1 Egyptian. Hitherto this has been read Qut̤bī, but it really is, I think, Qibt̤ī, “Egyptian.” Chardin, IV. 70, ed. 1723, says that the Persians state that the ruby of the East comes from Egypt. The etymology, however, is doubtful. ↑
2 Possibly the praise of S͟hāh-Jahān’s inventive powers refers to his arrangements for the orchestra. The kuwarga is defined in the Ain, Blochmann, 50, as a damāma—i.e., a large drum. See illustration in Plate VIII. to Blochmann’s Ain. The karanā and surnā are wind-instruments, and are also represented in Plate VIII. With regard to the mursal, Blochmann, p. 51, has: “The mursalī, which is the name of a tune played by the mursil.” Apparently the mursal is the overture, or some introductory strain, and played only by a portion of the band. ↑
3 MS. No. 181 has ten instead of two as the number of elephants presented by Qut̤bu-l-mulk, and this seems likely to be correct, else where do the six now mentioned come from? But six should probably be eight. ↑
4 Kurkarāqs. See Blochmann, 87, n. 2, and p. 616. Kurk means fur, and kurkarāqān may be translated furriers. ↑
5 So in text, but it should be Tatta—i.e., Sind. See Blochmann, 378, n. 2, and also the Tūzuk, infra, p. 275. ↑
6 Suwārān-i-k͟hūd-maḥalla. I do not know the exact force of the last two words. Possibly they are pleonastic. The word maḥalla is explained in Irvine A. of M. 46. ↑
7 The Iqbāl-nāma, 127, mentions that Parwīz came from Allahabad to pay his respects. See infra, Tūzuk, 268, and 273. ↑
8 Probably this is the friend of Father Jerome Xavier and the abridger of the Z̤afar-nāma. See Rieu, 177b and 1077a. ↑
9 He was of the royal house of Khandesh. ↑
10 See Blochmann, 252, and n. 1. Jahāngīr himself saw 700 antelope taken, and Rāy Mān afterwards made a drive of 800 more. ↑
11 This was Jodh Bāʾī, d. the Mota (fat) Rāja. See Blochmann, 619. ↑
12 Qulba, ploughs. Here apparently used as a measure of land. But the expression is obscure. In Wilson’s Glossary ḳulba is stated to be a measure of land in Sylhet, and equal to 1,008 cubits by 144. The corresponding Sanskrit word Sīr (“a plough”) is used to mean land held by the landholder in his own possession. ↑
13 Maḥalla. Here used apparently for musters. ↑
14 Mr. Rogers corrects this to Mīrān on the authority of R.A.S., MS. It is, however, Bīz͟han in I.O. MS., 181, and as Blochmann points out, Bīzan or Bīz͟han is twice referred to in the Tūzuk, pp. 307, 309. He was son of Nād ʿAlī Maidānī. ↑
15 I.O. MS. has “by favour of my rearing” (tarbiyat) and probably the words in text rather mean that he was promoted by virtue of Jahāngīr’s liking for him, than that he was of good disposition. His real name was ʿAbdu-r-Raḥīm. He was the son of Qāʾim K., and his sister Ṣāliḥa Bānū was one of Jahāngīr’s wives, and had the title of Pādis͟hāh-Maḥall. Blochmann, 371. Before Nūr-Jahān she was the chief wife. ↑
16 Mihtar K. was a very old servant, and died in the third year of Jahāngīr. Blochmann, 417. ↑
17 Text wrongly has S͟hāh Nūr. ↑
18 This is the ancient Dhafur or Dofar on the south coast of Arabia now known as Mirbāt̤. The proper spelling was Z̤afṛ. See Redhouse’s Annotations to the History of Yemen, published by the Gibb Trust, Nos. 349, 578, and 836. See also d’Herbelot, 269, and Jarrett, III, 51. ↑
19 The description is rather obscure. Apparently Jahāngīr regards bamand (dun- or bay-coloured) as equal to red (surk͟h). ↑
21 Dū manzil kis͟htī must surely mean “tray” here; or perhaps they were models. Koshā is a well-known Bengali name for a swift boat. ↑
