ Emperor Jahangir, *Waki'at-i-Jahangiri* in Elliot and Dowson, *The History of India...*, Vol. VI, p. 346

v2.c80.s4.3

FIG. 48. 1. A cock. Mughal, 17th century (Courtesy: Boston Museum). 2. Asil cock (Courtesy: Bharat Kala Bhavan, Benares); 3. Cassowary. Mughal, 17th century (Courtesy: Boston Museum; Artist, Mir Khore); 4. Falcon, by Ustad Mansur, c. 1619. Goloubew Collection

Linked texts (1)

Sikandra