22 Apparently K͟hwāja Ḥasan died in Badakhshān. Maʾās̤ir, III., 459. ↑
23 This S. Aḥmad is a well-known man. He is mentioned in Beale as Aḥmad Sirhindī (S͟haik͟h), and as having had the title of Mujaddid-i-Alf-i-S̤ānī, because he believed that he was the man of the second millenium. In other words, he claimed to be a Mahdī. He was s. ʿAbdu-l-Wāḥid Fārūqī, and born in 1503. He died 29 November, 1624, and is buried at Sirhind. The I.G. new edition, XXIII. 21., says there are two tombs in Sirhind known as those of the Master and the Disciple, and it may be that one of them is S. Aḥmad’s, although the Gazetteer says they probably belong to the fourteenth century. There is also a reference to him in Rieu’s Catalogue, III. 1058a., fol. 16. He belonged to the Naqs͟hbandī order, and one of his writings is called Majmūʿatu-t-taṣawwuf. There is a very long account of him, and of his interviews with Jahāngīr in the K͟hazīnatu-l-Auliyā, I. 607, etc. It is said there that he was imprisoned for two years, and then released, and that he died on the last day of Ṣafar, 1035, November 20, 1625, at the age of sixty-three. Jahāngīr afterwards pardoned S. Aḥmad. See Tūzuk, 308, account of fifteenth year. ↑
24 Dandān-i-māhī, explained in dictionary as the canine tooth of the Walrus (Trichechus rosmarus). But there is nothing black or piebald about walrus-teeth, and Jahāngīr would surely not admire greatly a kind of ivory which was inferior to that of the elephant. I incline to think that what is here meant is tortoise-shell. Jauhar-dār has two meanings—it may mean jewelled and also “striated.” See Vullers, 542a. ↑
25 Apparently Mīrān is a mistake for Bīz͟han. See ante and Blochmann, 508, and Tūzuk, 307. It is Bīzan in I.O. MS., 181. ↑
26 The buildings referred to are the garden-houses made by K͟hwāja Jahān in the Nūr-manzil garden. ↑
27 See Jarrett, II. 323; it was near the Jhelam. See also I.G., new edition, XV. 297. It is in the S͟hāhpūr district. The land-revenue of it was 24 lakhs of rupees in 1903–1904. 30 lakhs of dāms would be equal to Rs. 75,000. K͟hān Daurān’s name was S͟hāh Beg K. The Maʾās̤ir says his resignation was not altogether voluntary. See Blochmann, 378. ↑
28 In the MSS. the name is written Nardānī. ↑
29 The route from the South. See Jarrett, II. 347, n. 3. ↑
31 The word in text is s͟has͟hsat. S͟hast is a thumbstall, but it may also mean a ring. See Blochmann, 166 and n. 1. ↑
32 K͟hātam-bandī. It also means “inlaying.” ↑
33 Bandu bān. In I.O. MSS. it is bandu bārān. Perhaps “skilful painter” should be “the Painter of Creation.” ↑
34 Should be Karā. See Herklots Qānūn-i-Islām, Appendix XXIV. ↑
35 Nabīra here cannot mean grandson, for Sūraj Singh, commonly called Sūr Singh, was fifth in descent from Māldeo (Blochmann, 359). Sūraj or Sūr was s. Rāy Rāy Singh of Bikaner. See Tod, who says Sūr Singh passed nearly all his life as an alien. ↑
36 Tod has much to say about Gaj Singh, but the account seems hardly trustworthy. ↑
37 The text, p. 277, has a representation of one of these milestones which was outside Delhi. ↑
38 Perhaps sīb-i-k͟hūb is the name of a kind of apple. ↑
39 I.O. MS. 181 has S͟hukr-darā and the name of the village as S͟hin-warān. The printed text has Sīwarān. ↑
40 Mr. Rogers here refers to the R.A.S. MS. The I.O. MSS. are not clear. Apparently what Jahāngīr says is: “On this occasion fresh items of expenditure occurred to me, and the former outlay was greatly increased.” The word taṣarrufāt (“expenditure”) is omitted in the printed copy. ↑
41 The village must be Hilalabad, near Rankatta (Blochmann, 332). ↑
42 Jahāngīr says nothing about the permission that he gave to Bīr Singh Deo—as a reward for murdering Abū-l-Faẓl—to build a very splendid temple at Mathura. It was destroyed by Aurangzīb. See Growse’s “Mathura.” ↑
43 Text ḥalal, which means “weakness,” or ḥulal (“striped garments”). But according to the MSS., the true reading is k͟halal, which means “a crack” and also “corruption.” ↑
44 The Iqbāl-nāma, 128, calls him Achadrūp, and says that the K͟hān Aʿz̤am went privately to him and begged him to use his influence with Jahāngīr for the release of K͟husrau. Achadrūp spoke accordingly, and K͟husrau was released and allowed to pay his respects. See infra for account of his release. After Jadrūp removed to Mathura, he was cruelly beaten by Ḥakīm Beg. See Maʾās̤iru-l-Umarā, I. 576. ↑
46 Luqmān is the Eastern Æsop, and there is much about him in D’Herbelot. In the second line the word translated “hollow” is gulūgāh, literally “throat place,” and the word for bosom is sīna, the whole expression being sīna-i-chang. Chang is a harp or lyre, and apparently the expression refers to the narrowness of the space between the horns of a lyre (chang, which appears to be the Jew’s harp), or the sides of a harp. The fourth line is obscure, and the version in text seems corrupt. The words s͟has͟h bidast dū pāy seem unintelligible. They, however, occur in I.O. MS. 181, f. 161a, and in I.O. MS. 305, f. 225a. The only difference is that they have a conjunction after bidast. On the other hand, the Iqbāl-nāma, which inserts the lines into the record of the eleventh year, has, at p. 95, a different reading for the fourth line. The words there are k͟hāna yak bidast u sih pay. Bidast is given in Richardson, and the Farhang-i-Ras͟hīdī as meaning a span, so the line as given in the Iqbāl-nāma may mean 3 feet and 1 span. The author of the Iqbāl-nāma was so struck with the verse of Ḥakīm Sanāʾī and the appearance of Jadrūp’s dwelling, that he composed a mas̤navī on the subject, which he gives at pp. 95, 96. There is a third version in Daulat S͟hāh’s anthology, p. 97 of Professor Browne’s edition. There, in the second line we have ḥalqa (“ring”), or perhaps “plectrum” instead of sīna. We have also two lines not given in the Tūzuk or the Iqbāl-nāma, and the line containing the noodle’s question is given thus: “Kīn chih jāyast yak pūst u dū pay.”
“What place is this, one skin (?) and two feet.”
As if the meaning was that Luqmān lived in a tent propped up by two sticks. In the first line, also, we have wis̤āqī instead of kurīchī.
The lines may be versified thus:
“Luqmān’s cell was small and narrow to boot,
Like the throat of a pipe, or the breast of a lute.
A foolish one said to the grand old man—
‘What house is this—three feet and six span?’
With tears and emotion the sage made reply—
‘Ample for him whose task is to die.’”
In the Nawalkishor edition of Ḥakīm Sanāʾī’s poem the lines are entered as in the seventh book of the Ḥadīqa, but in two B.M. MSS. (Add. 25,329, f. 145a, and Or. 358, f. 172b), they are placed in the fifth book. Both of these MSS. have bidast, apparently, and Add. 25,329, has s͟has͟h (“six”), but Or. 358 has s͟hass. There is such a word, meaning hard ground. Both MSS. have sih (“three”). Bidast may properly be bad-pus͟ht (“bad-backed”), or it may be bad-past (“bad and mean”). The reference in verse may be rather to the curvature of the chang (Arabic, ṣanj) than to its narrowness, for Jamī speaks of the back “being bent like a harp.” ↑
48 Ba dustūrī kih dar Bangāla dās͟ht.
I think this must mean that his men were allowed the Bengal batta, or exceptional allowance, which used to be 50 p.c. of pay elsewhere. See A.N., III. 293, the eighth reason for the rebellion. ↑
49 This passage has been translated by Colonel Phillott in the A.S.B.J. for February, 1907, p. 113. There is something wrong in the text. K͟hān ʿĀlam certainly did not die on the road (see Blochmann, 513), for he waited upon Jahāngīr at Kalān ūr (Tūzuk, 284); nor did the Mīr S͟hikār, for Jahāngīr says he gave him a present and dismissed him. I presume, therefore, that the word “aforesaid” refers to K͟hān ʿĀlam’s hawk. ↑
50 Nigāh-dārad. Perhaps this means that the painter was afterwards to stuff the bird. ↑
51 This is an obscure passage, and Jadrūp’s reference to the mention of dāms in the Vedas is curious, for dām is said to be derived from the Greek drachma. However, it appears from the Āyīn (Blochmann, 31), that the dam, though in value only the fortieth part of a rupee, weighed 5 tānks or 1 tolā, 8 mās͟has, 7 surk͟hs. The rupee, we are told there, weighed 11½ mashas—i.e., half a masha less than a tola. Consequently the dam weighed over 20 mashas, and so was not far from being equal in weight to 2 rupees. The weight of a seer varied, and it may be 30 or 36 copper dams were reckoned as equal to a seer. By dam Jahāngīr probably meant paisā, or double paisā. According to Gladwin, 3½ tanks are by jeweller’s weights = one tolā, and a tank is 70·112 grs. Troy. ↑
52 As stated below, the antelope which were caught all eventually died. ↑
53 Text gul-rang, which seems unintelligible. No. 181 MS. has kalānak (“somewhat grown-up”). The child was presumably the Sultan Dūr-andīs͟h, born at the end of the ninth year (Tūzuk, 137), and so was now about five years old. Gul-rang occurs in B.M. MS., and may mean “ruddy.” ↑
54 Text has Āg͟hā-i-Āg͟hāmān. The MSS. have Āqā Āqāyān (“Agha of Aghas”). ↑
55 Akbar was born in October, 1542, so she was now seventy-seven years old. ↑
56 Sayyid Bahwa is commonly known as Dīn-dār K. Buk͟hārī, and is described under that name in the Maʾās̤ir, II. 23. ↑
57 Elliot, VI. 366, and Rieu, I. 14 and 355. The book is called Ak͟hbāru-l-Ak͟hyār, id. ↑
58 In Sarkār Sahāranpur. Elliot, Supp. Gloss., II. 129. I.G. new edition, XIV. 287. ↑
59 The child was born at Sirhind on Wednesday, 11 Muḥarram, 1029 (December 8, 1619), and died at Burhānpur in Rabīʿu-s̤-s̤anī, 1031 (February–March), 1622. Pādis͟hāh-nāma, I. 392. ↑
60 See Erskine’s Bābur, p. 321. ↑
61 Perhaps this is Birūʾī in Sambhal, Jarrett, II. 200. Or it may be the Mīyānī Nūriya of Jarrett, II. 317. ↑
62 To clear the roots? Or is it to let the sap flow? Or is ʿirāq-bandī right, meaning footpaths? Jahāngīr’s order then would be to clear out the brick footpaths. ↑
63 Yak-āwīz. Defined in Vullers as a short, broad sword, and also as a two-edged knife. See Vullers, 1519a. The weapon is described in text as s͟hams͟hīr-i-nīmcha-i-yak-āwīz. ↑
64 Az nīlam-i-farang-tarās͟h. It is difficult to suppose that the hilt was a sapphire. Possibly “nīlam” is the European artist’s name, or nīlam-i-farang may be some kind of European work or material. Query niello? ↑
65 Būy-i-k͟hwīs͟h (“my own scent”). The scent (otto of roses) was invented by Jahāngīr’s mother-in-law (the mother of Nūr-Jahān). She called it after Jahāngīr’s name. ↑
66 The meaning of the clause is obscure. ↑
67 The first line is obscure and the MSS. do not help. Possibly the meaning is Spring thanks thee for robbing his garden, or it may be, Spring is exhorted to rob thy garden. The quatrain is also given in the Iqbāl-nāma, 132. ↑
68 Meaning that the lips were so closed that the mouth looked like a thin scar. ↑
69 The collyrium of Solomon was something which enabled one to see hidden treasures. ↑
70 This quatrain is stated in the Iqbāl-nāma, 133, to be by Bābā T̤ālib Iṣfahānī. He is a quite different person from T̤ālib Āmulī. The same quatrain is given by Abū-l-Faẓl, and I am indebted to Mr. Blochmann, p. 607, for being able to understand it. Bābā
T̤ālib Iṣfahānī is not mentioned by Dr. Rieu. At Vol. II., 679b, of his Catalogue, there is an account of T̤ālib Āmulī, who, it is said, died young. Bābā T̤ālib died somewhat later, and at the age of over 100. See Iqbāl-nāma, loc. cit., and Badayūnī, III. 265. ↑71 A Muḥammad S͟haik͟h is mentioned in Beale as the author of two books (see p. 273, col. 2). One of them was the Jām-i-Jahān-numā, and is perhaps the work mentioned in Rieu, II. 866a, V. ↑
72 Some unnecessary details have been omitted here. ↑
73 K͟hwāja Jahān’s real name was Dūst Muḥ., and he was from Kabul. See Blochmann, 424. Jahāngīr’s characterization of him is rather obscure, and I am not sure if my translation is correct. Jahāngīr had married his daughter. Blochmann, 477, n. 2. ↑
74 This is the seesee partridge or Ammoperdrix Bonhami of Jerdon, p. 567 of first edition. Jerdon states that in Afghanistan it is called the teehoo, and that its flesh is said to be delicious. ↑
75 Apparently this is the Hibiscus mutabilis, for which the Bengali name is thal padma (“land lotus”). ↑
76 The word for twenty is omitted in text, and also in Elliot, VI. 367. ↑
77 “On the southern bank of the Harroh River,” Elliot, VI. 367. ↑
78 Bhīm was the younger brother of Karan (Tod). The passage is translated in Elliot, VI. 367. ↑
79 Elliot, VI. 368 and n. 1. ↑
80 Elliot, VI. 368, and note. ↑
81 Elliot has Hazāra Fārig͟h. ↑
82 On the eastern bank of the Dhor. Elliot, loc. cit. ↑
83 Elliot has: “As far as the eye could reach, the blossoms of the thal kanwal, and other flowers were glowing between the green foliage. It was a beautiful scene.” ↑
84 Salhar in text, but Sālhar in Elliot. ↑
85 Marsh-mallow of Steingass and Elliot. Query Hollyhock? ↑
86 The word violets occurs in MS. 181 and also in Elliot. ↑
87 The Bib. Ind. edition, Iqbāl-nāma, p. 135, changes this into Pakli. MS. 181 has Bankli (?) apparently. Pakli is probably not right, for the entrance to it is mentioned lower down. ↑
88 Taṣadduq s͟hud. This is how Mr. Rogers has translated the passage, and this seems to me to be right. Elliot has “lost,” but surely Jahāngīr would not pass over so lightly the loss of 25 elephants. Taṣadduq is often used in the sense of almsgiving, or of granting a favour. The text 290, line 2, has aks̤ar-i-rāh basta būd. The word basta seems unintelligible, and in the corresponding passage of the Iqbāl-nāma, 135, the words are aks̤ar-i-rāh ajama būd. This word perhaps means “muddy,” and this would fit the sense. ↑
90 Achamba. But MS. 305 has ajamat, and this may mean forest, or woods. Perhaps Elliot’s “mud” is a clerical error for wood, but ajamat means pools as well as woods. Perhaps this is the same word as occurs in the Iqbāl-nāma, 135, and means “muddy.” ↑
91 So in text, but the MSS. ba garaz basta (“loosely tied”), so that they could be thrown off if any game appeared. ↑
93 Now known as the Kunhār. It rises in Lake Lohusur at the head of the Kāgān glen. See I.G., old edition, VIII. 365, and ditto new edition, XIV. 272, for Kāgān Valley. ↑
94 Text Wārū. Iqbāl-nāma 136 has Kūh-i-Wāzūh. MS. 181 seems to have Dārd. ↑
95 Text shāk͟hdār (“with branches”), but the true reading seems to be nāj (“pine”). Elliot has “sāl.” ↑
96 This is a fanciful derivation. The word is not darang, but drang, which means a watch-station. See Stein, A.S.B.J., for 1899, p. 84. The Pamba-drang, however, was near the Kis͟han Gangā, and so is not the drang mentioned by Stein. ↑